Of all the anime that has ever come out, JoJo's Bizzare Adventure has got to be the craziest I have ever seen. It was all over the place, made almost no sense, and yet, was such a good time. It was only a matter of time before a fighting game was made and, in 2013, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle was released on consoles. Now, 9 years later, we are finally able to play it on PC/Steam Deck. Geared with 50+ characters, re-recorded audio, adding in hit-stops and air dashes, and more, this is the definitive edition of the game.
The game itself plays out like most fighting games, using X, Y, and B buttons to attack while A allows you to dodge to the left and right. You can run forward, hop back, and use ultimate moves with the Left or Right bumper when your bar is full. The game feels tight and plays well, but to me, the game modes really take the cake. JoJo sports an All-Star mode, which has special battles catered to the story from the 8 parts, an Arcade mode, that has the regular sequential and endless battles, and an Online mode, with ranked and un-ranked battles. They also have a mission mode in the online where if you complete the 5 missions for the week, you get a color change for a character!
JoJo is packed with a lot of content and if you are wondering how it plays on the Steam Deck...well...you are in luck!
Without any changes, JoJo's Bizzare Adventure was able to hit 60 FPS and stay there flawlessly. The game looks amazing and has no issues running, but the game drains around 22W by itself.
Thankfully, by setting a TDP limit of 6, this can drop drain all the way down to around 10W - 12W and keep that stable 60.
I was able to actually keep a TDP limit of 5 for most stages, but there were a couple few, like Battle Tendency from Part 2, that hit a little bit harder at times. I have not encountered any issues from the other game modes, no controller weirdness, and no visual hiccups during my playthrough.
I don't think much more really needs to be said, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R just works. The game itself is really fun, with a variety of modes and online campaigns to keep you interested, and a large cast of characters throughout all the parts of the manga/anime. With all of that, and how well it runs on the Steam Deck with no compromises needed, this is a Best on Deck game and a go-to fighting game for some quick fun!
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
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Local multiplayer games have been a staple of gaming for as long as I can remember and one of the greatest to ever exist, Super Smash Bros. Ever since that release, the 2.5D platformer fighting genre has tried to catch up to the high bar that was set by Nintendo. Not many have done it, lots have tried, but there is one in particular that not only does it well, but feels perfect on the Steam Deck.
Rivals of Aether is that game. Developed by Dan Fornace, this take on the genre focuses more on the mechanics and fine-tunes them to a tee. With the exclusion of items, the game forces you to learn the moves, tactics, and study your opponents to hit them out of the ring. The game features a ton of different modes, as well as local and online play, but the best part is easily the Steam Workshop integration. With that, you can download new custom stages and characters to play the way you want! Want to play as Cuphead and take on Sans from Undertale on the N64 Dream Land stage from the original Super Smash Bros? GO FOR IT! The game is incredible, but it is rated Unsupported on Steam. I am here to say...DO NOT LISTEN TO THAT RATING!
Yes, that is Cuphead vs Sans. This is Rivals of Aether.
Due to this game's pixelated graphical style, this game is not intensive in any way whatsoever. Because of that, Rivals of Aether is the perfect game for the Steam Deck. With a max battery drain of 7W, you will be getting around 6.5 - 7 hours of gameplay while temps stay underneath 55c at the highest quality settings and a stable 60 FPS. Though, for the maximum enjoyment, there are a couple settings I would change for a game as precise as this.
Make sure that your refresh rate is set to 60, FPS cap is "OFF", and the in-game Vsync is turned on. This will minimize any input lag issues you may encounter from the triple buffering of Wayland's cap. I also capped the TDP at 4, though this definitely isn't necessary. In the game's settings, you can make sure FX quality is set to high and the rest is up to you! The game's setting is at 1280x720 natively and forcing resolution through Steam doesn't fix it, but this didn't bother me in the slightest.
And yes. You are seeing Hollow Knight vs Squidward vs Among Us. This is also Rivals of Aether.
Oddly, when I first tested Abyss mode, I got performance issues. The main menu would shoot down to 51-55 FPS and the FPS in that mode hovered around 58-59. I didn't feel any impact in the gameplay and was able to make it to wave 11 before I got my ass kicked. I did restart Rivals of Aether and when I went back to Abyss mode, everything was working fine. I have no idea what changed, but it could just mean a quick restart of the game can fix it. Regardless, it did happen to me, so wanted to share that just incase.
After rebooting the game, Abyss mode worked perfectly fine. Not sure what happened before.
Rivals of Aether is a damn good game and a great replacement to Super Smash Bros for the Steam Deck. With its focus on mechanics and Steam Workshop integration, the fun you can have is near limitless. And with how easy it is to run, getting a 6.5 - 7 hour battery life is near guaranteed. For some reason, this game has an "Unsupported" rating on Steam, but it works perfectly out of the box. Don't skimp out on this game if you enjoy Super Smash Bros, Multiversus, or any other platformer fighters like this!
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back!
