MIO was provided by Focus Entertainment for review. Thank you!
While I do have fun with metroidvanias, it’s very easy for me to lose interest in them. There are some frustrating mechanics that have become staples of the genre, but if they are implemented well, I end up enjoying it regardless of my usual feelings. Not many games can achieve this through the entirety of the game, usually having some pitfalls somewhere that take me out of the experience. However, despite some minor grievances, MIO: Memories in Orbit succeeded in captivating me from start to finish, and its pros heavily outweigh the cons.
One of the first things that stood out to me about MIO when I initially saw and played it was the visuals. They have this enchanting, storybook-request look to them, making the unique environments in the sprawling metroidvania map pop. From the icy metropolis city to the vibrant, watercolor-like garden, each biome stands out from the others while still keeping the consistently gorgeous quality. It never failed to amaze, and it was encompassed by a great soundtrack that made the audio-visual experience feel wholly unique.
MIO is a true metroidvania, for better or worse, but it’s implemented very well with only a few issues that irked me. The general gameplay will have us traversing its large map, fighting enemies, discovering new abilities, using those abilities to reach places we didn’t have access to before, and taking down difficult bosses. If you play a lot of these types of games, it’s going to feel very familiar very fast.
There are also no indicators as to where anything is on the map. There are some small indicators showing pathways that you haven’t explored yet, but otherwise, there is no handholding. Personally, for these kinds of games, I like this approach. It can feel very rewarding to explore and find secrets and stumble across bosses and story elements, all because of my decision-making. It can’t get a little confusing, and it’s easy to take a lot of time to explore and figure out where you will try to go next, but in my eyes, that’s part of the fun.
What isn’t part of the fun is the respawn and fast travel system. As with a lot of games that have combat, you are going to die as you come across difficult bosses and learning the mechanics. When you die, you’ll respond from the point you had saved last. However, there aren’t many of these, and they aren’t clearly marked on the map unless you’ve already discovered them. This means that it can be easy to miss, which could set you very far away if you die. This happened to me multiple times, especially in the early game, and backtracking was very frustrating. I sometimes respawned in a completely different biome than I just was, and that just sucked.
This ties in directly with the fast travel system. We can fast travel between the save points, but only if you found this weird squid-like creature to inhabit it. Some of these can be tough to find, which means fast traveling to another location to explore new pathways will take longer. That means even more backtracking, which was the bane of my existence while playing this.
Thankfully, almost the entire rest of the game makes up for these frustrating elements. There is a lot of platforming across MIO’s sprawling map, and I loved it. It starts off a little slow for my tastes, but once we get the ability to recharge our stamina after hitting an enemy or a specific kind of bulbous flower, it starts to feel a lot better. Abilities like flinging ourselves around, gliding, climbing on walls, and recharging stamina will all help us get to secrets on our own, but the areas where you need to utilize all of these to get from one spot to another are a welcome challenge that I look forward to. It felt so natural to switch from ability to ability, making challenges that could feel frustrating ultimately feel enjoyable.
They also made going off the beaten path, going on your own, to explore very rewarding. Deciding to let intrusive thoughts win and climb up buildings could lead to finding more secrets. This happened multiple times, which made me start to explore every inch of the map that I possibly could and try to do things that I had no idea would work. That experimentation, coupled with getting no directions, fueled my curiosity and pushed me to keep allowing myself to explore where I wanted to.
Combat is simple, but that doesn’t make it less enjoyable. We have one basic attack combo, as well as an up attack and a down attack, though the down attack doesn’t do any damage, and we’ll just knock ourselves up into the air a little bit more. It may sound boring to use only one combo to take down complex bosses, but attacking is not the only thing we need to keep in mind. We will have to think on our toes, using our multitude of abilities, well-timed dodges, and more to slowly bring down the boss's health. With how great traversal feels, this makes combat feel just as good. I didn’t feel like anything felt unfair either. The dodge timing wasn’t too short, and the precision of the abilities made it so I was keenly aware of whatever action I took would do.
The progression is interesting as well, though I also wished for a little more. Since you play as a robot, you’ll find a module that you can install to give you new abilities. Each one could have a wide range of effects, which can give you more attack power on your final hit of the combo, allowing you to glide faster while consuming more stamina. And each one has a bandwidth cost associated with it. There’s a limit to the number of modules that we can install, directly tied to how much bandwidth we have. I felt that the limit of bandwidth didn’t increase as much as I would like it to.
With how many modules I was finding when hunting for secrets, it felt like I wasn’t able to utilize a lot of them without uninstalling modules I had grown accustomed to. It would ultimately make me sacrifice aspects of my play style to try out another, but both achieved a very similar outcome, which made me not want to switch out anything. I would install those other modules once my limit increased, but finding the necessary components to increase my limit was rare. However, with some modules actually being able to decrease bandwidth and give a negative effect, it does open up more possibilities for customization.
The only other way to increase that limit is by buying parts from the shop. Pretty early on, we will unlock the shop, which we can use to buy new modules, bandwidth limit increases, and parts to increase our health permanently. At first, the common currency that drops from enemies is all we will need to buy some of these, but soon, we will have to gather up Old Cores to get some of the better modules and other parts. Finding these courses takes a while and they are not as common, so there’s gonna be a lot of picking and choosing.
The story of MIO is an interesting one, though it took me a little bit of time for it to start clicking. You play as a little android named MIO who goes throughout a derelict spaceship overgrown with fauna and littered with destruction. Now, it’s up to you to figure out what happened, revive the lost memories of the ship, and do what you can to save it from destruction. It was intriguing to find out what happened on the ship, what its true objective was, what happened to the AI governing the ship, and who MIO really is. I was interested enough that I read all the documents I picked up, which isn’t something I do in most games.
It left me with an odd feeling, seeing all of these robots exhibiting human-esque characteristics and seeing the hope and despair that they have when it comes to salvaging the ship and its mission. It feels like there’s this dreaded overtone as we find the governing AI and see the state they are in. With some being more cheerful, while others being skittish and afraid. All it did was pique my curiosity further.
MIO: Memories in Orbit is a joy to play on the Steam Deck, but it does require one change to fully enjoy it on the go. Out of the box, it will default to the high-quality settings, and while most places will run at 60 FPS, there are some that will be bottlenecked and bring down the framerate to 40 FPS or lower. This does become an issue, since some of these areas include boss fights. Unless you are playing at 30 FPS locked, this is very jarring.
However, with one change, we can have a silky smooth 60 FPS with lower battery drain and great-looking visuals still. All you have to do is change the visuals from High to Medium. That’s it. This brings the entire game to a stable 60 FPS, lowers battery drain to under 12W at all times, and keeps it looking very nice. There are some minor visual differences, but they pale in comparison to the improvements in framerate and battery life.
While I do understand why the game is Verified, I do hope the developer changes the default settings on the Steam Deck to medium. This is a fantastic experience at 60 FPS, and I can’t see myself enjoying it below.
The game doesn’t support 16:10 resolutions, but it does have cloud saves and controller support. There are no HDR settings.
MIO: Memories in Orbit is a gorgeous, fluid, and intriguing metroidvania that succeeds on almost all fronts. The intriguing story hooked me in, while the fantastic traversal and platforming mixed well with the simplistic combat to create an engaging experience. The fast travel and respawns could be a little unforgiving, and I wish there were more parts to further upgrade MIO to continue experimenting, but it was still fun nonetheless.
And MIO is wonderful on the Steam Deck. Just changing the graphics quality to Medium gives us a perfect 60 FPS with lower battery drain, and it still looks great, especially on the OLED screen. So, I am pleased to say that not only is this a great metroidvania, but it’s a fantastic title to take on the go, and I highly recommend it.
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 of 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.
Shadow Labyrinth was provided by Bandai Namco for review. Thank you!
We all know and love Pac-Man, they are one of the staples of the video game industry. The game is well known across the world, and it's hard to imagine that formula being changed up for whatever reason. However, Bandai Namco decided to do just that. When I first saw Shadow Labyrinth, I was perplexed and intrigued. I have seen Pac-Man brought into puzzle games, platformers, and even saw him join in fighting games like Super Smash Bros. Now, he was going to join the Metroidvania space, and for his first outing in the genre, it's a great game, but it will require some patience.
Story-wise, Shadow Labyrinth has a cool concept. As a direct sequel to the Pac-Man episode of Secret Level from Amazon, you are Swordsman No.8, summoned by a mysterious floating yellow orb named Puck. You will have to ascend the Black Tower while trying to figure out why, who you are, and what Puck actually is.
It was a difficult story to follow, and it was hard to keep track of everything going on, but I love how different this feels to other Pac-Man games. The grittier atmosphere and tons of help make this experience feel more compelling, and while I wasn't 100% sure exactly what was going on, it didn't take away from the experience overall.
Shadow Labyrinth excels in its presentation, which continued to wow me the more I played. The mix of broody, vibrant landscapes mixes really well with the character models and animations, which make me think of Paper Dolls. There were some truly beautiful set pieces I found running through the multiple different biomes of the spacious metroidvania-esque map, and the fluidity of the animations of both ourselves and the enemies made it just a joy to experience. Presentation-wise, it feels top tier.
As for the gameplay, it can be a hit or miss at times. There were times I really loved the combat, fighting monsters left and right with my assortment of melee attacks, but then there were times that I would just get annoyed. The bosses, in particular, while gorgeously animated with unique designs, were more obnoxious than enjoyable. The bosses don't feel as engaging or strategic as I hoped, and would usually involve just dodging attacks, slicing, dodging, slicing, and getting their stun meter up so I could slice them for 5 seconds in a row instead of 1.
Still, even though it's a lot of slashing and dodging, which can feel like Souls-like games sometimes, it was still solid. You have your basic sword slashing that can attack in any direction, and that will be the most-used skill. We do have other attacks, like a slower punch that can stun enemies, and we can transform into a giant mech for periods of time, but a majority of combat will be dodging and basic attacks. It is fun in short bursts, but I found it to feel very monotonous once I started encountering more and more enemies that wouldn't go down with a single hit.
The progression systems feel a bit on the basic side, but they get the job done. The Ora that you pick up is used to buy new perks and direct upgrades for your stats, like extra attack damage and a larger ESP bar. We can also get new ESP Skills, which are basically secondary/special abilities. They can range from grenades to more powerful sword strikes and can really help when in a bind.
This is a Metroidvania through and through, and Shadow Labyrinth encompasses it nicely. We have a pretty large map to explore, full of different pathways to take, and as you find new tools and get new abilities, you can circle back and see what those previously unreachable paths have at the end of them.
The way the world and progression are designed makes this feel like a great fit for the genre, and even though there's little to no instructions on where to go and the map can be extremely tough to read, it feels unabashedly like a Metroidvania through and through. I also appreciate that there are some platforming and combat challenges sprinkled in, though some platforming could feel a bit difficult to control. At times, it can feel a little too precise, like when on rails with Puck and jumping around, or a little too floaty, like when jumping from smaller platforms as the Swordsman. It never hits that sweet spot in the middle, but it got to the point where I wanted to throw my controller from frustration either.
One thing I consistently found interesting to see was how Bandai Namco would interpret the Pac-Man universe and fill out the world of Shadow Labyrinth. There are constant references, from the more obvious ones like Puck resembling Pac-Man and the colorful ghosts being one of the main bosses that we will fight, to the way the ghosts will disappear when they leave, and the sounds PUCK makes when he grabs Ora. It was enjoyable to see all the references and point them out, which gave me a sense of connection to this new, gritty world of Pac-Man.
Shadow Labyrinth runs like a dream on the Steam Deck, and I wouldn’t have expected anything else. The 2D metroidvania always looked like the perfect fit for portable play, so I’m happy I can confirm that it is. It can run at 90 FPS and around 8-9W battery drain for over 5.5 hours of battery life on the OLED Steam Deck.
I did notice some spots where the framerate and battery drain would spike, like when first waking up at the beginning of the game, but these times were far and few. The majority of the game runs flawlessly, and it mode than earns its Verified badge.
The only options we have in-game are audio settings, language, and changing control bindings.
The game doesn't have 16:10 resolution support, but it does have cloud saves and solid controller support. There are no HDR settings.
Shadow Labyrinth is a solid game that has a couple of nuisances stopping it from being a must-have. It has great Metroidvania mechanics and an intriguing story, but the combat can feel a bit monotonous and difficult. The platforming can be a little bit dodgy as well, sometimes feeling too strict or too loose at different times. Even still, it never disrupts the flow of the game much, and I would still consider it a fun game. If you enjoy metroidvanias, this will be a welcome addition to your library, but there are moments that may feel a little unfair.
The game is also flawless on the Steam Deck without any issues. It runs at 90 FPS and under 9W battery drain, which is just perfect. This is an easy Best on Deck game.
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 of 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.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist was provided by Binary Haze Interactive for review. Thank you!
There's no shortage of Metroidvanias out there these days. Indie studios, in particular, seem to be producing them quickly, so you have to make something special to stand out from the crowd. Does Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist have what it takes? I definitely think so. This sequel to the well-received Ender Lilies is worth your attention if you're looking for a challenging Metroidvania experience.
While Ender Magnolia is a sequel to Ender Lilies, it is set decades in the future. Having never played Ender Lilies myself, I feel like you can play Ender Magnolia as a stand-alone game and still find it wholly enjoyable. Apparently, Ender Lilies is a great game, though, so it might well be worth checking out, too.
In Ender Magnolia, you'll play the role of Lilac, a young "Attuner" who finds herself beneath the surface of a kingdom where "the fumes" have driven the Homunculi (artificial life forms) insane. While the vast majority of Homunculi that you meet truly are insane, some have managed to retain their sanity, such as those found in the underground havens where the last humans in the underground cling to survival.
Lilac, with her ability to Attune, can save certain Homunculi from their madness, which is one of the key gameplay mechanics in Ender Magnolia. Once a player defeats a boss, they can often form a bond with the defeated Homunculi, and they will join your team. Other times, you can simply find Homunculi in the world that have not yet gone insane and will join you on your journey to leave the underground and find out what happened to this kingdom.
This forms the basis of the game's storyline, with each rescued Homunculi boss rewarding the player with a short (often 30-60 second) drawn cutscene that portrays the distant memories of the Homunculi, allowing the player to gather a picture of what life was like before the apocalyptical setting they now find themselves in.
When it comes to the game's combat, Lilac does not participate; rather, she can summon the Homunculi she has saved, who will fight for her, using various skills you can select and unlock, each mapped to a different face button or R1. Although the system might sound strange, you play the game like Lilac is your fighter, and the summons abilities execute immediately. Lilac's position and direction determine where the attack is directed as if she were the fighter herself.
The combat is fluid and, while not particularly fast-paced, can often require quick reaction times to respond to enemy attacks. The game is classed as "souls-like" by many users, and it reasonably fits that description. Getting hit by your standard enemies generally takes 3-4 hits to defeat you, whereas bosses can often defeat you in as little as 2 hits. Thus, recognizing and dodging enemy attacks and patterns is crucial if you want to survive. The game's dodge mechanic provides a small window of invulnerability, which you can use to protect yourself from an attack or simply move far enough away to protect yourself.
Each Homunculi you attune with will offer you a basic skill that you can use, some Homunculi have a basic attack like a sword, others allow you to hold a button and they'll continuously fire for you, another one can be a simple summon that will follow you that is fire-and-forget. However, you can only have 4 Homunculi equipped, and there are more than 4 in the game, so you'll eventually have to pick and choose your desired loadout for your playstyle.
As I'm not particularly skilled, I went with a more "idle" loadout, which favored having a "familiar" summon out and one that simply required holding a button to fire while keeping the beginning "sword" summon, which functions as a basic attack.
You also have healing items that get restocked at resting places dotted around the map, which is perhaps another nod to the "souls-like" genre. Using a healing item takes a couple of seconds, which makes you vulnerable to attack, so like everything else in the combat in Ender Magnolia, you have time to use it well.
As you progress through the game, you'll be able to find items hidden around the map that will let you unlock additional skills for your Homunculi and boost Lilac's health. This rewards exploration and makes it a treat to find hidden items when you can.
Fortunately, the map in Ender Magnolia is laid out well, with areas separated and clearly marked. Pathways between areas are signified with a line. The world is almost on a sort of "grid" where the entrance and exit of a pathway are always on a horizontal or vertical line, meaning if you need to find a way into an area, you can probably get a good idea of where you need to go. This is helpful in a Metroidvania title, especially a reasonably large one like this. You can also fast-travel between all of the "respite" points around the map that you find.
Visually, Ender Magnolia is largely subdued as a Dark Fantasy game. There's plenty of opportunity for OLED users to enjoy inky blacks, though, and on the odd occasion, certain pieces of scenery really stand out with vibrant colors. Despite this, the world blends together well, with the scenery elements detailed and fitting for the environment.
As for the game's sound, it's serviceable. Nothing stands out as far as sound design. Music tracks change per region you're in, and if you've spent a while in a region, you can notice the music getting repetitive. It's largely piano music, which I'm normally a fan of, but certain note patterns start to stick out after a while.
At the end of the day, Ender Magnolia is a Metroidvania that presents players with a challenge, which can be adjusted up and down depending on player skill, as well as having a tight combat system, all set in an interesting and unique world. If you are a fan of Metroidvanias, particularly ones on a larger scale that are more difficult, then Ender Magnolia should go near the top of your list of games to try.
Ender Magnolia performs excellently on the Steam Deck, with only a few graphical options at your disposal, and the default settings work just fine for me. The game chooses to disable Anti-Aliasing and keep the Post-Processing and Effects settings on high, which helps save a little bit of power without compromising visual quality, as Anti-Aliasing doesn't do much here. The controls work very well with a gamepad, including the Steam Deck.
A TDP Limit of 7W seemed to suit the game perfectly and gave me a locked 90 FPS framerate during gameplay, which only dropped to around 60 FPS for very brief periods when attuning to creatures, which only happens in cutscenes. If you play at 60 FPS, a TDP Limit of 6W should suffice.
On my Steam Deck OLED, I could run the game at 90 FPS and get a power draw of around 9-11W, or you can lower that to 60 FPS to save a watt of power. Steam Deck OLED users can expect around 4.5 hours of playtime. Steam Deck LCD owners around 3-3.5 hours.
Temperatures generally ranged around 55-60C.
Ender Magnolia is a difficult game, and it has various difficulty settings you can adjust to make it easier or even harder. You can also disable the camera shake and rebind the controls.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is a game that Metroidvania fans won't want to miss. The tight, fluid, and challenging combat rewards skill and offers a variety of abilities that can be deployed in various ways to win a battle. Those who like to explore every nook and cranny will find that their thoroughness pays off with secret passages and items hidden away in various parts of the map, giving the adventurous player certain benefits. All of this is topped off with an intriguing story in a dark fantasy setting wrapped in a well-formed world that is as dangerous as it is mysterious.
As if that weren't good enough, the game performs brilliantly on the Steam Deck. The default settings offer great visual quality and a long battery life, and the controls also work perfectly. Ender Magnolia is a great experience on the Steam Deck.
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 of 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.
Worldless was provided by Thunderful Publishing for review. Thank you!
This game was tested with a Steam Deck LCD. OLED testing is coming soon.
Worldless is an interesting game. It is a Metroidvania-style 2D Platformer kind of affair, with a focus on solving fairly simple puzzles and executing timed commands in a turn-based combat system. It can feel a bit minimal when it comes to the visuals, but this is a great experience nonetheless, with its enjoyable combat.
The game adopts a fairly minimalist approach, not only in terms of visuals but also its story. Dialogue is limited and always shown via text. Ultimately, you're put into the game world with basically no direction, so you're free to explore as you wish, which means you can also end up in areas with very strong enemies without any warning from the game.
My experience with the game's "puzzles" was a bit bland. They seemed to always consist of the same basic idea of using the "Y" button at certain points to make platforms or jump pads appear, but the game's combat is what makes this worth playing.
The combat utilizes turn-based, or perhaps more accurately, time-based commands to fight. When your turn begins, you have a few seconds to execute your attacks and combos, using a mixture of physical and magic attacks, to break through the enemy's shield and attack their life directly. When your turn is over, the enemy will try to do likewise to you, but you can press a button at the right time to defend against their attacks.
This creates a very skill-based combat system that greatly rewards reaction timing and the ability to read enemy attacks as they are about to happen. It's very satisfying when you get it right and execute what the game calls a "perfect guard," which can give you bonuses and means your shield stays strong under the enemy's attacks.
Speaking of skills, the game has a rather extensive skill tree, considering the length of the game itself. This allows you to strengthen your shield, unlock new attack combos, or give you more time to execute your commands. This helps keep the combat feeling fresh throughout the playthrough and is a nice addition.
The visuals are minimalist and pleasantly styled, in my opinion, they do their job and make it easy to discern points of interest from general scenery. I'd hesitate to call it "beautiful," but it's certainly appealing at points. And I would never describe it as "ugly."
I liked this foray into the Metroidvania genre. The combat is the highlight here for me, and pulling off combos and executing perfect timing is well-rewarded. The skill tree adds variety to your combat options over time and helps the game feel fresh throughout.
But how does it run on the Steam Deck? We've got some good news for you!
Worldless starts quite well on the Deck. The game boots with a 16:10 resolution, and there is a nice notice that the game is best played with a controller. And we can confirm that this is the case, the game plays beautifully on a controller and was designed with it in mind.
There are no graphical options here aside from resolution, which we don't want to touch, so we can't "optimize" the game itself. All the settings that we adjust will be in the SteamOS Quick Access Menu.
First, we'll set a 60 FPS/Hz lock in our SteamOS settings, then put a 6W TDP limit on. Worldless is a very lightweight game and can often hit 60 FPS with a lower TDP limit than 6W, but in combat or when many particles are in play, it causes drops. A 6W Limit holds us nicely at 60 FPS for 99% of the time, and the odd dropped frame during combat wasn't really noticeable since the visuals are pretty busy anyway during those points.
With such a low TDP limit, we can squeeze close to 5 hours from the Steam Deck's battery here. Because of that, I recommend just playing this game at 60 FPS. Battery draw varied between 7W and 9W. When doing platforming elements and exploring the world, the battery draw stays pretty low, and when in combat, it tends to edge up towards 9W of usage. Regardless of what you're doing in the game, you should expect at minimum 4 hours of battery life from a full charge.
I did a test at 3W TDP Limit to see if that would help improve battery life, too. In this setting, we had to drop the FPS Lock to 40 FPS; however, the battery draw remained similar with maybe only an extra few minutes added on. Given the timing nature of combat, 60 FPS is the way to go here.
Ultimately, I found that when you're running this low of a TDP limit, your screen brightness will have a large impact on your battery. I always play at 100% brightness, but if you drop to 50%, you can save a good 30 minutes of battery life, if not more.
Worldless has a menu just for accessibility and has a few options to help people enjoy the game.
You can adjust controller vibration, the amount of camera shaking, and "screen flicker," which we presume is for the benefit of those with photosensitivity. You can also disable tutorials and adjust the gamepad symbols between Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo.
The last option is a bit of an odd one, but it does make sense, as the game uses on-screen controller symbols and requires you to press them in order at points, so having the correct symbols for your controller on-screen is very helpful.
Worldless was an enjoyable experience, although the game is a bit short, seeing as I gained the majority of the skills in the game within the first 2 hours. The visuals are appealing and the combat system is great, feeling especially good when landing that perfect combo for massive damage. The puzzles are simple, but as I'm not much of a puzzler, I can't complain about that! The core gameplay loop is figuring out where you haven't defeated enemies yet and navigating your way there to defeat them. Still, as both the combat and traversal mechanics hold up well, it's a perfectly satisfying gameplay loop.
The game runs great on the Steam Deck, with no need to adjust in-game settings to achieve good performance. If you want a Metroidvania to play on your Steam Deck, Worldless may be that game for you. It holds a "Verified" rating on Valve's Steam Deck Compatibility testing, which is completely accurate here, and "Very Positive" reviews from Steam users at the time of writing this review.
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 of 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.
Dead Cells is a 2D rogue-lite that is heavily inspired by the metroidvania genre. You will treck through gorgeous, unique environments fighting enemies with an array of weapons and items. The game will require precision and thinking on your feet as you'll have to roll, jump, and climb your way through obstacles and weigh the choices of everything you pick up to become a deadly force to be reckoned with. After each death, you will be able to come back and buy permanent upgrades, and then head right back into the non-linear world where you will find even more secrets, hidden passages, and much more.
Dead Cells is quite possibly one of the greatest rogue-like games I have ever played. The incredible visuals, detailed landscapes, and addicting gameplay loop all come together seemlessly in an amazing combat system that feels fluid with its varied weapons and dodging. This is only made better with the free updates it has gotten, as well as the DLC that have been released for it, which add in new locations, weapons, bosses, and much more. Speaking of which...
The Castlevania DLC for Dead Cells was provided to us by Motion Twin and TinsleyPR for review. Thank you!
The Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania DLC released 3 days ago and I have to say, whoever came up with this idea deserves a large raise. I don't recall one time I felt a crossover fit so well into a game. 2 new biomes, 14 new weapons, 3 bosses, 20 outfits, new enemies, over 60 added music tracks, and a new storyline featuring Richter and Alucard are all part of this $10 package and it is incredible.
After you die a couple times, you will be able to start accessing the Castlevania content, which will be confirmed when you see red bats fly across your screen. From there, just find Richter in the prison and he will start you on your journey into the new storyline.
There is so much I can really say about this expansion, but I can't stress enough how incredible it is. The new weapons, like the Cross, Morning Star, Bible, Vampire Killer, and Holy Water, fit in perfectly, the outfits are great, the music tracks are fantastic, the biomes are gorgeous, and the boss fights...oh the boss fights are epic. I had just made it through Dracula's castle and I thought I was heading to fight him, but no, I was pulled down by a purple chain to be killed by Death, which was an insane battle.
On top of that, being able to put on outfits of Castlevania characters and make yourself look like Richter, Simon, Alucard, Maria, Trevor, and even Dracula while fighting classic enemies of the franchise like Medusa, Werewolves, Buer, Armor Knights, Throw Masters, and more! Overall, for $10, this feels like a steal. And for those who don't have it, there is a bundle for $25 for both the base game and this expansion. I highly recommend it if you haven't taken the dive yet.
With how amazing Dead Cells is, it's only made better by how perfect it runs on the Steam Deck without any changes! The game will drain around 6W - 8W for a battery life of 6.5 - 7 hours at a solid 60 FPS. There are some small stutters here and there, but I only noticed because I had the overlay on, otherwise, I wouldn't have at all!
I had no issues with controls or visual bugs that appeared. In cutscenes, the screen would turn into letterbox format, but it went right back to the 1280x800 resolution it supports. To make things even more appealing, Dead Cells is being played through a native Linux build, and it runs fantastically.
Dead Cells is one of my personal favorite games. I am a huge fan of roguelike and metroidvania games, and this game does a wonderful job blending the two and refining it to a tee. And with the release of the incredible Return to Castlevania expansion, there is even more reason to jump in now if you haven't. If you don't have this expansion, I highly encourage checking it out, it is $10 well spent! Thankfully, you will also be able to fully enjoy it on the Steam Deck with no compromises needed, making it one of our Best on Deck games! Dead Cells and the Castlevania DLC are essentials to your Deck's library.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
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Ghost Song was provided by Humble Games to review. Thank you!
Ghost Song is a metroidvania with some souls-like gameplay elements all wrapped up in a gorgeous-looking package. As a long-dormant deadsuit that has woken up, you will traverse the depths of the desolate moon of Lorian on an adventure to discover who you are. Along the way, you will encounter cosmic threats and ancient mysteries all while acquiring new abilities to crush those standing before you. Will you be able to handle the truth nesting itself in the darkness and overcome?
Ghost Song is by far one of the most beautiful metroidvania games I have played recently. The artwork and atmosphere is pristine, while the combat mechanics felt fantastic. Unfortunately, this was hampered a bit by the amount of backtracking and lack of enough fast travel points. I liked going through and seeing the serene underground as I ran through, it felt tedious with the amount I had to do. I also felt the save points were a bit sparse, which made itself apparent the more I played and constantly died, losing hours of progress (some of this was me forgetting to save). The movement system felt a little static at times too, but it didn't inhibit my enjoyment. Overall, I felt this was a great game and I was absolutely having a great time playing this, and with some tweaking, this was a wonderful experience on the Steam Deck!
In the beginning, I noticed the game defaulted to a 16:9 aspect ratio of 1280x720, which is fine, but was draining the battery around 14W - 15W, which I felt was a bit high considering Ghost Song is a 2D game. It was able to handle 60 FPS for the most part, but I noticed that in some areas, and when some particle effects were happening, the game would spike and drain way more battery than it should. Luckily, just a couple setting changes actually capped the game at 13W, while also expanding the resolution to cover the entire 16:10 screen.
By going into the preferences of the game and using Steam to force the resolution to 1024x640, Ghost Song had not only covered the entire screen of the Deck, but also saved a significant amount of battery life while keeping 60 FPS. Using a TDP limit of 7, the game stuck at 60 FPS and kept a battery drain of 13W or under. I also used FSR to upscale the game and compared to the native 1280x720, it looks significantly better!
While I could make a battery build that pushes framerate or resolution down further, I feel this hurts the overall experience of the game. Any lower framerate makes the game feel much less smooth and, while it could be brought down to 55 and still feel mostly smooth, it felt something was off when I was playing it. And resolution down further would help battery too, but start to lose too much quality that it doesn't need to. A quality build for Ghost Song would be just bumping up the framerate and unlocking the TDP limit.
From time to time, in certain areas, I did encounter a little stuttering. This really only happened when I was running around areas and not in combat, which I am thankful for, but it still happened enough for me to notice. Since it wasn't during my fights, I didn't feel it really affected my enjoyment of the game since it held strong where it counts! I also didn't find any controller issues or visual bugs, it just fit perfectly in the handheld format.
While a lack of save points and a lot of backtracking with a more static movement system was plaguing the game, the pros outweighed the cons. The vibrant and beautiful visuals, the fantastic atmosphere, and great combat system all worked together really well to create a wonderful experience I am happy to have played. And with these adjustments, Ghost Song plays extremely well on the Steam Deck.
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Tunic is a top-down isometric action game reminiscent of the good old Zelda days. You play as a little fox and explore an island filled to the brim with secrets, treasure, and pages of the game’s manual that you can put together. You will also come across unique enemies and colossal beasts while uncovering new secret techniques and relics. The world is absolutely gorgeous with a colorful, yet simple art style that pops out and pleases the eye at every turn. Paired with a pleasing combat system and a plethora of secrets, Tunic is a game worth discovering.
Luckily for Deck users, Tunic is not an intensive game. The game’s recommended settings were actually the maxed out ones at native resolution, and after some initial testing, I can happily say it will run most of the time at 60 FPS. With temps around 65-70, depending on the area, and battery sticking average around 15W, playing like this is possible, but it can be improved. If you do decide to play at max settings, make sure the TDP is set to 8 as well to avoid it using too much power.
I decided to try to curb these FPS spikes first. Through my testing, it turns out SSAO (Screen Space Ambient Occlusion) was causing most of them. SSAO is used a lot in Tunic and really makes the world pop just a bit more, but turning it off almost instantly fixed most of the spikes. I do believe that SSAO on medium works very well while retaining the quality it gives.
While there is a difference, it didn't affect the overall aesthetic of the game and ran much more smoothly.
I also decided to limit the TDP to make sure it didn’t try to go overboard on power consumption. I landed on using 8 as it kept the game at 60 FPS and temps down to an average of 65. Limiting the TDP did mean some of the graphically intensive areas ended up causing framerate drops to around 45-50, but I remedied that by turning shadows to low (which showed almost no visual difference to me) and brought resolution down to 1152x720. Paired with FSR upscaling and sharpness of 1, the game looked almost exactly the same as native. I did turn off FXAA as well, which made corners of all models look sharper, but I feel it makes the game stand out more with reduced graphical quality.
1280x800 vs 1152x720 really didn't show a significant difference to quality, but did provide a more stable 60 FPS.
It is possible to turn everything off or to low and set the resolution to 960x600 and upscale that to save as much battery as humanly possible while still looking pretty decent. While changing resolution down to 1152x720 didn’t affect the battery as much, going to 960x600 with the same settings did lower it by about 1-2W. This also creates a super stable 60 FPS with almost 0 drops at all. The game still looked quite good for the most part though, but it was obvious that there were some downgrades to it. Turning FXAA off does help tremendously with a lower resolution and FSR though.
1280x800 vs 960x600 definitely showed more of a downgrade in quality, but it wasn't horrible.
Luckily, no bugs or glitches were caught and the game ran smoothly in general. Tunic is a game meant to be played at 60 FPS though, so any drops were quite noticeable. If it wasn’t, I would say the game is 100% playable from maxed settings all-around, but it did hurt my eyes a bit in the areas where there were a lot of SSAO effects on screen and the framerate dropped to 45.
All-in-all, Tunic is a really fun game to play. The gameplay and artstyle mesh together very well, while the stable performance on the Deck make this a wonderful game to take on the go. I didn’t expect it to be a powerhouse game really, but it did perform better than I expected after minimal changes to the settings. Personally, I prefer a sharper look and stable 60 FPS for a game like this, and luckily, it was able to hit that quite easily.
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!
