Viewfinder was provided by Thunderful Publishing for review. Thank you!
Ever since reviewing The Talos Principle 2, I have been getting back into mind-bending puzzle games. While looking for some to play, I remembered my time with Superliminal, one of my all-time favorites to play on the Steam Deck. It was the first game where I really felt the emphasis of contorting and bending reality to suit your needs and solve each level, and I loved it. Viewfinder is very similar in that sense, and I loved it.
Using photographs, you will manipulate reality, completing pathways and bringing items into areas where you couldn't before. Some of these photographs will be taken for you, while others will require you use a camera and snap the photos you will use. Some of these puzzles are generally easy, while some completely stumped me and I had to take a moment to think out of the box. I loved the gameplay, but my biggest complaint is length. What was there is amazing, but it just felt too short. The optional puzzles are a nice touch, but I beat the game and was left wanting more.
The story revolves around you trying to discover how to save your dying world. This is told throughout the narration and clues you find along the way in a digital landscape that is extremely beautiful. Color permeates through every model and the varying styles of photos and filters you can find make most levels astonishing to just walk through. Each of the hub worlds that housed the levels were unique and had a design of their own, which felt cohesive as we went from place to place. This was only enhanced with SteamOS 3.5, and I am sure will be even more beautiful on the Steam Deck OLED. Speaking of which...
Playing Viewfinder on the Steam Deck is extremely easy and I found little issue, for the most part. In the beginning, I did find some areas which saw heavy drops, which I found were caused by the Shadows. Swapping this from "ULTRA" to "High" fixed a majority of these with little change to visuals. There are a couple of spots, usually in the hub worlds, where we need more change to bring down.
Luckily, this doesn't really affect the levels, which makes playing the game at 60 FPS all the more better! There are some massive drops when going to new hub worlds, and a significant one when getting back into the digital world early on in the game, but these quickly dissipate once loading is done.
With all of that in mind, I found just changing the game's Shadow setting and keeping at 60 FPS was the best way to enjoy. Most of the puzzles are more condensed areas, so we were able to keep the framerate with a 14W or lower battery drain. The hub does have some slowdowns, but bringing Anti-Aliasing to 2X solved this. It still drains a bit, but I saw no visual difference either. This is one of those games that I really preferred smoothness over everything, and luckily, it isn't one that requires a lot of compromise.
There are ways to lower and get more battery life, or better visuals with the resolution scale, but I didn't feel it was worth it. The 100% resolution scale with 60 FPS was the perfect balance of visual quality, smoothness, and battery life.
As for accessibility, Viewfinder has a specific sert of options for accessibility. You can change the language, override the font for better readability or for those who are Dyslexic, change subtitle font color, positioning, and if they include the names of who is talking, and you can turn off haptics and if any levels have a timer. You can also change font size, turn on a Photosensivity mode, change field of view, crosshair settings, audio sliders, and invert controls.
The game does support 16:10 resolutions, as well as full controller support. There isn't any cloud save support, but with how short the game is, I didn't feel like this was a necessary addition.
Viewfinder is an exceptional puzzle game that feels exceptional with its presentation. The world itself is absolutely gorgeous, and the puzzles will make you feel smart when you accomplish them due to the need to manipulate the world to achieve your goals. It is a little on the short side, and some puzzles are a bit easy, but the overall experience is a great one, especially 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 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.
The Talos Principle 2 was provided by Devolver Digital for review. Thank you!
Do you know that feeling and sense of accomplishment you get when you complete a Rubix cube? Or when you figure out the solution to a math problem you have been stuck on for hours? There's this incredible wave of relief and triumph as it's completed. Now, imagine that, right after, you get to have a minor existential crisis where you question not only your existence but the reality of more advanced individuals who lived before you. This may not seem like a great time, but The Talos Principle 2 makes it one worth living through.
The sequel to The Talos Principle picks up where the prequel ended but kicks things up to an eleven with its new themes, world, and puzzles. Unlike the first game, where we explored the individual, we are now diving into the philosophical ideologies of the collective and civilization. At the beginning of the game, you embark on a mysterious island that is filled with technology and architecture that hasn't been seen before. Who built it, why, and how? That is something you will have a damn good time discovering as you question your existence and if your community is making the right calls.
The Talos Principle 2 is made up of multiple open segments where you can complete the puzzles you need to, compete in other unique challenge puzzles, or walk around and enjoy the scenery. The world is gorgeous, and I often found myself running through sunset-lit levels or the forests just to take everything in.
Then we have the puzzles, oh the puzzles. That feeling of satisfaction when completing is unlike any other. I don't think I have ever felt as smart as I did when figuring out which holes to drill through and how the color beams can connect. The mechanics in The Talos Principle 2 are still as crazy as the prequel, but takes it up a step. There were a couple of them that really got me frustrated, and I had to take a step back, but that sense of accomplishment afterwards was worth it.
And with all of this, it can play on the Steam Deck too, but it is a compromise.
The Talos Principle 2 is a gorgeous game, but the trade-off is it takes a lot to run. The Steam Deck is up to the task, but it has its compromises and some drops here and there. On the lowest settings, with the built-in FSR 2, I got fluctuations depending on which open areas we are in. Some have a ton of trouble and can dip to 25 when turning around fast, while others can go up to 40. For a balance, I went for a 30 FPS lock for stability with FSR 2 on Balanced. It does show some pixelation when moving around fast, but with how slow you will take it when completing puzzles, it isn't that noticeable and still looks great on the smaller screen.
As for options for accessibility, we do have a solid amount to go through. We can change subtitles, crosshair, toggling parts of the interface, and changing sound sliders. There is also a whole section for motion sickness controls, where you can change field of view, toggle bobbing, and set a preferred view type, and color blind settings. You can also edit keybindings, sensitivities, and toggle inverted access.
The game does support 16:10 resolutions, so we won't need to worry about any black bars, and it supports controllers and cloud saves.
The Talos Principle 2 is an incredible follow-up filled with invigorating puzzles and beautiful sites. The challenges are great here and did cause some aggravation, but that feeling of victory and solace after completing them makes it all worthwhile. The story is also fantastic and I love the shift from the individual to the collective. And even though I had a couple of existential moments, the pay off was even more valuable. I do wish it ran a bit better on the Steam Deck, but even with its dips, it is playable thanks to the pacing of this type of 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 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.
Lego Bricktales was provided to us by Thunderful Publishing and Plan of Attack for review. Thank you!
It's time to embark on an epic adventure across the world of Lego. Lego Bricktales will take you across gorgeous unique biomes where you will have to solve puzzles by building your solutions...brick by brick. Journey across the worlds with your robot buddy and help the people so you can gather energy and help your grandfather fix up his rundown amusement park. These puzzles will test your skills in various different ways, including taking physics into consideration, and provide you with a sandbox mode to test the builds you make. With that in mind, let's get to building!
If you are looking for a relaxing game that will challenge your mind while giving you the chance to be creative, look no further! Lego Bricktales will have you walking around gorgeous different overworlds tackling head-scratching puzzles that range from being decently easy to pretty challenging. One moment you will be building a bridge, the next you will have to copy a statue, and then you'll need to build a branching support to hold a platform up, all taking objects and physics into account...and I am all for it.
I love games like this, and with new content updates on the way (Easter is around the corner), now is a great time to check it out! The puzzles sometimes feel weird to control with a controller due to controlling the mouse cursor, but it is something I got used to. Overall, the experience was a good one and luckily, this is a fantastic game to play on the Steam Deck!
With no changes at all, Lego Bricktales runs at 60 FPS with no slowdowns whatsoever at an average of 10W - 12W battery drain. I encountered the game stuttering for a split second a couple times, but this didn't happen often enough to derail my experience, which was near flawless. I also noticed one time where the game spiked battery drain to almost 13W, but this calmed itself down almost immediately and again, didn't change my experience at all.
The controller/gamepad support worked great and I had no visual issues whatsoever. I will say that some of the icons at the bottom during the building screens were a bit small, especially the ones showing the shoulder buttons of the controller, but otherwise, everything else was fantastic.
Lego Bricktales is a wonderful game to sit down and relax with. It doesn't bombard you with time limits or action sequences, its just about taking your time with calming music to build what you need to solve puzzles and help the citizens around you. At times, this feels like a Lego builder's dream, being able to create how you want and even customize it. And with how well it runs on the Steam Deck without changing a thing, this is an easy Best on Deck 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.
