Thick As Thieves was provided by Megabit Publishing for review. Thank you!
When Thick As Thieves was first announced, it was due to be a PvPvE extraction heist game, where multiple thieves were after an artifact, and you had to steal it for yourself while foiling the plans of others.
Shortly before release, however (as soon as April 2026), the plans changed, and Thick As Thieves became a 1-2 player co-op heist game, with the removal of all PvP, many previously promised features, such as a "living world", as well as areas and characters that are present on the Steam store page no longer being available.
Because of these last-minute changes, Thick As Thieves comes across as a very bare-bones game, more of a proof of concept, really. There are just 2 maps available, each with various contracts, which are essentially different sets of objectives that change certain things about the map, such as guard patrol patterns. Each time you play, the locations of certain key items will also be different, so there is a little variety going on, but not enough to really hold your attention for more than a couple of hours.
While the maps are quite nicely detailed and presented, and the variety is appreciated, you will become familiar with them fairly quickly, and that causes them to lose their ability to surprise you. Having the key item be located in the Library as opposed to the Bullpen is hardly a way to increase replayability; it just merely means you might turn left down the corridor instead of right, somewhere you probably had to go at some point anyway.
Progression, likewise, is limited. You'll earn points/pounds through completing contracts and objectives, which can then be spent on unlockables, which are mostly cosmetics, aside from the 2nd map, higher difficulties, and the game's 2nd character. There are a couple of pieces of equipment to unlock, as well as 2 available from the start. These are pretty nifty and helpful tools to have, such as a smoke bomb to distract and blind guards, which is almost essential.
A key part of Thick as Thieves is navigation. This was simultaneously the coolest and most frustrating part of the game for me. Cool because you have to get out and analyze an actual map while the game still plays out, as well as use clues you find around the map to find the location of your target. Frustrating because when you're on a time limit and trying to find a specific room while figuring out where you are and planning a route, it can be a little stressful, but maybe that's the point.
Once you've got your route planned, you then have to bypass the security. Guards, Magic Eyes, Turrets, and Pressure Plates. Guards are the trickiest, moving on set patrol patterns. You either have the option to avoid them entirely, distract them, or take them out from behind, which was my preferred tactic. I did encounter a couple of issues with guards. After being knocked out, they would sometimes remain constantly "alerted" and run around the map like headless chickens, which should not have happened, as it made the rest of the mission very difficult.
Magic Eyes are best avoided, or you can use a smoke bomb to temporarily blind them. Not much to say here, get caught, and you'll likely be trapped in the area you're in for a little while and take damage-over-time unless you can hide again, but they don't seem to alert the guards, and ultimately they feel a little useless.
Turrets and Pressure Plates I largely found to also be non-issues; one is just a timed avoidance as it rotates, and the other is so easily perceptible that you should never end up touching one. Again, I did encounter a bug here, sadly, where a turret was able to perceive me through a wall, as well as fire and kill me through said wall, quite the issue in a game based around stealth.
The stealth mechanics work reasonably well (aside from the above-mentioned issues). The game has a "light/dark" system that detects whether you are in shadow and makes you more or less visible from a distance accordingly. While the idea is neat, the game can never truly take advantage of it due to its limited scope. There aren't too many light/dark areas in the game, and you're probably just going to stay completely out of the line of sight of the guards anyway. It's most noticeable in outdoor areas, where, for example, if you're under a street lamp, you can be spotted from very far away.
Given the troubled development of the game, Thick As Thieves feels like you might imagine, a game with plenty of neat ideas, but poorly executed. I have no doubt that in the months before release, game mechanics were reworked to align with the new direction the game was taking. Some things feel like they don't belong in the game or were quickly thrown in, while there are big swathes of content seemingly absent. You also cannot pause the game, even in solo missions, no doubt a leftover from when the game was meant to be an online-only extraction title. You can play without an internet connection, however.
The saving grace here is that Thick As Thieves is launching at just $5, likely a far cry from the originally intended price, with the idea that the developers will expand the game in the future, most likely through paid DLC for additional maps. I do worry whether the game will garner enough of a player base for this to come to fruition, though.
I did need to install the VCRun 2022 Redistributable to get the game to run, as the developers don't seem to have included it with the installer. If your game doesn't run, go into Desktop Mode, boot/install ProtonTricks, select Thick As Thieves, then Default Wine Prefix, then Install a Windows DLL or Component, then scroll down and find VCRun2022 and install it. The game should now work.
Thick As Thieves works great on a controller, and thus controls well on the Steam Deck; it also supports the 1280x800 native resolution of the Deck.
The game defaults to Low settings, and I would keep them there. While you can hit 60 FPS in certain areas, the game tends to hold around high 40s and low 50s, so I'd recommend that you use SteamOS to cap the framerate to 40 FPS for a more stable experience. The game still looks decent on Low settings, and 40 FPS works well given that it isn't very fast-paced.
Your power draw will be around 18-20W, depending on the area, but it's relatively stable throughout. Expect a battery life of around 2.5 Hours on a Steam Deck OLED and around 1.5 Hours on a Steam Deck LCD.
Some UI is rather small and difficult to read on the Steam Deck's screen.
Thick As Thieves contains no accessibility options, but all dialogue is subtitled.
Thick As Thieves' troubled development has unfortunately resulted in a game full of half-baked ideas and limited replayability. While there are a couple of hours of enjoyment to be had, as well as a modest price tag, bugs and a lifeless world are a far cry from what was promised.
Once you've got the Visual C Redist installed, the game runs well on the Steam Deck and is perfectly playable at 40 FPS.
このレビューはPC版に基づいています。
このレビューをお楽しみいただけたなら、SteamDeckHQ の他のコンテンツもぜひご覧ください！あなたのゲーム体験に役立つゲームレビューやニュースを幅広く取り揃えています。ニュース、ヒントやチュートリアル、ゲーム設定やレビューをお探しの方も、最新のトレンドを知りたい方も、ぜひご利用ください。
Every once in a while, you come across a piece of media that resonates with you for years on end. The emotional impact, countless hours spent absorbing the music, characters, atmosphere; it all comes together to create something uniquely mesmerizing. The kind of experience that makes you silently realize you're deep into one of your favorite games of all time.
Clair Obscur is the very first game from indie studio Sandfall Interactive, and before release, almost nobody expected it to become such a massive hit and dominate award shows the way it has. This small team of 33 passionate French developers delivered something gigantic, and its impact will likely leave a mark on the overall gaming industry for years to come.
Set in a breathtaking dark fantasy world inspired by the Belle Époque golden age in France, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 tells the story of a civilization slowly approaching extinction. Every year, a mysterious being known as the Paintress awakens and paints a number upon a massive monolith. Anyone matching that age instantly vanishes without a trace. With the number decreasing year after year, humanity sends an expedition into the unknown each time, hoping to find the Paintress and finally end the cycle. Expedition 33 follows the 67th expedition, a group of people marching toward an almost impossible mission, knowing that their own remaining time is running out. What follows is an emotional and deeply personal journey filled with loss, mystery, and the constant fear of inevitable death.
The story and writing are etched with a level of screenplay and dialogue quality that competes with film classics. Without diving into spoilers, the narrative constantly evolves through multiple emotional and philosophical layers. Much of the experience revolves around mystery, slowly connecting fragmented conversations, hidden meanings, and puzzling dialogue pieces together. That constant feeling of trying to understand the truth behind everything is what made the story so addictive.
Clair Obscur distinguishes itself from its peers through its characters. From major cast members to side characters you may only speak to once, nearly everyone feels carefully written and memorable. One of the smartest decisions in the script is that no character feels completely devious or maligned. The game masterfully captures the grey areas of humanity, constantly pushing the player to empathize with actions that may be wrong, desperate, or forced by circumstances.
Story and writing are personally the most important aspects of a video game for me. With most games, I usually find myself nitpicking certain flaws or decisions I didn’t fully like. But in Expedition 33’s case, I genuinely struggle to think of anything I would change. The writing quality throughout the experience is nothing short of masterful. It made me cry, laugh, reflect, and constantly kept me emotionally invested from beginning to end. It was a complete rollercoaster of emotions.
When it comes to gameplay, my favorite way of describing Expedition 33 is “the best of both worlds.” The combat system feels like a near-perfect blend of classic turn-based Final Fantasy combat and the reaction-based defensive mechanics of Souls-like games such as Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. While adding active reaction mechanics into turn-based games is not an entirely new concept, Expedition 33 is in a class of its own.
At first glance, combat starts like a traditional turn-based RPG. You build a party with different characters, unique strengths, playstyles, and skill combinations, carefully strategizing your way through encounters. However, once enemies begin attacking, the game transforms into something far more interactive. You can dodge, parry, or jump over attacks entirely through player reaction and timing.
Parrying, in particular, becomes one of the most satisfying mechanics in the game. It is extremely difficult to master, but also incredibly rewarding. Every successful parry grants AP, allowing you to build resources even while defending. Perfectly parrying entire enemy combos triggers devastating counterattacks that feel impactful every time. After hundreds of hours of gameplay, landing a full counter never stops being satisfying.
There are a total of six playable characters in the game, and each of them feels both unique and surprisingly deep mechanically. Each character introduces their own gameplay system and combat identity. For example, Lune functions as a mage who utilizes elemental “Stains” to create different effects and empower specific abilities, while Sciel fights using a card-based system that grants buffs, applies debuffs, and shifts her between different combat stances and modes.
The game also includes a character inspired by the classic “Blue Mage” archetype from Final Fantasy, allowing you to collect enemy abilities and use their own attacks against them. The amount of combat variety and combo potential across the cast is nuanced and contributes to the game's overall atmosphere.
On top of the turn-based combat, the game features a Free Aim system that feels like a small third-person shooter mechanic. You can manually target enemy weak points, interrupt attacks, or trigger special interactions during battle. What makes it even more impressive is how deeply this mechanic can be integrated into character builds. You can fully specialize certain characters around Free Aim and essentially turn them into machine gun-style damage weapons that seem to draw inspiration from first-person shooters. The sheer amount of build variety gives the combat system an unforeseen level of replayability and experimentation.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 uses a unique world structure that blends open exploration with more focused level design. While there is a large overworld where you can freely travel, fight optional bosses, discover loot, and unlock side activities, the main gameplay loop revolves around the game’s individual locations.
These locations function almost like large dungeon-style areas with semi-open layouts. They are filled with enemies, platforming sections, hidden paths, optional encounters, shortcuts, puzzles, and combat challenges, all of which constantly reward exploration. Each area is mechanically distinct, introducing new enemy combinations, traversal ideas, and gameplay scenarios rather than repeating the same structure over and over.
By avoiding the typical “open world checklist” design, the game becomes more enjoyable. Exploration feels focused and gameplay-driven rather than bloated, keeping a strong pace throughout the entire experience.
At first glance, character progression looks deceptively simple. You level up your characters, improve stats, unlock new skills, and equip stronger gear, much like you would in a traditional RPG. However, the game's real depth comes from its Picto and Lumina systems.
Pictos are special equipment pieces that not only provide stats but also unique passive abilities that can drastically change your playstyle. The clever part is that after winning four battles with a Picto equipped, its passive ability is permanently unlocked as a “Lumina.” Once unlocked, you can equip that passive separately without needing to keep the original Picto on your character, essentially letting you stack and combine countless different effects together.
Throughout the game, you constantly collect Lumina points that expand your Lumina capacity, allowing for increasingly powerful and creative builds. The feeling of gradually becoming stronger is satisfying, especially because the system constantly rewards experimentation.
There are well over a hundred different Pictos for Luminas in the game, creating an enormous amount of specialized build variety. Even after reaching the level cap for your characters, weapons, and equipment, you can continue farming Lumina points to further improve your builds. This progression system adds a huge amount of replayability, especially for New Game Plus runs where you can experiment with entirely different playstyles and absurdly powerful combinations.
At first glance, the graphical quality in Expedition 33 may seem like a fairly standard Unreal Engine 5 presentation with solid but familiar texture work. What elevates the visuals is the incredible attention to atmosphere, particle effects, lighting, and artistic direction. Nearly every area in the game feels as if it were pulled from a painting, constantly presenting the player with unique visual themes and memorable scenery.
The game makes extremely smart use of cinematic techniques such as depth of field, lighting contrast, fog, and environmental effects to enhance the overall presentation. Rather than forcing realism through an enormous budget, Expedition 33 uses its artistic strengths intelligently, often masking technical limitations in ways that feel almost magical. The result is a game that looks breathtaking despite being developed by a relatively small team.
The cinematic presentation quality is so good that some scenes feel closer to watching a professionally edited, scripted movie than to playing a video game developed by a small team in France. And thanks to the talented motion capture performers and the game’s strong directorial vision, the cinematics become far more emotionally immersive than most RPGs. The facial animations, body language, camera work, and performances all come together brilliantly, making the visual presentation during story moments pull you deeper into the experience and make even simple conversations feel impactful.
The only noticeable technical issue I found was with the character models. Both important story characters and random NPCs can sometimes look a little too similar facially, making it fairly obvious that many of them share very similar base models underneath their designs.
While this is ultimately a minor complaint, it can occasionally diminish immersion and create unintended confusion during certain scenes. At times, I found myself wondering whether a character was intentionally connected to another, related somehow, or part of a future reveal, simply because some faces looked so similar. It’s one of the few areas where the game’s smaller budget becomes slightly more noticeable.
Also, the aggressive use of depth of field causes some blurriness issues. On hair, it causes an effect that looks a little bit underwhelming. But other than that, the game looks absolutely gorgeous.
Music... music... music... I seriously don’t even know what to say here. I feel unqualified trying to review Lorien Testard’s work because the soundtrack is simply awe-inducing. With 154 different tracks, this is easily one of the most robust soundtracks I’ve ever heard in a video game.
The differentiation is insane. Some tracks are emotional and melancholic, some are peaceful and atmospheric, while others suddenly turn into intense boss themes that make fights feel ten times more impactful.
What makes it even more special is how memorable everything is. Hours after playing, I still had multiple tracks randomly stuck in my head. The music carries so many emotional scenes and elevates the entire experience constantly. There were moments where I just stopped moving for a minute and listened to the sounds coming through my speakers.
Sound design and voice acting, as presented, are top-tier. The impact and feedback during combat feel incredible, especially when it comes to parries and powerful skills. Every hit, counter, explosion, and attack has this heavy, satisfying feeling to it that makes combat even more addictive.
Voice acting is fantastic across the entire cast as well, with emotional scenes feeling natural and believable instead of overly dramatic or forced. Honestly, the entire sound package, from music to effects to performances, is a work of art.
I want to start with a small disclaimer here. If you simply download the game and play it using the default “Verified” settings, you are honestly going to have a pretty terrible experience. Out of the box, the game uses heavily restricted settings that look extremely blurry, suffer from unstable performance, and introduce noticeable input delay due to the uncapped fluctuating frame rate.
By default, the game does not properly allow you to lock the frame rate, meaning performance constantly jumps around between 30 and 50 FPS, depending on the area. In most games, this would already be annoying, but in a reaction and parry-heavy game like Expedition 33, inconsistent frame pacing actively hurts gameplay.
Thankfully, there is an easy workaround. By adding:
SteamDeck=0 %command%
into the Steam launch options, you can bypass the game’s restricted Steam Deck preset and gain full access to the graphics settings menu, including proper frame rate limiting options. This alone massively improves the experience and immediately makes combat feel far more responsive.
The second thing I highly recommend doing is injecting an FSR 4 file. Thankfully, this process is extremely simple and dramatically improves image quality without heavily impacting performance. There are multiple ways of doing it, but the easiest method is downloading the amd_fidelityfx_upscaler_dx12.dll file directly from AMD’s official files and replace the existing one through Desktop Mode.
Once both of these tweaks are applied, the visual difference is shocking. The game transforms from a blurry, unstable mess into one of the sharpest and most visually impressive games available on Steam Deck. Here’s a comparison between the default FSR 3.1 implementation and FSR 4 running on the Performance preset.
Once properly configured, the game manages to hold a surprisingly stable and responsive 30 FPS lock on Steam Deck for the vast majority of the experience. Around 99% of gameplay feels smooth and consistent, which is extremely important for a reaction-heavy combat system like this one.
There are a few exceptions. Some larger open-world sections and certain chaotic 3v3 encounters can occasionally dip into the 24-27 FPS range, but these drops are relatively minor and rarely occur during actual gameplay. Overall, the experience still feels very comfortable and responsive on the Deck.
There is little visual sacrifice made while using lower settings. Even on desktop hardware, the difference between the lowest and highest presets is surprisingly subtle in many areas. Thanks to the game’s creative use of art direction and lighting, Expedition 33 still looks absolutely gorgeous on Steam Deck despite running on the lowest available settings.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one of the rare games that reminds me why I fell in love with video games in the first place. Between its masterfully written story, unforgettable characters, addictive combat system, incredible soundtrack, and beautiful artistic vision, this is an experience that will stay with you long after the credits roll.
On Steam Deck, the experience is also far better than the default settings initially suggest. While the out-of-the-box “Verified” profile is disappointing, a few simple tweaks transform the game into a surprisingly stable and visually stunning handheld experience.
It feels surreal that this is the very first game from Sandfall Interactive. If this is what the studio is capable of on their debut title, I cannot wait to see what they create next. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not just one of the best RPGs I’ve played in years. It is probably the best game I've ever played, period.
このレビューはPC版に基づいています。
このレビューをお楽しみいただけたなら、SteamDeckHQ の他のコンテンツもぜひご覧ください！あなたのゲーム体験に役立つゲームレビューやニュースを幅広く取り揃えています。ニュース、ヒントやチュートリアル、ゲーム設定やレビューをお探しの方も、最新のトレンドを知りたい方も、ぜひご利用ください。
Coffee Talk Tokyo was provided by Chorus for review. Thank you!
Coffee Talk has always been one of those games where you can just sit back, take it easy, and make some coffee while learning about your patrons and the problems they’re dealing with, and Coffee Talk Tokyo is no different. However, this time, we’re in Tokyo. And while the core of the series remains unchanged, we have new people to meet, new stories to hear, and a new setting to fall in love with.
Throughout each day, our memorable cast of new characters will come in to drink some coffee or tea and vent about their problems. Generally, we will take their order, make their drink, then listen and have a discussion about the troubles that are eating away at them, all to the sound of fantastic lo-fi beats.
Even though I had played the other two games in the series, I still felt engaged and excited with Coffee Talk Tokyo. I’ll also realize how deep the topics can get. These can be a little lighter, like discussing how difficult it is to make friends as an adult, but it can go into deeper territory, like pulling yourself up out of rock bottom, not feeling like you belong, or finding yourself again after retiring from work, and facing those around you who felt neglected by work being a priority. Each of these topics, despite how serious they are, is handled with grace, and even if I couldn’t relate to them directly, I still found them very interesting. It even has some hints of Japanese culture nested in there, especially when it comes to work-life balance.
It also helps that the cast is great. Their designs all feel so unique and memorable, while their personality shine through the lines of dialogue that appear on the screen. Blue’s excitement as she introduces Kenshi to Jun’s music is contagious, while the pain Kenshi feels after describing how he felt ignored by his wife hit me hard. The combination of the atmosphere, the character, the designs, the music, and the way the text is accentuated based on how loud or soft someone is speaking, all work together to set the tone that can be felt. It was like I was there, feeling the pain, excitement, joy, and sadness that they were all going through.
Ultimately, I loved the story. I fell in love with each of the characters and wanted to see their conclusions to the end. And with the expanded Tomodachi social media tab, there was more to discover. It’s great to check the social media often to find new recipes for drinks you can make, but by highlighting hashtags, we can find hidden posts that will give us even more background information about the characters, the overall world of Coffee Talk, and see what some familiar faces from previous games have been up to.
I really like the idea behind this, but the implementation does feel clunky. Other than finding those new recipes, I didn’t really enjoy using the social media side of things. The notification system, for it was also a little inconsistent. Sometimes, all I had to do was look at a hashtag to get rid of the notification, while for stories, I had to click on each one to get rid of the notification. It also just feels a little slow, too look through everything, and the fact that the selection always started on the recipes instead of what I last used kept tripping me up. These are whole minor issues, but they still contributed to the overall clunkiness of the UI.
Apart from the new hashtag system, we are able to brew new coffee and tea, choose between iced or hot, and add stencils. These are nice little touches that allow us to personalize the drinks we are making. And with the endless and challenge modes, we can keep making these as long as we want. I wouldn’t say these modes were a reason I would keep coming back to the game after beating it, but they are nice little touches if you want to play a relaxing game where you’re just making coffee and listening to good music.
Coffee Talk Tokyo is perfect to play on the Steam Deck, which is not something I really doubted before. It runs at 90 FPS without any changes and will stick under 8W of battery drain. This means we will get around 6+ hours of battery life on the Steam Deck OLED and 4.5+ hours on the Steam Deck LCD. All while the game still looks gorgeous and feels great with the controller. I also never felt the text was too small, though it gets very close to being on the very small side.
Coffee Talk Tokyo is another great entry in the series, one that’ll be perfect to play lying on a recliner while sipping a cup of coffee. The cast characters are memorable, with stories that hit emotionally thanks to the great atmosphere, lo-fi soundtrack, and the visual cues that express them. The social media and phone UI clunkiness doesn’t detract from what is otherwise a great experience; there is one worth opening your heart to.
On top of that, it is flawless on the Steam Deck, making this game a great one to take on the go.
このレビューはPC版に基づいています。
このレビューをお楽しみいただけたなら、SteamDeckHQ の他のコンテンツもぜひご覧ください！あなたのゲーム体験に役立つゲームレビューやニュースを幅広く取り揃えています。ニュース、ヒントやチュートリアル、ゲーム設定やレビューをお探しの方も、最新のトレンドを知りたい方も、ぜひご利用ください。
Forza Horizon 6 was provided by Xbox Game Studios for review. Thank you!
After an excruciating 5-year wait, the Forza Horizon series is back, and Playground Games has chosen the most anticipated location yet for this adventure: Japan.
With the bright lights of Tokyo, the narrow streets of sleepy villages, twisting mountain roads, and beautiful forests, the world of Forza Horizon 6 is the most varied environment in a Forza Horizon game to date. Slap a massive festival site in the middle of it all, and we're back to racing!
Forza Horizon 6 plays it safe with its gameplay formula. If you've played any of the Forza Horizon games, this will be a familiar format. You have your various race events, such as dirt, road, and cross-country. Then you have your speed traps, drift zones, and danger signs to keep you busy while you explore the map, as well as the ever-popular collectibles, in the form of boards and mascots.
This is all unchanged, aside from a couple of additions and returning features, such as Car Meets, which reappear for the first time since Forza Horizon 3, where you can gather with your lobby and check out other people's rides, and Touge racing, where you'll race on tight mountain roads in a 1V1. Just don't expect anything too new and surprising with what Forza Horizon 6 offers. There is also a neat feature where you can find cars for sale around the map, allowing you to pick up rare bargains, in addition to Barn Finds and "Treasure Cars", which are hidden in the world.
Car physics are likewise unchanged; it embraces the same "simcade" style of previous games, offering a degree of realism while also allowing you to drive through pretty much everything that isn't a building. This is exaggerated even more in Forza Horizon 6, as even trees can now be driven through, which is a good thing, as I'll point out later. Fun is the order of the day here, and the game delivers on that as well as the previous iterations have done.
The "story" is pretty identical to previous entries. You'll gain progress in the form of Wristbands through completing events and challenges. To earn a Wristband, you'll need to unlock and then beat a special event, either a Horizon Rush event, which is a time trial on specially-made tracks, or a "Showcase" event, where you'll race against another type of vehicle, much the same as previous Horizon games, such as a Gundam or, I presume, a C-130 cargo plane.
Exploration is still fun and rewarding, and it's perfect when you just want to drive around in your favorite car without the hassle of racing. The world map I found to be more interesting than the previous foray into Mexico, which never really grabbed me.
Visually, Forza Horizon 6 impresses in its environment. The density of flora is striking, with plenty of forests and dense undergrowth foliage present; it really helps to bring the depiction of Japan to life. And as I said, it's a good thing we can now drive through any tree, given the sheer volume of them.
The depiction of Tokyo city itself I found to be less enticing. I was looking forward to blasting through a big city, with bright, vibrant neon lights shining on rain-soaked streets, but, to be honest, it all ended up looking a little... flat. Whether it's the cooler temperature grade applied to the screen compared to Forza Horizon 5's Mexico, or the fact that there's often no sunshine in Horizon 6 due to the frequently overcast Japan, the world does sometimes feel a little... bland.
The game excels when you're out in the rural areas, enjoying the forests and quaint villages that line the twisting country and mountain roads, and then up to the ski slopes in the far north for some rallying. The city ends up feeling cold and ironically lifeless by comparison. The neon signs are there, but they don't really "pop", one of the biggest draws of Tokyo, and it feels like they missed a beat depicting it here. Shibuya Crossing is present also, but with low traffic and pedestrian density, it feels... off.
You also have your "estate" in the game, which gives you a big, open space where you can create and design your own custom playground, whether that's a race track, a parkour challenge, or anything else you can think of. You're also able to invite friends over so you can try out what you've made together.
As far as the cars go, there's some improvement, but it is fairly similar to the detail found in Forza Horizon 5, which isn't a bad thing; they still look great. I do wish rain effects were improved in the interior camera, though. They've been the same since Forza Horizon 4, and with Drive Club way back in 2014 showing us how good they can look, it's a shame to see such a basic implementation still.
I also encountered some visual disappointments, such as shadows on distant cars not being visible, certain objects not loading in until you were too close, and grass visibly becoming denser just a few meters in front of your vehicle, even on the highest settings. Attention to detail on the interiors of cars was a tad disappointing too, with things like the clocks on vehicles not matching the in-game or real-life clock, something past Forza games have done.
Overall, while there are visual improvements in Forza Horizon 6, it isn't quite up to the standard I was hoping for, especially with last-generation consoles now being ditched entirely. The addition of ray-traced reflections and global illumination is nice, but other areas of the game seem to have been, dare I say, neglected.
The sounds in the game are fantastic; not only is the soundtrack blood-pumping, but the cars sound more refined than Forza Horizon 5's, with plenty of throaty (and occasionally whiny) JDM engine noises awaiting you. It sounds less artificial than before, especially the car idling noises at the starting line. The audio mixing was slightly off for me by default, and I would definitely lower the music volume a fair bit to fully enjoy the sound of your car.
Forza Horizon 6 also likes to give out cars (and money) like candy. It's been a bugbear of mine in the Forza series for a while, but Forza Horizon 6 continues the tradition of your car collection not really being something to be worked for. Within the first hour, you're plied with free cars. By the time I had over 90 cars, fewer than 10 were purchased. It's one area where the Gran Turismo games excel, and one that Forza has increasingly disregarded. Wheelspins return, and while I do get a thrill out of them, it is one of the main ways you'll be receiving your cars and money, which is a shame in a racing game.
Speaking of cars, while Forza Horizon 6 doesn't really expand the car roster in terms of size, you have around 550 to choose from, it does have a great selection to choose from, especially Japanese cars, where the team has made a special effort to make sure all your favorites are in there. Mitsubishi Eclipse, Toyota SERA, Subaru Legacy, Nissan Silvia, and all the big names like Impreza, Skyline, Lancer, the chances are your dream Japanese car is in the game.
Forza Horizon 6 has been confirmed to run on the Steam Deck since it specifically appeared on the spec sheet for the game, and it's good to see it actually does perform well. However, there are a few changes to make that enhance the experience.
The first is setting the in-game FPS cap to 45fps and using the Steam Deck Quick Access Menu to cap it to 30fps. This is a better cap, though there will be a bit more input lag as you'd expect. The other change is setting the game to 1280x800 resolution if you want to play with the full 16:10 display, but frame times can get a bit worse in the city area.
I noticed the GPU usage wasn't too high, and forcing the Manual GPU Clock to 1600MHz helped here. This does use up more power, but the result is better as far as I'm concerned on the OLED model. Barring this, I also recommend setting Motion Blur to Long instead of Short since the former is recommended for lower frame rates. You can also turn this off based on your liking. I usually turn off motion blur in most games, but I've always liked the Forza Horizon implementation across every game I've played.
The Anti-aliasing option here defaults to TAA, and you can play around with the sharpness level to see how you like it. My preferred setting is 0.6 here. As for HDR, right now, there are no settings to tweak the brightness on the Steam Deck OLED with HDR, so I cannot give you recommended settings for that aspect.
There is a way to turn the settings down below the Low preset to get better performance, and I do not recommend it, as turning off shadows makes the game look awful. I also tried playing at a lower resolution, FSR ultra performance, and the Very Low preset. Even with those settings, you can't get close to a locked 60fps on Steam Deck.
These settings are the perfect blend of getting as stable an experience as possible without degrading the visuals too much. Forza Horizon 6, even on its low preset, is a very good-looking game on the Steam Deck's display. I also tested it out docked via the Steam Deck Docking Station. It doesn't hold up as well as expected with the same settings, and this is where I opted to use my ROG Ally Z1E in turbo mode. I was able to get it to 1080p 30fps on the medium preset, and I found it delivered a good complement to my portable Steam Deck 30fps experience.
The developers have noted that there will be more Steam Deck optimization, and if anything major changes in the future, we will revisit this. Until then, Forza Horizon 6 delivers a very good portable experience on Steam Deck, both online and offline.
Forza Horizon 6 has an absolute plethora of accessibility settings, as we've come to expect from the series. We obviously have the basics like subtitle support, as well as driving assists, but we also have plenty of added extras to make this game playable by as many as possible.
These include a very customizable high contrast mode which lets you assign bright colors to differentiate parts of the world for those with vision impairment, proximity radar with audio cues to alert you to nearby vehicles, the ability to play the game in slow-mo (offline mode only), or allow you to progress even if you don't win the race, as well as audio cues that can read out your current lap, current position, and if you just gained/lost a position.
Forza Horizon 6 plays it safe in almost every aspect. Whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on whether you enjoyed the previous entries in the series, and whether or not you were hoping for something new. The rural areas of the map are a delight, but the city of Tokyo left me feeling disappointed with its relatively bland depiction and empty streets. The cars are still great fun to drive, with a huge showing from Japanese manufacturers this time around, and exploration is as rewarding as ever.
このレビューはPC版に基づいています。
このレビューをお楽しみいただけたなら、SteamDeckHQ の他のコンテンツもぜひご覧ください！あなたのゲーム体験に役立つゲームレビューやニュースを幅広く取り揃えています。ニュース、ヒントやチュートリアル、ゲーム設定やレビューをお探しの方も、最新のトレンドを知りたい方も、ぜひご利用ください。
When Ghost of Tsushima launched in 2020 as a PS4 exclusive, it quickly became one of Sony’s most beloved and successful titles. Players had been craving an open-world samurai experience set in feudal Japan for years, and Sucker Punch delivered exactly that. What’s more interesting is that, compared to other Sony first-party titles, its budget was relatively modest. While it’s still a AAA production, it didn’t rely on massive funding seen in games like The Last of Us: Part II or Horizon: Forbidden West. Instead, Sucker Punch proved that strong artistic direction, a clear vision, and determination can be just as impactful as sheer budget.
The game follows Jin Sakai, a samurai who loses his father at a young age and is raised by his uncle, Lord Shimura, the leader of Tsushima and a strict believer in the samurai code. The story begins with a large-scale invasion as the Mongol Empire clashes with the samurai of Tsushima. The battle ends in a devastating defeat for the samurai, with most presumed dead and Lord Shimura taken captive.
Jin, however, survives after being rescued by a mysterious woman, becoming one of the few remaining warriors on the island. With all hope seemingly lost, he sets out on a mission to rescue his uncle, forging new alliances and recruiting powerful allies across Tsushima along the way.
The story starts off strong and highly cinematic. However, it feels as if it deliberately shifts into separate narrative arcs, allowing players to connect with different key characters who share similar goals. While this structural change initially adds to the immersion, it also introduces a major issue: inconsistency. Some storylines are thoroughly engaging and memorable, while others fall into tired cliche territory. At times, certain arcs feel rushed or cut short, preventing them from reaching their full potential.
This issue becomes even more apparent in the side quests. While some offer storytelling that rivals, or even surpasses, the main narrative, others rely on repetitive, uninspired setups like “go kill this” or “they took my brother,” turning them into forgettable chores.
Despite these flaws, the game still delivers several incredibly well-written moments, morally ambiguous themes, and thrilling action sequences. For a historical setting, maintaining this level of narrative engagement is no easy task, yet Sucker Punch manages to shine where it matters most.
When it comes to gameplay, it's a mixed bag. The game features a vast open world, a beautiful island to fully explore. Yet, it’s full of emptiness and Ubisoft-esque objectives. They managed to make the game feel empty and filled with unnecessary chores and collectibles at the same time.
The game offers a very simplistic upgrade and loot system. You loot components, upgrade your gear. You gain XP to gain new techniques or improve the existing ones. Sadly, to do all these, you have to progress through uninteresting and repetitive side content. At its core, the game does a terrible job at keeping players on track with the main mission while improving their character.
When it comes to combat, Ghost of Tsushima deserves all the praise it gets. It features one of the most satisfying and well-designed combat systems I’ve experienced in an open-world game.
What stands out the most is the variety of mechanics and playstyles, and more importantly, how they are integrated into the game’s overall design. In many open-world games with character customization, players are often pushed into committing to a single build or playstyle. Ghost of Tsushima takes a different approach.
The encounter design constantly encourages you to adapt. You can engage in precise swordplay, take down enemies from a distance with archery, or rely on stealth, and all of them feel essential rather than optional. There are unavoidable duels and ambushes that test your swordsmanship, elevated enemies that demand ranged solutions, and high-stakes scenarios where prisoners' lives force you into stealth. Each situation naturally pushes you toward a different approach.
This constant shift in gameplay keeps combat fresh and prevents it from ever feeling repetitive or forced. More importantly, it all flows seamlessly with the game’s immersion. It’s a complete masterclass in encounter design.
In the early hours of my playthrough, swordplay and the core dodge, hit, and parry mechanics felt flat. However, as the game opens up and you unlock new techniques and stances, combat gradually becomes far more engaging. The introduction of different enemy types, combined with thoughtful encounter design and the important impact of upgrades, elevates the system into something satisfying. Each new tool and ability adds a layer of depth that keeps fights dynamic and rewarding.
I personally leaned heavily into the perfect parry mechanic, building my playstyle around it. On higher difficulties, this approach felt remarkably close to Sekiro, which features one of my personal favorite sword combat systems.
My only real criticism is the lack of impactful sound design. For a samurai-focused experience, the audio feedback, especially during sword clashes and perfect parries, feels underwhelming, and it hinders immersion immensely.
When it comes to raw technical graphical fidelity, the game isn’t particularly impressive on the Steam Deck, which is to be expected, considering it was originally developed for the PS4. However, where it truly excels is in its art direction. The combination of stunning environmental design and masterful use of lighting makes almost every scene feel like it’s pulled straight from a film or a Renaissance painting. Flowing grass fields, vibrant trees, dynamic weather effects, and stylized animations all come together beautifully. These elements elevate the visuals beyond pure technical limitations and give the game a timeless quality.
There are occasional issues, such as stiff or out-of-place facial expressions and lower-quality foliage, rocks, and textures. But overall, these gripes feel like nitpicking, as they rarely detract from the game's immersive qualities.
Sound design and music are one of the weakest aspects of the game. It’s surprising to see a title that excels in immersion in so many areas fall short in its audio direction.
From voice acting to environmental sounds, the overall audio experience can feel lacking in impact. As mentioned earlier, even swordplay, one of the game's core elements, often lacks the weight and presence you would expect, which is disappointing for a samurai-focused experience.
The music, while present, rarely leaves a lasting impression. Outside of a few key moments, much of the game feels unusually quiet, especially during exploration. Whether this was an intentional design choice or a limitation of the production, it doesn’t always complement the otherwise rich atmosphere.
That said, it ultimately feels like a missed opportunity. With such a strong visual identity and immersive world, the game deserved a more memorable and impactful audio experience.
All in all, Ghost of Tsushima runs extremely well on the Steam Deck.
The game includes a built-in Steam Deck preset, but I strongly recommend avoiding it. In my experience, it’s both unstable and visually underwhelming, failing to justify its performance trade-offs. With the default settings, performance fluctuates between 30 and 45 FPS, which feels majorly inconsistent.
With our optimized settings, you can achieve a stable 45 FPS experience with minimal visual compromise. Throughout testing, I encountered no stutters, performance drops, or noticeable input lag. Interestingly, this result was largely made possible by the dynamic resolution upscaler. Ironically, I generally dislike variable resolution or scaling techniques, since they often introduce unwanted blur or general inconsistencies. However, in this case, it delivers a surprisingly clean and stable image.
No matter how much I tweaked the graphical settings alone, I couldn’t achieve a consistent 45 FPS lock. The game would either dip into the high 30s or introduce slight input lag when relying on Steam’s frame limiting instead.
The only issue I could find was HDR. I don’t tend to use HDR in my playthroughs, both personal and professional, so I usually keep it disabled, but this game is unplayably dark without HDR, and I couldn’t find a fix. Even at max brightness, the game looks extremely dark.
Setting dynamic resolution to target 45 FPS allows the game to intelligently adjust its internal resolution during demanding scenes, maintaining a stable frame rate without introducing any noticeable input lag.
My previous experience with dynamic resolution in Horizon: Forbidden West was far less positive. There, aggressive scaling often resulted in a blurry, almost cloud-like streaming image. In contrast, Ghost of Tsushima handles it remarkably well. I experienced consistent 45 FPS gameplay from start to finish, with no significant visual compromises and surprisingly strong image quality.
For the graphical settings, my goal was to strike a careful balance between performance and visuals. I prioritized options that have a meaningful impact on image quality while minimizing their performance cost. The result is a mix of lower settings where the visual difference is negligible, and higher settings where they truly matter, creating a well-balanced and highly playable experience.
It is possible to achieve a stable-ish 60 FPS experience, but it comes at the cost of significant visual compromises that diminish the game’s standout atmosphere and lighting. On the other hand, a visually impressive 30 FPS setup preserves the game’s beauty but makes the fast-paced, precision-based combat feel less responsive and increasingly frustrating.
Because of this, I strongly recommend playing the game at a locked 45 FPS with our optimized settings, as they offer the best balance between visual fidelity and responsiveness.
Ghost of Tsushima is a visually stunning experience that excels in combat and art direction, but falls short in areas like repetition, a cliche narratives, and underwhelming sound design. It stands as a contradictory “mixed bag” game, frustrating at times, yet undeniably impressive in what it achieves. Despite its flaws, it successfully delivers on the long-awaited samurai fantasy many players have been craving for years.
Thanks to its origins as a PS4 title and its excellent optimization, the game runs exceptionally well on the Steam Deck. It stands out as a rare AAA experience that not only performs great on the platform but also feels tailor-made for it, making it an easy recommendation for Steam Deck users.
このレビューはPC版に基づいています。
このレビューをお楽しみいただけたなら、SteamDeckHQ の他のコンテンツもぜひご覧ください！あなたのゲーム体験に役立つゲームレビューやニュースを幅広く取り揃えています。ニュース、ヒントやチュートリアル、ゲーム設定やレビューをお探しの方も、最新のトレンドを知りたい方も、ぜひご利用ください。
Saros was provided by PlayStation for review. Thank you!
Roguelikes are one of the more enjoyable, newer genres that have taken up most of my time. I’ve always loved grinding in games, especially JRPGs, and with this genre designed to push you to go back over and over progressively, get better and more powerful, it spoke to me. There are a ton of great ones out there. However, Saros tricked me. Despite having gameplay mechanics similar to roguelikes, the game is structured closer to a third-person action adventure, and that change in perspective makes this bullet hell one worth braving through the accessible chaos.
Developer Housemarque has really created something special again. They captured it once with Returnal, and it feels like they have stepped it up again with Saros. Bullet hell games tend to confuse me with so much going on at one time on the screen, and being in the thick of it in third person in a 3D world makes it even harder for me to comprehend. Yet with Saros, I not only understood everything that was happening on screen, but I could also comprehend and react accordingly, which had me dodging, dashing, and shooting in ways I didn’t even think I could.
It amazed me every time I got into combat. The general gameplay loop has us going from area to area, killing scores of enemies, dodging the stream of colorful balls they shoot at us, and culminating in a big boss fight. As we go to each area, we will get new weapons and artifacts to enhance our skills, as well as get currency (Lucenite) that will be used for permanent passive upgrades that will give us an edge in our run. And when we die, we lose the artifacts and higher-powered weapons, and will need to restart the runs until we can complete and beat each boss.
If this loop sounds familiar…well, that’s because it is. It’s a tried and true gameplay loop that works well in other roguelikes and keeps the constant replaying of the same areas. Some randomization of the level layouts helps, but even without it, the actual bullet-hell shooting gave me more than enough motivation to dive back in.
The assortment of weapons we can find also greatly enhances replayability. There’s a good chunk of them, ranging from assault rifles and shotguns to guns that can shoot out sawblades. Each of them has its uses and strengths, and I found myself enjoying all of them. I usually have favorite weapons in every game I play, but that wasn’t really the case here because I enjoyed all of them. Ultimately, I would get nitpicky about their stats rather than about what kind of gun it was, and the decision to make some of them automatically lock onto enemies was a good choice. There are benefits for using guns that don’t lock onto enemies, since they usually deal more damage, but going for the guns that can automatically lock onto enemies gives us one less thing to worry about, so we can focus on dodging orbs and getting those perfect reloads.
Speaking of which, I want to praise Housemarque for making an extremely chaotic game that is still very easy to comprehend. These colorful orbs can come from anywhere, and not only will we need to dodge them, but some may need to be parried. With enemies all over the map, with some being able to shoot hundreds of orbs in every direction at any given time, it can feel like there’s so much going on. Yet, I never felt overwhelmed. Every action I took felt calculated, and in a game like this, it can be a major issue if we can’t understand what’s going on. No matter how many orbs were coming at me, there were enough indicators that were obvious, along with a mini map with enemy locations and visual cues to keep me informed and able to figure out what I needed to do. The fact that the chaos successfully translated into a comprehensible state to this degree is an achievement in itself.
However, Saros does stand out from others and makes some interesting choices that mostly enhance the experience further. To make our weapons more powerful, we will consistently gain one of three attributes as we play: Command, Drive, and Resilience. These attributes can enhance one of three stats on whatever weapon we have equipped. It’s a little slow and doesn’t have much of an impact in the early parts of the game, but they can make big differences as we give ourselves more permanent upgrades in between runs to collect more and more. This works hand in hand with the proficiency system. As we collect currency in the run, our proficiency goes up, which directly influences how much each of the weapon stats can go up.
The main way we will initially get attributes is through artifacts, which can provide passive benefits like collecting extra Lucenite and healing more from Aether pickups. There’s only a limited amount of artifacts we can hold, and we can’t get rid of them normally, so choosing the right ones with the attributes and abilities you need will be key. I wasn’t a huge fan of this, since there were a handful of times I found a great artifact and had to leave it behind because I couldn’t get rid of an older one, which was a bummer.
While the ideas are interesting, I found the corruption/negative effects a little too difficult or just downright ridiculous. For the second half of each area, we will trigger an eclipse, which makes enemies more aggressive and causes them to drop more Lucenite. This also makes artifacts more powerful, giving us more attributes, but they now come with negative effects. Most of these are fine, but some are just diabolical, like increasing the dash cooldown. With how key dashing is in combat, I hated seeing how frequently this popped up. Of course, we can always choose not to take it, and we could even get a special item to re-roll that artifact, but I didn’t find it worthwhile to take it on and save those re-rolls to get the weapon I wanted. There were runs where I ended up only having 3 artifacts because of this, and the decreased frequency they show up later on, instead of the older 12 or more I would find.
And then we have destabilizing attributes. Some of these artifacts will not only have negative effects, but also have a chance of destabilizing your attributes, giving even worse effects. Two of the three are okay and annoying, but not debilitating, while the third is just awful. It can make it so you don’t get any Lucenite if you die, which can make the whole run feel pointless. I understand this is supposed to be a difficult game, but this felt a little too harsh. Thankfully, most of these problems come later in the game, but they are still quite annoying to deal with.
Still, the combat was so fun that I ended up not caring about the negatives. Even after getting the destabilized attribute that takes away any Lucenite I earned, it never stopped me from wanting to dive back in. The energetic combat never lets up; even when it might seem overwhelming, it’s still understandable. I don’t know many games that can make the chaotic, bullet hell easily discernible in third person, but they did it in ways that captivated me.
As for the story, I was actually quite surprised by how much I enjoyed it at the end. For the first 75 to 80%, I was a little on the confused side. We play as Arjun Devraj, who has come with the emergency response team, Echelon IV, to investigate why the Soltati Corporation he works for has lost contact with the other three teams they have sent to this alien planet to set up a mining colony. He awakens with no memory and is kept in a loop, while it is slowly revealed that he has other motives for being there.
At first, it seems as though Arjun’s there to do his job, but he ends up just looking for his wife, Nitya. And as the game progresses, we learn more about how and why Nitya is here. I won’t spoil anything about the story in this review, but I will say the end was very satisfying. Saros initially made me believe the story would end abruptly without a conclusion I would consider pleasing, but it came back with a better ending that felt more realistic and satisfying than I thought it would.
However, even after the credits rolled, I found motivation to go back in just to keep playing through the fantastic gameplay loop. In a way, it feels unmatched. I don’t remember the last experience, other than possibly Returnal, that gave me the same adrenaline rush and satisfaction that comes from the combat.
Saros is a third-person shooter at its core, but the roguelike and bullet hell elements feel so refined that it offers an experience worth playing through. The combat is energetic, the progression is effective, and the story will be wrapped up in a nice blanket that feels satisfying to finish. It can be a little brutal at times, especially with destabilization, but that never stopped me from continually going in for more. Saros is an incredible game, and one that I’ll keep going back to for years just to get another hit of its accessible chaos.
Our review is based on the PS5 version of this game.
このレビューをお楽しみいただけたなら、SteamDeckHQ の他のコンテンツもぜひご覧ください！あなたのゲーム体験に役立つゲームレビューやニュースを幅広く取り揃えています。ニュース、ヒントやチュートリアル、ゲーム設定やレビューをお探しの方も、最新のトレンドを知りたい方も、ぜひご利用ください。
Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes was provided by Dotemu for review. Thank you!
I wasn't sure what to expect from Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes. In fact, I hadn't even heard of it until I was offered the chance to review it, but I love the 2004 TV series, so I was interested to see if this game could live up to that standard. And I must say, I was pleasantly surprised.
Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes adopts the ever-popular roguelite approach, and given the premise of the Battlestar Galactica franchise, it makes a lot of sense for this game.
As captain of a Gunstar vessel, it's up to you to lead your ship and a convoy of civilian vessels through various procedurally generated sectors in order to meet up with the Battlestar Galactica, all while keeping the peace with the various colonist factions, upgrading your fleet and combat squadrons, and facing the ever-present (and growing) Cylon threat.
When it comes to gameplay, Scattered Hopes is a game of 2 halves. The first is managing your fleet. Here we are faced with opportunities or crises that can either help or hinder progress, as well as Points of Interest, where you can gather resources to keep your fleet alive and colonists happy.
This part of the game is mostly a balancing act. You'll be trying to gauge your relationship to the 3 factions in your crew, make sure you don't run out of resources, and gather as much as possible in order to upgrade your Gunstar and your Squadrons. The Crises, Opportunities, and POIs will all feed into this balancing act. Every choice you make advances time until the next battle (and FTL jump), so while it might seem mundane in nature, there are often times when you have to make a choice about what you want to do with the limited time you have, and Crises usually give you unavoidable negative effects you'll have to contend with.
These factors together ensured that even fleet management never seemed like a boring or tedious part of the game, keeping your mind engaged throughout as you try to figure out which choice is the lesser of two evils.
The other half of the gameplay is the battles themselves. At the end of each sector, you'll face a Cylon fleet that you will have to defend against until your FTL co-ordinates are locked in and you can make your escape. While the battles are real-time, you can pause at any point, and you will be pausing a lot.
The Cylons come in large numbers, and the game almost feels like a tower defense experience. Ships will warp in on the battlefield and continue towards your fleet, while the enemy ship will fire missiles. Your ships have limited range, so your input will be in the form of constantly repositioning them in order to head off incoming threats. Using the "tactical pause" feature to think and plan your maneuvers is essential to staying alive.
As the countdown towards your FTL jump continues, the enemy fleet grows in numbers to the point where you can't realistically defend against everything. This creates a hectic atmosphere and a certain sense of dread, as you often have to let your fleet take a beating before you can jump to safety, very reminiscent of the TV series.
Once we die, the run is over, and we'll be rewarded with experience points and fate points based on how well we did. Experience points allow us to level up, unlocking more potential items and squadrons to purchase at in-sector shops, while Fate Points can give advantages in future runs.
While the Fate Points do offer some useful benefits, such as more resources to use or the ability to retry a battle if you lose, I found these bonuses to be somewhat moderate compared to other roguelites. Don't expect there to be exponential improvements in power between runs; these are modest upgrades that might give an edge if skill level almost got you through a battle.
Because of this, improvement in Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes will come as much from your own skills improving as you learn the game, as it will from the progression mechanics giving you advantages. Learning which ships to use where, and the best time to use your vital Gunstar abilities like a flak bombardment or nuclear missile, is crucial. This game won't be for everyone, but as space strategy roguelites go, it's a good one.
To get Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes to boot on the Steam Deck, I had to go into Steam Game Properties and force it to use Proton 10.0-4; otherwise, it would crash back to Steam during the opening logos.
The game has no controller support, so you'll be using a keyboard+mouse controller layout, which the game defaulted to. Fortunately, the game is slower-paced, and using the touchpad is a perfectly fine way to play.
There are no graphical options in the game, regardless of whether you play on the Steam Deck or not. I'd recommend you limit the FPS to 30 using the in-game option. This helps with stability and also improves battery life. You won't be able to maintain 30 the entire time; certain screens do drop into the 20s, but thankfully, these are just dialogue scenes.
Power draw tends to be around 13W-15W during battles, spiking to 20W during fleet management, which gives us a battery life of around 3 hours on a Steam Deck OLED, and around 2 hours on a Steam Deck LCD. Temperatures were around 60 °C-65 °C.
The UI is rather small on the Steam Deck, and there is no UI scaling either, so be prepared to have some difficult-to-read text to contend with. You may wish to alter the controller layout in Steam Input to add a magnifier.
Some text is hard to read on the Steam Deck's display, and there is no UI scaling option. Screenshake can be disabled.
You can pause the game at any point during a battle to issue orders. There are also customizable difficulty settings and rebindable controls.
While the battle system is somewhat simplistic in nature, the tension created by constant crises, overwhelming enemy odds, and infighting amongst your fleet allows Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes to create a great atmosphere worthy of the Battlestar Galactica name.
Performance on the Steam Deck is acceptable at 30 FPS. While the game has no controller support, almost everything is controlled via the mouse and space bar, which are mapped to the right touchpad and the A button, respectively, making it easy to control.
このレビューはPC版に基づいています。
このレビューをお楽しみいただけたなら、SteamDeckHQ の他のコンテンツもぜひご覧ください！あなたのゲーム体験に役立つゲームレビューやニュースを幅広く取り揃えています。ニュース、ヒントやチュートリアル、ゲーム設定やレビューをお探しの方も、最新のトレンドを知りたい方も、ぜひご利用ください。
Directive 8020 was provided by Supermassive Games for review. Thank you!
I love games with such an immersive story that takes center stage, and developer Supermassive Games has been one of the best at creating those. Even though I’m a baby when it comes to horror, their Dark Pictures Anthology games and Until Dawn still remain some of my favorites. However, with Directive 8020, the team changed a lot. With new gameplay mechanics and going into a sci-fi future, the game stands apart in many different ways, though it doesn’t fire on all cylinders when it should.
The game follows the crew of the Cassiopiea on a mission to do some tests on a new planet that could house humanity: Tau Ceti f. But before the crew can wake up, tragedy strikes when a meteorite hits the ship that seemingly carries an alien lifeform. It quickly becomes apparent that this lifeform is not friendly, and now the team will need to figure out exactly what they must do to survive.
I don’t want to spoil too much of the story, but if you’ve played Supermassive’s other games, you’ll probably be familiar with how many branches and choices we have that can dictate how the game ends. Still, the story is quite satisfying. I was very happy with the conclusion of my first run, and there were absolutely some surprising twists towards the end. There will definitely be some plot changes that surprise, as I definitely did not see some of them coming. I know I’m being a little vague, but I really don’t want to spoil anything. It’s worth playing through and figuring it out yourself.
One thing I found a little bit odd, though, was the pacing of episodes. I found that episodes 1-4 were quicker and didn’t have a lot happening in them, while the rest of the episodes (5-8) had much more substance and excitement. It felt like a lot was happening towards the second half of the game, and it made those first episodes feel like just introductions to what we would get later on. I can understand episode 1 feeling that way, but I thought it would pick up in episode 2. There are still some interesting revelations and discoveries in those earlier episodes, but they pale in comparison to the later ones.
I also wasn’t a huge fan of some of the opening scenes of those earlier episodes, where we would flash forward to the future. They felt like they were just added in to pad out the episode, while they would fit perfectly fine later on when those scenes actually take place in the second half of the game. They did dictate some outcomes later on, but I still felt like they would’ve fit better at a later time.
But as a new addition to the game that isn't seen in Supermassive's previous titles, I really like the Turning Point system. This allows us to go back to earlier points in the game, see what changes we could’ve made, and easily return to those spots. They are laid out like tree branches, making it easy to visualize the pathways that could lead us not only to other story elements, but to other endings of the game.
However, I advise against looking at this until you beat Directive 8020. Throughout my first playthrough, I was testing the system and going back slightly to make changes due to an accidentally failed QTE (Quicktime Event) or a button press. But I noticed that the points on the tree we didn’t unlock give us a hint on how to unlock them. These hints could have spoilers. There was one in particular where I was able to figure out which person was real because of the hints I saw. It took away a little bit of the mystery. I like having the hints there because they tell us what we should be doing to reach that path, but I wish the wording were changed so as not to spoil anything.
I also wish the system allowed for better jumping around the tree to reach certain pathways more quickly. Even if we go all the way back and make one change in episode 1, we can’t then jump forward into episode two and see how that path would change. It isn’t completely simulated, so you will have to play through the entire game again from that choice to see how the experience would change. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since some of these pathways can have huge ripple effects that completely change many scenes later on, but it would’ve been nice to have a quick way to go back and forth to see how that change would’ve affected specific scenes later on without having to play through the whole game again.
For the most part, I would consider the acting and animation great, though I did notice a few lines that felt a little forced or hard to believe. None of it took me too far out of the world, but it was still a little off at times. However, I loved the setting. The team was clearly going for a creepy, atmospheric five that I feel they nailed. Walking through dimly lit corridors, the sounds of clinking, metal and machinery, and the squishy sounds of the alien life form all mixed together in a symphony of horror that kept me on the edge of my seat.
Speaking of which, I would consider Directive 8020 more of a thriller with some horror elements. There were definitely some jump scares, and some later parts of the game genuinely made me wanna take my time to go through it, but the bulk of the game was more interesting than scary.
Another major change introduced in Directive 8020 is the addition of survival-horror stealth mechanics. Instead of just walking around and investigating, there are going to be moments where we have to hide from the monsters trying to find us. The mechanics are sound, so I did find these moments a little on the easy side. There are some tense spots here and there, but with us having a stun baton, it’s very easy to run in the area we need to head to, crouch down, and just wait until the monster recovers so that they don’t immediately come after us again.
These moments weren’t challenging, but it’s hard to deny how cool it was to see how one wrong move could affect the story. Getting caught changes the outcome of the ending, just like how choices will throughout the story, so it becomes more important to focus on making sure you get the desired outcome you want. It’s an interesting thought, but I wasn’t challenged.
Outside of that, there are some puzzle elements, like finding power cores and deciding which spots get electricity and which don’t, but it is ultimately all very simple. The extra gameplay elements felt like and after thought to help immerse us in the interactive story more. This game is an interactive story at its core, so I didn’t expect anything too complex from the gameplay sequences, though some of them felt way too short or forced. I remember going from one cutscene, walking through the hallway for 15 seconds, and then getting another cutscene right after that. That kind of thing happened enough times that I just would’ve preferred one long cutscene. Thankfully, there are larger areas we can walk around to find collectibles that give us more insight into the characters, the mission, and something extra I found quite intriguing.
Ahead of its release, I had the chance to talk to Supermassive Games about running Directive 8020 on the Steam Deck, and they reassured me that this is a game that they want people to be able to play on the go. The performance seems to mimic that for the most part, and I was impressed with what they were able to achieve overall.
With the game on the lowest settings, it will stick to around 30 FPS. It’s important to know that this is a story-driven game with high-quality visuals, and even though shadows can look a little pixelated from upscaling, the quality is still quite high. TSR upscaling on Performance looks great, especially when comparing to FSR upscaling, where there is a lot of shimmering at Balanced and below. FSR quality looks similar to TSR at Performance, but gets worse performance. So, I recommend keeping the upscaling at its default.
Ultimately, I recommend keeping everything at the default with a 30 FPS cap. We can move the quality settings to medium, but it does cost performance later on, resulting in more drops, for minimal visual changes. We will be getting unavoidable drops towards the end of the game, with some gameplay areas and cutscenes getting CPU-bound and pushing the frame right down to the 20s. This is at the default settings, which is already quite low, so there won’t be a ton we can do to avoid that.
And as for the upscaling, even going to FSR on Ultra Performance will still result in major drops throughout the game. There’s no way you can get a consistent 40 FPS, and while I can hit 60 in a few areas, these are far and few. This is a game where the visuals play a big part in the enjoyment of the experience, so I prefer lower framerates with better visuals.
I also tried out frame gen with both the in-game XeSS Frame Generation and Lossless Scaling. XeSS Frame Gen just didn't work for me, and while Lossless Scaling does work and feels ok towards the beginning, the later parts of the game feel awful. And even for the parts that work, there is obvious input lag. It doesn't ruin the game, but it doesn't feel good either, so I just wouldn't recommend it.
Directive 8020 is a solid story-driven thriller that has a few too many pitfalls. I love the story, and it gets significantly better towards the second half, but the first half felt more like a long introduction. The new Turning Point system is a great idea, and it allows easy access to go back and see what we could do differently for another run, which makes it a lot easier to try new pathways. The gameplay itself is a little too simple and easy, but it still has the same emphasis on choices that affect the story. It all works really well, but still falls short in a few key areas.
As for its performance on the Steam Deck, it can do quite well in most areas. The default will be the best way to play, which gives us a good mix of visuals and a decent framerate, but it will get tougher to perform later on. Still, with this type of game, I would consider it competent on the Deck.
このレビューはPC版に基づいています。
このレビューをお楽しみいただけたなら、SteamDeckHQ の他のコンテンツもぜひご覧ください！あなたのゲーム体験に役立つゲームレビューやニュースを幅広く取り揃えています。ニュース、ヒントやチュートリアル、ゲーム設定やレビューをお探しの方も、最新のトレンドを知りたい方も、ぜひご利用ください。
Outbound was provided by Square Glade Games for review. Thank you!
Roadtrips have a certain appeal, and honestly, I wish more video games featured them as a core narrative. While I am not the biggest fan of driving games due to all my childhood trauma of sucking at Mario Kart, they still have a certain appeal depending on the game design.
Outbound is a game I’ve been looking forward to for a while, and it is the latest in the cozy driving game genre that is surprisingly big in the market. Pacific Drive, Keep Driving, and Euro Truck Simulator are all games I love, although Pacific Drive is less about wholesome driving and more about surviving an anomaly hellscapes while inside a sentient car. It is like Nightrider on drugs, although it was still one of my favorite games from 2024!
Outbound is developed by indie dev Square Glade Games, and this is their second game after their interesting debut, Above Snakes. Big thanks to them for providing us with review codes, and the greater ambition really shows with this new game. Outbound is a relaxing and impressive experience in both gameplay and design, and it runs pretty well on the Steam Deck, too.
The game blends several simple mechanics together to create a core gameplay loop that somehow makes up more than the sum of its parts. After customizing your character, the goal of the game is to explore the large, open wilderness while surviving and kitting out your RV. That is pretty much the gist of it, mixing exploration, survival, and crafting together into something surprisingly fresh. Now, there are more survival crafting games than there are atoms in the universe, but I love how Outbound keeps its focus. All of these gameplay systems fuel the desire to live in the mountains, with everything moving that state forward.
I have been a growing fan of the cozy game genre for years now, and Outbound is getting close to achieving the perfect balance I have been looking for. You explore the map at your leisure, keeping hunger at bay and managing your mobile home. That doesn’t mean there is no challenge at all, as there are obstacles to navigate, including the mountainous terrain and blockades that must be repaired, such as repairing broken bridges.
Outbound hasn’t got the common pitfall in these games where things are so relaxing that they sacrifice progression, which is great. Give me something like Hardspace Shipbreaker, where I can die by falling into a furnace or by suffocation, at least with a small risk. By climbing towers and accessing download points across the map, you can get a vision of locations and download blueprints. The latter is randomized to a degree for added replayability, unlocking a ton of things you can build in your mobile home to make your new life easier. It’s a great gameplay loop.
The visuals are rather pleasant to look at, although I didn't expect something like Crimson Desert. The rolling hills, forests, and rivers are enjoyable to explore, and the sound design is also very immersive. Camping by a river while listening to the rushing water and the crackling of a bonfire is just glorious. It is the little things in life I enjoy most, and I think Outbound does a solid job of making things relaxing without boredom. The survival mechanics are fairly light in terms of food and health management, and while you do need to keep an eye on them, they aren’t particularly punishing either.
While I enjoy the core gameplay, all this exploration and vibing in the wilderness come with a small cost: narrative. You can make your own character and explore, but I didn’t really get much in the way of a story while playing. That’s not a big issue, to be honest, but it was something I had to note. My guy has a very annoying habit of voicing his internal monologue whenever I do anything even remotely noteworthy. While entertaining the first few times, it got grating the thirtieth time he said ‘A perfect spot to set up camp’, only for me to just drive past the camping site. Fortunately, you can mute the voice narration, which helps.
This is only a minor problem in the grand scheme of things, and I'm a grumpy old man. The casual mix of survival, crafting, and base building while taking that home on the go is a wonderful thing that more games need to do, and the atmosphere in Outbound, combined with the core gameplay, makes for a deeply absorbing experience.
Ahead of its release, we did get more information about Outbound‘s performance on the Steam Deck. Based on the default settings from the developer, it was estimated that it would run between 30 and 40 FPS. This is something I really appreciated, since most developers will just stand by the verified badge they get from Valve and not go into details about how it actually runs on the Deck.
So, I went in with realistic expectations, and their estimates were primarily accurate. With the default settings, which include low settings with a medium level of detail and 100% render scale, it sticks between 30 and 40. I also noticed that when looking in certain areas while walking around or driving, there is some throttling where the framerate could drop down to 22 FPS temporarily. I also tried bringing down the settings to their lowest to see how high we can get the frame rate, and while there are a lot of spots that hit 60 FPS, it fluctuates down to 40 consistently. And with the sacrifices to visuals, I wouldn’t consider it worthwhile.
I also noticed that the shadows on the default setting, which is on low, flicker a little bit. This can be fixed by bringing the shadows up to medium (default), but the throttling appears more often. On top of that, battery drain will go up in most scenarios, causing more drops. So, I would say keeping them at low levels will be the best for playing on the Deck.
For the most stable experience, I recommend keeping everything at the default, but turning the rendering scale down to 90%. This keeps the game looking great without the frame rate fluctuating downwards. This, coupled with a 30 FPS cap, makes it quite playable and enjoyable with solid visuals. This is going to be the most stable way to play while minimizing the number of times the framerate throttles. The battery drain will fluctuate, but generally stays on the higher side, so I wouldn’t expect more than three hours of battery life with the game.
Outbound is available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish (Spain), Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Spanish (Latin America), Japanese, Korean, Ukrainian, Dutch, and Indonesian. That is a lot of languages supported, although only English has full audio support for the time being.
Outbound is blessed with a large number of accessibility options. There is full controller support with the ability to change keybinds, v-sync, and anti-aliasing, render scale, and change language. There is a dedicated accessibility page with further options, including the ability to adjust or turn off narration, UI scaling, camera animations, flash effects, and the day/night cycle can also be freely changed.
Overall, this is a great mix of options, although there is a lack of colorblind support in the game for now.
Outbound is the equivalent of sitting in the countryside during late summer, knocking back a cold drink with ice, and relaxing while watching the sunset. This game may have the guts of the usual survival and crafting games that crop up all the time, but Outbound has done a great job avoiding many pitfalls in the genre.
The combination of mobile base building, relaxing atmosphere, and exploration turns Outbound into something much greater than the sum of its parts. I’ve played games with better base building and more engaging exploration, but there is something about taking your home with you wherever you go that appeals to me. The performance can be a little rough at times, and the lack of focus on story is noteworthy, but Outbound is a great experience, whether solo or co-op.
このレビューはPC版に基づいています。
このレビューをお楽しみいただけたなら、SteamDeckHQ の他のコンテンツもぜひご覧ください！あなたのゲーム体験に役立つゲームレビューやニュースを幅広く取り揃えています。ニュース、ヒントやチュートリアル、ゲーム設定やレビューをお探しの方も、最新のトレンドを知りたい方も、ぜひご利用ください。
Dead as Disco was provided by Brain Jar Games for review. Thank you!
There’s a very specific kind of satisfaction that comes from a well-executed third-person combat system, the kind that flows effortlessly from one enemy to the next, where timing, positioning, and rhythm all blur into something almost hypnotic. It’s a feeling I’ve always associated with the Batman: Arkham series; that free-flowing, reactive combat that makes you feel far more skilled than you probably are. Dead as Disco taps into that same DNA, and then cranks the tempo up with a bold, rhythm-driven twist.
From the moment you start throwing punches, it’s clear what the developers are going for. Combat isn’t just about reacting; it’s about performing. Hits, dodges, and counters all sync to the beat, turning every encounter into something that feels closer to a choreographed dance than a traditional fight. Nail the timing, and you flow seamlessly between enemies, chaining attacks in a way that feels incredibly reminiscent of Arkham’s best moments. Miss the rhythm, though, and the illusion breaks just enough to remind you that precision matters here.
What makes this system shine is how natural it feels. Rhythm mechanics in games can sometimes feel forced or restrictive, but Dead as Disco avoids that trap by integrating the beat directly into the combat flow rather than layering it on top. You’re not watching for prompts; you’re feeling the music and responding instinctively. It’s a smart evolution of a formula that already worked brilliantly, and it gives the game a distinct identity even in its early access state.
And that identity is carried hard by one of the game’s strongest elements: the music.
Put simply, the soundtrack is incredible. It doesn’t just accompany the action; it defines it. Every fight is elevated by tracks that pulse with energy, guiding your timing and amplifying the sense of momentum. There’s a confidence to the music selection and implementation that makes each encounter feel like a set piece, even when you’re just clearing out a small group of enemies. It’s the kind of soundtrack that sticks with you after you’ve put the controller down, and more importantly, it actively makes you want to play better just to stay in sync with it. Roll on their addition to streaming services, I say.
This is still early access, mind you, and it shows in places. There are moments - fleeting in nature - where the experience feels a little rough around the edges, whether that’s in animation transitions, enemy variety, or the occasional lack of feedback clarity when things get hectic. But the core is so strong that these issues feel more like temporary growing pains than fundamental problems.
Speaking of early access, there’s a clear sense that Dead as Disco is only getting started. The roadmap hints at additional bosses that should push the rhythm-combat system in more creative and demanding ways, alongside expanded difficulty modes that could really test how well players can stay in sync under pressure. There’s also the near-certainty of more cosmetics both leading up to - and following - the 1.0 launch, which feels like a natural fit for a game so rooted in style and presentation. If the current foundation is anything to go by, these additions won’t just pad things out; they’ll give players more reasons to master the flow.
Performance on the Steam Deck is impressively solid, especially for an early access title. In its default configuration, Dead as Disco maintains a near-faultless 60 FPS during gameplay, which is crucial for a rhythm-based combat system where timing is everything. Drops are rare enough to be negligible, and more importantly, they never seem to interfere with the flow of combat. Visually, it’s not pushing the hardware to its limits, but it still looks more than passable on the Deck’s screen - clean, readable, and stylish enough to let the art direction and animations do the heavy lifting.
What’s equally encouraging is how efficient it is. Power draw typically ranges from 19W to 21W, which translates to roughly 3 hours of battery life, depending on brightness and other system settings. For a game that relies so heavily on smooth performance, the balance between stability and efficiency feels spot-on, making it an easy recommendation for portable play sessions without constantly worrying about reaching for the charger.
What Dead as Disco already gets right is arguably the hardest part: it has a combat system that feels fantastic, and a musical backbone that elevates it beyond simple imitation. If you’ve ever loved the rhythm and flow of Arkham-style combat, this is a game that understands exactly why that worked - and then dares to remix it into something fresh.
It’s stylish, it’s confident, and most importantly, it’s an absolute joy to play in time with. Harmonious, even.
このレビューはPC版に基づいています。
このレビューをお楽しみいただけたなら、SteamDeckHQ の他のコンテンツもぜひご覧ください！あなたのゲーム体験に役立つゲームレビューやニュースを幅広く取り揃えています。ニュース、ヒントやチュートリアル、ゲーム設定やレビューをお探しの方も、最新のトレンドを知りたい方も、ぜひご利用ください。
