Skopje '83 Is An Enjoyable Open-World FPS Roguelike That Can Be Played On The Steam Deck

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Skopje '83 was provided to us by PM Studios for review. Thank you!

In 2024, there were a ton of amazing games I played at PAX East, and Skopje '83 was one of them. However, it stood out for me. I love cel-shaded games, which initially drew me in, but the open-world roguelike hooked me in with an interesting presence and enjoyable gunplay. Now, the game has just released, and while it still has some issues here and there that stand out, it's pretty fun. It's even playable on the Steam Deck, though it does have some noticeable issues here and there that peek out when trying to play on the go.

Overall, I would consider Skopje '83 playable, but not optimal. It defaults to the medium quality settings across the board, and looks great on the small screen. Controller support feels solid, UI is easy to read, and it felt good to play when the framerate was stable. While I prefer mouse and keyboards for first-person shooters, this type of game is perfect for the Deck, and I love it.

However, there are still some issues that crop up. Running through the world very fast or traveling in your bus is sometimes too much. Even on the lowest settings, the RAM will spike up and framerate will drop. I saw it go as low as 20 FPS. It will go back up, but the drops are consistent and impactful. Trying to play above 30 FPS will feel even worse, so for the time being, I recommend going with a 30 FPS cap to mitigate a lot of these issues.

We can lower the graphics a bit to not make the slowdowns as impactful, but it never fully fixes it. As far as settings go, I would recommend setting most down to low, keep FSR Quality at TAA for the sharpest image, and set the framerate limit to 30. There will still be some drops when traveling, but it will look good and stay stable when just walking around and fighting.

I am a little worried about how high the RAM usage is, and it could lead to some freezes if it keeps climbing, but I haven't gotten to that point yet. It's just some worrying signs that stick out to me so far. Either way, it's pretty fun to play so far and I can't wait to see what else the game has in store for me the more I explore the world and get better and better with each run.

Skopje '83 is on sale for $13.49 until Novembver 14th.

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