Ugly - Demo Impressions + Steam Deck Performance

When I am looking at games, one of the first things I notice is the name and the artwork. Sometimes, a game I have never heard of before can immediately stick out to me because of a cool name and great artwork. Killer Frequency, Nocturnal, System Shock, Decarnation, these are 4 examples of games with great names and awesome artwork that hooked me. In all the years I have been gaming for though, never have I seen a game just blatantly titled Ugly with this kind of artwork, and I love it.

Ugly is a platforming puzzle game from the wonderfully named Team Ugly and I am digging the game. As more of a puzzle game, you will walk through numerous different levels, collecting keys to open doors and getting past obstacles. But the main way you will do it? Using a magical mirror shard to project and swap between an alternate version of yourself!

I love the mechanic and it makes the platforming puzzler feel fresh and unlike a lot of the other ones out now. On top of that, the unique visual aesthetic and way they are telling the story through crude, yet powerful drawings makes you feel the gravity of how the character you are controlling feels and has gone through. The way to break out of these is actually holding a button, which will have your character put his head in his hands to seemingly drown out these thoughts in his head.

Personally, I loved the way this story was told. It didn't need direct conversation, it was shown with the camera shaking and visual elements, which I feel are done exquisitely. The game, otherwise, feels like a well-made platformer and, honestly, it didn't really need to do much more.

I enjoyed the puzzle solving with the mirror version of you and swapping between a lot, even if I did get stuck on a few parts myself. Finding secrets felt pretty fantastic though, even if they were by accident! If you're a fan of puzzle games and platformers, I would highly recommend checking this one out! And thankfully, it runs really well on the Steam Deck.

Ugly Demo - Steam Deck Performance

Luckily, there will be no issues trying to run this on the Steam Deck. Just playing out of the box, you will get a solid 60 FPS with a 6.5 - 7 hour battery drain, which is absolutely fantastic! The game looks phenomenal on the Deck and feels amazing too:

I don't have much more to say on performance since it just works extremely well! I would absolutely recommend trying this out on the Steam Deck.

You can find Ugly on Steam right now where you can wishlist before the upcoming Next Fest tomorrow.

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