Steam Deck

My 10 most played (and enjoyed) games on the Steam Deck over the last year. What are your favorites?

Here’s the list with basic Performance and overall ratings (No particular order):

*Shadow of Mordor - 8.5

Highly recommend. Great Story, Smooth gameplay with a low skill floor and high skill ceiling, and tons of fun to be had with the Orc Nemesis system. I hear great things about the sequel, but I just had to get this off my backlog because it’s been there since launch. Glad I had this gem to kick off my SD journey. It Runs almost flawlessly with good settings.

*No Man’s Sky - 8.75

(if it’s your thing, incredible) For a colorful space-feels survival game, look no further. Relaxing or challenging depending on what you’re looking for, the game setting are yours to command. Superb exploration mechanics and a dev team that only gets better with age. 100% worth the go.

*The Witcher 2 - 8.0

Oldie but a goodie. Runs locked 45 with high graphics start to finish. Or 60 FPS with some dips. Honestly, I just turned the frame counter off and I stopped noticing. Story is awesome, and for a medieval bang-me simulator, no one does it better. The combat and controls take a little getting used to, but there are some great community layouts (including mine). It’s an often overlooked game that is worth your time, and money — especially because it goes on sale all the time.

*The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - 9.999

Needs no introduction. It’s Morrowind — Nuff said. It runs perfectly with maxed out everything. You can even get all your favorite mods going with a little guile and elbow grease. I’d give it 10 but nothing is perfect, and let’s be honest this game has a lot of jank. It’s really just rated highly because of what a perfect fit it is on Deck. Also, it’s one of my favorite games of all time, so I’m biased. Any complaints about the game I’ve long since come to terms with. The animation is whacky and stiff even for the time, and the character models are bizarre and disproportionate. The textures need updating, but with a few mods, this game is gorgeous, and even without it’s still an absolute masterpiece of story music and voice acting. The RPG mechanics are deep and satisfying. Truly, they don’t make games like this anymore. You’re almost meant to be able to break it using the in game systems, turning you eventually into an omnipotent god. What a great game on the go, and it gets bonus points for the nostalgia feels.