Love in an Elevator, Living it up While I’m Going Down
I will keep this brief and do the tl;dr right up front: Steam Deck is a fantastic piece of hardware. Mine arrived broken and Steam Support has been annoying about it. Some games work better than others.
The Good
I was one of the lucky few to go through the Steam Deck reservation process and I had no issue whatsoever. I was given a clear date when it would arrive and arrive it did on that date (after one delay due to supply chain issues). I opened it up and have not really put it down since although my experience with various games has been rather hit and miss even on games that allege “deck compatible”
When I started using my Deck I immediately noticed that my left haptic pad was broken.
Here I am trying to demonstrate the issue. Along with the video below.
Essentially the left haptic pad was “sticking” the actual depression of the button wasn’t sticking or if it is it’s so imperceptible that I cannot get it on video, but it’d result in phantom button presses when the pad finally released. Steam Support has been kind of a bunch of dicks about this. I told them it’s really hard to video but I’d try. They at first seemed like OK whatever. Now they are insistent that the two videos combined = I’m trying to fleece them out of a free Deck or something. They asked me to re-take that lower video but to include the pad this time. Like…bro…I’m not double tapping the button for no real reason. Why would I try to get a repair or replacement? I’m tempted to just smash the damn pad with a hammer at this point and being like SEE IT IS STICKING.
Support notwishstanding I have tried a variety of games and some work better than others. From best performing/feeling to worst…
- Indies : For the most part good unless the UI is REALLY TINY (looking at you Cloud Meadow). Going Under was fine. Dead Cells fine.
- VN and Porn VN: it’s a little heavy to hold one handed but otherwise….
- Older less graphically intense games – Alice madness returns ran without a hitch
- Newer games that don’t require a 3090ti – played Nioh with no issue at medium high graphics.
- Newer games that DO require a 3090ti – RDR2 I have to run at as low settings as humanly possible and still get crashes related to the graphics.
- Any game with a “Launcher” is hit and miss. RDR2 was mildly annoying. ESO required several workarounds.
That said – Steam UI for changing button configs is a Godsend – MUCH easier than the old UI. I am able to have a keyboard stroke bound to the back paddle and then the rest of the deck be recognized as gamepad so when I want to login on ESO I can do so without needing to go back and forth between a keyboard config and a gamepad config (goddamn was ESO hard to get working).
I have used the Steam Deck almost every single day since I got it not because I was trying to write this up but because it’s just…life changing for me. Kidechka sits on the couch and connects to Shadow via the Nvidia Shield. Starts up Elden Ring. I open up Elden Ring on the Deck and voila! Couch Co-Op for a non-couch coop game. It’s amazing. Full disclosure – I think elden ring’s esoteric obtuse backwards ass multiplayer probably put kidechka off playing through it together but STILL…the possibility.
So overall I give it five furby out of five. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
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