I just bought a steam deck, and bought hogwarts legacy when it was on sale a while back on a friend’s recommendation.
Decided to give it a try - such a great game! I tend to compare opens world’s to Skyrim, and the detail in the quests is so much better. It’s not just ‘clear this dungeon’. Plus they’ve really thought about what sucks about those other games and really tried to avoid them. Plays great on the steam deck too, I’ve got it capped at 45fps and it never skips a beat.
I don’t think I’ve had this much enjoyment from a gaming device ever. I’ve done the console and game pass on the phone mounted controller, and that was not very consistent. The instant pause/resume button is a game changer with young kids waking up in the night.
Not at all bothered by performance - in fact I’ve seeing articles about how ‘this windows handheld beats the steam deck in tflops’ but an constantly thinking - 'yes, but it’s a handheld. Is it good at that? Battery life, pick up and go etc are super relevant, not just performance.
Bit of a tangent there, but I am having a great gaming time.
I do like that you can keep the stats of gear you’re wearing but change the appearance of it to anything you’ve collected before. Nice to actually be able to look good and have good gear.
One thing I’ve done is turn off the Minimap. It’s made it more interesting - I actually pay attention to the landscape details and the golden path thing is actually useful. Just wish you could keep a compass visible.