Welcome to this week’s edition of the Steam Deck Weekly. Ahead of my Black Myth: Wukong review later in the week, today’s article features a review of the recently released (on Steam) Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers, impressions of Bandai Namco’s That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles, news highlights, notable sales, and the latest Steam Deck Verified and Playable games. Let’s get into the reviews and impressions first.
Steam Deck Game Reviews & Impressions
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Steam Deck Review
Back in January, Shaun said Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was a stunning entry not just for the Prince of Persia series, but also for the Metroidvania genre. I didn’t play it at launch, but finally got around to it later on and loved it on Nintendo Switch and PS5. Back then, it felt like it might be one of the best games in the genre despite its long runtime, but I hoped it would see a Steam release and be good on Steam Deck. It took a bit, but Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has launched on Steam Deck, and if you held off on buying it to play on Valve’s handheld, your wait has been worth it.
Since launching earlier in the year, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has added a speedrun mode, permadeath mode, boss rush, cosmetics, and more. It is even getting a new story DLC next month. While I thought Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was worth it even without those updates, the asking price on Steam now coupled with all the free updates and content being included from the start makes it even easier to recommend, but how does it play on Steam Deck?
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is one of the best multi-platform releases with how well it ran on just about anything at launch. Having revisited it on PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X before the Steam release, I’ve found myself gravitating to Xbox Series X for the best experience on the big screen and Nintendo Switch OLED for a great portable version. The PS5 version when played at 120fps doesn’t feel great, and I’d recommend playing at 60fps there unless you have a VRR display. Mine doesn’t support VRR on PS5, but does on Xbox Series X.
After playing Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on Steam Deck LCD and Steam Deck OLED, the latter is now my favorite platform for the game. The default settings run like a dream, but Ubisoft promoted ultra settings for Steam Deck OLED. At Ultra, it drops from 90fps to the mid 80s, but never feels too bad. Settling for the high preset is much better here, but Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown feels incredible on Steam Deck with its fast loading, improved visuals over Switch, and great performance.
On the PC port side, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown lets you adjust display mode (fullscreen, windowed, borderless), resolution (no 16:10 support), toggle v-sync, adjust SMAA quality (none, FXAA, SMAA), graphics quality (normal, high, ultra), and adjust HUD scale for graphics and display options. You can also adjust difficulty and tweak things quite a bit to your liking to make for a challenging or relaxed experience just like on other platforms.
Speaking of other platforms, the one good thing about Ubisoft Connect is that Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown supports cross progression. Yes, I brought my old save from PS5 and Switch to Xbox Series X, and then got that over to Steam Deck to continue my later save. I also started a new save to see how the opening hour feels on Steam Deck, and it actually got me to start a brand-new playthrough. Given how long Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is, I’m surprised at how great it has been to chip away at on Deck, and then pickup my new save on whatever platform I’m on. I hope other publishers also work on cross progression like Ubisoft has.
One thing I’ve seen in discussions online is that Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is not playable offline. The initial setup required me to be online to link my account, but I’ve played 9 times with my Steam Deck in offline mode and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown lets me play fine once I hit the “offline" option on the Ubisoft Connect menu. I’m not sure if this has a cooldown of a few days or something because of DRM, but I’ve not had issues playing it offline as of today at least. You do need to quit the game from Steam because it doesn’t quit properly on its own. I hope this is also fixed.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is excellent on Nintendo Switch, but it is sublime on Steam Deck. Aside from the Ubisoft Connect annoyance when you launch the game for the first time, I have no complaints with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on Steam Deck. The current version also includes all prior updates that already improved what was a great game. I haven’t enjoyed the few Prince of Persia games I played after the original two much, but Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is superb and essential on Steam Deck.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Steam Deck review score: 5/5
Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers Steam Deck Review
Back when everyone including myself was obsessed with Balatro, I started seeing friends post about games that felt similar to it. One such game was Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers. I had my eye on it a while ago, but only recently remembered it was set to release soon, and ended up reaching out to cover it after seeing Balatro developer LocalThunk post about it. I’m glad I did because I’ve been quite obsessed with it alongside Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Doom + Doom II recently.
Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers brings in roguelike mechanics into Blackjack where you start with your own set of chips and HP, and try and hit (draw cards) or stand against your opponent. Your deck initially has the usual cards, but the suit behavior keeps things fresh. As an example, you start drawing (hit) while trying to get as close to 21 (the sum of your cards) as possible while your opponent does the same. Damage in Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers is equal to the difference between both hands. If your cards add up to 17, you can risk hitting again to draw one in the hope of getting close to 21, but if you overshoot, you end up with nothing. If you decide to stand at 17 and the opponent is at say 16, you will do 1 damage to the opponent. If your opponent draws further and overshoots to say 25, you will do all 17 points of damage to your opponent.
Beyond the normal Blackjack mechanics, there are different deck types you start with, more to unlock, bet types, cards to get for your collection, hilarious designs across the board, modifiers, and more in Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers. Initially, I expected it to show its hand after a few hours, but Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers has a lot more than meets the eye, and it is another shocking (in a good way) release by a solo developer. Even days later, I’m constantly surprised by what Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers has to offer.
I usually wouldn’t compare two games much, but given they both released in 2024, it is interesting to see how different each one plays even aside from the fact that one tackles Poker (Balatro) while Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers tackles Blackjack. Right from the start, Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers felt like it had potential in how it slowly started throwing different mechanics at me. Every run felt very different as I tried to progress, but what stuck with me was how developer Purple Moss Collectors managed to make me want to keep playing despite not even knowing a fraction of the mechanics outside Blackjack for a few runs.
On Steam Deck, Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers is almost perfect. It doesn’t play amazing with the Deck’s own physical controls or a controller with a few interactions either not working with a controller, or requiring the mouse or touch. When playing with touch controls though, Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers is at its best. Since I played most of Balatro on the touchscreen on both Deck and Switch, I found myself naturally using that input option here, and it was a great experience. There aren’t any graphics options of note here, and Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers runs at 16:9 with Steam Cloud support. It also runs at 90fps on the Steam Deck OLED screen while it hits 144hz without issue when played docked on my monitor.
I hope the few control issues I ran into are addressed with a better onboarding experience for those unfamiliar with card games. Beyond that, Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers is in a great state right now, and it will likely be in my favorite games of 2024 on Steam Deck by the end of the year.
Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers is excellent, but it is a few updates away from being truly special. Right now, I absolutely recommend it if you’re willing to learn through experience though. It also feels like a nice middle ground between Balatro and Luck Be a Landlord in terms of how much luck plays a part in your run. If that sounds good to you, I urge you to give it a shot. I hope to see it come to mobile and console in the future.
Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers Steam Deck review score: 4/5
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles Steam Deck Impressions
Ahead of our full review, I wanted to cover how That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles feels on Steam Deck right now considering I’ve not seen anyone really talk about the PC version. I played That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles with Proton Experimental on my Steam Deck OLED at 90hz and it had no issues with loading anything including cut-scenes that played as they should. The only issue I ran into was adjusting the graphics options from the title screen which had some freezing. Doing this in-game was fine.
The graphics options are limited. You can adjust anti-aliasing (off, 2x, 4x, 8x), toggle v-sync, adjust texture quality (low, medium, high), shadow quality (low, medium, high), and toggle depth of field. You can rebind the buttons for attacks, special moves, jump, dodge, and secret skills as well.
So far, I’ve played the opening hour of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles on my Steam Deck LCD and OLED models. The notable takeaway is that it had the least issues when using Proton Experimental. It also seems to run fine at fullscreen. The one issue is the frame rate cap doesn’t seem great. Playing on a 90hz display or even my 144hz monitor resulted in poor frame pacing. The fix for this is setting your display refresh rate to 60 or 59. Once I did that on Steam Deck, it ran flawlessly. Even the pre-rendered cut-scenes play fine.
Stay tuned for our review of the Switch version of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles in the near future. Until then, I’ll be playing more of this blend of a side-scroller, builder, and action RPG based on That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.
News and Trailers
Let’s start the news with DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D Remake’s new details and screenshots. Both Shaun and myself are hyped for this one. DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D Remake is going to include new story episodes starring the protagonist’s father, Ortega. It will also have new bosses and more when it arrives this November. Check out one of the gorgeous new screenshots from DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D Remake below:
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster got a new director’s report video showcasing the quality of life improvements, features, and more ahead of the game’s launch next month with a physical for PS5 and Xbox Series X coming in November. Watch the video below:
Ahead of its launch next week, Game Science published the final trailer for the upcoming action RPG Black Myth: Wukong. It launches for PS5 and Steam on August 20th. I will be covering it in the near future. Watch the new trailer below:
Playism had its Playism Game Show with multiple reveals and trailers for indie games. The highlights include Nitro Express (Grayfax Software’s pixel art action game), Homura Hime (third person action game from Crimson Dusk), Valkyrie of Phantasm (Touhou Project shmup from AREAZERO), Outrider Mako (2D action game), and more. Watch the full showcase below:
Arc System Works America posted the Opening Trailer for River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next, ahead of its launch this November on Steam, Switch, and PS4 worldwide. Watch it below:
Capcom’s excellent Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess has crossed 500k players, and the team has released three Mazo Talismans as free DLC for all players. They are:
- Jubilee – Equip this Talisman and watch as the villagers near Soh burst into a joyous dance.
- Dancing Crane – Transform Soh’s normal attacks into a mesmerizing dance, along with bursts of fireworks.
- Amaterasu – With this Talisman, vibrant flowers will bloom beneath Soh’s feet when traveling.
Bokeh Game Studio posted a new screenshot for Slitterhead ahead of its launch this November. Slitterhead will have a playable demo at PAX West later this month as well. I’m looking forward to playing this one. Check out the image below:
Following the Great Sword weapon video, Capcom has showcased multiple weapon videos for Monster Hunter Wilds ahead of its launch in 2025 on PS5, Xbox Series X, and Steam. The only other weapons I care about are Hunting Horn and Hammer. They both look incredible so far. Check out the videos below:
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves has two more character trailers out now. Check out the Terry Bogard and Hotaru Futaba trailers below while the game continues to look excellent:
Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 got a new multiplayer gameplay showcase, and it looks very impressive. I hope to check this one out on Steam Deck and PS5 soon. Watch the video below:
Bandai Namco’s upcoming SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream has gotten a new trailer showcasing the Administrator who plays the mage role in the game. Watch her trailer below:
The newest Bleach: Rebirth of Souls trailer from Bandai Namco showcases Yoruichi who looks awesome as expected. Watch her gameplay trailer below:
Wired Productions and Angry Demon Studio have released a free demo for Gori: Cuddly Carnage on Steam and consoles. Check out the demo trailer below:
Enshrouded has crossed 3 million players as the team heads to 1.0 on Steam and consoles next year. Watch the newest update video below:
New Steam Deck Verified & Playable games for the week
The highlights for the week include Earth Defense Force 6, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Afterplace, and more getting tested by Valve. There’s also Rain Code Plus which will see an English release this October. I’m excited to try that one when I can.
- Afterplace – Verified
- Aooni – Playable
- Cataclismo – Playable
- Clank! – Playable
- Creatures of Ava – Verified
- EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 – Verified (via TouchArcade reader Mor)
- Été – Unsupported
- Kitsune Tails – Verified
- Mahjong Soul – Playable
- Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE Plus – Verified (via TouchArcade reader Mor)
- Prince of Persia The Lost Crown – Playable (via TouchArcade reader Mor)
- SCHiM – Verified
- Tavern Talk – Playable
- The Crush House – Playable
- The Star Named Eos – Verified
- Zet Zillions – Playable
Steam Deck Game Sales, Discounts, and Specials
The notable sales for the week are the big Capcom Summer 2024 Humble Bundle and Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley with its biggest discount yet. I know 20% on Steam isn’t much of a discount, but I thought it was worth full price from day one. Read my review here. Capcom’s bundle has Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle, and much more. It is one of the best Capcom bundles yet.
That’s all for this edition of the Steam Deck Weekly. As usual, you can read all our past and future Steam Deck coverage here. If you have any feedback for this feature or what else you’d like to see us do around the Steam Deck, let us know in the comments below. I hope you all have a great day, and thanks for reading.
