Favorite Games for Portable PC Gaming Handheld Systems (ROG Ally - Lenovo Legion Go - GPD WIN 4 - Steam Deck)

[Draco1962]

What are your favorite games for the ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go , GPD Win 4, or Steam Deck portable PC Gaming handheld Systems?

List them out or post a single thread for a game - your choice! This may also be a good place to post information about configuration issues and solutions for each if they do not work with the built-in controller schema "out of the box."

[Draco1962]

GAME: Brutal Legend (Steam)

SYSTEM: ROG Ally Extreme w/ 4TB M.2 2280 mod (Windows 11 Pro)

I'll start - many newer games sold through Steam will work by default with the Xbox series of controllers. my current game of focus is Brutal Legend.

So long as you remember to select Gamepad mode via Armoury Crate it plays out of the box with Xbox compatibility.

 

 

[ClassicGMR]

GAME: Slay the Spire (Steam)

SYSTEM: Steam Deck 512 GB LCD, PC

CLOUD SAVE: Yes

I have a Steam Deck and have spent a lot of time playing with my library to see what runs well. My latest passion has been Slay the Spire. It's a rogue deck builder type game but it's not a Magic the Gathering clone. It's more like a turn-based RPG (kinda) but the cards you start with and acquire determine your actions. You have to be smart about how many cards you actually have in your deck. Just having cards isn't always a good thing. As you finish drawing the deck the discard pile is shuffled back into your draw pile again so having the right balance of "good cards" vs "a ton of cards" is crucial. I have been playing this game for about 3 months now and I finally FINALLY finished Act III. Which is like beating the first boss in Metal Gear Solid. Yes it is an accomplishment but it's the easiest fight among many. I plan to enjoy - and be frustrated by - this game for a very long time.

EDIT: Also important to note the Cloud Saves work with this (and almost all) Steam titles so I can easily transition from my Deck to my PC and back when I want/need to.

 

Edited January 2 by ClassicGMR
Conform to the masses! LOL! (Post structuring)

[Draco1962]

GAME: South Park™: The Stick of Truth™ (Steam)

SYSTEM: ROG Ally Extreme w/ 4TB M.2 2280 mod (Windows 11 Pro)

Another I have been playing. Works "out of the box" with the built-in controller and play is great! No changes to dsiplay quality required.  A fun game if you are a South Park fan! The cosplay episodes are amongst my favorites and this one does not disappoint. So far no issues to report, plays the same to me as it does on PC - because it is on a PC, only in my hand!

 

[ClassicGMR]

GAME: Forza Horizon 4 (Steam)

SYSTEM: Steam Deck 512 GB LCD, PC

CLOUD SAVE: Yes

Forza Horizon 4 is not only a great marathon game. It is one of those games you can pick up, play a race or two then put down. (I like to call these "Quick Hit" games.) It is still a visually beautiful game on PC. Now... on the Steam Deck... it is stunning. The scenery, lighting, weather, seasons and car effects are all perfectly translated to the small screen. The game plays right out of the box with no tweaking required. With the Cloud Save feature you're not forced to play 2 different games just because you are on your handheld. I have not seen any stuttering or slowdowns on my handheld while playing this game. At max settings on your PC you may see lower FPS if you're the last racer in the pack (and you're actually paying attention to that sort of thing) but on the deck the FPS isn't an issue to begin with so all you see are clear roads ahead (unless, you know, you're in 8th place 🤣).

I haven't tried Forza 5 but, to be honest, I have no desire to as yet. I haven't even scratched the surface of what Forza 4 offers and it's a beauty to behold

 

 

[Draco1962]

GAME: South Park™: The Fractured But Whole™ (Steam)

SYSTEM: ROG Ally Extreme w/ 4TB M.2 2280 mod (Windows 11 Pro)

The sequel to South Park: The Stick of Truth. Going to copy & paste "Works "out of the box" with the built-in controller and play is great! No changes to dsiplay quality required.  A fun game if you are a South Park fan! The cosplay episodes are amongst my favorites and this one does not disappoint. So far no issues to report, plays the same to me as it does on PC - because it is on a PC, only in my hand!"

 

 

[ClassicGMR]

GAME: Persona 4 Golden (Steam)

SYSTEM: Steam Deck 512 GB LCD, PC (and almost any other platform now)

CLOUD SAVE: Yes

I first played P4G on my PSVita system at least 10/11 years ago. I am an RPG fan to begin with but this game is something special. Every choice you make has an impact on the dynamics of the game. You can beat the game no matter what choices you do make but it may be a shorter, less satisfying ending. Interpersonal relationships and building friendships is essential to growing your power so you have to do it.

But once I started doing it I couldn't - and didn't want to - stop building on it. The game isn't just a dungeon crawl. You actually care about these characters you're playing with. It's an amazing piece of writing. I cannot remember a game before or since that I actually had that experience with. Books yes. You read a series and you get into their lives and care about what is happening. Games? Not so much. I actually found myself wanting to spend more time OUTSIDE the dungeons so I could interact with the world and all these new friends I had!

I realize this is rambling a bit but it's hard to describe properly... TES: Skyrim is an awesome RPG that can be modded to hell and back. Final Fantasy VII was just so good for its time. Still is and has a decent story. But neither of them holds a candle to Persona 4's immersion and depth of play. Damn. Now I want to take it out for another spin.

 

"Every day's great at your Junes!"

 

[Draco1962]

GAME: Symphony

SYSTEM: ROG Ally Extreme w/ 4TB M.2 2280 mod (Windows 11 Pro)

"A mysterious entity is absorbing and corrupting your music before your very eyes. You must battle through your own song collection and fight to reclaim your music!"

A vertical "shmup" with increasing levels of complexity, ship upgrades, etc. as you fight for your music as the "Entity" attempts to enslave it to create his "Symphony of Souls!"

I've had this one for quite a while and it plays very well with my own MP3s on the line! Another "out of the box" game that leverages the Xbox gamepad schema very well.

 

 

[Draco1962]

GAMES: Asteroids: Recharged, Berzerk: Recharged,  Centipede: Recharged 

SYSTEM: ROG Ally Extreme w/ 4TB M.2 2280 mod (Windows 11 Home)

These are but three of the Atari: Recharged series that have been released over the last few years. Great sound, game play is great, although I will say that the graphics start to all seem the same from one game to the next due to the vector treatment for all games in the series, even titles that were not originally vector graphics.

No problems or need to configure the built-in controls.

 

[ClassicGMR]

GAME: Yakuza 0 (Steam)

SYSTEM: Steam Deck 512 GB LCD, GPD WIN 4, PC

CLOUD SAVE: Yes

 

I recently bought the Yakuza series(included 0, Kiwame, Kiwame 2, 3 Remastered, 4 Remastered, 5 Remastered and 6) on Steam when it was on sale. It worked out to be $6 per game. I am starting with Yakuza 0 since it's "technically" the first one (prequel). Now I've never played any game in the series but it is very good and I am hooked in. Story driven. Violent but since it IS Japanese Mafia that's expected. It plays flawlessly on the Deck with no overheating or loud fans. Looks beautiful but I have to say sometimes I am fighting with the camera for a good angle especially in tight spots. Minor annoyance you can get past once you get used to the controls. It uses the Steam Deck preset controls so no config needed.

 

 

Edited March 29 by ClassicGMR
added my new toy: GPD WIN 4 :) (yes I know it's a PC)

[Draco1962]

@ClassicGMR I added GPD WIN 4 to the title of the thread should you desire to rep any games you are running here.

[DazoftheDroid]

Just got a SteamDeck! - DeathSmiles makes me attracted to it! Crimson Clover brings me to my happy place and Terraria (the best game ever made imo) just begs me to give it some more. And more i shall give it 😆

[Draco1962]

1 hour ago, DazoftheDroid said:

Just got a SteamDeck! - DeathSmiles makes me attracted to it! Crimson Clover brings me to my happy place and Terraria (the best game ever made imo) just begs me to give it some more. And more i shall give it 😆

[ClassicGMR]

GAME: Fortnite (Epic Megagames)

SYSTEM: GPD WIN 4, PC

CLOUD SAVE: N/A

 

This one may not interest most of you but I play with my son and grandson often. The GPD Win 4 puts out a very respectable 60FPS almost all the time. The screen size is a bit detrimental but for mobile play I find it amazing. I can go over to his house, just sit right next to them with my Win 4 and play side by side.

 

[Draco1962]

And now in related gaming handheld news... 

New SteamOS beta hints at an imminent general install with ROG Ally support added

In the mean time on Reddit...

 

[Draco1962]

And in related news...compact game bar support from Microsoft...

It's a great day for owners of Windows 11 gaming handhelds, one way or another

 

[tthurman]

Link isn’t working for me.

[tthurman]

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/99905/its-great-day-for-owners-of-windows-11-gaming-handhelds-one-way-or-another/index.html#:~:text=If you own a Windows,that today%2C regarding SteamOS support.
 

[Draco1962]

Thanks, Todd! Fixed the original hyperlink!

[ClassicGMR]

I don't know if I mentioned this anywhere but - GameEx runs all my emulation flawlessly on my GPD Win 4. I have played up to PS2 with zero issues and having 4TB of space makes the library HUGE. Having GameEx boot on startup is like having a Steam Deck but holy hell so much more awesome.

Just FYI 😃

[ClassicGMR]

GAME: Dark Legions SSI

SYSTEM: Steam Deck, GPD Win 4 (via Steam)

CLOUD SAVE: N/A

Now THIS is a classic that has so much nostalgia packed into it. This is one of the first true multiplayer games I played on a PC. It has the strategy of chess and the action of one on one fighting. Set traps, summon demons and capture the Orb! I hope that someone decides to make Internet play available. It already has network play built in.

 

 

[Draco1962]

11 hours ago, ClassicGMR said:

GAME: Dark Legions SSI

SYSTEM: Steam Deck, GPD Win 4 (via Steam)

CLOUD SAVE: N/A

Now THIS is a classic that has so much nostalgia packed into it. This is one of the first true multiplayer games I played on a PC. It has the strategy of chess and the action of one on one fighting. Set traps, summon demons and capture the Orb! I hope that someone decides to make Internet play available. It already has network play built in.

 

 

How is it for gamepad controls?

[ClassicGMR]

On 10/30/2024 at 5:59 AM, Draco1962 said:

How is it for gamepad controls?

It's not bad. It IS a pain to set up though. I set up the L4, L5, R4 and R5 buttons for F1, F2, F5 and F10. That way I can use the keys to do menu settings in game:

• F1 - View Player 1
• F2 - Change Player 1
• F5 - Set to defaults (What I did)
• F10 - Exit

Setting Defaults gives the game keyboard commands which are not initially set in game. Trying to use Joystick does nothing that I can see.

After that I assigned keys on the Deck to the keyboard keys. Default is WAXD for movement as S is the Special attack(I set that to button B). Setting A to SPACE fires the normal attack. Took a few minutes to figure out but it's all running. I noticed that it's running slow though. The combat screen is not full speed like I remember it. There is a lot of FPS slowdown throughout but it's only an issue in combat. I've seen 8 FPS through 60 FPS but usually it's hovering around 44 FPS. Haven't played with that yet.

[Draco1962]

GAME: Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration - Digital Expanded Edition (Steam, GoG)

SYSTEM: ROG Ally Extreme w/ 4TB M.2 2280 mod (Windows 11 Pro)

My current game of focus is Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration - Digital Expanded Edition ($49.99 purchase includes base game + 2 DLC Bundles ).

Overall a great buy, considering that you are getting a great history of the brand that started it all in addition to many influential games, and even some prototypes that did not make it to production.

So long as you remember to select Gamepad mode via Armoury Crate it plays out of the box with Xbox controller compatibility.

Atari 50: The Anniversary Edition - publisher's site with complete lists of the original games and DLC The Wider World of Atari and The First Console War additions.