Elden Ring

When Elden Ring dropped, the Steam Deck was one of the best ways to play the latest Miyazaki jam, and it still is. In fact, the proximity of their release dates almost tosses Elden Ring into launch title status for the device. Valve went through extra effort to improve the game’s performance on their portable PC, even before FromSoftware was able to address a variety of issues that were souring the experience on a full-featured computer.

Whether you’re at home or on the go, Elden Ring works surprisingly well in portable format. It might be fair to criticize some HUD elements as being a touch too small, but the core experience is worth it. You’re bound to drop some frames here and there when the action gets a little too hot, but little is compromised on the smaller form factor.

Maybe playing outside in a park might give you the fresh air you need to take on the game’s harder bosses. You’ll miss out on the online features, of course, if you’re playing away from a router, but that’s an acceptable trade-off in my book as I’m not particularly a fan of the game’s multiplayer anyway.