Steam Deck experience

[Heron]

Hi, I'm looking for some turn based strategy action on my steam deck and wonder if this could be it. Comments on performance, readability, general bugginess and controls on deck would be greatly appreciated.

I haven't played an expeditions title before but they all look interesting in their own right. I'd be open for trying one of the older titles on deck instead if someone could comment on and recommend the experience.

Other turn based game recommendations for the deck would also be welcome. For reference, I'm looking for squad based games like Battle Brothers (my favourite TBS, but deck controls could be better) and the newer Xcoms. Not really interested in global strategy stuff like Civilization on the deck.

[asarokk]

I don't have a Steam Deck and am not planning on getting one, so from that standpoint I can't be of assistance but I do recommend Expeditions: Rome, it's not only a great turn-based strategy game but a great tactical game as well. The combat is well-balanced and offers various class systems and builds, with interesting skills. The characters are well-written and the plot is engaging where historical events, locations and figures is woven with fiction. The game offers the player multiple dialogue options, moral and tough decisions with consequences, scenarios of political intrigue and espionage, romance options and multiple endings.

It's a must have for any who appreciates Roman history and by extension the Third Mithridatic War in Asia Minor, when Egypt became a Roman province and the Gallic wars.

The game runs pretty smoothly and the graphics look good, the voice acting is great and befitting of their characters. The only feature I dislike is legion battles because it relies on a set of cards. The game isn't bug-free, just like any other game. Most don't interfere with gameplay at all, but there is one game-breaking bug in one of the endings, although re-loading a save has fixed it at least some of the times.

As to readability, there have been quite a lot of players that have had trouble with how the game works, what to do and so on. Although there isn't much hand-holding in this game, it does explain pretty much everything at the beginning and as you encounter new features.

I figure, if the game is available on the Steam deck for purchase, then the controls must be compatible.

[asarokk]

As for other turn-based strategy games, you might want to look into the Heroes of Might and Magic series.

[Heron]

Thank you. This definitely looks like a cool game and I'd probably play it on my desktop PC eventually. Atm I'm looking for something on my deck however, so I'm specifically interested in comments on the steam deck. I can't find any good information with the search function.

I know HoMM, I'd actually like to give either III or V a go on the deck, but III HD Edition only comes without DLC on Steam and V isn't deck compatible...

[Heron]

According to a meagre 2 reviews on ProtonDB, Expeditions: Rome is working fine. Except there might be a problem with videos.

I'll give it a go and report back here how it went for future searchers.

[Muledog12]

I've used it. It pushes the hardware pretty hard, so it will not be pretty and it runs a bit slowly, but I've played 20 hours without any major problems. It's a great game. My main complaint is it's hard to get the camera to center on a given praetorian.

[Heron]

Here's my Steam Deck experience after completing act I:

With a mix of medium and high settings, the game looks very pretty. I've capped frames to 30 fps and can maintain them most of the time.

Fps can drop into the 20s when exploring larger scenes, but it's a non issue with this type of game. During the last huge battle at the end of act I frames dropped to ~10 fps and stayed there, which was a bit annoying but still playable.

Readability could be better. Texts are too small and could be scaled more smartly, it definitely shows that this wasn't optimized for the deck. With good eyesight it's still playable without having to zoom in. I got used to it. The excellent voice acting helps.

Default controls are serviceable. They work well enough. Tutorial pop ups show M&KB explanations which makes getting into the controls slightly harder, but the actual UI shows controller signs. In some menus (camp, crafting) you can't scroll down with a stick and have to resort to holding the scrollbar on the side, in other menus stick scrolling works. Some sliders (like reinforcing the legion with more soldiers in camp) are not intuitive. Once figured out these are just minor inconveniences.

I've encountered some minor bugs, but nothing a quick save & reload wouldn't solve.

Overall I'm having fun on the deck and enjoy my journey through the Mediterranean. I can recommend Rome: Expeditions for the deck.

[Dorok]

Originally posted by asarokk:

As for other turn-based strategy games, you might want to look into the Heroes of Might and Magic series.

Different genre, in my opinion the 3 is still unmatched but alas, it is probably very old now and tough to play now.

Rome looks a bit like what tried and failed achieve later HoMM, that is insert more RPG aspects and make the game more RPG.

From base that tactical (as the combats) is not strategical, Rome is much more a Tactical RPG than a strategy RPG. it is a Tactical RPG with a relative strategy layout.

If XCOM wouldn't be so special I would say Rome is more an XCOM like where everything is done differently, tactical aspect, RPG elements overall much deeper and more developed, strategy aspect. But it's a similar general layout with three points rather different:
- Rome doesn't try make procedurally generated terrains, but if XCOM does the illusion doesn't last very long and missions are still recognizable through the procedural variations.
- Rome is at opposed of XCOM style for tactical combats, anti RNG anti gambling, anti surprises and anti unfair rules to surprise player.
- Rome RPG aspects are a lot more developed at price of tactical tuning no way at XCoM level. More RPG variations make harder a more finely tuned tactical.

[asarokk]

Originally posted by Dorok:

Originally posted by asarokk:

As for other turn-based strategy games, you might want to look into the Heroes of Might and Magic series.

Different genre, in my opinion the 3 is still unmatched but alas, it is probably very old now and tough to play now.

Rome looks a bit like what tried and failed achieve later HoMM, that is insert more RPG aspects and make the game more RPG.

From base that tactical (as the combats) is not strategical, Rome is much more a Tactical RPG than a strategy RPG. it is a Tactical RPG with a relative strategy layout.

If XCOM wouldn't be so special I would say Rome is more an XCOM like where everything is done differently, tactical aspect, RPG elements overall much deeper and more developed, strategy aspect. But it's a similar general layout with three points rather different:
- Rome doesn't try make procedurally generated terrains, but if XCOM does the illusion doesn't last very long and missions are still recognizable through the procedural variations.
- Rome is at opposed of XCOM style for tactical combats, anti RNG anti gambling, anti surprises and anti unfair rules to surprise player.
- Rome RPG aspects are a lot more developed at price of tactical tuning no way at XCoM level. More RPG variations make harder a more finely tuned tactical.

HOMM may not be in the same RPG category yes, but it's still an RPG game and it's also a turn-based strategy game. It's always a honorary mention, in my book. HOMMIII may be old, but I still play it to this day without any difficulty.