Topic: PC Gaming

@Pizzamorg For the same reason publishers remaster and/or remake any game.

Mo money, mo money, mo money.

The first Witcher is deffo the most dated with this weird top-down perspective and stuff, but like... who wants this though like in the first place?

Uh, I do? Couldn't get on with the original Witcher on Steam, with no controller support I'll gladly take a remaster of that so I can play it properly, thanks ....

@Magician Welp, good thing I have an excuse to put the original on hold now then and just move on to the witcher 2 and 3. I decided I’d play the trilogy in order but those controls and that combat was just really hard to get along with.

@Ralizah Oh come on 1080 for minimum? First time i am seeing a minimum requirement that high...I sure wont be able to play this then

Just discovered this thread. Me and my brother are PC gamers. We share a few visual novels on Steam. And we both want the Made in Abyss game, but it's, like, 60 USD, and we're broke.

I’m finally upgrading my GPU from an RX 580 to a 3060ti! The 580 has been a champ for me and I’ve been able to play a lot of great games on it, but I’ve had it for a few years now and it’s definitely starting to show it’s age. Besides, I’ve really been wanting to play Spiderman Remastered, among a few higher-end games that my current GPU aren’t able to handle super well.

Well i like more single player games, while my brother prefers more like online games like Roblox for example

Wrapped up Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Collection tonight.

As someone who played the Door to Phantomile demo over & over again as a kid (on one of my cousin's PS1 demo discs), I'll say it felt good to finally properly explore these games, and they're pretty solid platformers, if nothing essential.

Both games are naturally pretty similar, but they both do enough of their own to make each worthwhile. Door to Phantomile goes hard on the Kirby esque aesthetic with the more chibi-like designs, and the levels in the latter half of the game have a dungeon like design ethos that the second game never quite commits to fully emulating aside from a level here & there. Meanwhile Lunatea's Veil feels like it's aiming at being a bit more "cool", with Klonoa appearing a bit older, the introduction of an extreme sport influence with the snow/surfboard levels (which are awesome I'll say), and heck even a couple of the game's levels take place in the middle of a warzone. I really liked how in spite of being "2D" platformers, the level designs in both games made fantastic use of the fact that they exist in a 3D space, with lots of twists & turns in the path, sometimes even doubling back over itself.

@StarPoint
I'm kinda wondering at what point do I upgrade my 1660Ti. The new Radeon cards look promising but I'm not sure I use it enough to justify the cost just quite yet. I'm more than happy with 1080/1440p at ~60fps and occasionally 4K 60 in older titles

If I'm being honest my PC gaming time is mostly split between Civ and Beat Sabre ATM with the next most played being titles like Cars & Dirt. Not exactly demanding titles. I do want to give some of the Sony titles a spin though

@skywake The 1660ti is still a really solid card. Yeah, I'm hoping that AMD comes through with some more budget-friendly options. Those might be worth looking into.

Certainly sounds like it should do pretty well for most stuff, @Link-Hero ..... Let us know how it goes

Now that I'm done with Klonoa I've decided to jump into Pac Man World: Re-Pac.

Only cleared the first world so far, but I can definitely tell it got a much greater graphical glow up compared to either of the Klonoa games (both of those, even with the first game's graphics obviously being improved over the PS1 original, look like HD PS2 ports, while Re-Pac could pass as a legit PS4/Xbone game at a glance). Overall level design betrays it's true age though, as you can definitely tell it's from an era where they weren't quite sure how to elegantly make a 3D level flow (oddly I think it feels better to play with a d-pad compared to the analog stick), though that being said it's still pretty fun. Really like that it's avoiding the generic world/level themes (grasslands, desert, etc.) as well (Klonoa was great at this too), with the first world leaning hard into a pirate theme.

Guys, I'm finally doing it. I'm biting the bullet.

I'm gonna get a gaming pc.

This is actually a bit exciting for me since I've been with consoles my whole life, so getting a gaming PC will help me get into a new world of gaming.

Although to be fair I'm mostly getting it so I can play more VR games. But still, cool. I can finally see why people have a hard on for Valve too, and I can make use of the few free Epic Games and Steam games I've claimed, so yay.

HUGE Steam Winter sale for me this time. I picked up:

Jedi: Fallen Order
Risk of Rain 2
Nuclear Blaze
Guardians of the Galaxy
Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster

All for like $65 total. This'll keep me busy until FE Engage for sure.

I'm gonna use the Steam sale and the Oculus sale to get me some good PCVR games.

I'm seriously debating getting the OneXplayer 2

Here's my thoughts.

PROS

• 65 Whr battery is more than 50% larger than the 40 Whr battery in SteamDeck. Considering battery life is THE #1 drawback that keeps me from playing Deck, this is a massive point in favor of the OXP2
• AMD 6800U is 25% more efficient than what Deck uses, meaning less power draw and even more battery life
• 8.4" 1200p screen (though I'd never go above 720p anyways for battery conservation)
• Detachable Controllers and kickstand for tabletop mode like Switch
• Gyroscope included for gyro aiming
• Runs Windows for full game compatibility unlike Deck

CONS

• 848 gram weight is 27% heavier than SteamDeck, and SteamDeck is already 59% heavier than Switch OLED. In fact, OXP2 is almost exactly twice the weight of Switch OLED.
• Price for 2TB model with 16GB RAM is $1100. The 32GB RAM model is $1300, but I feel that's $200 wasted as Deck uses 16 GB RAM and works just fine. Still, $1100 is a lot. Total cost with controller grip, magnetic keyboard, stylus and case is $1226 shipped.
• Detachable controllers do NOT work without a grip, so no split joycon gaming and you must always carry the grip with if you want to play tabletop.
• Said grip is not included and costs and extra, and doesn't fit in the case which also costs extra. It also doesn't have a gyroscope which kind of makes tabletop pointless for many games.
• Comes with Windows 11 which... let's just say I'd prefer Win 10
• No 40 fps gaming due to screen not being 40 Hz compatible like SteamDeck and GPD Win 4.

ANALYSIS

A heavy device at a significant cost, but, a device that would finally address battery life and game compatibility. Included tabletop functionality is great, but restrictions such as requiring a grip that can't fit in the case to work, and no gyro aiming with detached grip controller, take the wind out of that feature's sails. Also, no 40 fps gaming sucks, as it's a perfect compromise to get noticeable more fluid motion at a negligible cost of additional battery drain. Even so, the nice, hefty battery and full game compatibility is quite tempting...

I did it. I hit the motherlode after hours of research.

Best Solution

• SteamDeck + Deckmate + 150 gram Ultra-lightweight 37 Whr Portable Battery
• Total Weight = 819 grams (669g Deck + 150g Battery)
• Total Battery = 77 Whr (40 Whr Deck + 37 Whr Battery)
• Large size

Alternatives

• OneXPlayer 2
• Total Weight = 848 grams
• Total Battery = 67 Whr
• Large size

• GPD Win 4
• Total Battery = 47 Whr
• Total Weight = 570 grams
• Small size

• AyaNeo 2
• Total Battery = 680 grams
• Total Weight = 50 Whr
• Large size

All offer quality gyro aiming (finally- I remember begging GPD to add gyro back in Win2 era, looks like it's finally become standardized), but AyaNeo2 has two gyroscopes- one in the body and one in the right controller side. All run on the AMD 6800U and all offer HALL sensor analogs except the Win4, which uses standard Alps.

The thing is, Battery life is CRUCIAL. And while the 6800U does outperform the Steamdeck, it only does so when running games at a TDP of 15W or higher (meaning Total power draw of around 24W or more). Even around 50 Whr of Battery, that's only 2 hrs! The OneXPlayer 2 is the only device to solve this issue, but it comes at an unforgivable cost of 848 grams.

Let me tell you. Switch is 420 something grams. Deck is like 670 grams. It's heavier for sure, but it's just light enough to not be a problem. Any heavier though, and it does become a problem.

Best solution is stick with the Deck, but buy a Deck Mate for $30 and this 150 gram ultra-light portable battery (its the lightest BY FAR I could find on Amazon after searching 50+ listings), and the total weight still comes out 30 grams shy of the One X player 2. Ya, it's heavy. But it's still lighter than the OXP2 and offers more than 10 Whr extra. And is detachable. You don't have to have the Battery attached to the deckmate all the time. Put it on as needed, remove when done.

That's a far better solution than spending $1300 on a device that's 27% heavier than the Deck.

@JaxonH I am impressed and terrifed from all your research.

@HotGoomba
There's so many options now in the PC handheld space. Aside from SteamDeck, there are 3 main competing handhelds releasing soon that have IndieGogo backing as we speak. AyaNeo 2, GPD Win 4 and OneXplayer 2. All 3 use 6800U and offer similar performance.

But man, I just wasted 3 hrs trying to get Dolphin Emulator to work on SteamDeck and for the life of me I can't. Controller inputs won't register when mapping controls. I give up... It ain't worth it. I'm DONE messing with it.

And this is where Windows based handhelds shine. They won't have these kinds of problems setting up Dolphin. I just... don't care that much anymore. I used to really really want to play GameCube and Wii handheld, and I can on my Win 2, but no gyro aiming. The dream was always PrimeHack on handheld with gyro.

But at this point... screw it. I'll wait for the inevitable Switch remaster. Life is too short to waste it away fumbling around with this crap.

And I'm not gonna blow $1300 to play Metroid Prime handheld with gyro and still have to mess with setting it up. I'll stick with Switch and official Steam games on Deck.