Pajama_Wizard
Published
I think I dropped to ~8W TDP and still played 60 Hz / 60 FPS
Deck controls weren't detected until I selected a gamepad layout in Steam Input
Not the best game, but it was stable and ran great on both Steam Deck and desktop EndeavourOS. Cloud saves synced correctly between the two. Make sure to select a Steam Input layout for gamepad or the game settings may not detect it as such.
HZD pushes the limits of the Steam Deck, but it's definitely playable! Be ready to make compromises for performance and/or battery life.
My preferences:
- Map L4 to Right Stick Click (focus scanner)
- Map R4 to the B button (cancel)
- Map L5 to the X button (interact)
- Map R5 to the A button (select)
- Map the Outer Ring Command on the Left Joystick to Left Stick Click (sprint)
- Enable gyro for more precise aiming
In Steam OS, set TDP limit to 11 Watts.
Note, this is a personal preference that differs from Cryobyte's recommendations but helps control heat, fan noise, and battery usage.
Sometimes on PC (Linux) the game will launch there but play in slow-motion, maybe 70% speed. Quitting and relaunching usually fixes it. I've never had this happen on Steam Deck.
Follow CyroByte33's guide for optimal settings as well as general Steam Deck tweaks for VRAM and Swap. https://youtu.be/xx9sf47sB9o
I put 115 hours into HZD between PC (Manjaro, core i5-2500k, GTX 1060, 16 GB RAM) and Steam Deck and completed 100% of missions and collectibles on Very Hard difficulty. Cloud Saves made it super convenient to swap devices! Overall it's a gorgeous game and was a fun experience.
It takes tinkering to get good performance and seems there are limitations possibly within the game engine itself. If you're a 60 FPS purist you might struggle to enjoy it on Deck but everyone else should be fine. However I don't think I could play the Ultra Hard difficulty mode just due to frametime inconsistency making it almost impossible to land precise arrow shots.
It ran great on a ~10 min test, totally vanilla default install. Zero tinkering, only tried singleplayer.
This is a fun little metroidvania I played a long time ago. It might actually be ideal on Steam Deck since you can map the back grip buttons and never have to lift your thumbs off the analog sticks. There's lots of blacks and color contrast so it will take advantage of an OLED screen if you've got one.
After about 20 minutes of tinkering I just couldn't get the controls to work at all.
In gameplay only the Steam Button + Right Trackpad work as camera, and the B button to enter the menu. I was unable to move the prince at all. Navigating the menu worked correctly with Left Joystick, A, and B.
I tried the two community control layouts, but both advised disabling the gamepad camera controls. I wasn't able to remove the mappings. I tried mapping the unused R5 paddle button to delete, but then the A button stopped working and I could no longer accept any meny changes. After that I gave up.
Capped at 40 Hz / 40 FPS (my default for all games)
First launch resulted in a SteamOS reboot
No real tinkering needed, just install and play.
Capped at 40 Hz / 40 FPS (my default for all games)
One of the paddle buttons (L5) seemed to reset the game back to the launch screen.
I couldn't find a way to exit except force-quitting by holding the STEAM+B buttons.
I only played for ~10 minutes to check if this title would run. The controls (esp. on the menu) were just generally a bit awkward, but the game ran smoothly and wasn't laggy.
You may want to customize the input mapping, but otherwise no real tinkering seemed necessary.
