I've always been a sucker for RPG games. When I'm feeling down I tend to play Final Fantasy 8 or Final Fantasy 10, they're like my comfort games.
I've had a hard time finding joy in modern RPG games, they all feel very grindy and seem to have an uninteresting plot. I'm looking for something that sparks joy, so I don't have look for some ridiculous challenge like Khimari only run in FF10 or something.
Things that spark joy:
- Being able to play on Steam Deck or at least stream from my (linux) desktop
- Decent graphics, though pixel art is ok
- Voice acting
- No random encounters
- Good plot
- Good combat
Things that do not spark joy:
- Too much grinding
- DnD mechanics
- Mandatory online requirement
Games that I really enjoyed:
- Final Fantasy 7 through 10
- Final Fantasy 5
- Dragon Quest XI
- Xenoblade Chronicles 1/2
- South Park games
- Stardew Valley
Games that I did not enjoy:
- Elden Ring - I guess I just don't have the mental patience for souls games anymore.
- Final Fantasy X-2 - great combat mechanics, horrendous plot
- "Modern" Final Fantasy games
- Divinity: Original Sin 2, Disco Elysium - feels too much like DnD
- Hogwarts Legacy - It felt amazing at first but then got super repetitive
- Persona 5 Royal - The game severely overstayed its welcome, very bloated, very repetitive dialog (the characters tell you the same information multiple times)
- I am Setsuna - The plot resembled Final Fantasy 10 way too much, felt like I had already played that game. Didn't finish
- Kingdom Hearts - Severe motion sickness
- Octopath Traveler - The plot felt extremely disconnected, random encounters were annoying, I got stuck due to an underleveled party and didn't have the patience to grind it up
Thanks in advance!
How do you feel about Skyrim? I kinda want to recommend Morrowind via OpenMW, which should run fine on the Deck, but I guess both games would feel too much like DnD for you.
Undertale, if you haven't played, might be fun.
You can also check out Trials of Mana, which is a remake of the SNES game and, unlike the remake of Secret of Mana, doesn't seem to have any unpatched game breaking bugs. Other JRPGs that might be work checking out are the "Ys" and "Legend of Heroes" series, both should have plenty of games that play fine on the deck.
Lastly, Rune Factory, which is fantasy harvest moon (the farming sim that started it all, so to speak) with some light dungeon delving and leveling up.
As an alternative to Skyrim, try Enderal. A free total conversion of Skyrim (you need Skyrim obviously). It's a complete new game with new mechanics, story, skills, etc. It's fully voiced and waaaay better than Skyrim IMHO.
I have never tried Skyrim because it appears to be a first person game and first person games tend to give me serious motion sickness. I'm physically unable to play them.
Played it, it's great.
I tried the Lacrimosa of Dana but never got to complete. Don't know why, I have this recollection that it's actually a good game? Maybe I should revisit that!
Skyrim certainly plays better in first person, but you can change the camera to be 3rd person, slightly behind your character. The default kinda sucks and you'd be better off trying one of the camera mods. You'd also need a few mods to get a better experience overall, like SkyUI for better menus, and Unofficial Patch to fix fuckloads of bugs Bethesda never bothered to fix in 14 years