In an effort to put a dent in my PC and Steam backlog, I finally broke down and bought a Steam Deck. But, not just any Steam Deck, the limited edition white Steam Deck OLED—because might as well go big or go home, amiright? No, I have a problem.
Full disclosure, I own a perfectly good gaming PC that was gifted to me back in 2020. So I don’t have any barriers keeping me from tackling my Steam backlog. But, outside of streaming and video editing I tend to avoid sitting at my desk to use the damn thing. I like to lounge while I game, so the idea of sitting at my desk for hours at a time isn’t always an appealing one. I much prefer to lay on my couch mindlessly clicking away at my latest conquest. Something my PS5 and Switch make very easy to do. So my PC and Steam backlog often gets neglected in favor of console releases simply because I wanna be comfortable when I game.
How I Got My Steam Deck OLED
For a long time the Switch has been my go to console, simply because of it’s versatility and the abundance of otome titles that get ported there. I can play it in handheld mode from just about anywhere and if I wanna see my 2D baes on a bigger screen I just have to dock my Switch and play on my TV. Simple! Even still, indie devs have been making strides in getting their games on the console, so I can play some pretty great indie VNs from my Switch too. But, the bulk of indie games remain PC/Steam exclusives, so unless I wanna get my ass up and hunch over my PC for 5-10 hours a day, I miss out on a lot of great games.
Getting a Steam Deck was something I played around with for a very long time. On one hand it would definitely make my Steam games more accessible, but on the other the Steam Deck is not cheap—setting you back a cool $600+ with tax and shipping (mine was $719 w/ tax and everything). And with the rampant compatibility issues with certain games, I was hesitant to drop that chunk of cash on a console that may or may not even work the way I wanted it to. So, I held off, made due with the gaming stuff I already own. But then they got me with that “Limited Edition Steam Deck OLED”, and that was it, credit card charged. So now I find myself the proud owner of a new white, $700 handheld gaming PC! Yay…
And now that I’ve had the damn thing for over a month, I kind of want to give my thoughts on the Steam Deck and whether it’s worth it for folks who mostly play otome games and visual novels. Now, full disclosure, I am not the most tech savvy gamer, so I can’t really speak on the specs or technical stuff. I’ll save myself the embarrassment of trying and leave my betters to do that elsewhere.
An Otome Gamer’s (Basic AF) Overview of the Steam Deck OLED
Essentially the Steam Deck is a handheld PC without all the wires and moving parts of an actual PC. Already off to a good start. Out of the box you get the Steam Deck system, a charger, cleaning cloth, and a case. And since my Deck is white, my case is also white.
As a console, the Steam Deck is much bigger than the Nintendo Switch, both physically and in the size of the screen. I was kind of worried that it would be heavy and kind of clunky for a handheld, but it’s surprisingly pretty sleek for its size. and the curved back makes it much easier to grip than my Switch. Which I will admit to accidentally dropping on my face enough times to leave a dent on my forehead. So a good grip is important.
The Deck’s got the usual handheld buttons and triggers with a few extras like the two thumb pads and additional back triggers—which as a visual novel and otome gamer, I rarely use. All you need for most otomes and VNs is a button to click and make choices with and direction buttons to scroll between choices. That’s it. So, for the most part the buttons on my Steam Deck are little more than decoration.
On top of that the controller mapping for most of the compatible VNs is pretty crappy. Now, technically you can re-map all the buttons on the Deck for a more comfortable gaming experience, but I always forget how I mapped everything and just wind up using the touch screen instead. So, your mileage may vary there.
Can I Play Otome Games on the Steam Deck OLED?
So the big question is, “Can you even play otome games on the Steam Deck? The short answer is yeah. You can! But, the experience can vary from game to game. Remember the compatibility issues I mentioned earlier? Well, not every game in the Steam catalogue is optimized for the Steam Deck. However, Steam does verify which games are compatible with the Deck, along with notes on issues players may experience while playing them. To help sus out which games work best on the Steam Deck, every game comes with ranking. There are four rankings in total.
- Verified games are those that have passed all of Steam’s compatibility checks and are 100% playable on the Steam Deck.
- Playable games are those that run fine on the Deck, but may have some minor issues that will require players to do a bit more leg work on their end to play smoothly on the console.
- Unsupported games are exactly like they sound. They don’t work on the Steam Deck.
- and last but not least, there are the Unknown games, these titles have not been tested for compatibility on the Steam Deck.
Most otome games and visual novels fall under either the Playable or Unknown categories. And, so far I haven’t encountered any huge problems playing anything listed as Verified, Playable, or Unknown. But, I have noticed that the text size on most VNs and otome are not optimized for the Steam Deck. The text can be pretty tiny, makes it harder to read for long periods of time.
Normally that wouldn’t be too big of a deal, but when 90-95% of the gameplay is reading it can be a pain to play some VNs for extended periods of time. There isn’t even the option to resize the text in game, so I’m usually forced to hold my Steam Deck within dangerous face dropping territory or limit my gaming to short gameplay windows. The Deck also can run hot if in use for longer periods of time, so maybe don’t sit it on your thighs if you’re wearing shorts.
While most otome games and VNs are playable on Deck, there are a few titles that are listed as flat out Unsupported. Amnesia Memories, Cinderella Phenomenon, Nightshade, all of the Taisho x Alice games, Particles of Reality, Men of Yoshiwara, The Radiants, and 7’scarlet are unsupported on the Steam Deck. I’ve been told there are ways to mod the Deck to make them playable, but like I said, I’m not tech savvy, so I don’t want to do anything that might accidentally break my 700 dollar console…
What if I Want to Play Non-Steam Games? – Game Mode vs. Desktop Mode
Generally, if a game is on Steam you can play probably play it on the Deck via Game mode—which pretty much functions the same way as Steam does on a regular PC. But, what if a game isn’t on Steam? Well, there is also a Desktop mode. This allows you to use your Steam Deck like a normal PC, browsing the internet, downloading applications, and running programs outside of Steam. The Deck’s Desktop mode comes loaded with Firefox (yeah, I know) and pretty much all the features of a regular PC. You can access other sites like itch.io and download games directly onto your Steam Deck to play. Of course it’s not perfect, but with some finagling it can work.
The most I used the Desktop mode for was downloading and installing the adult patch from MangaGamer for Sona Nyl—and it actually worked out okay for me. With Desktop mode you aren’t limited to just the Steam platform which gives the Deck a leg up on the Nintendo Switch.
So, is the Steam Deck Worth Getting for Otome Gamers?
Eh, it depends. Let’s be real, most otome games are going to be available on the Nintendo Switch and while there are more indie devs porting their games to console there still isn’t an extensive library of indie otome and VNs available there. And that’s where the Deck has the advantage! The majority of indie devs can’t port their games to the Nintendo Switch. So, PC and Steam is still going to be the best place to go for indie titles and with the Deck’s Desktop mode you can download and play so many more games from outside of the Steam catalogue. Especially, games from itch.io, which is a hub for so many great indie games! So, in that regard the Steam Deck is definitely worth the investment!
But, compatibility issues and the hefty price tag make the Steam Deck less appealing than the Nintendo Switch. If I download a game from the Nintendo eShop I KNOW it’s going to work, but even with the Deck’s verification ratings, there are still too many games that aren’t fully optimized for the console almost three years after its initial launch.
Is the Steam Deck going to replace my Switch as my go to otome console? Mmm, probably not. But, it does come with some advantages that make it worthwhile for otome gamers. So at the end of the day it comes down to whether or not you wanna drop $600+ on a Steam Deck or just buy a new laptop.
So, I get that you said you’re not tech-savvy, but there are a few things you overlooked in your review. For instance, the Deck has a magnifying glass feature for small text. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s better than holding the screen up close to your face. Also, you can play almost any game in game mode as long as you add them to Steam as non-Steam games in desktop mode. And relying on Steam’s own verification system isn’t a great idea. It’s often inaccurate. The best way to tell how a game is going to run on the Deck is to look it up on protondb.com (although some VNs are so niche that they’re not on there). And many compatibility issues can be solved or at least improved by changing which version of Proton you’re using for that particular game.
The Steam Deck is a great device, and I enjoy using it for visual novels, but there is a learning curve if you want to get the most out of it. If you only play VNs and you don’t want to do any tweaking or tinkering at all, then yeah, it’s probably not worth the price point.
I’m definitely still learning. Like I said, I’m not tech savvy, so this is helpful. Thanks for sharing! 😊
I know their not Otome games but can you play Genshin Impact , Zenless Zone Zero , or Infinity Nikki on the steam deck ?
I know some folks have figured out how to get Infinity Nikki working on the Deck, not sure about the other two
When you describe it as a “handheld PC” my eyebrows raised–yeah, I bet it runs hot and burns legs! OOF. My partner can handle a hot laptop for hours, but I must have 1 to 2 pillows to protect my precious leggos. The eyestrain also sounds not-so-good. Yet, at the right temperature, with the right game, with good magnification, the potential for coziness is high. Thank you for the review. I hadn’t considered purchasing a Steam Deck, and it was great to hear a trusted opinion on it.