[Steam Deck] Long/grindy game I can sink a lot of time into
I'm stuck in a hotel for 2 more weeks for work and I only really have my Steam Deck for entertainment. I was playing through Atelier Resleriana, but I finished that and now I don't really have anything else to fall back to. I wasn't really supposed to be gone this long but my work trip got extended so here I am. I was thinking of picking up another Atelier game, but all the ones I haven't played look like they're not really supported very well on Steam deck (I already played through all the Ryza games). I tried Yumia real quick, but it was pretty ugly with the graphics settings and still laggy, which I didn't really want to put up with, so putting that on hold until I get back to my desktop.
I think I want to pick up another JRPG, but looking online I've already played through a ton of the suggestions I repeatedly see for Steam Deck JRPGs.
Already played (based on what I've seen from other suggestions):
- Persona 3, 4, 5, Metaphor, SMT V (sort of SMT V -- I bought it then refunded it, I absolutely detest the demon negotiation system. I just used a guide for it in P5, but couldn't find anything really complete for SMT5 so just gave it up. I do not like trial and error stuff like that)
- Yakuza 7/8 (I also own 0/1/2, but I don't like the combat for the non-turn-based Yakuza games. I've tried like a dozen times to pick them up, but always drop them because I'm not having any fun even though I keep wanting to play because the story is consistently good. Absolutely loved 7/8 though.)
- Dragon Quest 1, 2, 3, 11 -- Been tempted to pick up DQ7, but I spent quite a long time playing just Dragon Quest (I beat 3 like 3 times consecutively because I wanted to play in English and Japanese, and I did an extra run just to mess with a different party comp) so I'm a little Dragon Quested out at the moment.
- Disgaea -- I enjoy the games, but already got my fill of them all. Been playing the series pretty much since its inception.
- Monster Hunter -- I love Monster Hunter, but I really like to just keep to the most recent release because they tend to play similarly and I prefer to focus on just advancing the one character at a time. And... Wilds isn't exactly a thing on Steam Deck.
- Soulslikes -- Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Nioh, etc. -- Have thousands of hours in this genre, I think I've hit pretty much all that the Steam Deck covers already tbh.
- Runescape. I see a lot of people recommend OSRS, but the funny thing is I'm currently using my phone to play RS3. Just been grinding out skills. So that's already being done.
What I'm not looking for:
Anything roguelike. I very much enjoy the genre, but I have about 15 roguelike games already installed on my Steam Deck (mostly because they tend to take up very little space, realistically I don't really plan on playing any of them anymore tbh, at least not any time soon). I don't really get the same replayability out of them as others seem to, and really roguelikes are kind of just a "I'll just get through a single run and stop for now" thing for me. They are not really games that I play for hours at a time. I just don't get that "Just one more run" thing people talk about all the time.
Anything cRPG. I tried playing Disco Elysium on my Steam Deck and basically instantly uninstalled. Not because of the game itself, but the cRPG genre is really a mouse/keyboard thing for me. I do not enjoy playing them with controller at all.
Anything aimy/shooty (No third person/first person shooter style). Same as above. I just really hate aiming with a controller. It's really only something I'm willing to do with a mouse and keyboard.
And similarly to the above two: No ARPGs. I see Grim Dawn and Last Epoch recommended for Steam Deck a lot. I've tried playing them on Steam Deck, but it just doesn't come close to the enjoyment I get from playing them with a mouse and keyboard. There's always a thought of like, "This would be easier if I just wasn't using a controller" and it makes playing them have an undercurrent of frustration more than anything else.
Anything emulated. I just personally don't enjoy emulation. I prefer playing old games on their original hardware. Idk how to really explain it, that's just how it is for me. Nothing against the concept itself for when others do it, but it's just not for me.
Anything that requires an online connection to play. I've got free hotel Wi-Fi, so actually downloading games is fine (though it can take a while), but this hotel probably has the single worst hotel wi-fi I've ever interacted with. It constantly drops for seemingly no reason and asks me to sign in again. Usually I just have to re-authenticate once a week when I'm staying in hotels. It's like 3-5 times a day here, it's insane. Even worse, the authentication weirdly doesn't work in gaming mode on the Steam Deck which I've never had a problem with before. I have to go back to Desktop mode every single time it drops. Really don't want to have to deal with that while playing a game. I was toying with the idea of playing Guild Wars 1, but this kinda killed that idea.