Handheld Fun

 I finally gave up on Final Fantasy X. It is Tidus. It is the convoluted story. I admit the game is beautiful, but I cannot get into it. I dislike it so much that I found myself avoiding gaming rather than grind through. It doesn't help that I have never played X-2. My intentions were to finish X, run a palette cleanser game, and then rock out X-2 before moving on to XII Zodiac Age. 

I don't give up easily. Realizing I finished Final Fantasy IX in August put a bit of pressure on me to get back in the game. I didn't promise myself that I would finish all the Final Fantasy games in any specific period of time. I just want to get through a series play through. I finally snapped myself out of the funk. I gave myself permission to pause my progress on X. I booted up XII Zodiac Age with excitement. It is one of my favorites. 

Imagine my frustration when I could not get the Steam Deck to play the game. It is verified. Yet, each time I booted into FFXII Zodiac Age the game would stall on a blank white screen. I uninstalled. I installed again. Same result. 

I sat for a few minutes pondering. What was I doing wrong? How could the game work for others and not for me? Then it dawned on me. I don't use my Steam Deck as a handheld. It generally moves from one dock to another as a gaming PC hooked to a TV and played via controller. I was betting that in handheld mode the Steam Deck would play FFXII Zodiac Age like an absolute champ. I still loaded it on my gaming laptop just in case. I was betting that I was the problem. 

Turns out I was right. As soon as I launched XII Zodiac Age with the Steam Deck in my hands and undocked it worked like a charm. I played through the first few hours of the game enjoying the handheld experience. It was the first time I had done any serious gaming with the Steam Deck as a handheld. I have a few hundred hours logged on different games, but the Steam Deck has been hanging out on a dock the whole way. 

I didn't realize how much of an experience I was robbing myself of. The graphics on the Steam Deck are crisp. It is a comfortable system to hold and play so far. Even the sound for the system is strong. It was enough to make me super happy the game glitched on loading in the dock. 

I put about three hours of play in. I still had 57% battery when I took a break to do some other things. Dishes had to be washed. Stuff needed cleaned and organized. A few of my projects deserved some attention.

While I was doing that stuff, and pondering this post, I got to thinking about my new Wii U system. The kid has fallen in love with Super Mario Maker. I dig it as well, but I found myself enjoying the Wii portion of the Wii U with Epic Mickey. I am going to have to figure out how to better configure the system so I don't feel quite as awkward playing a game with the Wii remote and motion controls. 

Still, I really like the handheld controller with the screen for the Wii U. It has good sound. It has strong ergonomics. It also is nice to run a few levels of Super Mario Maker without having to find the TV remote. Apparently you can also set the motion sensor up on the Wii U controller and use it as a TV for the Wii Games. I haven't attempted that yet, but neat idea. 

I enjoy handheld gaming. I have been growing my DS and 3DS library for the last few years. It is a fantastic system and really deserves continued support. I have gotten tons of mileage out of my PSPs and Vita over the years as well. I would likely play my Switch handheld more but the ergonomics are terrible. I haven't invested in any better joycon grips. Like the Steam Deck, I have kept my Switch docked almost exclusively. 

It is funny how much I enjoy portable gaming. I wasn't allowed to have a Gameboy growing up. My parents were rightly concerned that the screen would strain my eyes. I rebelled when I came of age with a pair of Gameboy colors. I have been a fan of portable gaming ever since.

Is it bad I am already thinking about the next Switch and Steam Deck systems?