I’d hold on Cyberpunk. There will undoubtedly be a bundled/discounted version of it when Phantom Liberty comes out in September.

As a counter offer, may I present Control? One of the best action games I’ve played in decades that also has a really interesting story (if you like trippy Twin Peaks/X-Files style stories) and it’s only $10USD currently in the sale. Runs pretty well on the Deck, and if you have a beefy PC to play on as well, has some really great RTX features.

The only other game that really fits your criteria that I would recommend is Hades which has already been mentioned. I put over 300 hours into Hades across PC and Switch (pre Steam Deck), and it’s one of the only roguelike games that has a super compelling story.

Not a triple A game but Hades has all of the above and is truly fantastic. Not open world vibes but massively replayble.

Hollow Knight is another absolute gem and one of my favourite games the last decade.

If you choose one of the three, note that:

• Cyberpunk is still pretty flawed and has issues and you’ll get less battery life though it’s a lot better now than at launch and certainly playable
• FFVII Remake is only half of the original FFVII, so you’ll end on a cliff hanger and be waiting for the continuation
• No Man’s Sky started with tons of issues but is now really content filled and open and polished and at this point pretty well liked

Based on those, I would lean towards No Man’s Sky since it has the least amount of concerns (in my opinion).

But if you just want a good story, NieR: Replicant and NieR: Automata are amazing and worth checking out (we have a Lemmy at !nier@lemm.ee) and I’d just really recommend it for the plot alone. Both are on sale and run pretty well, and Replicant is the first game while Automata is the sequel, and opinions heavily vary on which is better on story since they are both fantastic but Automata is more polished. They’re also both standalone, so you can play in either order, though I’ll always recommend Replicant first. They aren’t perfect games but will nail the music and plot, as those are the things most highly praised about them. They’re also very depressing!

Rain World isn’t AAA but it certainly feels premium and I’d recommend it if you want a really beautiful and interesting open world, but be warned that it’s incredibly hard. It’s not a game for everybody but it’s really amazing and I think it’s worth mentioning because the world is huge. Great music there too!

May I throw „Cassette Beasts“ in the mix? Is it premium as in the seventh installment of a series that lost its soul with the second release? As in costs 60+€ and is a collectathon with no heart? No. Not premium.

But it has

• tons of replayability. Gotta catch them all.
• an intriguing story that is surprisingly mature for a pokeyman game
• fan-tas-tic soundtrack

Also lots of stuff to find and discover. Also also does not break the bank. Also also also does not eat the SteamDecks battery for lunch, because it’s only 2D. And finally, for us old people, the combat is turn based. You will not fail because of lacking reflexes.

FF remake is one I have recently finished and it was excellent though as others have said it’s only half of the original.

Control is excellent

Hades is one of the first games I played on my deck, I put around 50 hours into it.

Shadow of Mordor and shadow of war were both tremendous fun and have lots of offer for the nemesis system.

A plauge tale innocence was fun I picked up the second one but haven’t had a chance to start it and I want to get into the story like the first.

Horizon zero dawn really sucked me into the story and I found it hard to put down, often I would stay up much later than is reasonable after putting the kids down.

God of war 2018 was also great and I enjoyed playing it very much. It made me setup emudeck and play gow1 and 2.

Tomb Raider and it’s sequels were fun though I didn’t play those on the deck.

Death Stranding.

I’ve actually had this game kicking around for a while, never gotten into it until I got a Steam Deck this year and have not been able to put it down since.

The game really resonated with me, especially after having been through the pandemic and surviving the same isolation and longing for connection that fundamentally underpins plot of the game. The characters are amazing (great cast - Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen are just stellar in their roles), the world is vast, cinematic and often scary, and the gameplay mechanics are so deep that I’m still learning new things after 50+ hours into the game. So much to unpack. There is also a fair bit of weirdness, humor and cheese mixed in that is signature Kojima, that cracks me up once in a while.

It is truly an unique game and one of a kind experience. Nothing really like it.

cyberpunk is super fun even with the things it lacks. played it to the end.

I would recommend horizon zero dawn. action packed and the story is very good

If you want something story rich, I was a teenage exocolonist is pretty good with replayability but it might not be for everyone because it’s also relationship based while also stat building. I do love the music a lot too!

Subnautica is beautiful as well and recommended by womp.

I played Outer Wilds on the deck, and absolutely loved it. It’s a bit open world, and very exploration focused. I thought the controls on the deck were great for the space flying. However, as another review said: this is the best game that you can never play again. The way the story works, there’s not much replay ability, but it is definitely a journey that’s worth it—Just avoid all spoilers or any looking up clues!!!

Submautica may also be a game you like as well, if you’re into the exploration aspect.

No Man’s Sky is quite complex with a lot of systems to manage, resources to collect, etc. I think it’d be a bit overwhelming if you haven’t been playing many games in recent years.

Was going to reply to your comment about SOTN but replying on Lemmy.world seems broken at the moment.

You can install EmuDeck and play SotN on the deck if you want. Not a metroidvania but Divinity Original Sin 2 runs great on the deck and it has a crap ton of replayability. Baldurs Gate 3 seems to also run well on the deck according to protondb. Protondb is great for checking game compatibility.

Thanks all for the insightful recommendations.

I’ve decided to hold on Cyberpunk for now and definitely pick up Control (thanks @trankillity)!

Probably will also pick up GTA5 just to drive around in and putz around.

I have Skyrim as an RPG that I only played a few hours on, so probably skipping on VII remake for now.

And last, probably picking up No Mans Sky.

Cheers!

What about a Turn-based RPG like Yakuza Like A Dragon? It’s open world, plays great on the deck, has amazing world building/ambience to it and it’s incredibly replayable. You can frequently find it on sale (or get a cheap key from G2A) and its sequel is coming out soon.

For me, it feels like an old school RPG with modern quality of life improvements and plenty of character.

What about Final Fantasy XII? You mentioned VII Remake, it’s semi-open world, music/atmosphere is as good as any Final Fantasy game and it should play very well on Steam Deck. You could even emulate the Zodiac International translated version for PS2.

Cyberpunk fits your three requirements, and you can play it as a non-shooter if you want. You can go melee if you like that, or play as a cyberdeck user who hacks the cyberware of your enemies instead of attacking them directly (can be really fun, or repetitive depending on what you like). I agree with @trankillity though, wait and see if there’s a bundle with the new big DLC this fall. It is also going to be a massive overhaul of the game and bring tons of improvements.

Subnautica plays pretty good on the Steamdeck and is not a shooter.

If you like older RPGs and Skyrim but haven’t played Oblivion, consider looking into how to install Oblivion on the steamdeck along with a major overhaul mod(s) for graphics and gameplay. Oblivion plays amazing on the steamdeck with the controller mod, and it barely uses battery. I can play hours more Oblivion than I can any modern game, and with a graphics overhaul it doesn’t look that bad. Plenty of modern games look worse and still use up the battery in hours less time.