Is The First Descendant worth playing on Steam Deck?

The First Descendant is playable on the Steam Deck and users of the console can dive into the game anytime and anywhere while on the go. Whether you should do so while expecting a satisfying session out of it is a different question altogether because the Steam Deck has significant restrictions in terms of hardware. Moreover, a looter-shooter game with a primary focus on gunplay might not be up everyone's alley if the controls are lacking.

In this article, we will discuss The First Descendant's performance on the Steam Deck, and whether you should be playing it on this handheld device. We will also explore some options that might help you wring out more juice from the game for a smoother performance.

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Can the Steam Deck run The First Descendant?

The First Descendant runs easily on the Steam Deck (Image via Nexon Games)

The Steam Deck can run The First Descendant decently, although you might experience a drop in performance every once in a while as you play. The title runs on Unreal Engine 5, which is known to take long loading times on the Steam Deck. As such, you should be prepared to face this issue right off the bat.

Once you get past the long loading times, the next hitch is performance. The game starts off smoothly, but stutters and lag will often visit you as you keep playing. For the majority of the game, the ideal performance will be at low settings, which can get you a steady 30 FPS output in most scenarios.

However, tinkering with the settings can get you a significant performance boost. The key is turning on the AMD FSR Quality Mode. With this, you can get between 40 and 50 FPS, making the game significantly more playable.

In some cases, Epic Games TSR works well too, but our recommendation leans towards the much more reliable AMD FSR mode. Given that the Steam Deck is built on AMD hardware, there is no option to turn on Nvidia DLSS.

Finally, if you are still experiencing micro-stutters or lag, you can download the GE-Proton 9.9, which has reportedly improved performances owing to its ddraw and dinput fixes for the Steam Deck. Note that this is a community variant and not an official version of Proton.

Here are a couple of pros and cons of playing The First Descendant on Steam Deck:

Pros

• The game is readily available on the Steam Deck without any additional tinkering.
• You can get a decent FPS with AMD FSR quality mode.

Cons

• Framerate dips and micro-stutters are present throughout.
• You will have to play the game on lower quality, sacrificing the visual experience.

Optimal settings for the Steam Deck (Image via Nexon Games || GameTechPlanet on YouTube)

Being a shooter game at its core, higher framerates should be your top priority for tougher content like Void Intercept bosses. If you want to tune your settings just right to get a balance between visuals and performance, here are our optimal First Descendant settings for Steam Deck.

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For more articles on The First Descendant, check out the following:

• The First Descendant tier list: Best characters to play
• How to defeat the Hanged Man boss in The First Descendant
• The First Descendant Complete Bunny questline: All Record locations
• All Ultimate Descendants and how to get them