Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has earned a playable status on the Steam Deck, marking a shrewd assessment by Valve on its limitations. While the game’s system requirements suggest otherwise, it can still deliver robust performance in handheld mode, even at high quality settings.
The game takes up 81.5GB of space, making it essential to use a microSD card or a spacious SSD. Battery life is also a concern, with users getting around 1 hour and 22 minutes of playtime on the original LCD Deck running at 50% screen brightness. However, this doesn’t make Deliverance 2 an ideal Steam Deck game.
Despite some drawbacks, the game’s interactions adapt well to gamepad controls, particularly its swordfighting style, which feels more suited for thumbsticks than mice. The issue lies in the jump to a lower resolution (800p) on the dinky screen, where menu text becomes too small to read comfortably and HUD icons are undersized.
To mitigate this, users can rely on the Steam Deck’s zoom feature or adjust settings accordingly. Using FSR upscaling on Quality mode is sufficient for good performance, with stable 30fps and occasional drops into the thirties during demanding moments.
To optimize performance, we recommend the following settings:
– Resolution scaling technology: FSR
– Resolution scaling mode: Quality
– Motion blur: Off
– Near DOF: On
– Object quality: Low
– Particles: High
– Lighting: High
– Global illumination: Low
– Postprocess quality: High
– Shader quality: High
– Shadows: Low
– Textures: High
– Volumetric effects detail: High
– Vegetation detail: Low
– Character detail: High
Additionally, users can further optimize performance by adjusting the screen’s refresh rate using the Steam Deck’s Performance menu. This will limit the frame rate to 45Hz while maintaining a playable experience.
Despite some limitations, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is still an enjoyable game on the Steam Deck, and with proper adjustments, it can provide smooth performance for hours of gameplay.
Source: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/kingdom-come-deliverance-2-steam-deck