Star Ocean on the Steam Deck
The latest title in the Star Ocean RPG series launches on October 27th! We’re really excited to take it for a spin and have it pre-loading on the Steam Deck. Square Enix has been having a good track record with having games marked as Verified or Playable on the Deck, so I’m thinking we’ve got a pretty good shot of The Divine Force running beautifully on the Deck.
tri-Ace has two games on Steam, Star Ocean The Last Hope and Resonance of Fate. The Last Hope is Unsupported on the Deck and despite a silver rating on protondb it seems to run well with just some artifacts. Resonance of Fate is fully Verified on the Deck.
Launching Star Ocean on the Steam Deck
I pre-loaded Star Ocean The Divine Force so it would be ready to play as soon as it came available!
The Divine Force is currently unpacking, at first I thought it was restarting the download. I’m still not sure. It took, like, 10 hours to download so I will not be a happy camper.
Star Ocean Launches on the Steam Deck
With absolutely no tinkering, Star Ocean The Divine Force launches flawlessly on the Steam Deck.
You are able to select between prioritizing framerate or appearance.
Ruh-roh….
It stalled after character selection for a little bit.
I should’ve selected framerate, it’s dropping like crazy.
Performance Adjustments
Running Star Ocean with Proton Experimental, changing some settings to normal or low, and most importantly pre-compiled shaders makes this game actually functional.
Release Times
While Star Ocean is already available on the 26th of October for Xbox and Playstation users, it won’t launch until the 27th on Steam:
- North America: October 27 at 8 am PT/11 am ET
- Europe: October 27 at 3 pm UTC/4 pm BST/5 pm CEST
- Eastern Asia and Oceania: October 27 at 11 pm JST or October 28 at 1 am AEST/3 am NZST
Pre-Purchase Bonuses
Steam users that pre-purchase Star Ocean on the Steam Deck will get a few Pre-Purchase Bonuses:
[Lionheart’s Blutgang]
Greatsword for Raymond
Weapon that Raymond can use in the early game.
Includes a factor that increases experience gained in battle.
[Flashing Naglering]
Dual blades for Laeticia
Weapon that Laeticia can use in the early game.
Includes a factor that can reduce enemies’ DEF temporarily.
Pawns used when playing the mini-game, Es’owa; can also be used as an equipable item.
Get your hands on pawns from tri-Ace’s classic series, like Valkyrie Profile and Radiata Stories!
・Playing Piece / Accessory: Lenneth
・Playing Piece / Accessory: Lezard
・Playing Piece / Accessory: Jack
・Playing Piece / Accessory: Ridley
Denuvo Controversy
Star Ocean The Divine Force ships with Denuvo, which seems to be a controversial topic. A few people are skipping the game until it is removed. So what is Denuvo? Denuvo is DRM that relies on 3rd party servers for checking activation data that is saved on your PC.
But unlike most DRM, Denuvo calls itself a “protection technology” and chooses to operate silently. It’s hard to figure out whether or not a game is running Denuvo until you’ve already purchased it.
I’m going to hold out on an opinion on this one so long as Star Ocean runs on the Deck until I find out more.
Star Ocean The Last Hope
The Last Hope is currently unsupported on the Steam Deck, but on ProtonDB it has a Silver rating. Most users have a good experience, with some using a custom proton install, Glorious Eggroll. There seems to be some stuttering and artifacts, but overall the reviews are positive.