I would recommend to play Skyrim on PC though. Even if your computer is old, you should be able to get a much better experience from it than the Switch version.
I mean, I played it on the Xbox 360, and it worked like a charm. On an ancient three-core console with 256 MiB of RAM.
Then I wanted to replay it on the Switch, and was disappointed. There are a lot of physics glitches on the Switch, but what is worse is that the NPC pathfinding takes a lot longer on the Switch, such that NPCs move in nonsensical directions during combat, as they start to follow paths that they would have needed several seconds earlier. Instead of moving near the player to attack, they move near the position where the player had been some time ago. This is particularly bad on the overworld, but also noticeable in dungeons.
I loved that game, and completed it twice, but the last chapter (or last 2 chapters - depending on which ending you get) is super annoying. The encounters are repetitive, and there are quite a lot of them. It’s almost the same group of enemies again, and again, and again. Once you have a working strategy those encounters aren’t even that challenging, but if you play turn-based, they take a lot of time…
Book of Hours. It’s a strange game, set in the Secret Histories, the same setting that Cultist Simulator had. Unlike Cultist Simulator, which was rather gruesome, Book of Hours is a relaxed game, about cleaning out and restoring an abandoned library, reading the occult books left in it, and drinking tea with your guests.
Potionomics. While it’s primarily a puzzle game about brewing potions, it has a lot of heartwarming dialogue.
Settlers 2 (the original DOS game, not the remake). The Settlers series was what brought up the term “Wuselfaktor” (No clue how to translate this. There is an English explanation of the term in this article.), and imho Settlers 2 is (by far) the best part of that series.
Kerbal Space Program. I can’t say why this game makes me happy, but it does. There’s something strangely relaxing about drifting through space in free-fall, seeing the planetary surface pass by at high speed below.
I don’t know that particular system, so I can’t give any hardware-specific suggestions. However, it might be worth checking out the games that previously were included in Humble Mobile Bundles, especially the very first ones. Sorry, I don’t have a nice to browse list, but this site seems usable enough: barter.vg/bundles/3/76/
It’s basically what the Steam Deck does, and for a gaming device it makes a lot of sense. The vast majority of games will probably be installed to the user’s home folder anyhow…
It might be that some games require additional libraries that don’t come with the immutable base OS, but you can always install them in a custom folder (like, the game’s install dir), or just install Steam and use the Steam Runtime for everything.
And, as you said, a lot of open source tools and games (DosBox for instance) are available as Flatpaks too.
After finishing my second playthrough of Loren the Amazon Princess, I’ve now started Tales of Aravorn: An Elven Marriage. And I must say, it is pretty good. From what I can tell up to now, I like Elven Marriage more than Loren, so it’s a bit sad, that it didn’t sell that well…
Apart from that I’m playing way too much Against the Storm. It’s a pretty fun city builder rogue-like. Basically Settlers, but only the fun parts, with a bit of random challenges sprinkled in.
I also tried to play Albion (the DOS game) again, but I died in my second battle and hadn’t saved from the beginning… 90s games were something different, when it comes to difficulty. I will definitely start over again soon, this time actually saving frequently.
On the topic of Visual Novels: I’d like to recommend basically everything from Winter Wolves Games that is tagged as RPG. The classic is of course Loren the Amazon Princess, but, to be honest, their writing has improved since then, so you might want to check out their newer Tales of Aravorn games, like Seasons of the Wolf. Also, Loren is really long, so if you don’t have a ton of time, the newer, shorter games might be a better choice.
A word of warning though, by Winter Wolves themselves: mastodon.social/
Apart from Subnautica, which only is tedious regarding food/drink in the very beginning, I enjoyed Unreal World a lot. It is turn based, so there isn’t any real-time time constraint imposed by in-game hunger/thirst. It also tries to feel realistic in a lot of aspects, including the amount of food/water your character needs. While at game start you of course need to focus on immediate survival (though, that depends a bit on the scenario you play), that focus shifts rather quickly to preparing for the winter, as in stocking up supplies (think: smoking/curing meat/fish, gathering fire wood,…), and building a shelter that you can heat, so you don’t freeze when it gets cold outside. Since the game is set in fantasy iron age Finland, you probably also want to build a sauna 😉.