It’s an awesome little device! You’ve got plenty of games to work through, but if you feel like trying a side loaded one, give my game Pogo Arc a try: thesambassador.itch.io/pogo-arc
It’s not a full dedicated gaming console that you’re spending hours and hours playing. It’s a toy that’s great for quick sessions and it’s really fun to develop games for. It’s very well made and the software is great.
It’s not a fair comparison to existing handhelds. It’s niche, and definitely not for everyone. Personally, I love it and think it’s just a unique toy that’s fun to show people. If you’d need to get X hours of gameplay to make it “worth” it to you, it probably isn’t your style.
It’s an enthusiast device. As a gamedev myself, it’s super fun to make little games for, and then you can easily show your friends/family. The limitations and unique input (the crank) lead to some awesome and interesting games.
I don’t really view it as a serious gaming device. It’s great for 5-20 minute sessions but it is basically a toy. I think if you’re interested in experimental indie games, it’s a great little device that’s absolutely worth it. It shouldn’t be directly compared to a “normal” game console because, frankly, it isn’t.
The place where it broke down for me was a moment where, as part of the main quest of the game, a character asks Aloy to help with a very emotionally personal request (help figure out what happened to his dead sister), and Aloy starts off with “that’s your war, not mine” and is super reluctant. Then, not 2 minutes later, I talk to a side quest NPC asking for help investigating a stolen heirloom, and Aloy is like “yeah sure, I have time for that and also maybe I could run and get your grocieries and do your dry cleaning and whatever else no problem.”
It helps, but you can’t do that to talk to people. Some of the shop keepers are surrounded by so much stuff you can pick up, and even being very careful I accidentally triggered at least 4 fights. My wife missed out at talking to Rafael at last light because she accidentally picked up the chess board that he’s playing (he literally just disappears).
I do think BG3 is a very impressive game and deserves a lot of the praise it gets.
That said, it sucks how finicky it is to run away from a fight. There’s way too many fights that just sort of happen with very little explanation as to why they’re attacking you. It’s also waaay too easy to accidentally steal things and trigger fights, especially on controller.
You basically do have to save scum a little, because one accident can lead to an entire town being pissed at you. If the game had better ways to de escalate combat and some better signposting of consequences, it’d be a 10/10 game
His stories are mostly over the top nonsense, but sometimes that’s fun. Also, for a “AAA” studio director, he’s willing to take some VERY big experimental swings when it comes to gameplay. Death Stranding has it’s problems, but it’s very unique. That’s worth some points.
The remaster of Grim Fandango does make the control scheme more modern (movement direction is camera relative), though you can switch to tank controls if you want.