OTXO, Sol Cesto, Weakless & Zoria - Steam Deck Tested | Aug 6
Kia ora Everyone!
Apologies for getting this one out so late! I’ve been helping Eben with the tedious job of proofreading the documentation, which turned out to be surprisingly enlightening. Even though I use Junk Store Pro all the time, I now understand how it all fits together on some level, and I found features I didn’t even know were there. If you haven’t seen the blog post yet, have a read, and take a look at the documentation while you’re at it. Even just the introduction will show you where Eben is heading with Junk Store.
And if you’ve been wanting your own extension, give it a go. No need to wait for us to build the thing you’ve been after. There’s a wizard that walks you through it, and between that and the documentation you should be sorted. Even if you aren’t a coder you can, dare I say it, get an AI model to help.
Around all that I’ve been checking in on my Dad while Mum plays tourist down the South Island with my sister. Bloody freezing down there at the moment, they had snow the other day! Cold or not, they’re having a great time and keeping us all updated with plenty of photos.
Current System Setup
- Junk Store Pro: v3.2.0.0 (Stable Channel)
- Junk Store Plugin: v1.1.13 (Main/Default)
- Decky Loader: v3.2.8-pre1 (Pre-release)
- Proton: GE-Proton 11.1
- SteamOS: v3.8.16 (Stable)
This Week’s Featured Games View Full List →
Epic Games Giveaway
This week featuring OTXO, Sol Cesto.
This one reminded me of Hot Brass, being a top down shooter. I got my butt handed to me in the very first gun fight, so I probably should have spent a bit longer on the training. My second run went much better and I cleared the first two levels with ease. It's a fun run and gun, but you do need to use your time-warp skill, and remember to reload or grab a new weapon before you're caught out. Not sure how much more of it I'll play, but it's a good one to pick up for a bit without having to commit a whole evening to it.
View compatibility details →
Took me a while to figure this one out, though I wasn't really paying attention. Once I got the hang of it, it became quite addictive. I've seen people mention issues with saves, but I found it did remember some of what I'd unlocked between launches. The deceptive part is that there's no continue option, so just hit play and you'll see your unlocks on the surface. I enjoyed this one and it'll stay on the Deck as something to dip in and out of, depending on how well my luck holds out against my skill level.
View compatibility details →Amazon Prime Gaming
This week featuring Weakless, Zoria: Age of Shattering.
A really nice cozy puzzler that reminded me of Symphonia, mostly because of the artwork and the setting. I properly enjoyed this one, and the switching between the two characters you control. One is a creature who can't hear and whose world is in colour, the other is blind and sees only black and white. You swap between them to solve simple puzzles and work your way through the game. It's a lovely chill one if you just want something to unwind with at the end of the day.
View compatibility details →
I knew I'd enjoy this one, though I did spend the first 20 minutes just running around stuffing my inventory with everything I could find. That's my game within the game: inventory management and crafting. I can lose hours to it and have done in The Witcher 3 and Divinity: Original Sin 2, to name a couple. It's a bummer it's single player only, because this is one Eben and I could have tackled together. Mind you, we still need to finish Borderlands 2, and I know he wants to get hold of Baldur's Gate 3 at some point. So this'll be one I play on my own when time allows, but it's definitely going on the backlog.
View compatibility details →Looking Forward
Next up on the free games front:
Epic Games: Epic’s giving away two next week, Beacon Pines and We Were Here Together.
Beacon Pines looks interesting, and by the looks of it another one Eben and I will have to play together. Maybe if I can get him to “test” it for long enough he’ll be sucked in far enough to carry on with me. We Were Here Together came around a month or so ago, possibly through Amazon Prime Gaming if you have a subscription. That’s another I need to get Eben to sit down and work through with me, though who knows when that’ll happen.
Amazon Prime Gaming: Looks like we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see what Prime Gaming has lined up. What’s your guess? More puzzle games, or RPGs? We’ll just have to see what’s on offer to collect.
For game-specific issues, feedback, or just a chat, you'll still find us on Discord or Reddit.
As always we hope you’ve had an awesome weekend,
Annie & Eben (aka The Junk Store Team)