I played a ton of EU4 and it did just fine, didn’t hit 60fps but really don’t need that kind of performance on a map game. back buttons for hotkeys/zooming in/out. Left trackpad set up as a touch to swap between different map types. Can always dock to a monitor with mouse/keyboard or just pair a bluetooth mouse. :)
Diablo 2 Resurrected and Diablo 4 have both seen more Steam Deck time than PC. Really nailed the controller scheme, and the graphics still decent for an 800p screen.
Diablo IV is amazing on the deck for me, but I only dock the Deck occasionally. I already have a mid-high end PC at the desk with an HDMI running to the TV. Only thing that bummed me out was lack of local co-op for PC. Would love to share the Diablo experience locally.
Personally the Deck docked isnt really for AAA titles, but more for all the lighter indie games and even better party games like Jackbox, PlateUp!, and all the emulated games I can bring to a LAN party and everyone pairs their controller to.
Dont expect to play super graphical AAA titles without compromise, but the Deck is an emulation powerhouse(even some PS3/Switch games work good, dreamcast, ps2, gamecube, wii and older just about flawless), and is so versatile that the $360 64GB model and a $100 1TB SSD upgrade makes it a great deal. Got a console/PC already? Can stream to the deck. Get a dock and it becomes a budget desktop with mouse/keyboard. The amount of money you save from Steam/Fanatical/any storefront you want(or piracy ;)) is great too. Got a Steam Library already? It works on PC and on Deck.
It is a tinkering device for sure though. Linux is a learning curve if you want to do more than just steam games. Kingdom Hearts 3 on Epic Store was an adventure to get working for example. Also still havent gotten my logitech steering wheel to work either. Overall though, absolutely a good deal from over a year i’ve had mine.
Buy the 64gb, and upgrade the SSD. I have a 2TB SSD and a 1TB microSD card. :) i pair PS4 controllers and one Xbone controlller and they all work great. PlateUp and all the emulated games with 4 players are a blast docked to a TV!