I had an old MSI gaming laptop from 2016 which was amazing for me (I always had slow, 2nd hand laptops before) and now I’ve sold it and my PS Vita in order to buy a Steam Deck. I want to play Elden Ring, the Souls series, Sekiro and some indie games like Vampire Survivor. I also want to emulate games (Gameboy gen up to PS2 gen). Would that be a good investment or should I just go for a PC? I travel frequently because of my job.
I have had great times with my Deck, I picked up the 256 GB and upgraded with a 1TB MicroSD. I have to say, as hardware goes, it’s quite solid. It’s also very easy to get into the Linux backend and set it up for emulation and other side loading, and it does 6th Gen and back reasonably well, with a couple forward for the Nintendo line. I haven’t tried it myself but as I understand it, it’s a reasonably good build even for the switch. I’m not usually a device fanboy but I’m actually looking forward to the next iteration.
As for high performance, I can verify for Elden Ring, as with pretty much all of the modern titles, it runs at a steady 30 FPS 720p, with the occasional dip. If you fly long flights a lot, it’s great - just be cognizant of the low battery life and run on AC where you can.