Recent reviews by TheCozyController

Steam Deck Review: Anno 2205 — Pros & Cons (Jan. 4, 2026 Review)

Pros:

💸 Dirt-cheap during the Winter sales – Picked up the base game and all DLCs during the Winter Sale 2025/2026 for a price that felt like it fell straight back to Earth. Huge value for $USD.

🌙 Still looks good from Earth to the Moon – For a 2015 game, the graphics aged really well. Cities look clean, the Moon missions are cool, and it runs smoothly on the Steam Deck.

📖 Story that keeps you grounded – Easy to follow and not overwhelming. You won’t feel lost in space trying to figure out what’s going on.

🧠 More planning, less decorating – This is more about managing resources and planning ahead than making pretty cities. That worked for me, but it could land differently for others.

🚀 Strong Earth-to-Moon sci-fi vibe – Building cities on Earth and expanding to the Moon still feels fresh. Not many games lean into this setting as much.

🛡️ Side and defense missions – These add a nice break from building and keep the game from feeling flat.

Cons:

🏢 Buildings start to feel copy-and-paste – After a while, many buildings look the same, whether you’re on Earth or the Moon.

🟦 Cities are stuck in square orbit – Roads don’t curve, so your cities will almost always end up as clean square grids. Creative freedom didn’t quite make it to the Moon.

👥 Quiet neighborhood in 2025 – The community isn’t very active anymore, so it can feel a bit like a low-traffic space station if you're trying to connect with the community for this game.

🪦 No new updates since 2023 – Development seems finished. If you’re okay playing a complete but “final” game, this won’t crash-land your experience.

Final Verdict:

Even with its boxy cities and limited creativity tools, Anno 2205 is still easy to recommend on the Steam Deck. I bought it recently, finally sat down to play, and I’m 4+ hours in and really enjoying it.

Sure, you won’t be sculpting beautiful curved cities, but the strategy, Earth-to-Moon setting, and smooth performance make it worth the trip. If you’re looking for a chill but smart sci-fi strategy game and don’t mind keeping your cities neatly grounded, Anno 2205 is still worth the launch in 2025/2026 🚀 🌍 🌙 🌌

Transport Fever 2 – Steam Deck Gameplay – 2025 Review

If you’ve ever dreamed of running your own transport empire, building cities, and watching tiny digital people live their lives while you create a borderline tyrannical bus schedule, then Transport Fever 2 might be your next obsession.

But like any great journey, it has smooth tracks… and some bumps that will make you mutter, “why would you do this to me, game?”

🚂 PROS
🎨 Stunning Graphics

Transport Fever 2 is so pretty you might forget you're playing a logistics game and not browsing high-end travel brochures. Vehicles shine, landscapes pop, and the Steam Deck screen handles it all gracefully.

🏙️ Realistic, Detailed Design

Buildings, vehicles, and environments look like miniature handcrafted models placed inside a living museum.
Zooming in feels like inspecting a high-end diorama.

🚛 Excellent Transport Models

Trains? Gorgeous.
Planes? Gorgeous.
Ships? Gorgeous.
Even the trucks look like they were lovingly designed by someone who secretly wanted to work at a luxury car studio.

🌆 Lively, Growing Cities

Your cities evolve realistically—population growth, density, industry shifts. It’s satisfying watching your infrastructure fuel their development.

🎮 Engaging Campaign Mode

Fun, humorous, and surprisingly gripping.
You start “just one scenario,” then suddenly your coffee is cold and it’s three hours later.

👁️ Fantastic View Modes (Ride-Along & Follow Cameras)

One of the best parts of the game:
Ride a train across the entire map
Follow a bus through dense traffic
Trail a random citizen as they commute

These cinematic, travel-documentary-style views make the world feel alive and are weirdly relaxing.
It’s easy to lose time just… sightseeing.
In a transport simulator.
And it’s glorious.

🧰 CONS

🍼 Tutorial Ends Too Early
Great start, then suddenly it’s like the tutorial says,
“Okay, you’re a transport magnate now. Bye!”
You’re left holding 28 unprofitable routes and a dream.

📘 Steep Learning Curve for New Players
Once the tutorial leaves you on your own, the game unloads industry chains, maintenance needs, line balancing, and financial management all at once.
It’s like being handed the keys to a Boeing 747 because you once rode a bicycle.

🎯 FINAL VERDICT

Highly Recommended — especially on Steam Deck.
Transport Fever 2 delivers impressive performance, beautiful visuals, deep gameplay, and endless replayability. Whether you're a veteran tycoon or willing to learn through a few early bankruptcies, this is a rewarding simulation experience.

And with Transport Fever 3 arriving in 2026, the hype is absolutely real.
If TF2 is the foundation, TF3 is shaping up to be something truly special.

Until then, TF2 is absolutely worth your time.

🎮 Mortal Kombat X (Steam Deck 2025 Review): Old Blood, New Blisters

Picked up Mortal Kombat X on Steam for six bucks — including all the DLCs. That’s right, every last bit of spine-snapping, skull-cracking content from 2015 for the price of a sandwich. Honestly, a deal so good it should be illegal in Outworld.

🥋 The Good Stuff (a.k.a. Pros)
- Budget Fatality – $6 for a complete game and DLCs? That’s cheaper than a Mortal Kombat-branded keychain.
- Story Mode That Tries (and Kinda Succeeds) – Played it mostly to re-learn the lore, and it’s actually not bad. Feels like watching a cheesy martial arts soap opera — but with uppercuts.
- Earthrealm Has a Chance – Feels surprisingly balanced between “mortals” (the tax-paying fighters) and “non-mortals” (the glowy-eyed demigods). You can actually stand a chance using the “normies.”
- DLC Party Pack – Getting to fight as Jason, Predator, and Alien in one game? That’s not crossover content — that’s chaos, and I love it.
- Steam Deck Friendly – Runs decently, controls feel sharp, and pulling off a fatality on a handheld never stops being funny. Makes airport layovers way more violent (in spirit).

💀 The Bloody Bits (a.k.a. Cons)
- Looks Its Age – Graphics aren’t bad, but you can tell this one came out when the word “selfie” was still new. It’s got that charming, slightly crusty PS4-era vibe.
- Crashes Like a Rookie Kombatant – Had a few random story mode crashes — not sure if it’s a Steam Deck thing or just MKX’s way of saying “finish me.”
- Loading Screen Meditation Time – Some load times are long enough to question your life choices. But again, six bucks.
- AI Mood Swings – Sometimes it’s a pushover, sometimes it suddenly turns into the final boss of your patience.
- Motion Blur Crimes – A few camera moments feel like someone smeared Vaseline on the lens. Stylish, but unintentional.

🧠 Final Verdict: Recommended ✅

Mortal Kombat X on the Steam Deck is like meeting an old friend — still loud, still violent, still a blast. It’s aged, sure, but for the price of pocket change, you get a whole tournament’s worth of fun.

Recommended – perfect for anyone wanting to relive the glory (and gore) days on the go.

The Tenants – Gameplay Review on Steam Deck (as of October 13, 2025)

Before diving into the pros and cons, let’s get straight to the point:
This game has great potential — but potential alone doesn’t keep it from crashing to the desktop every 15 minutes.
I trusted the recent “mostly positive” reviews from the last 30 days, and honestly… I regret it. Unless the devs provide a solid roadmap or major updates by 2026, I can’t recommend this game in its current state.

🟢 Pros
- Got the bundle during the 2025 Autumn Sale, so at least my wallet didn’t cry too hard.
- Gameplay and graphics were great — right up until the Pet DLC turned my Deck into a crash simulator.
- The tutorial is clean and easy to follow.
- UI design is awesome: finding furniture and décor feels intuitive.
- The job system and phone feature are simple and not confusing (rare win).
- Clear post-tutorial missions and handy notifications keep you on track.
- The community is the real MVP keeping this game alive.

🔴 Cons
- No bug support in 2025 — apparently due to an ongoing “legal settlement” (yep, that’s straight from the devs replied email).
- The Pet DLC is a one-way ticket to Crashville. Seriously, don’t buy or install it — save your money, sanity, and your time.
- Selling a buggy game and paid DLC that breaks it? Feels like “early access in disguise” all over again. Having a publisher that lets this happen? Let’s just say I’ll be avoiding their logo in the future.

⚖️ Final Verdict
NOT Recommended (2025).
If you’re thinking of picking this up on Steam Deck — wait until the devs release a stable patch or officially update their plans for 2026. Right now, it’s less of a landlord simulator and more of a “restart-your-game” simulator. Honestly without the community, this game feels abandoned.

🌌 Split Fiction — Steam Deck Review - Docked Game Play with Controllers.

Okay, I’ll cut to the chase — YES, 10/10 WILL RECOMMEND.
Before you even finish reading this, go play it. And while you’re at it, let’s all please petition for a second series or DLC because I’m not emotionally done with this game.

My partner and I absolutely loved it — I’m a total sci-fi nerd, and he’s a fantasy fan through and through. Split Fiction somehow blended both worlds into one seamless, co-op experience that fit us perfectly.

✅ PROS
- Storyline is Hollywood-worthy — seriously, it’s movie-grade storytelling with dialogue that actually makes sense.
- Graphics are gorgeous — crisp visuals, zero lag, even when docked to the TV from my Steam Deck. We kept stopping just to admire the details. The devs thought of everything — even purely aesthetic bits that made us say “WOW” every few minutes.
- Unique puzzles and boss fights — creative, challenging, but always logical within the story.
- Difficulty is perfectly balanced. You’ll sweat, but you won’t feel hopeless (well, mostly).
- Got it on sale — and it still feels like I underpaid.
- Local co-op bliss: My partner and I both work full time and have busy lives. This game gave us a reason to sit down, communicate, and actually connect. We played mostly weekends for a bit over a month — not too short, not too long — just right.

❌ CONS
- If you hate communicating with your partner during gameplay… yeah, this might not be the game for you 😂
- If you don’t like tears, grab tissues anyway — emotional damage is real here.
- If you have pets, prepare for some startled stares when you both start yelling at a boss together.

⚠️ OTHER NOTES
- We loved every single stage and the color palettes were stunning, but if you’re sensitive to flashing lights or high-contrast effects, just a heads-up — maybe tweak your settings first.
- This may not be a total “kids” game — some stages can get pretty complex, and there are a few mild curse words in the dialogue (mostly the “S” word, never the “F” word from what I recall). Then again… maybe I was the one yelling that word more than the characters 😅

FINAL VERDICT
Split Fiction is the kind of rare co-op that reminds you why you fell in love with games — and maybe your partner, too. It’s emotional, smart, visually stunning, and a wild blend of sci-fi and fantasy that just works.
10/10. Would replay, would cry again, and as Zoe would absolutely buy DLC in a "heartbeat" (#IYKYK).

🎮 Review: Injustice 2 - Steam Deck TV/Controller Game Play Review.

✅ Pros:
- Controls are smooth and easy to pick up — even if your combo skills peak at “button mash enthusiast.”
- The tutorial actually teaches you things instead of throwing you into a punch-fest and saying “good luck.”
- Story mode is surprisingly solid — basically a superhero soap opera with way more punching.
- Graphics? Still gorgeous. Hard to believe this came out years ago and still looks better than some newer games.
- Lots of playable characters, so you’ll never run out of new ways to get absolutely wrecked by the AI.
- Co-op and online modes let you battle friends, enemies, or that one guy online who’s clearly been training since 2017.
- Even after the story ends, there’s plenty to do — multiverse events, gear grinding, and outfit flexing galore.

⚠️ Cons:
- The DLC situation is... confusing, to put it nicely. The "Ultimate Pack" mostly just gives you the God and Demon Shader Pack if you've already bought the "Legendary Edition" --- which sounds epic but really just makes your outfits white-and-gold or gold-and-black. Cool for screenshots, not so much for your wallet. Honestly, only worth it if it’s like $1.99 or less — and that’s being generous.
- The only DLC that actually matters now is Infinite Transform, so save your cash for that instead.

🏁 Final Verdict:
Injustice 2 is still an absolute blast. It’s fun, flashy, and just the right mix of chaos and skill. Even with its weird DLC setup, it delivers tons of entertainment — whether you’re in it for the fights, the story, or just to see Batman and Superman argue again.

⭐ Final score: Highly recommended if you enjoy fighting games with nice story-line (unless you’re allergic to awesome uppercuts).

Age of Mythology: Retold – Premium Bundle (Steam Deck Edition) - DESKTOP PLAY

I’d recommend this game—mostly because I bought it yesterday and accidentally lost 7 hours of my life to Zeus and his pals. At this point, my Steam Deck battery is begging for mercy while I’m just trying to build temples like it’s my side hustle.

Pros ⚡:
- Story line actually slaps – gods throwing tantrums, myth units stomping mortals, and enough drama to rival a Netflix series.
- Tutorial doesn’t make you feel like an idiot – I went from “what’s an economy?” to “pharaoh of multitasking” in about 30 minutes.
- First-time-player friendly – bought it yesterday, already 7 hours in.
- Runs surprisingly smooth on the Deck (desktop) – no “Poseidon has crashed” moments (yet).
- Premium Bundle perks – because sometimes you need your gods in Ultra HD.
- Language localization matches your civilization – nothing beats hearing commands in Egyptian, Greek, or Norse flavor. Adds extra immersion when your villagers complain in the tongue of their gods.

Cons ❌:
- One more mission” syndrome – 3 AM arrives before you finish “just one last temple.”
- Villagers are dumb – they’ll walk past a perfectly good berry bush like it’s invisible.
- Level difficulty curve – everything starts fast… until you hit “hard” where it feels less like strategy and more like punishment. Why even offer it if the only tactic is crying?
- Zoom levels – zooming into buildings is basically cosmetic. Unless you pause, you can barely appreciate the details in the chaos. Not asking for 5X zoom, but at least let me admire my temple before it burns down.

Final Verdict ⚖️:

If you’re seeing this, it’s worth it. If you want a game that makes you feel like a strategic genius and an exhausted insomniac at the same time—this is it. 9/10. Would sacrifice villagers again.

Steam Deck Review (Yuri’s Revenge Edition)

Pros:
- Nostalgic fun—like time-traveling straight back to the early 2000s.
- Yuri’s Revenge still hits with the same charm and chaos.

Cons:

- Even on lowest settings, skirmish lags harder than a traffic jam at rush hour.
- Accidentally reminded me of dial-up internet. I swear I heard the eeee-errr-khhhhh sound in my head.

Verdict:
Great trip down memory lane, but I didn’t sign up for 2001 lag speeds. Someone please patch me back into broadband. Thank you.