KAKU: Ancient Seal was finally released in version 1.0 out of Early Access on July 12th. Big thanks to Pirate PR for giving me early access to test it out on the Steam Deck, and I’m happy to report it’s running fantastically well. If you’re looking for a Breath of the Wild fix on Deck, this is probably as close as you’re going to get right now, with some crazy powers thrown into the mix.
The game features a beautiful landscape, but we’ll be targeting 30 frames per second on the lowest settings for a decent experience. It’s quite power-hungry, so here are the recommended settings: low anti-aliasing, low shadow quality, normal vegetation detail, normal field of view, volumetric fog off, normal texture quality, V Sync off, and normal particle quality. Uncapped, the game will draw around 22 to 23 watts and fluctuate between 30 and 50 frames per second, depending on the environment and combat intensity. However, uncapped, the game can experience lag spikes, which can get annoying, despite looking smooth and good on the OLED Deck.
Movement in the game feels fluid, but transitions, especially when portalling to upgrade areas, can cause significant lag and stuttering. During these transitions, the frame rate can drop to around 15 frames per second, and the load time can be exaggerated, temporarily dropping to 14 to 17 frames per second before stabilizing back to the 30s. Capping the frame rate at 30 frames per second, both in-game and on the Deck, reduces power consumption considerably and provides a smoother, more consistent experience. The loading screen still spikes into lower FPS but not as drastically, and it stabilizes faster on the other end, resulting in a smoother overall experience.
The game offers a ton of upgrades with many skill trees to master. Even with special abilities active and numerous monsters on screen, the game doesn’t hit the 22-watt mark frequently. When things calm down, the wattage drops, giving you a good 2 to 3 hours of battery life with the frame rate capped at 30, compared to about an hour and a half uncapped, even with the recommended settings.
Overall, KAKU: Ancient Seal has been great fun, and I can see it being a fantastic game on the Deck. With the new updates coming in now that it's released, it definitely deserves more attention.