The Steam Deck is a neat little system—great for portability—but your friend isn’t wrong: it’s underpowered for more graphically intense games unless you’re willing to make some visual sacrifices. Games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Forbidden West are beasts, and while you can get them to run on the Deck with lowered settings and mods, you won’t be getting the full experience.
If you can get something with a dedicated GPU (like an RTX 4060 or better), and then bump up the RAM to 32GB or even 64GB, you're looking at a compact setup that can handle Red Dead Redemption 2 and Cyberpunk on high or ultra settings—no problem. Plus, internal storage upgrades are easier and cheaper than what you’d deal with on the Deck.