Best part: VF3 main programmer Tetsuya Kaku hits his breaking point and goes on a Kabukicho bender. After barfing on the street, he finds the will to continue after being inspired by two kids who biked 10km from Kichijoji just so they could play VF2 together.

It's a bit of a hassle to setup I think, but you can play through the steam demo version on steam deck on your Square Enix account (and still access the full game and everything)!
I think I had to use XIVLauncher

It's a blast in multi-player! The hard part is to find friends willing to play in 2024 :)

wiimmfi supports it so you can still play online