Why Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold is becoming my dream phone as an old-school gamer

I've always fancied the idea of old PC games making the jump to mobile. Once smartphones took off, I couldn't help wondering if one day we'd be carrying full-fledged MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) in our pockets.

In my more ambitious moments, I imagined games like Eve Online, World of Warcraft, and Guild Wars making the leap. I knew it wasn't realistic at the time, but it was fun to dream about.

Those ports never came while I was still heavily invested in mobile gaming. As the years passed, I drifted away from PC MMORPGs too, eventually trading long online sessions for more relaxed evenings on my Samsung Neo QLED TV and a console with a controller in hand. So, at least some things change.

Then, out of nowhere, one of those old dreams actually came true. Something happened last month that filled me with nostalgia for a couple of days and rekindled my interest in one of those old online games:

Developer ArenaNet released Guild Wars Reforged on Android and iOS.

It's the same game that's running on PC, connecting to the same servers with the same players and guilds. Time to dust off my old Guild Wars account!

NOTE: I'm aware Eve Echoes brought a reinterpretation of Eve Online to mobile a few years ago. I enjoyed it for a bit, but it wasn't the same as the PC version.

I'm still rocking the Galaxy S24+, so naturally, that's the device I used to play Guild Wars Reforged for Android at launch last month.

It's been a few years since I last played Guild Wars, so I can't say much about the game itself. All I can say is the port feels exceptionally faithful to the PC version I remember.

Unfortunately, it also pushes my Galaxy S24+ harder than any Android game I've ever played on my Samsung phone. It gets so hot that it's genuinely uncomfortable to hold after a while. That's actually the biggest issue I have with the game right now.

Whether that's something ArenaNet can optimize or simply the cost of squeezing a classic PC MMORPG onto a phone, I don't know.

Regardless, I stopped playing because of the heat, but I kept experimenting. I know tablets are a safe bet as they dissipate heat far more efficiently than phones. However, I no longer have the Galaxy Tab S7 FE or anything newer. Besides, I'd rather play Guild Wars on something more pocketable anyway.

That's when it occurred to me this might be exactly the sort of situation foldable phones adapt to best.

What's the best phone-tablet hybrid you can buy? Arguably the Galaxy Z Fold 7, so that's what I tried next. My colleague Abhijeet and I ran Guild Wars on his Galaxy Z Fold 7, and the experience was completely different.

Not only did the phone stay noticeably cooler than my Galaxy S24+, but only the half containing the SoC got warm. And because the frame is split in two by the hinge, heat doesn't transfer as easily from one side to the other.

In other words, you can hold the Galaxy Z Fold 7 by the cooler half in landscape mode unfolded and play comfortably even during the most intense moments.

The Fold's display also turns out to be a surprisingly good match for Guild Wars. The original PC game was designed when 4:3 monitors were common, so the Fold's squarer aspect ratio feels almost tailor-made for it. The larger display also leaves more room for touch controls, meaning my thumbs spend less time covering the action.

That realization caught me off guard. I already liked the Galaxy Z Fold series, but I never expected an old MMORPG like Guild Wars to become another reason I wanted one.

Between the improved cooling and the squarer display, it genuinely feels like the ideal phone for this particular game. And maybe that's true for more than just Guild Wars. Other classic PC ports could benefit from the Fold's design as well.

Will I actually switch? The more I think about it, the more tempted I am to finally do it, especially now that an even wider Galaxy Z Fold 8 is on its way.

I probably won't soon though, since Folds seem to be getting a little too pricey for me. But I do desire a Fold more now, even if, surprisingly, it's just for a better Guild Wars Reforged experience.