Elden Ring Nightreign Is Good for Handheld Gaming PCs

Elden Ring ran extraordinarily nicely on the Asus ROG Ally X, however with the discharge of Nightreign, handheld gaming PC nerds (like me) are determined to know if it continues the development. In any case, Shadow of the Erdtree was extra demanding than the unique, and that was an enlargement constructed into it. Contemplating Nightreign is a standalone title, it has the potential to take issues up a notch. However I’ve nice information: It runs even higher than Elden Ring.

That appears shocking, nevertheless it shouldn’t be: Elden Ring Nightreign is restricted to a small map known as Limveld, that means there’s far much less on the display at any time. It helps that the setting is predicated on Limgrave quite than something from Shadow of the Erdtree, which got here out two years later and had extra advanced visible results that gave my Ally a run for its cash.

A Word on the {Hardware}

Loads of handheld gaming PCs are out out there, but the Asus ROG Ally X is the very best of the bunch. It makes use of a AMD Ryzen Z1 Excessive akin to opponents just like the Lenovo Legion Go, however the improve to 24GB of RAM at 7,500MHz clock velocity permits for 16GB allotted to the GPU (quite than the 8GB of the unique Ally). This makes the Asus ROG Ally X the proper selection for testing fashionable releases like Elden Ring Nightreign, a minimum of till we see the AMD Ryzen Z2 Excessive carried out later this 12 months within the closely leaked Xbox-branded Ally.

Whereas the ROG Ally X is extra highly effective on paper, the Steam Deck might give it a run for its cash, as Valve’s per-game optimization has the potential to yield higher efficiency. Valve even went as far as to optimize Elden Ring for Steam Deck years in the past, and we might see the identical occur for Nightreign.

Can the Asus ROG Ally X Deal with Elden Ring Nightreign?

I examined the sport primarily within the fort on the middle of Limveld. It is the biggest set piece on the unaltered base map, the place giants can throw monumental pots of magic on the participant. That is the place my framerate persistently dips to its lowest factors, so I’m utilizing it as a baseline for efficiency. I additionally began a brand new match between every graphics preset (as advisable by the sport).

I set my ROG Ally X’s Working Mode to Turbo (30W) and plugged it into an outlet, permitting it to output the utmost quantity of watts into efficiency. I additionally allotted 16GB of RAM to the GPU to get essentially the most of its {hardware}, which is a novel benefit of the Ally X, because it’s constructed with 24GB of RAM. Most different handheld gaming PCs characteristic 16GB of RAM and might solely allocate 8GB to the GPU. These settings enable the Asus ROG Ally X to run at its greatest.

The sport runs nicely on the hand held, however Elden Ring Nightreign can battle when there are quite a lot of enemies and visible results on the similar time, particularly in additional open areas. So, in the event you’re being ganked by a number of blood-infused enemies set to self-destruct in your place, all whereas overlooking Limveld from the highest of ruins, the body charge will take a large hit. Nevertheless, in enclosed areas, like a dense forest, the sport fares significantly better, significantly in the event you strategically level the digital camera in direction of the bottom.

My ROG Ally X maintained a mean of 30 fps at 1080p on the Most preset, with occasional drops all the way down to 27 fps (often after being bombarded by magic pots). The one different preset that dipped beneath 30 fps was 1080p on Excessive. It hit a mean of 35 fps, however dropped to twenty-eight fps just a few instances when battling atop the fort. In any other case, no different graphics preset dipped beneath 30 fps as soon as. 1080p at Medium settings got here in at a mean of 39 fps. Low averaged at 43 fps, with a low of 39 fps.

The sport runs significantly better at 720p, even reaching 60 fps sometimes. Most at 720p averaged 41 fps, with a 1% low of 38 fps. Excessive got here in with a mean of 44 fps, with 40 fps on the worst. Medium and low look crunchy, however yield wonderful efficiency.

Elden Ring Nightreign Is Good on the Asus ROG Ally X

Nightreign seems nice at 1080p with Most settings, and performs decently sufficient. I loved periods from begin to end on this preset, and whereas occasional stutters had been bothersome, it’s fairly easy in any other case and sometimes hovered over 30 fps. 30 fps isn’t sufficient for everybody although, and people prepared to take successful to decision will seemingly discover a higher stability enjoying at Most graphics and 720p, which hovers round 41 fps, hitting a midpoint between smoothness and high quality.

Gamers clamoring for 60 fps on their Asus ROG Ally X could have the very best luck at 720p, however you’ll have to cut back the graphics presets to Medium or Low. Even then, the machine can not keep a mean of 60 fps, and solely reaches that prime throughout much less demanding encounters, like in enclosed areas. It doesn’t look nice, although, as Limveld seems flat on Low particularly. The island loses its advanced shadows, and every construction is low-poly.

Claire finds pleasure in impassioned ramblings about her closeness to video video games. She has a bachelor’s diploma in Journalism & Media Research from Brooklyn Faculty and 7 years of expertise in leisure journalism. Claire is a stalwart defender of video games as an artform and spends most days overwhelmed with pleasure for its previous, current and future. When she is not writing or enjoying Darkish Souls, she might be discovered consuming rooster fettuccine alfredo and gushing about handheld gaming PCs.