Resident Evil Village Gold Version: Nintendo Change 2 vs Steam Deck

If you have not but, observe us on X (Twitter), Mastodon, or Bluesky to know once we publish new articles, and be a part of our Reddit or Subscribe to us on YouTube to take a look at our content material and work together with our superior group. Thanks for supporting us!

Resident Evil Village on Change 2 was offered by Capcom. Thanks!

Resident Evil Requiem is sort of right here, and with its launch on the Nintendo Change 2, Capcom is bringing the earlier two mainline video games as effectively. Each Resident Evil 7 and eight are coming to Change 2, dropping on the identical day Requiem is (February twenty seventh), and I could not be extra excited. Capcom despatched us over Resident Evil 7 and eight on the Change 2 to take a look at for ourselves, so I made a decision to do some comparisons between the Steam Deck and Change 2 to see which model goes to have one of the best handheld expertise.

So, let’s try Resident Evil Village and see the place you’ll get one of the best expertise:

Worth Comparability

Beginning off with the value, Resident Evil Village Gold Version will price $49.99 on the Nintendo eShop if shopping for it individually, whereas it’s presently on sale on Steam for $14.99. Whereas the sale solely lasts till February twenty sixth, the sport does commonly go on sale, so discovering it for this worth is not unusual.

Shopping for Village individually might be cheaper on PC/Steam, however if you happen to plan on shopping for Resident Evil 7, Village, and Requiem all on the Change 2, the Technology pack for $89.99 would be the greatest deal, it doesn’t matter what. Nevertheless, this pack will disappear on March thirty first, so you might have 1 month to reap the benefits of this higher deal.

Change 2 Handheld Vs. Steam Deck

I anticipated Resident Evil Village to be a bit tougher to run when in comparison with 7, however it was much more noticeable than I anticipated. Whereas Village on the Change 2 begins off stronger, as quickly as we truly get to the village, the framerate will drop dramatically. It is a night time and day distinction, going from an okay 60 FPS to fluctuations that really feel beneath 45 FPS. There is not any framerate lock both, so it would typically really feel like 60, whereas different instances it would go a lot additional down. In enclosed areas and in buildings, the framerate must be okay, however going outdoors is a blended bag that simply feels jarring.

On the Steam Deck, framerate is way nearer to 60. It does not fully hit it with the default settings for the Deck, however it’s undoubtedly a lot nearer than the Change 2 in handheld mode. We even have the choice to cap the framerate, which I might advocate at 45 FPS, and it general feels smoother than the Change 2’s handheld gameplay.

As for the visible high quality, this one could come down to private choice. The Steam Deck and Change 2 have usually related high quality ranges, with some huge variations which can be obvious as quickly as you see them aspect by aspect.

Regardless of the Change 2 operating at a better decision (1080p), the picture high quality seems to be blurry. This does assist shadows a bit, however it makes your complete sport seem like it is operating at a decrease decision. When trying on the Steam Deck, we do have a a lot sharper picture, which I might say makes the sport look higher general. There are some tough edges and a few shadows look too sharp, however when trying on the sport on the smaller handheld display screen, it is not noticeable a lot.

I additionally observed this glistening impact when strolling round on the Change 2, which is often indicative of upscaling. Whereas some video games can cover this pretty effectively, Village does not. So, when strolling round, there are some edges that may glisten and look pixelated, then will easy out as quickly as you cease shifting. This impact will not be occurring on the Deck, or a minimum of to not a noticeable extent.

Battery Life (Handheld) and Loading Time Comparisons

If you’re making an attempt to play on the default settings on the Steam Deck, then battery life might be across the identical. Nevertheless, as we are going to word later, there are adjustments that may be made to the settings to extend battery life on the Deck. However for proper now, since we’re going by out-of-the-box settings, it is going to be round 2.5 hours on every machine.

As for loading instances, the Change 2 comes out on prime as soon as once more. The Change 2 takes about 5.5 seconds to get to the skippable splash screens when you hit play, whereas the Steam Deck takes about 18 seconds. Loading right into a save sport takes 10 seconds on the Change 2, and takes about 11 seconds on the Deck. And as for saving a sport, it takes 2 seconds on the Steam Deck, whereas being instantaneous on the Change 2.

So, for battery life, it is a tie, whereas the Change 2 takes the cake for loading and saving time.

Change 2 Docked Enhancements

On the subject of taking part in docked, it solves a number of the picture high quality points. It does not look sharper, however it does seem like it is rendering at 1440p, and the main points come out extra. The glistening impact when strolling round can also be both gone or unnoticeable, which could be very good. High quality particulars are about the identical, however the bump in decision and elimination of the glistening fastened the 2 extra outstanding points I discovered when taking part in handheld.

Nevertheless, it does not resolve the framerate drops when within the village. Even when docked, I nonetheless had drops beneath 60 FPS, and whereas it might be barely higher, it is nonetheless extraordinarily noticeable and obnoxious. I used to be truly fairly stunned by this. The Change 2 docked is extra highly effective than the Deck, and the Deck can push to nearly 60 FPS on default settings. Possibly it is as a result of pushing to 1440p decision, however this seems like an optimization challenge that would have been solved.

Additional Steam Deck Enhancements

As for additional Steam Deck enhancements, there are adjustments to the settings that we will make to vary how we play. We may simply reduce the framerate right down to 30 and switch the settings up, or simply maintain on the default to increase battery life. However, we will additionally activate FSR 1.0 upscaling to High quality and begin getting 60 FPS all through the village. Is it a worse picture? Sure. Nevertheless it comes with a full 60 FPS all through the sport.

The great thing about the Deck is that it is a PC, which suggests we will entry settings and alter them to suit our needs for the sport. Working effectively out of the field is sweet, however having the choices to change how we play the sport is all the time a deal with.

So Which Handheld Ought to You Play On?

Regardless of the Change 2 having a better decision, the sting general goes to the Steam Deck right here. The sharper high quality seems to be higher on the hand-held display screen, and with a extra steady framerate and no glistening impact, it is simply extra gratifying to play on the Deck. The Change 2 docked enhancements do assist in some areas, however the truth that it nonetheless suffers from framerate drops is odd and disappointing. The Change 2 does have shorter loading and save time, however with the adjustments we will make on the Deck, it is laborious to have a look at this and say the Change 2 is best.

So, my alternative can be the Steam Deck right here. It feels just like the Change 2 was underutilized or simply not optimized sufficient to reap the benefits of the additional energy it has. The decision bump could be very good, however I can not recover from the huge framerate drops when within the village. I might in the end say that Resident Evil Village might be a greater expertise on the Steam Deck.

Resident Evil Village Gold Version is on sale for the Steam Deck for $14.99, whereas over on the Change 2 eShop, you may get it for $49.99.

For those who loved this text, try the remainder of the content material on SteamDeckHQ! We’ve all kinds of sport evaluations and information that may assist your gaming expertise. Whether or not you are on the lookout for information, suggestions and tutorials, sport settings and evaluations, or simply need to keep up-to-date on the most recent traits, we have got you coated!