Elden Ring Nightreign Is Perfect for Handheld Gaming PCs

Elden Ring ran highly good connected the Asus ROG Ally X, but with the merchandise of Nightreign, handheld gaming PC nerds (like me) are hopeless to cognize if it continues the trend. After all, Shadow of the Erdtree was much demanding than the original, and that was an enlargement built into it. Considering Nightreign is simply a standalone title, it has the imaginable to instrumentality things up a notch. But I person large news: It runs adjacent amended than Elden Ring.

That seems surprising, but it shouldn’t be: Elden Ring Nightreign is constricted to a tiny representation called Limveld, meaning there’s acold little connected the surface astatine immoderate time. It helps that the situation is based connected Limgrave alternatively than thing from Shadow of the Erdtree, which came retired 2 years aboriginal and had much analyzable ocular effects that gave my Ally a tally for its money.

Can the Asus ROG Ally X Handle Elden Ring Nightreign?

I tested the crippled chiefly successful the castle astatine the halfway of Limveld. It's the largest acceptable portion connected the unaltered basal map, wherever giants tin propulsion tremendous pots of magic astatine the player. This is wherever my framerate consistently dips to its lowest points, truthful I’m utilizing it arsenic a baseline for performance. I besides started a caller lucifer betwixt each graphics preset (as recommended by the game).

I acceptable my ROG Ally X’s Operating Mode to Turbo (30W) and plugged it into an outlet, allowing it to output the maximum magnitude of watts into performance. I besides allocated 16GB of RAM to the GPU to get the astir of its hardware, which is simply a unsocial vantage of the Ally X, arsenic it’s built with 24GB of RAM. Most different handheld gaming PCs diagnostic 16GB of RAM and tin lone allocate 8GB to the GPU. These settings let the Asus ROG Ally X to tally astatine its best.

The crippled runs good connected the handheld, but Elden Ring Nightreign tin conflict erstwhile determination are a batch of enemies and ocular effects astatine the aforesaid time, particularly successful much unfastened areas. So, if you’re being ganked by respective blood-infused enemies acceptable to self-destruct connected your position, each portion overlooking Limveld from the apical of ruins, the framework complaint volition instrumentality a monolithic hit. However, successful enclosed spaces, similar a dense forest, the crippled fares overmuch better, peculiarly if you strategically constituent the camera towards the ground.

My ROG Ally X maintained an mean of 30 fps astatine 1080p connected the Maximum preset, with occasional drops down to 27 fps (usually aft being bombarded by magic pots). The lone different preset that dipped beneath 30 fps was 1080p connected High. It deed an mean of 35 fps, but dropped to 28 fps a fewer times erstwhile battling atop the castle. Otherwise, nary different graphics preset dipped beneath 30 fps once. 1080p astatine Medium settings came successful astatine an mean of 39 fps. Low averaged astatine 43 fps, with a debased of 39 fps.

The crippled runs overmuch amended astatine 720p, adjacent reaching 60 fps occasionally. Maximum astatine 720p averaged 41 fps, with a 1% debased of 38 fps. High came successful with an mean of 44 fps, with 40 fps astatine the worst. Medium and debased look crunchy, but output fantabulous performance.

Elden Ring Nightreign Is Perfect connected the Asus ROG Ally X

Nightreign looks large astatine 1080p with Maximum settings, and plays decently enough. I enjoyed sessions from commencement to decorativeness connected this preset, and portion occasional stutters were bothersome, it’s beauteous creaseless different and often hovered implicit 30 fps. 30 fps isn’t capable for everyone though, and those consenting to instrumentality a deed to solution volition apt find a amended equilibrium playing astatine Maximum graphics and 720p, which hovers astir 41 fps, hitting a midpoint betwixt smoothness and quality.

Players clamoring for 60 fps connected their Asus ROG Ally X volition person the champion luck astatine 720p, but you’ll person to trim the graphics presets to Medium oregon Low. Even then, the instrumentality cannot support an mean of 60 fps, and lone reaches that precocious during little demanding encounters, similar successful enclosed spaces. It doesn’t look great, though, arsenic Limveld appears level connected Low especially. The land loses its analyzable shadows, and each operation is low-poly.

Claire finds joyousness successful impassioned ramblings astir her closeness to video games. She has a bachelor’s grade successful Journalism & Media Studies from Brooklyn College and 7 years of acquisition successful amusement journalism. Claire is simply a stalwart defender of games arsenic an artform and spends astir days overwhelmed with excitement for its past, contiguous and future. When she isn't penning oregon playing Dark Souls, she tin beryllium recovered eating chickenhearted fettuccine alfredo and gushing astir handheld gaming PCs.