Elden Ring Nightreign: Ideal for Handheld Gaming PCs

Sure thing, let me get into character here. So, I’ve been geeking out with this Asus ROG Ally X, right? Elden Ring ran like a dream on it, but then Nightreign dropped, and you know, everyone’s freaking out, thinking, “Can it handle this new beast of a game?” Spoiler alert: Yep, it totally can. Surprisingly, Nightreign’s smoother. Maybe it’s the smaller map, Limveld. Not complaining, though. It’s all set in Limgrave, keeping it simpler—none of those crazy effects that turned my Ally into a heater.

Hardware nerd section: skip if you’re not into this stuff. The Ally X is like the god-tier of handheld PCs right now, packing an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme (sounds like a spaceship, right?). And the memory? Upped to 24GB at this wild 7,500MHz speed, letting the GPU hog 16GB. Can’t wait for that Ryzen Z2 Extreme, but until then, the Ally X is a beast.

But hey, don’t count out the Steam Deck yet. Valve tweaks each game for it, making magic happen even when, on paper, it shouldn’t. Elden Ring was practically made for the Deck, so who knows what they’ll do with Nightreign?

Now, about playing Nightreign on this rig. I spent way too much time in this castle in Limveld. Giants chucking magical pots at you—yeah, that’s a thing. Anyway—wait, where was I? Right, frame rates. Seized the chance to test each graphic preset in this chaos.

So, I fired up my ROG Ally X on Turbo mode, chugged all 30 watts, and hurled it at Nightreign. With those 16GBs cuddling the GPU, it basically said, “Bring it on.” Here’s the thing though—Nightreign’s a bit moody. When everything’s exploding everywhere, like these blood-crazy enemies self-destructing (seriously, who does that?), frame rates take a nose dive. But in the thick woods? It’s like a chill walk with 50 fps or something—if only you stare at the forest floor most of the time.

And talking performance—get this—at 1080p on Maximum, you’re getting a solid 30 fps, dipping to 27 when magic pots rain down, which, okay, isn’t mind-blowing. But 720p? That’s where it shines, even flirting with 60 fps sometimes. High preset at 720p feels decent too. Those lower settings aren’t winning any beauty pageants, but they let you cruise at better speeds.

Hold up, quick sidebar. Claire here, your friendly gaming fanatic, obsessed with this art form (yes, games are art, okay?). Credentials? Journalism degree, lots of years scribbling about games while scarfing chicken alfredo—because, priorities.

Bouncing back to business—yeah, Nightreign’s rocking on the ROG Ally X. Love it at 1080p, despite some occasional hiccups. But if you’re chasing those golden 60 fps, smudge the resolution down to 720p on Medium or Low. Sure, it’ll lack depth—shadows? What are those?—but speeds matter, right? And end note: Limveld’s charmingly flat on Low. Less eye candy, more frame rate candy.

So anyway, that’s my spiel. The Ally X versus Nightreign? Yeah, they’re best buds.