Elden Ring Nightreign: Ideal for Handheld Gaming PCs

Sure, let’s see… you know how sometimes you’re just itching to try out a game on something that isn’t a bulky console or PC? That’s me with the Asus ROG Ally X and the new game Nightreign. It’s like Elden Ring, but maybe better? Or not, who knows really. Anyway, I was so curious because this game, Nightreign, is like a shiny new toy everyone wants to try. Shadow of the Erdtree was no joke, but that was like an add-on thing. Nightreign is doing its own thing. Surprise, surprise—it runs smoother than Elden Ring.

But, like, hear me out. It’s not shocking if you think about it. Nightreign’s map, Limveld, doesn’t have much going on visually. It’s not cluttered. I reckon the environment being kinda like Limgrave helps. That’s from Elden Ring in case you’re lost—trust me, you’d remember it. Shadow of the Erdtree had so many effects, like fireworks for your Ally. It was a workout for it!

Alright, quick break on the hardware chat. I know everyone’s hyped about the ROG Ally X. This thing’s got an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme—sounds wild, right? And what’s the deal with the 24GB RAM? It’s zippy! Other guys, like Lenovo Legion Go, have similar stuff but the Ally X well, holds its own. Why use the Ally for games like Nightreign? It just works—till the Ryzen Z2 thing shows up in that rumored Xbox Ally. Wonder if we’ll even see it this year?

Back to the Steam Deck folks. It’s got game-specific tweaks from Valve that could make it go toe-to-toe with the Ally. Wouldn’t even be shocked if they did a special tweak for Nightreign too, like they did with Elden Ring before.

Now, uh, can this Ally X handle Nightreign? So, there I was—marooned in Limveld, smack in the middle of some epic castle. And these giants were like, hurling ginormous magic… pots? I didn’t count them—it was chaos. My framerate usually sputters here, a truth universally noted by handheld enthusiasts.

Had the thing on Turbo mode. Yeah, plugged in, no constraints. All to milk the max wattage outta it. Dedicated a whole 16GB RAM to the GPU (where else would it all go?).

Peeking at some performance notes—1080p, max preset, 30 fps, with occasional dips. Not bad, not bad. At 720p, it gets close to 60 fps sometimes. Crunchy visuals alert! Yet it’s sorta worth it. 1080p, medium settings averages around 39 fps. More of my speed preference.

But wow, when the game gets crowded with enemies, frames vanish faster. If there’s like, a lineup of self-destruct enemies while you overlook Limveld from some ruins, it’s a slideshow. Smaller, cozy spaces treat you better. Fiddling with camera angles helps too—trust me, I aimed it at the dirt sometimes. Why not?

720p, now that’s another tale. At max, it’s 41 fps. Low graphics settings make Limveld kinda dull—let’s be honest here, shadows and poly counts? Eh. Even less during busy segments.

And you know, fiddling with settings for ages, just to find that sweet fps spot between smooth gameplay and visuals is kinda fun. But, you gotta be okay with the visuals not being top-tier all the time.

Alright, I’m off-track. Anyway—where was I? Nightreign—on Ally X—feels right at home. You can pump it up to the max, turn it down to crunch settings, whatever floats. It’ll mostly stay in the perform zone unless you go bananas with the fights. For you graphics chasers, probably wanna play it down a notch.

And, hey, love gaming chatter? Claire’s your girl. She’s a video game enthusiast, ranting and diving deep into it all. Whether living through Dark Souls or indulging in fettuccine, she’s about games, hands down. That’s her happy place.