Elden Ring Nightreign PC performance analysis: A bare-bones console port with glitches a-plenty

It’s accurate to point out that Elden Ring Nightreign came as a bit of a shock since it was just revealed in December. What might be even more unexpected are its cooperative gameplay, rogue-like mechanics, and worlds that are generated procedurally – features which are typically absent or rare in games from FromSoftware.

If the idea of playing a lighter version of Elden Ring, called Elden Ring Nightreign, appeals to you due to performance concerns about the original game, you might be interested to know that this version still experiences occasional frame rate hiccups or minor pauses, even on various gaming PCs. These issues are particularly noticeable during gameplay and intense battles, which is unfortunate since these are exactly the moments when smooth performance is crucial.

The level of stuttering you may encounter is highly dependent on the specific hardware in your gaming computer. While Nightreign has relatively light system requirements, it’s important to note that certain subtleties in the details can make a significant difference, which we’ll delve into momentarily.

In Nightreign, you’ll find that the game runs at a maximum of 60 frames per second (fps), while pre-recorded scenes play back at 30 fps. For now, this is the best we can expect, but with the ingenuity of modders, I have no doubt they’ll come up with ways to bypass these limitations in the future.

Since the frame rate is restricted, it wasn’t beneficial to perform an in-depth analysis of PC performance (by testing various quality settings across three resolutions). Instead, I ran the game on different computers and noted its performance. This isn’t a complete representation of configurations, but it should provide you with a decent understanding of how Elden Ring Nightreign might perform on your gaming computer.

Tested on: Ryzen 7 9800X3D | GeForce RTX 5090 | 32 GB DDR5-6400

4K | Maximum quality

Let’s dive into Elden Ring Nightreign with minimal bugs. While its visuals might not be as impressive as those in Elden Ring, it feels more like a game from the past decade when compared. However, by ‘best’ here, I refer to its stability and performance, aiming for an experience with as few glitches as possible.

The image you see was taken while Nightreign was set to 4K and high graphics settings. As you can notice, it generally looks quite smooth. However, given its powerful gaming capabilities, this performance should be expected. Yet, I must admit that this setup did experience occasional frame rate drops, particularly when exploring the world and even more so when accompanied by a full team.

It’s clear from its power usage that the GeForce RTX 5090 is primarily relying on the CPU and other system components for game performance, as it’s doing relatively little itself. This implies that even minor system hiccups can significantly impact the frame rate, causing temporary drops.

Regrettably, it appears that Nightreign doesn’t offer a swap for its standard anti-aliasing (AA) with performance-enhancing upscalers like AMD’s FSR Native AA or Nvidia’s DLAA, which could allow the GPU to handle more tasks and potentially improve visual quality.

In my setup, which includes an Nvidia RTX 5090 within a Core Ultra 7 265K system equipped with 48 GB of DDR5-8000 memory, I gave DLDSR (Deep Learning Dynamic Super Resolution) a spin. As the video demonstrates, it does enhance visual quality. Yet, even at a 2.25x setting (equivalent to a rendering resolution of 5760 x 3840), the GPU was not close to reaching its maximum potential.

Tested on: Core i5 13600K | GeForce RTX 4070 | 32 GB DDR5-6400

1440p | Maximum quality

With a two-year-old lower-end graphics card like the GeForce RTX 4070, Elden Ring Nightreign can easily run at 60 frames per second. However, attempting to play at 4K resolution with maximum quality settings proves challenging for the 4070 due to the excessive pixel count, not the complexity of the graphics routines. In this case, the video is in 4K, but the gameplay was recorded at a lower resolution of 1440p, suggesting that 4K could potentially be achieved, yet the GPU struggled to maintain a steady 60 fps at such high resolution.

It’s worth mentioning that, contrary to the Ryzen 7 9800X3D setup, stuttering occurs more frequently, even when not navigating the world. Moving the camera quickly during combat can lead to significant frame rate decreases. However, while the Core i5 13600K may not be a top-tier CPU, it still offers decent performance for gaming.

Tested on: Ryzen 7 5700X3D | Radeon RX 6750 XT | 32 GB DDR4-3200

1440p | Medium quality

As a gamer, I recently discovered the challenges of using an older setup, specifically an AMD graphics card for Elden Ring Nightreign. To my dismay, the game was locked at 30 frames per second (fps), whereas I was expecting a smooth 60 fps experience. There were no in-game settings to tweak Vsync or related options, so I had to dive into AMD’s Adrenalin software to find a solution.

The solution that proved effective was turning off vsync permanently. However, this results in noticeable screen tearing and timing issues, which I haven’t encountered for quite some time. Nevertheless, I managed to maintain a consistent 60 fps using the Radeon RX 6750 XT. To achieve this, I had to opt for 1440p resolution and the Medium quality setting. The High quality setting at 1440p is playable too, but it lacks the stability offered by the Medium setting.

Can you handle playing for long stretches with the game displaying such tearing issues? I find it challenging myself, and it’s not only about the screen tearing. Even at medium quality, the level of detail transitions are quite evident, particularly when you look far ahead as you progress. The sudden appearance of vegetation and shadows can be quite jarring.

In addition, I tried out Nightreign on a Radeon RX 7900 XT setup and encountered the same 30 fps issue. Turning off vsync in Adrenalin fixed the problem, allowing me to achieve 60 fps at 4K High or 1440p Maximum quality. However, I was unable to eliminate screen tearing, and I believe a new driver update from AMD will be necessary to completely resolve this issue.

Tested on: Core i7 9700K | Radeon RX 5700 XT | 16 GB DDR4-3200

1080p | High quality

Intriguingly, not all AMD GPUs I tested exhibited the 30 fps issue. Using my 2018-built gaming PC, which includes a Core i7 9700K and a Radeon RX 5700 XT, I was taken aback to see that this vintage setup managed to run Nightreign at 1080p High quality with minimal issues.

Admittedly, there were some stutters (particularly when swiftly changing camera angles), but these were far less troublesome than anticipated. However, cranking up the resolution to 1440p on Medium or 1080p on Maximum quality significantly dropped the frame rate, more than I would expect from such settings. Although Nightreign doesn’t require upscaling for modern gaming PCs, older rigs like this one would greatly benefit from utilizing FSR Quality or Balanced to lighten the pixel load.

Although FromSoftware’s Elden Ring Nightreign PC version is quite minimalist, it seems unlikely that additional features will be added via a future update. In fact, the scarcity of PC-specific graphics settings has me doubtful about receiving any patches to address the persistent stuttering and tearing issues.

Tested on: Asus ROG Ally | 15 W mode

1080p | Low quality

The PC I recently tested Elden Ring Nightreign on was an Asus ROG Ally, with its power restriction set at 15 watts. Instead of using the maximum 30 watts, I prefer this lower value because it significantly extends battery life for portable gaming.

In much the same way as the RX 5700 XT, the frame rate issue of 30fps didn’t occur with this device; however, reaching anywhere close to 60fps was unattainable. The screenshot provided is at 1080p Low quality, and while the ROG Ally frequently hits 40 frames per second or more, the 1% lows only hover around 25 fps.

To be honest, Nightreign appears rather unattractive on the lowest graphics settings, as there’s barely any anti-aliasing and shadows often malfunction across the scenery. The Medium preset significantly enhances the visuals, but then you experience frame rates below 30. It performs better with Ally’s full 30 W mode, but gameplay doesn’t last long under these conditions.

An option I investigated was Radeon Super Resolution (RSR), a built-in upscaler that functions similarly to FSR 1.0. Although it enabled me to utilize the Medium setting and almost achieve 30 fps, the input delay was far too significant for it to be enjoyable. Consequently, if you’re intending on late-night gaming sessions of Nightreign on your portable PC, you’ll likely have to settle for the Low setting and its less appealing graphics.

If your device is a Steam Deck, it may be best to avoid Nightreign entirely. Given that a ROG Ally experiences difficulties, the Steam Deck’s less powerful CPU and GPU might struggle to handle it at any setting.

Final thoughts

Besides the previously mentioned PC setups, I’ve also given Elden Ring Nightreign a spin on a Core i7-14700K, AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X processors, coupled with the aforementioned GPUs, as well as a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 and RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards.

To put it simply, most GPUs easily hit their maximum frame rate, but adjusting resolution and quality settings is necessary for optimal performance. Initially, run Nightreign at your desired resolution with the High-quality preset; if additional frames per second (fps) are needed, lower the setting to Medium (avoid Low when possible). It’s important to note that Nvidia GPUs will likely provide a smooth gaming experience, but performance may vary with AMD GPUs, as you might encounter issues similar to mine.

As a gamer, I’ve always found that the fresher the gaming rig, the smoother the gaming experience. It’s not surprising, right? However, when it comes to a PC port from FromSoftware, issues are often expected, but Nightreign has fallen short in this regard. The game’s PC options and performance leave much to be desired. It’s not the frame rate cap that bothers me—any game that manages a consistent 60 fps should provide an enjoyable experience. Unfortunately, Nightreign fails to do so far too often.

In the game Nightreign, a setup with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor and an RTX 5090 graphics card is expected to maintain a consistent 60 frames per second (fps). However, it frequently fails to do so, which is surprising given that this hardware combination should not experience any performance drops. This inconsistency is puzzling, especially when playing offline or solo, as such powerful hardware should never struggle with performance issues.

In simpler terms, if Nightreign used advanced lighting effects like path-traced global illumination for every pixel, its performance would be acceptable and maybe excusable. But that’s not what we see in Nightreign, and while its lag isn’t as severe as Elden Ring’s, it leaves me questioning why FromSoftware hasn’t addressed this issue yet.

Regarding graphics, Nightreign performs adequately at best. While the overall art design isn’t poor—there are some stunning vistas worth appreciating—the lack of smooth edges (anti-aliasing), shadows, and texture clarity become noticeable when playing with settings other than maximum. For a 2025 PC game, these aspects fall short of expectations.

Nightreign operates on outdated equipment, using only a modest amount of your computer’s storage space, approximately 21 GB. If you can overlook its graphics and limited PC requirements, as well as occasional stuttering, Nightreign could appeal to those who enjoy multiplayer games similar to Elden Ring.

1. Optimal CPU for gaming: Leading processors from Intel and AMD.

2. Ideal gaming motherboard: Suitable mainboards.

3. Superb graphics card: Your ideal frame-rate facilitator is here.

4. Best SSD for gaming: Jump into the game earlier.

2025-05-28 17:08