It’s no surprise given our tests with Monster Hunter Wilds benchmark, but Valve’s Steam Deck struggles significantly to run the game at playable frame rates. To put it mildly, the game barely runs on the Steam Deck, although it is technically possible to start the game and adjust its settings, which I attempted in a futile attempt to reach the 30 fps mark. Regrettably, that goal remained unattainable.
I set up the entire 60 GB of Wilds game on my Steam Deck and resumed my saved progress, landing me in the initial zone’s busy base camp. This place is teeming with NPC characters going about their tasks. Despite not engaging in a heavy monster battle yet, the Steam Deck found it challenging to handle Wilds. The game quickly adjusted its settings to the “Lowest” preset on the Steam Deck, which encompasses:
- AMD FSR upscaling (version 3.1.3) set to ultra performance
- Every graphic setting set to “low” or “lowest”…
- …or disabled altogether, like grass/tree sway, contact shadows, ambient occlusion, and water effects
Despite making compromises, I couldn’t manage to reach 30 fps in the main base; instead, the frame rate was stuttering around mid-teens, which was so choppy that it gave me a queasy feeling if I had to watch it for long periods. I attempted to exit the camp, but the game crashed on me not once, but twice, while attempting its usual smooth transition into the hunting area beyond.
To provide additional assistance to the Steam Deck, I connected it to power and restarted the game. Within the settings, I located a couple more items to adjust: Bloom was reduced from ‘low’ to ‘off’, and the sky/cloud quality was changed from ‘low’ to its lowest setting. However, these minor graphical adjustments didn’t seem like they would be substantial enough.
As a devoted enthusiast, I fine-tuned my Steam Deck for optimal performance. I turned on the 30 fps frame rate cap (though we weren’t close to surpassing it), activated Half-Rate Shading to ease the GPU strain, and switched on manual GPU clock, setting it to a maximum of 1600 MHz. Apart from attempting some unorthodox CPU overclocking, this was the best configuration I could achieve.
In simpler terms, the modifications made have proven beneficial, as it is technically possible to run Monster Hunter Wilds on Steam Deck. However, the gameplay experience is quite poor. In areas with fewer monsters and less intense environments, the screen becomes a blur of unsightly pixels, averaging around 25 frames per second (fps). If I rotate the camera, the frame rate drops to about 21 fps or so, even without a monster on screen or any dynamic weather and lighting effects activated.
On one occasion, I managed to achieve a frame rate of 30 fps. However, it usually fluctuates between the 20s, causing much of the game’s intricate art to appear as blurry pixels instead. The game also crashed twice during my attempt to record the video demonstrating its performance. Since recording video on the Steam Deck while playing Wilds would be unfair and inhumane, I opted to use my phone for the task.
Since I don’t possess a powerful gaming handheld like the Asus ROG Ally at the moment, I reached out to hardware writer Nick Evanson, who is well-versed in evaluating game performance. He attempted to run Wilds on a device with more power than a Steam Deck. Remarkably, he achieved a stable 30 frames per second on a standard ROG Ally, using a mix of low and medium settings, FSR 3 Performance, and frame generation. However, in his own words, the gameplay was “playable but not particularly enjoyable.” (Nick is set to provide a range of settings recommendations tailored for more powerful PC hardware on PC Gamer prior to Wilds’ launch later this week.)
The latest devices powered by AMD Strix Halo might manage to run Wilds without resorting to extreme settings like variable rate shading, which could significantly impact the game’s visual quality. However, considering Monster Hunter Rise struggles to maintain 60 fps+ on desktop hardware, it seems the most feasible way to play this game on a handheld device is by streaming it.
Monster Hunter Wilds manual: Gathering all our suggestions in one spot
Monster Hunter Wilds strategies: Get out there and track beasts
Monster Hunter Wilds weapon blueprints: Many options to construct
Monster Hunter Wilds top armor sets: Keep yourself protected
Monster Hunter Wilds creatures: All the monstrous beings
Monster Hunter Wilds team play: Mastering cooperative hunting
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2025-02-25 00:47