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Steam Deck users enjoy Monster Hunter Wilds at sub-30 FPS
I'm an avid Steam Deck fan, but I'll happily admit that my use case for the device isn't to play the latest and greatest AAAs. It seems I'm in the minority here, however, as the infamously poorly optimized Monster Hunter Wilds is extremely popular on the Deck. For performance purists in the audience, myself included, it may be downright unthinkable to play a game as ridiculously unoptimized as Monster Hunter Wilds on the Deck, but that's not stopping the community from enjoying the experience regardless. According to Valve's own list of the most popular games on the Steam Deck, Monster Hunter Wilds is hovering around the number 10 spot over the past month. Over on the Steam Deck subreddit, some users are about as perplexed as I am, asking what settings could people possibly be playing the game at for it to maintain a reasonable frame rate. With that in mind, I don't think there's anything "reasonable" about it. As Redditor NoxinDev puts it, "Crystal clear and smooth locked 10 fps (maybe a few dips) - Don't knock it until you try it." Sounds about right. https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/1jd2t6a/monster_hunter_wilds_is_somehow_in_the_top_10/ Poor performance is hardly an issue for Steam Deck fans of Monster Hunter Wilds I'm obviously being half-cheeky here because I, too, started my gaming career on a device that could best be described as "humble" if I'm being polite about its capabilities. When a subpar gaming experience is all you can get, you're going to take it and, heck, will inevitably end up enjoying the game if the gameplay loop is good enough. On that note, there's no denying the fact that Monster Hunter Wilds is a fun game. Since we know for a fact that Steam Deck users are extremely loyal to the device, broadly speaking, it shouldn't come as a huge shock that they'd at least try to run Capcom's fancy new flagship on it. There's a trick to it, though, and it makes Wilds kind of playable on the Deck: it's the aptly titled "Little Engine that Shouldn't" mod. This mod, which I believe is an absolute must-have if you intend to seriously play Monster Hunter Wilds on the Deck, takes the game's graphics setting even lower than would otherwise be possible. According to the mod's creator, "you should be able to maintain ~30fps with framegen enabled using this config and the tweaks on this page, at 1024x640 with Quality upscaling, or Balanced at 800p. If you use Lite Environment and enable all of its options, you can manage close to a solid 30 at 1024x640 without frame generation." If you're not sure how Frame-Gen works and whether it's going to feel right at sub-30 native frames per second, I highly recommend reading up on our primer on the technology. Personally, I'd advise against using it but definitely do give the Little Engine that Shouldn't mod a shot if you'd like to play Wilds on the Deck. It doesn't even look half-bad, all things considered! Curiously, this whole thing brings up a point I made not long ago, that the Steam Deck isn't nearly as outdated as some might believe. Whether it's the only gaming device you have or if you just need to have cutting-edge AAAs running on it, it very well can eke out a playable and enjoyable experience in most modern releases. Even if we're talking about 30-ish FPS at ridiculously low rendering resolutions, that's a worthwhile experience for a particular kind of user. So, power to the people! The post Steam Deck users enjoy Monster Hunter Wilds at sub-30 FPS appeared first on Destructoid.
I'm an avid Steam Deck fan, but I'll happily admit that my use case for the device isn't to play the latest and greatest AAAs. It seems I'm in the minority here, however, as the infamously poorly optimized Monster Hunter Wilds is extremely popular on the Deck.
For performance purists in the audience, myself included, it may be downright unthinkable to play a game as ridiculously unoptimized as Monster Hunter Wilds on the Deck, but that's not stopping the community from enjoying the experience regardless. According to Valve's own list of the most popular games on the Steam Deck, Monster Hunter Wilds is hovering around the number 10 spot over the past month. Over on the Steam Deck subreddit, some users are about as perplexed as I am, asking what settings could people possibly be playing the game at for it to maintain a reasonable frame rate. With that in mind, I don't think there's anything "reasonable" about it. As Redditor NoxinDev puts it, "Crystal clear and smooth locked 10 fps (maybe a few dips) - Don't knock it until you try it." Sounds about right.
Poor performance is hardly an issue for Steam Deck fans of Monster Hunter Wilds
I'm obviously being half-cheeky here because I, too, started my gaming career on a device that could best be described as "humble" if I'm being polite about its capabilities. When a subpar gaming experience is all you can get, you're going to take it and, heck, will inevitably end up enjoying the game if the gameplay loop is good enough.
On that note, there's no denying the fact that Monster Hunter Wilds is a fun game. Since we know for a fact that Steam Deck users are extremely loyal to the device, broadly speaking, it shouldn't come as a huge shock that they'd at least try to run Capcom's fancy new flagship on it. There's a trick to it, though, and it makes Wilds kind of playable on the Deck: it's the aptly titled "Little Engine that Shouldn't" mod.
This mod, which I believe is an absolute must-have if you intend to seriously play Monster Hunter Wilds on the Deck, takes the game's graphics setting even lower than would otherwise be possible. According to the mod's creator, "you should be able to maintain ~30fps with framegen enabled using this config and the tweaks on this page, at 1024x640 with Quality upscaling, or Balanced at 800p. If you use Lite Environment and enable all of its options, you can manage close to a solid 30 at 1024x640 without frame generation."
If you're not sure how Frame-Gen works and whether it's going to feel right at sub-30 native frames per second, I highly recommend reading up on our primer on the technology. Personally, I'd advise against using it but definitely do give the Little Engine that Shouldn't mod a shot if you'd like to play Wilds on the Deck. It doesn't even look half-bad, all things considered!
Curiously, this whole thing brings up a point I made not long ago, that the Steam Deck isn't nearly as outdated as some might believe. Whether it's the only gaming device you have or if you just need to have cutting-edge AAAs running on it, it very well can eke out a playable and enjoyable experience in most modern releases. Even if we're talking about 30-ish FPS at ridiculously low rendering resolutions, that's a worthwhile experience for a particular kind of user. So, power to the people!
The post Steam Deck users enjoy Monster Hunter Wilds at sub-30 FPS appeared first on Destructoid.
