Rise of the Ronin Steam Deck Impressions – PC Port Features, Performance, ROG Ally, and More

Title Rise of the Ronin is now making its way onto Steam, after initially launching on PlayStation 5 approximately a year ago. Initially unveiled as an exclusive title for PlayStation consoles, I was intrigued by the prospect of how well the game would translate to PC platforms, particularly in terms of features and compatibility with handheld devices. This review will delve into these aspects and provide insights on whether Rise of the Ronin can be played on PC handhelds.

Note: I have edited the original text for clarity and readability while maintaining its original meaning. The title remains unchanged as requested.

Rise of the Ronin PC graphics options

As a gamer, here’s how I can customize my gaming experience in Rise of the Ronin:

1. Choose your preferred monitor.
2. Turn V-Sync on or off, depending on your display refresh rate.
3. Select the display mode: windowed, borderless, or fullscreen.
4. Limit the game’s frame rate to 30, 60, or 120 FPS.
5. Set a separate frame rate limit for cut-scenes.
6. Enable higher frame rates for menus if you play at 30fps.
7. Adjust the resolution from 720p to an ultra-high definition of 7680×4320, with various aspect ratios.
8. Turn HDR on or off.
9. Adjust the HDR settings according to your preference.
10. Change the screen brightness to suit your environment.
11. Select a graphics preset ranging from custom to very low.
12. Enable upscaling with options like FSR3, XeSS (on Steam Deck/ROG Ally), and adjust the quality according to native, quality, balanced, performance, or ultra-performance settings.
13. Adjust the upscaling sharpness to your liking.
14. Turn on frame generation if desired.
15. Enable dynamic resolution scaling.
16. Adjust the rendering resolution scale as needed.

Please note that while Rise of the Ronin is advertised to have DLSS and Reflex support, these options were not visible on my handheld devices as expected.

You have various graphics settings to customize in Rise of the Ronin, such as adjusting shadow depth, ambient light absorption, model and texture quality, number of models displayed, wind movement, filter sharpness, visual effects, animation smoothness, global lighting, surface reflection, level of detail distance, terrain and grass density, subsurface light scattering, volumetric quality, event details, and crowd thickness. Furthermore, Rise of the Ronin allows you to tweak post-processing features like resolution for post-effects, motion blur, depth focus, color aberration, vignetting, noise reduction, lens flare, brightness bloom, banding noise, and color accuracy. Although it’s not compatible with PC handheld devices I tested on, Rise of the Ronin does offer ray-traced reflection support.

You’ll notice that Rise of the Ronin PC version offers numerous customization options, allowing you to tailor the gameplay experience according to your preferences on a technical level. Upon its initial launch, Rise of the Ronin collects and compiles shaders, and it appears to carry out a swift check for these shaders every time you start the game afterwards.

Rise of the Ronin PC control options

The PC version of “Rise of the Ronin” offers compatibility with both controllers and keyboard/mouse setups. Using a controller, you have the option to customize button prompts to match PlayStation layout since I’d previously played it on the PlayStation 5. Additionally, both control schemes allow for key rebinding and separate adjustment of settings such as input hold times.

Rise of the Ronin PC ultrawide support – 21:9 and 32:9 supported

In contrast to Rise of the Ronin not offering 800p or 16:10 support, it does cater to an ultrawide experience with aspect ratios such as 21.5:9, 21:9, 32:9, and 32:10 for select resolutions like 2560×1080, 3840×1080, 3840×1200, 4550×1440, 5120×1440, and 5120×2160. Additionally, the game includes an ultrawide HUD adjustment menu, allowing you to customize how far the HUD extends towards the screen edges. This is worth mentioning as it’s not common to see such PC-focused attention from Koei Tecmo. You can find some ultrawide screenshots (taken on the game’s lowest graphic settings) in the following images:

Rise of the Ronin Steam Deck impressions – Not Good

Experienced some troubles getting Rise of the Ronin to start up on my Steam Deck upon its first launch. The game kept crashing, an issue that occurred on both my Steam Decks, including the LCD model running SteamOS Beta. However, I’m happy to report that the problem seems to have resolved itself earlier this week. I’ve since played 5 hours of Rise of the Ronin again on the Steam Deck for testing purposes. Unfortunately, I found the gaming experience less than satisfactory. Initially, it managed a decent 30fps at its lowest settings with FSR or XeSS set to performance and using 720p resolution. However, in the open world or even during the prologue with heavy particle effects, the frame rate dropped significantly.

Even when playing in a low-quality mode (such as 720p resolution, FSR performance, and all settings at their minimum), I encountered frequent stutters while exploring the open world. Additionally, during fights with multiple enemies, there were instances of freezing due to heavy particle effects. Although some single enemy battles managed to maintain a steady 30fps, overall, the experience was far from satisfactory. Considering how well Rise of the Ronin runs on PlayStation 5, these issues are not unexpected. However, given Koei Tecmo’s recent support for the Steam Deck, some players may have hoped to play this game smoothly on the handheld device.

Rise of the Ronin Steam Deck recommended settings

As a gamer, let me warn you against diving into Rise of the Ronin on Steam Deck. While the initial scenes hint at some promise with a 30fps target, this barely scratches the surface of what the game has in store. The open world or heavily populated areas, even on the lowest graphics settings, suffer from significant performance problems.

Moreover, it appears that Rise of the Ronin doesn’t support ultra performance upscaling at 720p. However, it works fine at 1080p on the ROG Ally. Interestingly, when you try to switch to 720p, only the performance upscaling becomes available.

If you have a more powerful PC, I’d suggest streaming Rise of the Ronin to your Steam Deck if you want to enjoy it on Valve’s handheld. Running it natively, even with all settings at their lowest, is far from an enjoyable experience.

Rise of the Ronin ROG Ally impressions

In my surprise, I managed to achieve a smooth 60 frames per second on the ROG Ally, and I was immediately taken aback by how well Rise of the Ronin ran at 1080p with performance upscaling. Admittedly, this isn’t a particularly high standard, but I feel it’s important to note that in its default settings, this game struggled on the base PlayStation 5, failing to maintain a locked 60fps and even dropping below 1080p resolution. Remarkably, Rise of the Ronin on ROG Ally also boasts faster load times compared to Steam Deck when both systems have the game installed onto their internal SSDs.

On the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme, Rise of the Ronin seems to hold greater potential, yet it encounters issues such as stuttering during exploration and occasional freezing during early battles. I’ve experimented with running the game at the minimum settings in 720p, employing FSR 3 performance upscaling, among other adjustments, but unfortunately, the freezing and stuttering persist. The game performs better on Steam Deck, however, I was unable to achieve a consistent 30fps with smooth frame pacing. Despite these issues, I remain optimistic about improvements for Rise of the Ronin on the ROG Ally platform, given its strong pre-release performance.

As a dedicated gamer, I’m thrilled about the upgraded PC version of Rise of the Ronin. It boasts impressive ultrawide support, resolution options that soar as high as 8K, and a blazing fast 120fps frame rate. The visuals can be scaled beyond what the console version offers, showing Koei Tecmo’s dedication to maximizing the platform’s potential after neglecting it in the past. Plus, they’ve integrated some DualSense features, which adds an extra layer of immersion to the gameplay experience.

The game “Rise of the Ronin” has been released for PlayStation 5, and it’s set to debut on March 10 for PC via Steam. You can read Josh’s complete review of the PlayStation 5 edition here.

2025-03-06 18:48