Elden Ring is very much a masterpiece of a game for consoles, and I wholeheartedly agree with our in-depth Elden Ring review, but that was written up for Xbox players. However, the PC port of Elden Ring is a completely different beast, and, unfortunately, it's not one that's currently pleasant to play.
FromSoftware doesn't have the best track record with PC ports, but many still had high hopes for Elden Ring. At launch, the game on PC is riddled with bugs and performance issues that almost render it unplayable. Then there's the lack of ultrawide support and a lockdown to 60 frames per second.
If you've somehow managed to install the game on PC and have had no issues whatsoever, I envy you as one of the lucky souls out there. For those who are sitting on the fence about buying Elden Ring, I suggest you hold off... at least for now.
Elden Ring is a bad PC port
There's no other way to approach this. FromSoftware dropped the ball with the PC port of Elden Ring. Firstly, there's no ultrawide monitor support. It's 2022 and ultrawide panels are a more common sighting. The developers created a breathtakingly stunning world, and it's a crime that we're unable to enjoy it on a wide display without third-party software.
FromSoftware dropped the ball with the PC port of Elden Ring.
Then there's the performance and it doesn't matter if you have the best graphics card or not. Running around the map is just fine, but it's when you get into the intricacies of combat does the game start to lose its footing. You'll notice frame drops and stuttering that can ruin your flow in heated battles with tough enemies. And FromSoftware makes punishing games, which are enjoyable so long as you're responsible for each death.
This isn't helped by the fact Elden Ring is locked to 60 frames per second. Not just for 4K resolutions, but for all aspect ratios and screen sizes. You will not be able to go above this limit, and should the game lose a few frames, you can more easily spot when this happens.
Finally, you'll encounter some strange glitches and bugs where you may even have to close the game entirely. For instance, don't try to go into the keybinds part of the settings in Elden Ring without a controller available since there's no way to leave the keybinds screen using a keyboard and mouse — at least I've not found one yet.
It's these small issues that ruin the exceptional atmosphere created by the developers. We're compiling a list of all the Elden Ring known bugs to see just how many FromSoftware will address in upcoming patches.
No EAC support on Proton for Linux
Easy Anti-Cheat is unfortunately needed in today's world of online cheating. To keep an even playing field, FromSoftware opted for Epic's anti-cheat software to be bundled with Elden Ring. Unfortunately, those wanting to play the game on Linux won't be able to do so since there isn't a patch for Proton to allow EAC to run. Interestingly, Elden Ring is verified for Steam Deck.
Opening Elden Ring will result in an error message saying it's unable to initialize. Strangely, FromSoftware doesn't simply disable online features if EAC can't fire up. Luckily, some very intelligent individuals have come up with a quick workaround that allows you to play Elden Ring with EAC effectively disabled.
We've written up a short guide on how to disable Easy Anti-Cheat in Elden Ring. If you're struggling with performance issues and/or want to enjoy the game on a non-Windows OS, give this a shot. I expect a future version of Proton to bring support for EAC in Elden Ring since it's playable on Valve's console.
Wait for future patches
I'd recommend waiting for a patch or few to be released for Elden Ring. The game's Steam rating currently sits at 59% at the time of writing with more than 19,000 reviews. It's certainly not a "mixed" game by any standard once all the problems have been addressed on PC, but in its current state, there's no way I can recommend anyone buy Elden Ring.
