Does Dragon's Dogma 2 run well on Steam Deck and ROG Ally gaming handhelds? — Optimized graphics settings

I personally own an ROG Ally, Legion Go, and a Steam Deck, so whenever a big new game comes out I naturally check to see how well it plays on gaming handhelds. Sometimes a game just needs a few graphics setting tweaks in order to run well on these devices. Other times, the game doesn't run well at all, and it's best to avoid playing it on a gaming handheld. 

At the time of writing this, I've put roughly 50 hours into Dragon's Dogma 2 and a lot of that time was spent on my handhelds. Here's how well the game plays on Steam Deck and ROG Ally, as well as my recommended graphics settings for both systems. 

Dragon's Dogma 2 on Steam Deck

While it is possible to get Dragon's Dogma 2 playing on Steam Deck, I really don't recommend it. This game was not optimized for gaming handhelds, and the playing experience is especially bad on Steam Deck. If you can, it would be better to play this action RPG on a more traditional gaming laptop, gaming PC, or a PC gaming handheld. 

How to switch your Steam Deck to Proton Experimental mode

If you're still determined to play Dragon's Dogma 2 on Steam Deck, then you'll need to switch your handheld to Proton Experimental before it will even run the game. Here's how to do that. 

1. From your game library, hover over Dragon's Dogma 2 and press the Menu button (hamburger button). 

2. Scroll down and select Properties.

3. Select Compatibility.

4. Check the box where it says "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool."

5. A dropdown menu will appear. Select Proton Experimental from the list. 

6. Press B a few times to back out until you're back to the game library. 

At this point, you should be able to start Dragon's Dogma 2, and it should no longer get hung up at the Compiling Shaders loading screen. 

Best Dragon's Dogma 2 optimized settings for Steam Deck

To get the very best Dragon's Dogma 2 playing experience on your Steam Deck, change the graphics settings as follows: 

Menu button (hamburger) → System → Options → Graphics: 

• Graphics Quality: Custom
• Display Mode: Full Screen
• Screen Resolution: 1280 x 720
• Refresh Rate: 60.00Hz
• Frame Rate: Max 30 FPS
• Vertical Synchronization: On
• Dynamic Resolution: Off
• FidelityFX Super Resolution 3: Off
• DLSS SUPER RESOLUTION: (N/A)
• DLSS NVIDIA REFLEX LOW LATENCY: (N/A)
• Upscale Sharpness: (N/A)
• Rendering Mode: Progressive
• Image Quality: 50% (halfway on the slider)
• Ray Tracing: (N/A)
• Ambient Occlusion: Off
• Anti-aliasing: Off
• Screen Space Reflections: Off
• Mesh Quality: Min
• Texture Filtering: Low (Bilinear)
• Texture Quality: Low (0 GB)
• Grass/Tree Quality: Low
• Resource-Intense Effects Quality: Low
• Shadow Quality: Low
• Shadow Cache: On
• Contact Shadows: Off
• Motion Blur: Off
• Bloom: Off
• Depth of Field: Off
• Lens Flare: Off
• Lens Distortion: Off
• Subsurface Scattering: Off
• Motion Quality: Low

Dragon's Dogma 2 on ROG Ally and Legion Go?

It's very obvious that Dragon's Dogma 2 has not been optimized for ROG Ally, Legion Go, or other PC gaming handhelds. However, it is far more playable on ROG Ally than Steam Deck. Just note that the very first time you attempt to open Dragon's Dogma 2 on your ROG Ally, you will notice two things — 1.) The game will be in a windowed display mode. 2.) You'll be brought to a loading screen that says "Compiling Shaders" and has a loading bar going across the bottom. 

I personally had to wait several minutes for this compiling shaders business to complete the first time, so be prepared to wait a while. Every time after that, the game loaded pretty quickly.

Best Dragon's Dogma 2 optimized settings for ROG Ally and Legion Go

To get the best playing experience from Dragon's Dogma 2 on ROG Ally and Legion Go, make sure to set graphics to the following settings: 

Menu button (top right of screen) → System → Options → Graphics:

• Graphics Quality: Custom
• Display Mode: Full Screen
• Screen Resolution: 1280 x 720
• Refresh Rate: 60.00Hz
• Frame Rate: Variable
• Vertical Synchronization: On
• Dynamic Resolution: On
• FidelityFX Super Resolution 3: Quality
• DLSS SUPER RESOLUTION: (N/A)
• DLSS NVIDIA REFLEX LOW LATENCY: (N/A)
• Upscale Sharpness: 40% (fourth tick on the slider)
• Rendering Mode: (N/A)
• Image Quality: 50%
• Ray Tracing: (N/A)
• Ambient Occlusion: Off
• Anti-aliasing: (N/A)
• Screen Space Reflections: Off
• Mesh Quality: Mid
• Texture Filtering: High (ANISO x16)
• Texture Quality: Medium (0.5GB
• Grass/Tree Quality: Low
• Resource-Intense Effects Quality: Low
• Shadow Quality: Mid
• Shadow Cache: Off
• Contact Shadows: Off
• Motion Blur: Off
• Bloom: Off
• Depth of Field: Off
• Lens Flare: Off
• Lens Distortion: Off
• Subsurface Scattering: Off
• Motion Quality: Low

As of right now, it's a rather frustrating gaming handheld experience

After having spent roughly 50 hours within the world of Dragon's Dogma 2 (on a mixture of gaming desktop, ROG Ally, Steam Deck, and Legion Go), I can say this is a very rewarding adventure that is best enjoyed by those who like a challenge. Unfortunately, when it comes to playing on gaming handhelds, this title can be very choppy and laggy. 

I straight up don't suggest playing on Steam Deck unless you really are determined to play it since my play sessions often saw an average of 9fps. Gameplay was especially choppy and laggy when there were several NPCs and monsters around, which isn't conducive to high-stakes battles. 

Meanwhile, Dragon's Dogma 2 on ROG Ally and Legion Go runs quite a bit better at more of a 25fps to 30fps average. However, the game can still be laggy and choppy at times. Adjusting settings accordingly will afford a better playing experience, though, so make sure to change settings properly. With any luck, future updates will help the game run more smoothly on ROG Ally, Legion Go, and Steam Deck. 

Dragon's Dogma 2 (PC)

You find yourself in prison after losing your memory, only to discover you are the Arisen — an entity whose destiny is tied to that of a dragon. You must control pawns, explore a fantasy world, and become powerful enough to destroy your draconic nemesis. 

Buy at: GMG (Steam) | CDKeys (Steam) | Humble Bundle (Steam)

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Dragon's Dogma 2 Deluxe Edition (PC)

The Deluxe Edition gives you "A Boon for Adventures - New Journey Pack" add-on as well as the base Dragon's Dogma 2 game. 

Buy at: GMG (Steam) | CDKeys (Steam) | Humble Bundle (Steam)

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