Capcom

I had high hopes forDragon ’s Dogma 2.Capcom has hit a few stumbles on microcomputer over its last several passing , but the resilient RE Engine that ’s behind its slating of titles has always strike through . The extremely scalable engine is what allowsStreet Fighter 6andResident Evil 4to run on everything from anRTX 4090down to aSteam Deck , and it ’s what squeezes playable form rates out ofMonster Hunter Riseon ironware as weak as the Nintendo Switch .

The RE Engine looks terrible inDragon ’s Dogma 2,however . I can swear that the game does indeedslam your C.P.U. hard , bringing even the most powerful personal computer hardware to its knees with no recourse in the graphics options . Over the past several years , the RE Engine has cement itself as one of the most stable , scalable game engines around , butDragon ’s Dogma 2challenges that narrative in a big means .

An archer fires an arrow at an enemy in Dragon’s Dogma 2.

Capcom

Even the best settings for Dragon’s Dogma 2 struggle

Dragon ’s Dogma 2has a fairly farsighted tilt of computer graphic preferences that should look familiar to anyone who ’s fiddle a game running on the RE Engine before . After play around with the options , here are the best configurations I found forDragon ’s Dogma 2 :

This is the starting point I ’d commend for most people , but there are a few conceding . First isray trace . Dragon ’s Dogma 2supports light beam - line global illumination , which does curiosity for image caliber . If you may run with ray tracing on at a playable systema skeletale rate for your hardware , you should . Screen Space Ambient Occlusion ( SSAO ) brings a bit more profoundness to the world , and is a average trade - off if you ’re struggle to hit playable performance with shaft of light tracing on .

I also desire to draw tending to theanti - aliasing . Dragon ’s Dogma 2supports Temporal Anti - Aliasing ( TAA ) and Fast Approximate Anti - Aliasing ( FXAA ) , but you could also change state anti - aliasing off . You should n’t . you may see why in the video above comparing the modest , highest , and advocate graphics options . There is horrible flickering on the phantom with anti - aliasing turned off .

A crash course

out of doors of performance in township — more on that later — the bounteous issue plaguingDragon ’s Dogma 2on personal computer is crashing . There are multiple   solvent to crashing , but you ’ll probably require to try out a few before find a solution that stupefy . For starter , ensure you have thelatest artwork driverfrom Nvidia , AMD , or Intel . Each vendor has a equipment driver with support for the biz , and you ’ll require to download it first before playing .

If you ’re still crash , verify the files within Steam . you’re able to do so by right - clicking the game , selectingProperties , navigating toInstalled files , and choosingVerify integrity of game files . If that fails , you could try uninstalling and reinstalling the plot as well .

I suspect you ’re look for a more direct fixing , and I trip upon one that worked for me . My game consistently crashed when starting it up , so I graze to the folder where it was installed and delete the “ shader.cache2 ” file cabinet . Dragon ’s Dogma 2compiles shaders on your GPU when you first charge the biz , and edit this hoard fixed the crashing on inauguration issue for me .

Some other prompting include set a frame pace pileus in the game — a in effect mind no matter given the inconsistent carrying out — and turning off ray tracing . If you ’re commonly get crashes during gameplay , the best thing to do right now is upgrade your GPU driver , update Windows , and wait for further stableness patches to improve the state of affairs with the biz .

Don’t believe the Dragon’s Dogma 2 system requirements

TheDragon ’s Dogma 2system prerequisite are all wrong . you may see them below , with the developer recommending an Intel Core i7 - 10700 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600X , along with either an RTX 2080 or RX 6700 . This , fit in to Capcom , will clear you carrying out in the range of 30 flesh per second ( fps ) at 4K.

That ’s not the pillowcase . Even with anIntel Core i9 - 13900Kand RTX 4090 , I was stumble between 40 fps and 50 fps in towns at 4K. TheRyzen 7 5800X3DandRTX 4070couldn’t handle 40 Federal Protective Service at 4 K even outside of towns , and both of those parts are far quicker than the recommended system requirements .

I would n’t recommend play the game with less than an RTX 30 - serial GPU and a modernistic Intel or AMD CPU from the last two generations .

Unfortunately , Dragon ’s Dogma 2suffers from poor optimisation on the CPU , in particular in Town , so your hardware wo n’t play much of a role in these scenarios . A well central processor will improve performance overall , but bad frame pacing and micro - stuttering false the experience in towns , even if you have flagship hardware .

Horrific town performance in Dragon’s Dogma 2

Dragon ’s Dogma 2is extremely heavy on the CPU , particularly in towns with a lot of Nonproliferation Center . Right now , there is n’t much you could do to better this bottleneck . Even when I tested on a Ryzen 7 5800X3D and an Intel Core i9 - 13900 K , which are among thefastest gambling CPUsyou can buy , I saw severe stuttering and frame rate drops when entering almost any town . That was true even at the lowest graphics circumstance .

To show this , you’re able to determine the picture above . Here , I ’m essay with an RTX 4070 and an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D — a very healthy forward-looking gaming cheat — with the lowest graphics preset . Moving to the the Ultra Performance mode of DLSS at 4 super C yields no difference in performance and demonstrate bumble exit . The video here is better than actually playing the game . Encoding at 60 fps through a television smooth out some of the smaller stutters , so the experience is in reality worse when playing the game .

None of the graphics option can amend carrying out here . I tried lowering all of the options , as well as all of the upscaling modes , and even increase the Image Quality scene — basically a closure scaling slipper — to put more payload on the GPU . Nothing worked . When you ’re in a town , disregardless of your GPU , it will be underutilized , at least decent now . The main method of improving performance right nowis to vote out NPCsin the Ithiel Town to reduce the tune on the CPU . That ’s not where you want to be .

Most of the central processor shipment focuses on Ithiel Town , butDragon ’s Dogma 2shows this kind of stuttering elsewhere . you may see in the video above how the secret plan falls into this inconsistent frame fourth dimension as I approach the top of this pitcher’s mound , which is a path pass into a dungeon . My good guess is that the game is load enemies and assets for the cave as I come near , despite the fact that I have n’t entered the cave at all .

Tricky upscaling options

Dragon ’s Dogma 2supportsNvidia ’s Deep Learning Super Sampling ( DLSS)andAMD ’s FidelityFX Super Resolution ( FSR ) , along with its own build - in active firmness of purpose option . Both DLSS and FSR look and perform well , but they do n’t get around the brunt of the issue with carrying out in this game . As cite , there ’s aheavy CPU bottleneckinDragon ’s Dogma 2.Resolution scaling does n’t help in this berth , so you ’ll necessitate to lean on DLSS and FSR to principally improve performance in the undefended world when your GPU has a full load .

Something strange is go on withFSR 3as well . Dragon ’s Dogma 2lists FSR 3 as an alternative , but it appear that ’s only deal upscaling . FSR 3 normally comes with upscaling and frame coevals . IfDragon ’s Dogma 2is indeed using frame genesis , it ’s not making a difference here . From my examination , it appear that FSR 3 was only perform upscaling , puddle this one of the most misleading options I ’ve seen in a art carte .

disregarding , both DLSS and FSR look cracking inDragon ’s Dogma 2.I did n’t point out flickering artifacts with FSR like you seein a plot likeStarfield , make this one of the good FSR implementations you may find right now . Unsurprisingly , it ’s similar to the implementation inResident Evil 4,which also uses the RE Engine . you could see in the telecasting above that FSR is really a mo sharp than DLSS . It ’s worth noting that there ’s a sharpen slipper in the graphics menu , so DLSS can attend similarly sharp if you zigzag it up .

As for constancy , DLSS still has an edge . In the video above , you’re able to see the frayed edges on the cloth here bulge out to sputter and fall apart as they float in the wind with FSR . DLSS maintain not only their lucidness , but also the legal separation between layers . If you have access to DLSS , you should use it , but you ’re not collapse up a net ton if you have to practice FSR instead .

Dragon’s Dogma 2 on PC: the verdict

Dragon ’s Dogma 2is a challenging PC release . The plot is clearly demanding , with the extremely elaborate world taxing ironware that can generate it in its full glorification . Those moments of beauty are few and far between , with half - broil shadows and an overwhelming payload on the CPU do as constant monitor of its constraints .

As witha lot of PC discharge , the ball is in Capcom ’s court mighty now . The developer has call to rescue updates that improve execution , mending crashes , and pop the question more options that can lessen the load on the CPU . It could be weeks or even months before the secret plan is fixed , however . Some PC liberation that were founder at launch , such asStar Wars Jedi : Survivor , still show major issues over a yr afterwards .

Dragon ’s Dogma 2isn’t unplayable , and with my dozen or so hours in the game , I have only encounter two clangor . It ’s far from polished , though . If you plan on picking up the biz , expect a bumpy drive as Capcom works through patches .