Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart PC has been out for over a month as of writing. Performance Reviews are out and we encourage you to check those out for a more by-the-numbers detailed look. 

For our part, we played the game on three (3) different devices to find out how it runs, what the experience is like, and to make a recommendation on whether you should pick it up or not. 

Before we share what those devices are, here are the system requirements and some reminders to run Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart for PC. 

System requirements

Sony PlayStation also made sure to note that while it will indeed run in the minimum requirements, they still encourage players to play, at least, on an SSD to best experience the fluid dimension-hopping feature. 

We were also reminded to update our GPU’s drivers. Outdated ones could cause issues. 

The 3 devices

Naturally, we played on devices that meet the requirements as indicated above. The three devices are as follows, listed with the relevant specs: 

Steam Deck 

• AMD APU
• CPU: Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32)
• GPU: 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0-1.6GHz (up to 1.6 TFlops FP32)
• APU power: 4-15W
• 16 GB LPDDR5 on-board RAM (5500 MT/s quad 32-bit channels)
• 256 GB NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4 or PCIe Gen 3 x2*)

ROG Flow X13 (2021)

• AMD Ryzen 9 5900Hs with Radeon Graphics 3.30Hz
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Laptop GPU, 4GB GDDR6 VRAM
• On board LPDDR4X RAM 4266MHz 16GB x 2 Dual channel
• 1TB M.2 2230 PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD 
• With ROG XG Mobile (eGPU+) 
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 16GB GDDR6 (150w)

ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023)

File Photo: Zepyhrus G14 (2020)

• AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS Mobile Processor (8-core/16-thread, 16MB L3 cache, up to 5.2 GHz max boost)
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU
• ROG Boost: 2030MHz* at 125W (1980MHz Boost Clock+50MHz OC, 100W+25W Dynamic Boost)
• 16GB DDR5 on board
• 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD

Experience per device

Just by looking at the specs, you can kind of picture already, at the very least, the graphical fidelity and general performance that each of the devices offered. Yes, to keep things simple, Steam Deck is on Medium, ROG Flow X13 is on High (with some caveats), and ROG Zephyrus G14 on Ultimate Ray Tracing. 

For the most part, each device was automatically on the most ideal graphical settings as you fire up the game. We didn’t have to bother too much with tweaking things here and there. But that’s just us. The beauty of playing on PC is that you can make adjustments to your heart’s content. But we just wanted to play right away and stuck with the mostly vanilla settings. 

Steam Deck 

As a Steam Deck verified title, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart PC ran pretty well. Only a few things really stood out. This being a AAA title, you can expect to play for about two hours max if you’re unplugged. 

You won’t enjoy the mind-bending visuals present when you play on the PS5. The graphics look closer to a late cycle PS3 game. It still looks fantastic which is a testament to the game’s overall art style. In the simplest terms, it’s like watching a video in 540p as opposed to the 4K, ultra-fine detail on its mother console. 

The dimension-hopping didn’t feel as seamless as it did on the PS5 and that was to be expected. Still, the game ran mostly with just minor hiccups, never crashed, but we did have to force close it once when we missed a platform and it seemed like Ratchet was just falling endlessly into the void. 

ROG Flow X13 (2021)

On the ROG Flow X13, the game was automatically on High settings even without the ROG XG Mobile plugged in. But the experience was rather dicey. There were plenty of graphical glitches when we played. Do note that we also did this unplugged. During that session, the laptop struggled to play on High. The game ran better when we switched to Medium later on.

Later on, in much more optimal conditions and with the ROG XG Mobile plugged in, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart PC ran exactly like how we expected it to. We even dated to bump it up to High Ray Tracing and enjoyed an experience that’s incredibly close to the one on the PS5. 

In case you’re curious, we played using a GameSir G7 Wired Controller. It felt just like a regular Xbox controller but wired. If you’re used to the PS5 Dual Sense controller, it might take a few hours to get used to the feel. But the longer adjustment will be the face buttons, especially since both feature an “X” but on a different button placement. 

ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023) 

This is a review device that came in later and is the reason why we waited a little bit longer before publishing. And well, it was worth the wait. Playing on the latest Zephyrus G14 felt like a one-to-one recreation of the PS5 experience. 

To truly match the console-like feel, we hooked up the laptop to a 55-inch 4K TV for good measure. Save for the controller, this was the closest we got to how we experienced the game back when it first came out. Graphically and performance-wise, there was hardly any difference. 

It’s a shame we didn’t have an ultra-wide gaming monitor during the review period to see how well the game translates visually on that kind of display.

Should you play Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart PC?

This seems like an easy enough question to answer, but there are plenty of things to consider. First of all, do you already own a machine that can run the game and where in the graphical and performance settings does your machine fall? 

At Medium, it feels like you’re getting only about 50-60% of what the game has to offer. It’s a visual marvel as much as it is a virtual adventure worthy of pouring over 20 hours on. When it first came out, many reviewers called it a “Pixar movie that you can play.” You won’t get that experience if you’re only playing on the Medium to High range. 

But if you’re only in it for the story and gameplay – both of which are very much worth your time, then by all means jump right in. We do, however, recommend that you hold out for a sale to get the most bang for your buck. 

SEE ALSO: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Review: A damn good time