The ROG Ally has caused quite a buzz in the gaming community at large. Personally, I’m thrilled at the prospect of owning a handheld gaming PC/console to play games I otherwise would not have access to. I mainly play on my PlayStation 5 (PS5). Naturally, I was curious how some of my favorite games will run on the ROG Ally. 

Things are promising on paper. The ROG Ally is built to be able to run AAA titles. Here’s a quick look at the specs of the unit we had for recap:

PlayStation Studios on PC 

PlayStation, in the past couple of years, has decided to spread the love and let PC players experience some of the best they have to offer. Currently, there are 12 PlayStation exclusive titles playable on PC. And they’re available on either Steam or the Epic Games Store. 

In case you’re curious the available games are as follows: 

• Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• God of War (2018)
• Uncharted: The Legacy of Thieves Collection
• Destiny 2: Lightfall 
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Returnal
• Days Gone
• HELLDIVERS
• Predator Hunting Grounds
• Sackboy: A big Adventure
• The Last of Us Part 1

PlayStation Asia was kind enough to give us codes for three of the 12 titles now available on PC. Here’s how they ran on the ROG Ally. 

Quick note: I played on Performance mode with brightness hovering at around 50-55% indoors in an air conditioned room. 

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered

Marvel’s Spider-Man, along with NBA 2K, is my comfort game. Whenever I feel frustrated or just having a bad day, I fire up either game. On Spider-Man, I just swing aimlessly around the digital Manhattan that Insomniac built. 

It was such a delight to learn that I can do this on the go now too with Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered playing pretty darn well on the ROG Ally. 

I had the framerate limiter turned on, maxing out at 60. Despite that, I only reached a max of 31 fps with dips to as low as 15. It looks bad on paper, but is much more tolerable during actual gameplay. The dips usually happened during cutscenes. Majority of the gameplay hovered around 25-30 fps. 

I knew it was never gonna reach the level of detail and smoothness that I get on the PS5 and LG C2 combo that I usually play on. There was plenty of noticeable stuttering especially during the busier sections of the game. But I didn’t think any of it was game breaking. 

Audio wasn’t as loud as I hoped it would be despite me playing in a pretty quiet room. I opted to pair it with Bluetooth earbuds (OnePlus Buds Pro 2) to get the most of the audio. There were no audio delays whatsoever which was a very welcome development. 

My average play time was about one hour and 20 minutes. That’s with the battery going from 100% to 20% each time. 

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Coming from the same Studio and pretty much being essentially the same game, Spider-Man: Miles Morales didn’t run too differently from Spider-Man Remastered.

I played in the exact same conditions: Indoor room, AC on, started at 100%, performance mode, and medium brightness settings. Curiously, the frame dips happened more during open-world swinging and not as much during cutscenes. This could be because of the busier version of New York due to the events of the game being set during the Christmas season. 

But the numbers weren’t too different. I still maxed at 31 fps, with most of the gameplay hovering around 25-30 fps, and the lowest dip coming in at 16fps. 

Again, nothing game breaking and it is much more tolerable during gameplay. Naturally, you have to have your expectations set properly. The ROG Ally is, after all, a handheld gaming PC. 

Average play time is around one hour and 25 minutes with about 75% to 80% of the battery life being consumed. 

Returnal

Returnal is one of the titles I was most excited to try. I was curious about how the audio and controller rumble would translate to the ROG Ally. On the PS5, Audio and DualSense implementation are two of the game’s many strengths. 

Due to audio cues on enemies’ locations, this game is best played with earbuds/headphones on. The experience on the ROG Ally isn’t quite 3D Audio on PS5 levels, but it’s as close as it gets. 

The same can be said for the controller rumble. It’s not as precise nor finely implemented as the DualSense – that’s a unique feature after all. However, I was still thoroughly impressed with how the ROG Ally implemented rumble in certain sections of the game. The rumble effect is also a testament to how well-built the Ally is. Despite the internals shaking, the Ally never felt brittle nor that it would suddenly come apart. 

Knowing this is a shooter game, I turned the framerate limiter off and reached highs of 115 fps. The framerate did dip to as low as 15 fps which is about the widest variance I got from any game I played using the Ally. This did affect gameplay especially during sections where I had to deal with multiple enemies. 

I did experience plenty of crashes which isn’t ideal for a game like Returnal whose progress relies on you surviving as long as you can on a single run through. But this only happened during the first few minutes. After a while, it seemed like the ROG Ally had adjusted to the performance-demands of the game. 

It took about an hour and 10 minutes before I had to plug-in the Ally to not lose a playthrough. 

Remote Play?

Since the ROG Ally is essentially a handheld gaming PC, you can certainly install the Remote Play app on it. However, you can’t just immediately use the gamepad. To play Horizon: Forbidden West, and generally just run the app, I had to pair the Ally with my DualSense controller.

You can map the gamepad so that it works but mapping isn’t an activity I enjoy nor did I have the time (I had to return the review unit) to do it. Other reviewers pointed to using a third-party app called Chiaki. But again, I didn’t have time to test it. I did see gameplay of it though so it seems to be working just fine. 

Knowing that you can do all these on the Ally actually makes you question the upcoming PlayStation Q handheld. Sure, the integration will likely be seamless. But its core function can already be replicated on other handhelds and handheld-like devices. I digress.

It’s worth noting that the relatively smooth experience I had with the ROG Ally was also aided by an internet connection that constantly hovers in the 250+ mbps range along with a Wi-Fi 6 router. 

The ROG Ally is PlayStation friendly 

If you want to know what it’s like playing PlayStation 5 games on a handheld device, the ROG Ally is easily one of the best devices to play with. The gameplay isn’t quite as smooth but you shouldn’t expect it to be. And yes, you’ll find yourself reaching for the power adapter after a little over an hour of playthrough. But being able to play AAA titles on a handheld device still feels crazy to me.

Having started gaming on a family computer and covering tech for a living, it’s still mind-blowing to me how far technology has come. The stuff I only dreamed of as a little fat gamer is coming true thanks to the ROG Ally and its contemporaries. 

The ROG Ally Z1 Extreme retails for US$ 699. The ROG Ally Z1 variant retails for US$ 599. Pre-orders begin on May 11. It will be available for sale worldwide on June 13, 2023.

Honkai Star Rail has been speeding through players globally and the next pitstop features version 1.1 of the game. The aforementioned version will be called Galactic Roaming and will be available on June 7.

The latest update brings three new playable characters — Silver Wolf, Luocha, and Yukong. They have appeared in the intergalactic story before. Now, they can be officially recruited to assist in the grand space fantasy odyssey.

A series of trials will be added through “Stellar Flare,” “Garden of Plenty,” and “Lab Assistants in Position.” Some of which will put the combat techniques and the strategic thinking of the Trailblazer to the test, while providing bountiful rewards.

New missions, events

In the “Starhunt Game” event, the Trailblazers receive an invite from Herta Space Station’s network
security engineer, Leonard. You can assist him to locate the electronic graffiti hidden across the station and uncover the secrets within. As part of the compensation, the graffiti designs can be collected and applied to the in-game surfaces.

In addition, in the city of Belobog, where citizens have finally been saved from the threat of Stellaron, the History Museum is getting ready to be reopened. In the “Everwinter City Museum Ledger of Curiosities” event, the Trailblazer will spare no effort to track down clues, recover the lost exhibits, and run the business as the museum manager.

Three new Companion Missions provide opportunities to gain in-depth stories of these intriguing characters. Some useful functional features will be implemented as well, such as the friend chat and automatic enemy pinpointing, ensuring a smoother gaming experience.

Watch the trailer.

Honkai Star Rail

Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.1 will arrive on June 7, 2023, on PC, Epic Games Store, iOS, and Android. Its PlayStation version is under development. More information will be revealed soon. With the cross-save and cross-play functions, players can enjoy their adventures across different platforms.

SEE ALSO: Honkai: Star Rail: Turn-based Genshin Impact?

Recently, Sony hosted its first big State of Play for the year. Despite the numerous titles announced during the event, the recently concluded showcase was missing one of Sony’s most prolific developers, Naughty Dog. Now, we know why. Today, Naughty Dog issued an apology for their absence during the event by promising more titles coming in the future — including a new single-player game.

If you’re a PlayStation gamer, Naughty Dog should be in your list of top developers. The studio has developed notable titles such as the Uncharted and Last of Us series. Recently, it teased an upcoming multiplayer game set in the Last of Us universe. Fans were certainly expecting news about the unannounced title during the last State of Play. However, that was not meant to be.

Today, Naughty Dog tweeted out an apology for missing the event entirely. While the studio is still proud of its progress so far, it also thinks that the title needs more time and polish before it’s sent out to the public.

Thankfully, the studio is not leaving fans without a nugget of good news. Besides the multiplayer game, Naughty Dog has also confirmed development for a new single-player game. The studio, however, has not said which universe it will take place in or if it will be an entirely new franchise.

Still, a lot of good things are set in stone for the future of the studio. A delay isn’t even that big of a deal as it means the studio wants to put out a good product for its fans.

SEE ALSO: The Last of Us Part 1 is great for first-timers