However, if you haven’t picked up Elden Ring yet and are also in the market for a new gaming console, you might be wondering which console is the best for the game. So, to give you an idea of the best console for Elden Ring, we decided to break it down for you:
The best console for Elden Ring right now
Several credible sources and trusted reviewers have tested Elden Ring on a variety of platforms. But, for the sole purpose of this article, we’ll be going with Digital Foundry’s findings, specifically, from the efforts of Thomas Morgan. Throughout his 27-minute video, embedded above, Morgan tested Elden Ring on a variety of platforms and his findings confirmed that the Steam reviews weren’t exaggerating, the game doesn’t perform nearly as well as it should on the PC. Morgan flat out describes the game’s optimization on the PC “is much more of a distraction - where consoles don’t see the same degree of stuttering.” Although this could be fixed in future patches, as it stands, the best platform to play Elden Ring on is the PlayStation 5. While Morgan goes into much more detail in his test, the gist here is that the PS5 holds a sizable 10 FPS lead when traversing the Lands Between and a whopping 11-second lead in favor of the PS5 in terms of waiting time for fast travel and after dying. Given that players will have to fast travel and die a lot in Elden Ring, a 7-second waiting time on the PS5 is very much preferred compared to 17 seconds of the Xbox Series S/X. Unfortunately, running Elden Ring in quality mode and enjoying 60FPS gameplay at a 4K native is a pipedream for now. As Morgan details further in his testing, Elden Ring can run at a fixed 4K native resolution on the PS5 and the Xbox Series X. Unfortunately, the unsteady frame pacing that can drop as low as 20FPS mean the gameplay experience can be rather unpleasant. The good news is that the frame rate mode isn’t a lot worse in terms of graphics. By dropping the resolution to 2688x1512 at its lowest, the frame rate mode will constantly adjust the resolution while keeping frame rates between 45 to 60 FPS on both flagship current-gen consoles. If you insist on hitting 60FPS consistently, the only solution is to run the PS4 Pro version of Elden Ring on your PS5. By using the PS4 Pro code, you’ll sacrifice dynamic 4K from the frame rate mode to checkerboarded 1800p with lower grass draw distance and worse image quality. The graphics difference isn’t significant enough to detract from the entire gameplay experience, but it’s still noticeable enough that it will take a while for your eyes to adjust. TLDR; play Elden Ring on whatever console that you have, but if you want the best experience, get it on the PS5. Unfortunately, getting a PS5 is much easier said than done. To date, Sony still hasn’t solved its shortage issues. But, because Elden Ring is such a great game, it’s well worth pursuing any leads of a PS5 restock close by. In the meantime, you can check out our class guide for Elden Ring and several tips for beginners who are new to the genre.
