The PC version of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart just launched and it marks another PlayStation exclusive making its way to Windows. This is a particularly interesting case because the game was specifically a PS5 exclusive, and before launch, it was a showcase for the platform’s high-performance tech, namely the super-fast NVMe SSD the PS5 uses for storage. Over at Eurogamer, the folks of Digital Foundry did extensive testing on the newly released PC port of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and found interesting results with various specs and setups, including an old mechanical hard drive–and even a PS4 hard drive.
Straight up, the game does not run properly and eventually crashes on a PS4 HDD, which is a SATA II 5,400 RPM drive. Digital Foundry’s Richard Ledbetter used a system close to minimum specs and with a PS4 drive ripped from an old console and installed on his PC. Based on the playthrough, you can see that once the game enters the portal sequence that shoots Ratchet through multiple worlds, the game stutters immensely before eventually freezing. This was the slice of the game often used to show off the seamless transitions with minimal load times despite all the assets that needed to be pulled, which is made possible by using an NVMe SSD–and for Sony, the PS5 in particular. It doesn’t come as a surprise given that the PS4 storage drive was dated even during its lifecycle. But these tests reaffirmed why Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart had to skip the PS4.
But that’s only part of the hard drive story. John Linneman of Digital Foundry also tested out a 7,200 RPM SATA HDD on a high-end rig, and said it performed “surprisingly well,” but noted that loading screens lasted significantly longer, especially with the game’s portal-jumping sequences. He did say it falls “well within the realm of playability,” despite stutters and hitches during gameplay.
Furthermore, they tested the same portal-jumping sequence side-by-side with a PS5 on performance RT mode, a high-end PC using an Samsung 990 Pro NVMe SSD, and the minimum spec’ed PC with a SATA-based SSD. Even with the low-end PC on a SATA SSD, the game stutters significantly and suspends Ratchet within portals longer while the game loads the next world–but at least the game works, unlike the old PS4 drive. What’s also a bit surprising is that the PS5 loads through this sequence faster than the high-end PC with a Samsung 990 Pro.
Outside of the slight disparities in load times and storage performance, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart appears to be a solid PC port with regards to in-game performance and frame rates, based on Digital Foundry’s playthrough. Even on lower-end systems when using the proper graphics settings, the game looks to be running well, and can even be played on a Steam Deck.
You can watch their hour-long playthrough and performance breakdown on Digital Foundry’s channel. And if you’re interested in jumping in for the first time, be sure to check out the minimum and recommended specs to make sure your PC can run the game, and read our original Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart review from when it launched on PS5.
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