Kingdom Hearts fans were excited to revisit the magical worlds with Sora and company with the recent release of Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 on Steam. However, players on the ROG Ally handheld gaming device have encountered a major roadblock. Yes, unfortunately, frequent crashes that disrupt gameplay, particularly in Kingdom Hearts 2 have been reported by users. There is currently no known fix, nor has this been addressed by the platform or manufacturer. Here’s all we know so far.
Setback for the ASUS ROG Ally
For players who rely on the ROG Ally for their on-the-go gaming fix, this news is a significant setback. While some crashes may be expected, the sheer frequency reported by users makes it virtually impossible to enjoy the games. This issue needs to be addressed. Hopefully, developers will release a patch to improve compatibility with the ROG Ally and allow players to experience the magic of Kingdom Hearts without these disruptive crashes. The problem is given the walkthrough in a video provided by MrBayramPlays, which can be found here:
Any fixes?
Potential buyers looking to play Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 on their ROG Ally might be wise to wait for an official fix before purchasing to avoid potential disappointment. On the other hand, users have been hard at work trying to get the Kingdom Hearts collections running smoothly on their ROG Ally. Users in this Reddit thread offered some insight, advocating for these tweaks, with some success:
- 1280 x 720 resolution, borderless
- RSR on in AMD Adrenalin settings (upscaled to 1080p)
- Unlocked FPS
- V-Sync disabled
- Consider using the Epic Game Store version if possible
Steam Deck is still playable with official verification
The frustration is compounded by the fact that the collection seemingly runs smoothly on the Steam Deck, another handheld powered by AMD hardware similar to the ROG Ally. Two collections from the trilogy recently got Steam Deck verified, which goes to say that the game runs smoothly. We haven’t been able to test it ourselves, but the verification is a good sign.
This inconsistency raises questions about potential compatibility issues specific to the ROG Ally. Imagine the disappointment of booting up Kingdom Hearts 2, only to have the game crash five times before you even finish the prologue. Unfortunately, a few fans have not had to imagine this. See below an example of a comment left under the game on Steam:
Interestingly enough, this reviewer is playing on an Nvidia GPU – not AMD, which many Team Red users report problems with. For example, one user reports: “Currently unplayable with a 7900 GRE. Constant driver crashes. Luckily, it is playable on Steam Deck.” This only adds to the confusion and instead points towards a problem with the game itself (or driver support), rather than the hardware.
