Returnal PC Errors And Fixes: Fatal Error, Performance Issues, and More

Housemarque’s Returnal is finally available on PC following months of leaks and rumors. Climax Studios has helped with the porting work, and though it’s still an excellent third-person shooter/bullet-hell title, there are some bugs. While a patch went live on February 18th to fix issues with some Ultrawide monitors not being detected in full screen, draw distance for grass on Epic Particle settings, and so on, a few issues remain. Let’s take a look at them below.

Before that, please be advised that the following methods are to be used at the sole discretion of the system owner. GamingBolt or its staff members take no responsibility for problems or issues that may occur from trying the below. Remember that official support is always the best support.

PC Requirements

First, let’s take a look at the system requirements. In all cases, Windows 10 64-bit (version 1903) and 60 GB of installation space are mandatory.

Minimum (720p/60 FPS at Low settings)

• CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 (4 core, 2.7GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X (4 core, 3.5GHz)
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 580 (8 GB)
• RAM: 16 GB DDR4
• Storage: HDD supported but SSD Recommended

Medium (1080p/60 FPS at Medium settings)

• CPU: Intel Core i5-8400 (6 core, 2.8GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (6 core, 3.4GHZ)
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (6 GB)
• RAM: 16 GB DDR4
• Storage: SSD Recommended

Recommended (1080p/60 FPS at High settings)

• CPU: Intel i7-8700 (6 core, 3.7 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (8 core, 3.7 GHz)
• GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super (8 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (12 GB)
• RAM: 16 GB DDR4
• Storage: SSD Recommended

Epic (4K/60 FPS at Epic settings)

• CPU: Intel i7-9700K (8 core 3.7 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (8 core 3.6 GHz)
• GPU: Nvidia RTX 3080 (10 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (16 GB)
• RAM: 32 GB DDR4
• Storage: SSD Recommended

Ray Tracing (4K/60 FPS* at Epic settings)

• CPU: Intel i9-11900K (8 core, 3.5 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (12 core, 3.7 GHz)
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (16 GB)
• RAM: 32 GB DDR4
• Storage: SSD Recommended
  *Using Nvidia DLSS is recommended when enabling ray-traced reflections and shadows)

Now let’s take a look at some of the major issues that can affect PC players.

Fatal Error Crashes

One of the most common errors is the Fatal Error, which causes the game to crash. There’s currently no official fix, and the cause can vary. There are several different workarounds, thankfully. First, verify the game’s files through Steam. You can do this by right-clicking it in the Steam Library, selecting Properties and then the Local Files tab. Select Verify Integrity of Game Files to verify and let the process complete.

Another fix involves disabling the Steam Overlay while playing. Right-click on the game in the Steam Library and check the General tab. An option that says Enable Steam Overlay while in-game should be enabled. Uncheck it, and the Steam Overlay won’t run while playing.

Other fixes include switching the DirectX version. In the General tab of the game’s Properties, you’ll see an empty bar with Launch Options above it. Type “-dx11” to run the game in DirectX 11. Ray tracing is disabled while doing this, so clear the line if you want to enable ray tracing. You could also reinstall it to a solid-state drive (even if a hard-disk drive is possible at the bare minimum) and restart your system.

Performance Issues

Frame rate issues, stuttering and lag have also been reported, which also doesn’t quite have a fix. To alleviate this and improve performance, you could launch the game in DirectX 11, as stated previously. Alternatively, limiting your frame rate may help. Go to the graphics settings in-game and look for the Max Frame Rater option. This allows for setting a limit to the frame rate. Keep it around 45 to 60 frames, depending on your configuration.

For more details on Returnal, check out our review of the PC version here.

Note: Given the wide range of PC hardware available, some of the fixes mentioned here may or may not work for you. However, it’s worth giving them a shot since these have worked for some players.