Best The Last of Us Part 1 graphics settings for the Steam Deck

The Last of Us Part 1 brings a host of improved graphical features. It builds upon the game from the PlayStation 3 era and introduces several enhancements to meet current-gen standards and expectations. However, these improvements come at a cost; the game struggles to run properly on PC, even on modern hardware. Many claim poor optimization is to blame.

The Steam Deck is Valve's entry into the handheld gaming space. It is powered by an AMD APU comprising a Ryzen Zen 2 CPU with an RDNA 2 GPU. Despite its small form factor, it packs a punch and is capable of playing most new titles, including games like Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Atomic Heart, and more.

This guide will take a closer look at the best possible graphics settings for The Last of Us Part 1 on the Steam Deck.

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The Last of Us Part 1 isn't perfect on the Steam Deck yet

The Last of Us Part 1, although playable, is yet to receive a 'Playable' or 'Verified' rating for the Steam Deck. At the moment, it is poorly optimized for all PC platforms, including the Deck, leading to crashes, performance issues, stutters, and more.

However, most of these performance issues can be mitigated to an extent if proper graphics settings are used. This guide suggests settings that allow for a blend of playable framerate and decent visuals. Having said that, these are the best graphics settings for The Last of Us Part 1 with the Steam Deck:

Display

General

• Display: 1
• Display Mode: Fullscreen
• Display Ratio: Auto
• Display Resolution: 1280x720
• Ultrawide Pillarboxes: Off
• V-Sync: Off
• Framerate Cap: Unlocked

Resolution scaling

• Scaling Mode: AMD FSR 2
• Render Scale: Locked
• Quality: Performance
• Sharpening: Between 30 and 40

Effects

• Field of View: As per the user's preference.
• Camera Shake: As per the user's preference.
• Motion Blur: As per the user's preference.
• Chromatic Aberration Intensity: As per the user's preference.
• Film Grain Intensity: As per the user's preference.
• Gore: As per the user's preference.

Graphics

• Graphics Preset: Custom
• Animation Quality: Medium

Geometry Settings

• Draw Distance: Low
• Dynamic Object Level of Detail: Medium
• Character Level of Detail: Medium
• Environment Level of Detail: Low

Texture Settings

• Dynamic Object Texture Quality: Locked
• Character Texture Quality: Locked
• Environment Texture Quality: Locked
• Visual Effects Texture Quality: Locked
• Texture Filtering: Anisotropic 2x
• Texture Sampling Quality: Medium

Lighting Settings

• Ambient Shadow Quality: Quarter Resolution
• Directional Shadow Resolution: Low
• Directional Shadow Distance: Low
• Image Based Lighting: Off
• Spotlight Shadow Resolution: Low
• Point Lights Shadow Resolution: Low
• Bounced Lighting: Off
• Screen Space Shadows Quality: Low
• Dynamic Screen Space Shadows: Off
• Contact Shadow Quality: Medium
• Screen Space Ambient Occlusion: Off
• Ambient Occlusion Denoise Quality: Low
• Screen Space Directional Occlusion: Off
• Screen Space Cone Tracing: Off

Reflections Settings

• Screen Space Reflections: Off
• Screen Space Reflections Accuracy: Locked
• Screen Space Reflections Distance: Locked
• Glossy Reflections Quality: Locked
• Real-time Reflections Quality: Low
• Real-time Cloud Shadow Reflections: Off

Shading Settings

• Screen Space Sub-Surface Scattering: Low
• Refraction Quality: Half Resolution

Post-Effects Settings

• Depth of Field: As per the user's preference.
• Depth of Field Quality: As per the user's preference.
• Motion Blur Quality: As per the user's preference.
• Motion Blur Resolution: As per the user's preference.
• Bloom Resolution: As per the user's preference.

Visual Effects Settings

• Volumetric Effects Quality: Low
• Lens Flare: As per the user's preference.

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As of June 13, 2023, The Last of Us Part 1 became Steam Deck Verified thanks to Patch 1.1. This significant update has improved the game's performance on the Steam Deck. Despite the recent improvements, there might still be minor issues.

The settings suggested in this guide aim to balance visual quality and performance for an optimal experience. As the game evolves, the settings may need to be adjusted.