Aniki ReMake Guide / Performance & Recommended Settings
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Performance & Recommended Settings

Aniki ReMake includes animations, large artwork, videos and optional add-ons. A modern gaming PC should usually handle the theme well, but some combinations of settings can make navigation feel less responsive.

This page is a troubleshooting/optimization checklist, not a list of mandatory settings.

Change one thing at a time and test the result.

1. Start with Aniki Performance Mode

If you want the quickest way to reduce theme effects:

  1. Open Aniki Fullscreen.
  2. Press Start / Menu.
  3. Open Settings → Customization → Appearance.
  4. Enable Performance mode.
  5. Return to the Library and test navigation.

If this solves the problem, you can later disable Performance Mode and turn individual effects off manually until you find the combination you prefer.

2. Reduce the heaviest Aniki visual effects

If you want to keep most animations:

  1. Open Settings → Customization.
  2. Disable Animate game backgrounds.
  3. Disable Cover reflection.
  4. Disable the Animated cover focus border.
  5. Disable Library trailers or use Details only.
  6. Test again.

You do not need to change all of these if your system is already smooth.

3. Enable Playnite Asynchronous image loading

From Aniki Fullscreen:

  1. Press Start / Menu.
  2. Open Settings.
  3. Open General.
  4. Enable Asynchronous image loading.

Playnite describes this option as improving game-list scrolling smoothness in exchange for images potentially appearing a little later.

For large artwork libraries, this is usually worth trying.

4. Use a sensible Playnite image scaler

Still in:

Fullscreen Settings → General

Find Image rendering scaler.

Available modes include:

  • Quality — best image quality, highest cost.
  • Balanced — good quality, fast and low memory use.
  • Alternative — better quality than Balanced with a medium performance cost.

For Aniki, Balanced is a good starting point.

If you have plenty of performance headroom and prefer maximum image quality, try Quality.

5. Disable Playnite background blur

Playnite's own Fullscreen background blur is expensive and is usually unnecessary with Aniki.

  1. Open Fullscreen Settings → Visuals.
  2. Find Blur background.
  3. Set it to 0 / Off.
  4. Return to the Library and test.

This is separate from Aniki's own dark fades and visual effects.

6. Test Smooth scrolling

Playnite's Smooth scrolling can change how navigation feels.

  1. Open Fullscreen Settings → Layout.
  2. Find Smooth scrolling.
  3. If you are troubleshooting sluggish navigation, disable it temporarily.
  4. Test the Library.

If you prefer the smooth animation and performance is fine, keep it enabled.

7. Extra Metadata Loader — prefer downloaded trailers

If you use Extra Metadata Loader:

  1. Open Playnite Desktop.
  2. Press F9.
  3. Open Extension settings → Generic → Extra Metadata Loader → Videos.
  4. Disable Stream Steam videos on demand.
  5. Prefer downloaded trailers.
  6. Save and test Fullscreen.

Streaming while game selection changes can introduce short stalls on some systems.

See Logos & Trailers.

8. Extra Metadata Loader — test logo effects

If stutter appears when game logos change:

  1. Open Extra Metadata Loader → Logos.
  2. Disable Opacity animation.
  3. Disable Enable shadow effect.
  4. Save.
  5. Test again.

These options are not required to be off. Disable them only if they affect your system.

9. Make sure Playnite uses the correct GPU

This mainly matters on laptops or PCs with both integrated and dedicated graphics.

If Windows is running Playnite on the integrated GPU while a dedicated GPU is available, Fullscreen rendering can be slower.

Use Windows Graphics settings or your GPU control panel to make sure:

  • Playnite.DesktopApp.exe
  • Playnite.FullscreenApp.exe

use the GPU you intend.

Do not force a dedicated GPU if your device only has integrated graphics or you intentionally prioritize battery life.

10. VRR / G-Sync / FreeSync and Playnite UI stutter

Variable Refresh Rate can cause a laggy/stuttering Playnite UI on some systems.

If you have:

  • G-Sync;
  • FreeSync;
  • Adaptive-Sync / VRR;

and Playnite itself feels stuttery, create a driver profile that disables VRR for Playnite only.

Apply it to both:

  • Playnite.DesktopApp.exe
  • Playnite.FullscreenApp.exe

Restart Playnite after changing the driver setting.

Do not disable VRR globally for your games just because Playnite has UI stutter.

Recommended troubleshooting order

If Aniki suddenly feels slow:

  1. Disable Library trailer streaming / use downloaded trailers.
  2. Enable Asynchronous image loading.
  3. Set the Playnite image scaler to Balanced.
  4. Set Playnite background blur to 0.
  5. Disable Aniki background animation.
  6. Disable cover reflection / animated focus border.
  7. Test Smooth scrolling off.
  8. Test Extra Metadata Loader logo effects off.
  9. Check GPU selection.
  10. If you use VRR, test a Playnite-only VRR-disabled profile.

If none of this helps, create a clean Aniki Helper debug log and report the issue.