Review – Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2

It’s hard to believe that it’s been well over a year since Elden Ring was announced for Nintendo Switch 2. In fact, it was one of the very first games revealed for the console back in April of last year. Since then, the game has been previewed and shown off several times, with some players experiencing less-than-stellar performance in both docked and handheld modes.

It’s clear that FromSoftware took much of that criticism to heart and spent some serious time refining and enhancing the Switch 2 port of Elden Ring. And as someone who’s played this game relentlessly on both PlayStation 5 and PC, I couldn’t be more pleased with the presentation on Switch 2.

 

 

Both handheld and docked modes look and play almost flawlessly. While I did experience a small handful of slowdowns during my 20+-hour playthrough, it’s amazing just how close the Switch 2 version gets to the PS5 experience in almost every way.

 

 

So come along, Tarnished, and let’s take a deep dive into Elden Ring on Nintendo Switch 2.

 

Performance

 

Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition comes to Switch 2 with all of the content from the base game and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Beyond that, the game features two new starting classes, the Heavy Knight and Ides Knight. The Heavy Knight is exactly what the name suggests, focusing on heavier armor and high defense. The Ides Knight, on the other hand, is a more agile class built around dexterity and quicker attacks, giving players two very different ways to start their journey through the Lands Between.

 

 

There are also new Torrent customization options and a small variety of new armor sets to equip. It’s not a massive amount of new content, especially if you’ve already poured hundreds of hours into Elden Ring, but for those of you like me who love absolutely every minor detail about this game, it’s definitely nice to have something brand-new to dig into after all these years.

On the performance side, the Switch 2 edition of Elden Ring aims for, and almost always maintains, a solid 30 fps in both handheld and docked modes. I honestly expected handheld mode to take a much bigger hit in both visual fidelity and performance compared to docked, but I was pleasantly surprised by just how consistent the experience was between the two.

 

 

On the control side, should mention that, for me, the Switch 2 Pro Controller was by far the better way to play the game. That said, I did manage to kill the first two bosses entirely with the Joy-Con. Honestly, I sort of wish there was an achievement for that somewhere.

This may simply be a “me problem,” but I found the Joy-Con just a bit too difficult to get the level of precision and control I needed, especially during some of the more intense encounters. Or maybe I just suck. That’s also entirely possible.

And I really can’t overstate just how visually stunning Elden Ring is on Switch 2. Each new area feels completely distinct, packed with an incredible amount of detail and a huge variety of locations, enemies, and environmental elements that constantly give you something new to look at. Seeing all of that preserved on a handheld without sacrificing the game’s sense of scale is genuinely impressive, even for a guy who has seen this world and everything is has to offer multiple times over.

 

 

I did experience the occasional “hiccup” during my playthrough, where the action slowed to almost a crawl during a boss fight. This happened on several occasions with two different bosses. But after re-entering those same battles after getting killed, the issue seemed to have corrected itself. Its quite possible it had something to do with the system being in sleep mode between attempts, but I can confirm it didn’t happen very often, and when it did, the slowdown was brief.

While I wish I could speak a little bit more about performance, there’s honestly not a whole lot more to say here. The Switch 2 version is remarkably polished, looks absolutely stunning even compared to the PlayStation 5 version, and the frame rate was almost always consistent throughout my time with the game. That includes both handheld and docked play.

And as I’ve mentioned before in other reviews, I don’t have fancy equipment to measure frame pacing or get a true fps count, but I do have a pretty decent set of eyes. And from where I’m sitting, I have absolutely zero complaints about Elden Ring’s performance on Switch 2.

 

Story and Gameplay

 

Now, let’s get one thing out of the way: Elden Ring isn’t going to be for everyone.

Souls games have a reputation for being brutally difficult, and that reputation is absolutely deserved. If you’ve never played one before, your first few hours with Elden Ring can be downright infuriating. You’re going to die. A lot. Enemies that look like they should be pushovers will kick your ass, bosses will absolutely destroy you, and there will be moments when you question why the hell anyone recommended this game to you in the first place.

 

 

But that’s also why I think Elden Ring is such a fantastic jumping-off point for anyone who’s been curious about the Souls genre.

For the uninitiated, Elden Ring puts you in the role of a Tarnished, one of a group of people who were stripped of their grace and banished from the Lands Between, only to be called back long after their exile. You awaken in these massive lands with little more than a vague understanding that you’re somehow supposed to become the Elden Lord. From there, it’s largely up to you to figure out what the hell is going on.

The story is delivered in small, often cryptic bursts through the characters you meet, the places you discover, and the clues scattered throughout the world. You may not always understand exactly what’s happening, but every new piece of information you uncover makes the history of the Lands Between, and your place within it, that much more exciting each time you find something new.

 

 

The drip-fed approach to storytelling won’t be for everyone, but I absolutely loved it. Heck, I probably spent more time reading the Elden Ring wiki trying to piece everything together than I did actually playing the game.

Unlike previous FromSoftware games, Elden Ring gives you an absolutely massive open world to explore, and that freedom completely changes how you can approach its difficulty. Getting your ass handed to you by a boss over and over again? Fine. Leave. Go somewhere else.

Explore a cave you passed an hour ago. Head toward that glowing tree in the distance. Find a new weapon. Discover some completely optional dungeon hidden in the side of a cliff. Kill some enemies, collect some runes, level up, and come back stronger. There’s almost always something else to do, and very rarely does Elden Ring force you to repeatedly bash your head against the same wall until you finally break through. (Although, it do be like that sometimes…)

 

 

If you treat this game like one massive boss rush, you’re doing a huge disservice to just how much FromSoftware packed into the Lands Between. The bosses are obviously the main course of the experience, but they’re only one piece of an absolutely enormous meal. Some of my favorite moments didn’t come from defeating a massive boss. They came from wandering into an area I probably had no business being in, stumbling across some bizarre NPC, finding a hidden passage, or simply looking off into the distance and thinking, “What the hell is that?” before getting my head bashed in by a mutant crow.

 

 

And the best part is that all of that exploration actually serves a purpose. Every cave, dungeon, enemy, and detour has the potential to make you just a little bit stronger and a little bit more prepared for whatever kicked your ass the last time around.

You’re still going to die. You’re still going to get frustrated. And you’re probably still going to swear at your TV every once in a while.

But Elden Ring gives you the freedom to decide what you want to do next, and for someone dipping their toes into a Souls game for the first time, that makes all the difference.

 

Final Thoughts

 

At the end of the day, Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 is an absolutely stellar port of one of this generation’s best games.

The frame rate remains impressively consistent in both handheld and docked modes, and while Switch 2 owners may encounter the occasional hiccup along the way, those moments were few and far between during my time with the game. Considering the size, scope, and sheer amount of detail packed into this world, FromSoftware really did knock it out of the park with this port.

 

 

Performance aside, Elden Ring remains an incredible, albeit difficult, journey from beginning to end. The massive open world, memorable characters, deep lore, enormous bosses, and what seems to be an endless number of secrets make the Lands Between just as captivating today as they were when the game launched back in 2022.

If you’ve already experienced Elden Ring, the Switch 2 version is an incredible way to take the Lands Between with you wherever you go. And if you’ve somehow managed to avoid becoming Tarnished all these years, give the game a shot. Just don’t lose hope if you keep getting killed.

And a beginner’s tip: Leave the big dude on the horse alone when you first step into the open world. He’s not worth it!

 

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