I wasn't convinced by Elden Ring Tarnished Edition until I played it on Nintendo Switch 2 now I think it's one of the system's most impressive ports yet

Date:
Wed, 26 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

I was skeptical at first, but Elden Ring Tarnished Edition is simply a
delight on Nintendo Switch 2. What a difference
a year makes. Back when the Nintendo Switch 2 was first being
shown off in 2025, Elden Ring Tarnished Edition looked like a disaster.

Review info
Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2
Available on: Nintendo Switch 2
Release date: August 28, 2026

Preview events allowed journalists to
play a horribly compromised game with a flipbook framerate, then tellingly wouldnt let them share any footage of it. This seemed destined to be an embarrassment of a port that would have Mario hanging his head in shame, if not outright giving up.

I dont know what deal with the Devil the developers made to get this
port in its current state, but its made a Satanist out of me. Elden Ring on Switch 2 is a revelation, the new gold standard that third-party ports should be judged by. Its perfectly playable and smooth in handheld mode, with only the most minimal and unobstructive pop-in.

Even the included Shadow of the Eldtree expansion, with its increased level
of visual detail and colossal wicker men enemies stomping about, runs like a dream. Its the kind of port that restores your faith in the Switch 2. Perhaps anything really is possible on this little machine.

For the uninitiated, Elden Ring is essentially
open-world Dark Souls , the brutal action-RPG that every other action-RPG has annoyingly been ripping off ever since.

So combat rewards perseverance while also punishing even the slightest mistake. Every time you die, you lose all your levelling-up currency and have just one chance to get it back. And its all set in a dark medieval fantasy world thats so grim it makes House of the Dragon look like an episode of
Peppa Pig.

Elden Ring takes that winning formula and blows up the scale dramatically. Its the most confident and successful leap a series has taken to going open-world since Nintendos own The Legend of Zelda : Breath of the Wild .
This is a game all about charging through gorgeous fields on horseback, because a) youve spotted an epic castle on the horizon you want to explore, and b) a giant is shooting arrows at you, and you desperately need to find some cover.

The Lands Between, Elden Ring s absurdly large setting, is beautiful and deadly in equal measure. And its really deadly. Birds with swords strapped to their legs swoop in for the kill. Knights on horseback roar to the Heavens
and are rewarded with lightning storms cascading down upon you.

Even a lowly zombie tossing a rock at you can be lethal if youre not paying attention. Few games demand you lock in to succeed like this and fewer still reward you so immensely if you do.

You're spoilt for choice on how you take it on, too.
There are swords, axes, hammers, magic, curses, hand-to-hand combat (surprisingly effective, that), roaring (ditto), horseback jousting, and far more to be covered here. Stick with one weapon, and youll still have fun, but keep swapping out your loadout for new toys and you might just find your favourite gaming weapon ever.

The variety here is ridiculous, every dud weapon offset by another dozen inspired ones. Impressed with the last attack the latest boss fight used on you? Chances are, you can find the weapon they used on you and learn how to execute its special attack yourself.

Best bit

Engaging in an epic jousting battle with a dragon in one of the more visually intense areas, and not experiencing a single dropped frame in handheld mode. Good thing I wasnt playing on the bus, given how many times I yelled HOW!? at the screen. Its world starts with traditional green fields and foreboding castles designed by architects who clearly never visited a cosy cafe once in their horrible lives. Gradually it gets more delightfully surreal, like a golden city drenched in ashes where the music is actually being performed by the enemies youre fighting. Or a village full of dancing, giggly oddballs whove watched Midsommar a few too many times.

The city hidden beneath the map is easily one of the most incredible-looking environments Ive ever visited in a videogame. Oh, and died in. Repeatedly.

Every inch of The Lands Between is occupied by monsters, warriors, dragons, and enemies who really look like giant sentient sperm, and all of them want
to say a very violent hello. It should get repetitive.

Outside of the occasional puzzle, this game is basically all-combat all the time. But the sheer variety and depth to its combat system practically dares you to get bored. Each enemy is almost a puzzle in itself, as you slowly
learn their attack patterns, weaknesses, and how effective they are at outrunning a horse. Not at all? Perfect, bye then!

That open-world structure helps stave off repetition too. Theres plenty of brick wall boss fights that youll spend hours bashing your head against. But whenever youre stuck, you can just hop aboard your magical double-jumping horse and gallop somewhere else. It means you can be swordfighting with poison-spitting bug men one moment, and then in an epic joust with a dragon barely ten minutes later.

You can also find alternate outfits for your horse now, presumably to
finally get the My Little Pony crowd aboard the Soulslike train.

Gameplay benefits? None whatsoever, but its a cute novelty. I liked being
able to dress Torrent up as the golden steed of one of the more irritating enemies, even if it does make them a little noisier. So if youve been on the fence about Elden Ring because you worried the horse wasnt noisy enough, this is definitely the time to jump in.

The story? At first its about as impenetrable as Xboxs gaming strategy. Your only hope of figuring out its mysteries is to examine every item you find, most of which contain a line of lore. Theres now a recent items tab that
shows everything youve recently picked up, which makes this far easier. This is my third time playing Elden Ring , and I believe I understood a whole 23% of the plot this time - a new personal best.

Two new starter classes have also been added. Heavy Knight, whos a thickly-armored chunky boy who can tank a fair few hits. Obviously incredibly useful, but I opted for the other new starter, Idus Knight, who wields a
sword that delivers a superbly satisfying double-strike.

Theres some new armor sets and weapons out there, too. These are nice touches for returning players, but hardly a reason to buy the game again if you already own it on another format.

No, the justification for that double dip has to go to handheld mode. I
played this port for a solid week in handheld before remembering that I
should probably see how it looks on my TV for this review. Thats how impressive it is, even if not every area is an unequivocal success. Liurnia
of the Lakes probably takes the biggest hit, with a lot of foliage and
scenery constantly fading in.

But vitally, none of the monsters suffer from any of that pop-in nonsense.
Its a smart trade-off to ensure that, even when the game is mildly
struggling, it never puts you at a gameplay disadvantage. The fade-in is lessened docked, but naturally a little more noticeable on the bigger screen. Very occasionally when a lot of enemies are on-screen - a dragon and its
dozen skeleton minions, for instance - some of the monster animation gets a little jerky. But its minor, rare, and even then has a certain Ray
Harryhausen stop-motion charm.

I got two and a half hours of battery life out of my Switch 2 consistently while playing it, making it ideal for short flights or long train journeys (dont start fighting a boss if your stop is coming up).

I cant wait to stop typing these words so I can sink more hours into it. This is a major technical achievement on basically every level, resulting in an outstanding port of one of the best games ever. Essential.

Should you play Elden Ring Tarnished Edition? Play it if...

Youve never played it before: What the heck have you been doing for the last four years? Elden Ring is the biggest and possibly best game FromSoftware has ever made. An action-RPG of mind-boggling scope and ambition thats easily one of the most rewarding open-world games ever.

You want to play Elden Ring on the go: Tragically, a Steam Deck is now much more expensive than it was just a few years ago so this is probably now the best way to play Elden Ring on a handheld.

You want to give your horsey a golden makeover: Admittedly, theres not a huge amount of new content here. Two new starter classes, horse dress-up, and a
few new weapons and armor sets. Mildly disappointing, but the game and its expansion are already massive.

Don't play it if...

You dont enjoy hard games: Theres no option to lower the difficulty, and this is a harsh, uncompromising experience. I still blame some of the late game bosses for why Ive lost a lot of my hair.

You want to play the most technically impressive version possible:
Its smoother on PS5 and Xbox Series X, and on PC if your rig is good enough. Still, I was constantly impressed by how rarely the Switch 2 version feels like a downgrade

You dont care about playing in handheld mode: This is the only real advantage the Switch 2 version has over the PS5/Series X versions. But if you dont care about this feature, then why did you buy a Switch 2?

Accessibility features

Controls can be remapped, and gestures are tied to motion controls (this can be switched off).

Subtitles are on by default, and the image quality can be adjusted when HDR
is enabled, which is only available when docked, naturally.

The tutorial is still laughably bad, but help screens can at least be
reviewed at any time.

How I reviewed Elden Ring Tarnished Edition -- I played
about sixty hours, mainly in handheld mode. Not enough time to defeat every optional boss - yikes - but I made sure to explore all the major areas,
Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, and anywhere I suspected might suffer from a performance dip. I was constantly pleasantly surprised.

First reviewed August 2026

Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/gaming/elden-ring-tarnished-edition-switch-2-review $$
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* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * KY, USA (42:17/7)