With the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, handheld fans who aren’t Steam Deck owners are finally about to get their hands on one of the best experiences in handheld gaming.
Checking out Elden Ring on Switch 2 was something I was curious about since we had seen its abysmal performance in videos posted on social media from the Gamescom demos.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the build Bandai Namco brought to PAX West was considerably improved. Find out what else has changed in our Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition on Switch 2 preview!
I’m certainly no stranger to the world of Elden Ring. I finished Elden Ring on PS5 when it initially dropped, obtaining the platinum trophy, and then later diving back in when Shadows of the Erdtree released.
Just a few months ago, I spent time battling the rings in Elden Ring Nightreign, but unfortunately the changes in that game made me forget just how different the main Elden Ring experience is. Dusting off my rusty skills, I summoned Torrent and dashed off into The Lands Between for a quick 15 minute romp with a familiar friend on a new platform.
While I played in handheld mode, our other editor Matt played docked on the TV. We both opted to play as one of the new knight classes, though if I had it to do over, I would have played as the heavy armored knight.
We both took our medium armored knight, into the fray and decided to race each other to see who could get to Margit first before the 15 minute timer kicked us out. I roamed around the world, checking out the performance and opting to gather a few golden seeds for extra flask charges, while Matt basically beelined to Margit just to try and win.
After getting picked off by a ballista the first time I approached the castle (hey, I told you I was rusty) I rushed back up and made my way to Margit’s portal. Sadly, while Matt did at least engage the fight, our demo time ended right while he was in phase one, and mine just before I touched the boss fog.
Though it pains me to admit it, he won our little challenge, but while he was spending his last few minutes dodging and praying, I started a second run and just went farming. I ran out and killed a bunch of low level enemies and then went and got slapped around by the Tree Sentinel before I wrapped up my play session.
Combat is still just as satisfying as ever, and honestly, I felt like Elden Ring was just as good on the Switch 2 as it has been on the Steam Deck. Time will tell once you get to some of the areas that are a little more busy. Graphically, it looked great and I believe it ran at a solid 30 fps, which is completely fine for a game like this.
If anything, I would have preferred a “performance” mode to increase the frame rate a bit and sacrifice some graphic fidelity, but it was a minor complaint only because I’m used to playing on a PC at 60+ frames.
It was just as enjoyable as the experience is on the Steam Deck, even in spite of the Switch 2’s controller always feeling strange in my hands since I’m so used to a PlayStation or Xbox controller.
Overall, players who haven’t picked up Elden Ring yet are in for a treat by picking up the Switch 2 version, and the additional two knight classes give returning players a reason to pick it up on the new console if they don’t have a Steam Deck or other portable gaming device.
Contrary to everything you’ve heard to this point, from my experience, I think Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition is gonna be just fine and will be an excellent addition to the Switch 2 catalog once it’s ready for release.
Elden Ring has been available now across Windows PC (via Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Get our review for the base game!
