Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition Reviews
Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition is a tremendous achievement and one of the finest games you can currently play in the Switch 2 library. Offering up an enormous and densely packed open world, tons of tough boss encounters to overcome, a huge DLC endgame expansion, and presenting it all with great performance, there are few (if any) games in the console's library that can match it in spectacle, difficulty, and raw quality.If you've ever been a Soulslike fan or are simply looking for a deep and challenging game that takes full advantage of the Switch 2's power, you owe it to yourself to pick this up whenever you can. Elden Ring deserves the praise it's received as one of the games that defined a generation, and it feels right at home on Nintendo's handheld.
It's honestly hard to "review" a game that's been widely praised as Elden Ring four years after the fact. Ultimately, only one thing matters here with the Tarnished Edition: how is the performance? The game is most certainly taking some shortcuts here to get the game running on Switch 2 hardware. That said, there's a chance you'll only notice those shortcuts if you're actively looking for them. Elden Ring Tarnished Edition is one of, if not the, best third-party games on the Nintendo Switch 2.
In any case, we're talking about Elden Ring . It's like stepping into the Middle Lands and being captivated by the light of the Golden Tree. I planned to play just enough for this review, but I've ended up completely hooked again. It was a phenomenal game four years ago... and it's still as amazing as the first day.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Switch 2 owners are about to discover the world of Elden Ring. If they've never experienced it elsewhere, then the magic that stretches through every fibre of the game remains intact, and in handheld especially, offers a thoroughly enjoyable version of the game. If you've played elsewhere, however, the performance downgrades may be too much to take.
Elden Ring Tarnished Edition turns out to be a much more convincing conversion than initial tests had led one to fear, successfully bringing the Interregnum to Switch 2 with technical compromises that, while undeniable, never truly compromise the experience.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Elden Ring is still a masterpiece, even on Nintendo Switch 2. Yes, there are inevitably a few technical compromises, but nothing that really spoils the experience — apart from the frame rate drops, which can make certain sequences harder to read, especially in handheld mode. It's a perfectly solid port, one that may not take advantage of the Nintendo Switch 2's specific features, but that gives millions of players the chance to discover it in good conditions, and in the end that's all we were asking of it.
Review in French | Read full review
Elden Ring is still a masterpiece, even on Nintendo Switch 2. Yes, there are inevitably a few technical compromises, but nothing that really spoils the experience — apart from the frame rate drops, which can make certain sequences harder to read, especially in handheld mode. It's a perfectly solid port, one that may not take advantage of the Nintendo Switch 2's specific features, but that gives millions of players the chance to discover it in good conditions, and in the end that's all we were asking of it.
Review in French | Read full review
While it feels like the impact of Breath of the Wild is waning as the open world genre starts to stagnate again, Elden Ring stands out as not only an achievement in FromSoftware’s hall of fame, but also as an open-world RPG. Elden Ring is without a doubt, FromSoft’s most ambitious undertaking yet, and like Dark Souls before it, I believe it will leave a permanent mark on both the open-world genre and the games industry in general.
Elden Ring, including its expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, is a stone-cold masterpiece, and while the Tarnished Edition is imperfect, it still shines brightly.
The price aside, however, there is little to complain about with Elden Ring Tarnished Edition. This is one of the best games of this generation, if not of all time.
With two new classes exclusive to the Switch 2, FromSoftware brings the best day-one performance of Elden Ring I’ve ever seen. While the image quality, brightness, and ability to change the font size were lacking, this port runs incredibly well!
Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition is an excellent port of one of the best games of recent years, which, despite its massive scale, runs and looks surprisingly well on the Nintendo Switch 2. FromSoftware has made excellent use of the extra time to optimise the game, meaning we can now comfortably explore the Lands Between virtually anywhere. If you have a Switch 2, Elden Ring isn’t just worth playing – it’s a must-play.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Elden Ring’s captivating magic is in your hands, but there’s one catch: its FPS could throw you off in this brutal adventure, especially coming from other platforms
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition on Switch 2 is still the FromSoftware masterpiece fans know and love, but it comes with some new technical limitations. With the full base game, Shadow of the Erdtree, and the Tarnished Pack, it offers a complete package for newcomers while retaining its mysterious storytelling, exceptional world-building, precise combat, and phenomenal soundtrack. However, Switch 2 simply cannot deliver the best version of Elden Ring. Frame-rate drops are noticeable in crowded areas and during some boss fights, while the quality of distant scenery is lower and visual issues become more apparent in Docked Mode. Handheld play is appealing, but the console’s weight and the limitations of the Joy-Cons make it less than ideal for some of the game’s tougher encounters.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Words can hardly capture the wonders within Elden Ring. Apart from a few cheap boss battles, this is one of the best action RPGs ever made. Tarnished Edition is as complete as it gets and contains roughly three games' worth of content. Why can't all games be crafted with this much vision and boldness? The lunacy of it looking and running as well as it does on Nintendo Switch 2 makes this an absolute must-have for the console.
ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition combines one of the best games ever made with perhaps the best DLC ever made and it performs much better than you'd assume on Switch 2 so it's a definite must-play for anyone who has yet to traverse the Lands Between. 💍
Elden Ring Tarnished Edition sure ain’t the definitive technical version of FromSoftware’s masterpiece. The 30fps target, occasional open-world performance dips and reduced visual fidelity are real compromises, and players with access to stronger hardware will get a cleaner experience elsewhere. But holy Golden Dung, this port works way better than I dared to hope for.
Elden Ring Tarnished Edition brings one of the best games of the last 10 years, along with one of the best expansion packs of the last 10 years, to Nintendo Switch 2, and it does so almost flawlessly.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition is a fantastic new way to play the game. Exceptional performance on the Nintendo Switch 2 means you can play on the go without a hiccup, and with Shadow of the Erdtree included, it’s a great way to play, especially if you have never experienced this masterpiece before.
Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition is an impressive Switch 2 port that preserves the game's expansive world and striking visuals with surprisingly few compromises. Its 30 FPS target is a clear limitation, but generally stable performance and excellent handheld presentation make this a compelling portable version of FromSoftware's masterpiece.