When Elden Ring first launched in February 2022, it immediately became a cultural phenomenon, winning countless Game of the Year awards and selling over 25 million copies within its first year. The collaboration between FromSoftware’s legendary director Hidetaka Miyazaki and fantasy author George R.R. Martin created something unprecedented in gaming—a vast open world that married the punishing difficulty of the Souls series with the freedom of exploration typically reserved for games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Now, with the release of the Tarnished Edition for Nintendo Switch 2, players have a new opportunity to experience this landmark title, and revisiting it reveals depths that weren’t immediately apparent during the initial frenzy of release.
The first playthrough of Elden Ring often focuses heavily on its flaws, particularly for veterans of FromSoftware’s previous works. Coming off a marathon of every Soulsborne title makes these imperfections impossible to ignore. The boss fights lack the consistent brilliance of Dark Souls III’s carefully choreographed encounters. The world, while massive, doesn’t feel as meticulously interconnected as the original Dark Souls’ legendary Lordran. It certainly doesn’t capture the gothic horror atmosphere of Bloodborne or the precise, rhythmic combat of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. These comparisons, while valid, miss something essential about what Elden Ring is trying to accomplish.
Technical Performance and Visual Compromises
The problems with Elden Ring extend beyond subjective comparisons to previous FromSoftware titles. Copy-pasted bosses appear throughout the sprawling map, and the repetitive catacomb dungeons feel like filler content designed to pad an already enormous game. The platforming sections remain frustratingly imprecise, a consistent weakness in Miyazaki’s design philosophy that becomes more problematic in an open-world context. Later areas of the game, while mechanically challenging, lack the visual grandeur and artistic beauty of early locations like Limgrave and Liurnia. The increasingly punishing boss design actively works against certain character builds, a problem that the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion doubled down upon rather than addressing. And the camera system, particularly during large boss encounters, remains one of the game’s most persistent frustrations.
Despite these criticisms, the initial experience with Elden Ring was overwhelmingly positive, and Shadow of the Erdtree proved even more compelling upon its June 2024 release. The expansion added approximately 30-40 hours of content to an already massive game, introducing new areas, weapons, and some of the most challenging encounters FromSoftware has ever designed. However, exhaustion inevitably set in after such an extensive playthrough, making the decision to return for the Tarnished Edition somewhat unexpected.
The Switch 2 Experience: Compromises and Capabilities
The Tarnished Edition packages the base game and Shadow of the Erdtree expansion together with exclusive content for Nintendo’s newest hardware. Early impressions suggested the Switch 2 might struggle with such a demanding title, but the reality is more nuanced than those initial concerns indicated. In docked mode, the game maintains a capped 30 frames per second that stays relatively consistent outside of the most chaotic boss encounters. Even when meteors rain down and visual effects fill the screen, causing occasional stuttering, the experience remains playable rather than game-breaking. The more noticeable compromises involve lighting quality, draw distance, and overall image sharpness—all of which fall considerably short of what players experience on PlayStation 5 or high-end PCs.
Pop-in becomes a regular occurrence, with environmental details materializing as players traverse the world. For a game where grandeur and visual beauty are integral to the experience, these technical limitations have a tangible impact on immersion. The Shadow of the Erdtree areas, which push the base game’s visual design even further, suffer additional degradation on the Switch 2 hardware. Handheld mode, surprisingly, proves impressive despite being softer and technically inferior to docked play. Frame drops remain minimal, and boss encounters remain entirely manageable in portable form. This makes the Switch 2 version a viable option for players who prioritize the ability to take Elden Ring on the go, even if it represents a significant step down from other available versions.
Rediscovering Freedom: The True Essence of Elden Ring
The additional content included in the Tarnished Edition—two new character classes, some armor sets, and cosmetic options for the spectral steed Torrent—doesn’t significantly alter the value proposition, especially since these additions are available as purchasable extras for other platforms. What truly matters is how Elden Ring itself holds up, and a second playthrough reveals the game’s genuine brilliance in ways that weren’t apparent before. The initial approach to Elden Ring often mirrors the methodology of previous Souls games: no summons, no shield, no spells—just pure skill against overwhelming odds. This purist philosophy, while admirable in linear Souls titles, fundamentally misunderstands what Elden Ring offers.
The key distinction lies in freedom. Beyond the obvious freedom of vast open spaces and multiple paths through the world, Elden Ring encourages players to adapt their approach constantly. Shadow of the Erdtree exemplifies this philosophy with its vertical, interconnected design that rewards exploration and experimentation. The game asks players to adjust builds to meet specific challenges rather than simply memorizing attack patterns. It offers freedom to engage with the story and the wonderfully strange characters populating The Lands Between in whatever order and depth feels natural. Most importantly, it provides freedom to leave content undiscovered without feeling punished for doing so.
Playing as an RPG First
A transformed approach to the second playthrough made all the difference. Instead of systematically exploring every catacomb and fighting every boss regardless of reward, the world was taken as it came. Adaptation replaced stubbornness. There was no compulsion to follow every thread or bash repeatedly against obstacles that a different build might trivialize. This meant avoiding burnout from fighting the same recycled bosses in multiple optional dungeons. It meant using available tools—summons, spells, items—rather than adhering to an arbitrary code of honor. Put simply, Elden Ring works best when played as a role-playing game first and an action game second, and the game’s design actively encourages this approach better than perhaps any other title in the medium.
The intervening years since Elden Ring’s release have brought numerous Souls-like games, some of which excel in specific areas where FromSoftware’s opus falters. Some offer more varied encounter design, better camera systems, or more precise platforming. But even acknowledging all of Elden Ring’s persistent flaws, no other game provides such an expansive canvas for player expression. The game understands mood and scope in ways that make it singular and important within the gaming landscape. For players whose only access to Elden Ring is through Nintendo Switch 2, the Tarnished Edition represents the complete experience with acceptable compromises. While the game undoubtedly shines brightest on more powerful hardware, The Lands Between remain worth exploring regardless of platform.
Expert Opinion: The Switch 2 port of Elden Ring demonstrates Nintendo’s growing capability to handle demanding third-party titles, though with inevitable compromises. For newcomers without access to other platforms, this version provides a complete and worthwhile experience, but existing owners should consider whether portability justifies the visual and performance trade-offs. The real revelation here is that Elden Ring’s design philosophy—freedom over rigid challenge—makes it more replayable and accessible than its Soulsborne predecessors, potentially expanding its audience even further.