Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on Switch 2 is surprisingly solid

Elden Ring Tarnished Edition was billed as a Nintendo Switch 2 showcase when it was announced alongside the console, but a shaky Gamescom demo and a subsequent delay left fans worried. Bandai Namco unveiled a newly optimized build at the Game Developers Conference, and a hands-on session in both docked and handheld modes suggests the port is in much better shape than it once looked.

The 15-minute demo dropped me into the opening of Elden Ring, long enough to reach Margit and try the two new classes — a heavy knight with a chunky dodge roll and a lighter knight with quicker strikes. Both archetypes fit with the existing roster, and the updated build felt notably more stable.

Image quality held up in docked and handheld play, with no glaringly low-res or blurry textures and the first view of The Lands Between still feeling expansive. Performance isn’t aiming for 60 FPS; instead it appears to run closer to the 30–40 FPS range depending on the scene, and I managed to defeat an early boss without disruptive stutters.

elden ring, tarnished edition, switch 2, nintendo switch, bandai namco, gdc, gamescom, margit, 30-40 fps, docked mode