Elden Ring is set in the Lands Between, a decaying world once ruled by a powerful demigod through the titular Elden Ring and the giant Erdtree. When the ring was shattered, its pieces scattered across the land, breaking the world's order. Now the once-golden realm is filled with monsters and warring factions, all seeking the ring's shards in hopes of becoming the next Elden Lord. Into this world ventures your character, a member of an outcast group known as the Tarnished. You must collect the ring's pieces, reforge it, and determine the fate of the world. After making its mark on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X, Elden Ring is bringing its sprawling adventure to Nintendo Switch 2 as Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition.

If you're unfamiliar with the game, Elden Ring is essentially the ultimate evolution of the Dark Souls formula. Rather than the relatively straightforward level design of the earlier games, it drops the series into one of the most expansive and densely packed open worlds in gaming. Moments after starting, you can venture almost anywhere. That freedom fundamentally changes the experience; you can explore, discover new paths, leave a boss for later, return with better equipment, or even find ways around difficult challenges.

That freedom is especially important because Elden Ring is, true to FromSoftware's design ethos, a challenging game. If you've played Dark Souls or anything inspired by it, you'll know what to expect: weighty combat, high damage, precise dodges, and enemy patterns that must be learned. Elden Ring doesn't reinvent the formula, but its open world and exceptional boss fights elevate it to one of FromSoftware's best games.

The build variety is equally impressive. You can play as a heavily armored, hammer-wielding bruiser or a nimble, sword-wielding samurai. You can specialize in long-range magic, summon and support ghostly allies, or pursue countless other approaches. Few games offer this much variety in both how you play and what you fight. There's something worth discovering around nearly every corner, making the massive world rewarding to explore.

Tarnished Edition also includes the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, one of the strongest expansions ever made. It adds an entirely new region filled with bosses, weapons, equipment, and its own sprawling story. That's a substantial amount of additional content for an already enormous game, including some of the best items and boss fights in the series. The catch is that access is locked behind a fairly late-game boss, making it primarily an endgame expansion.

For returning players, there isn't much that's new in Tarnished Edition. The biggest additions are two new starting classes: the Heavy Knight and the Idus Knight. The Heavy Knight is exactly what it sounds like: a heavily armored warrior who starts with an oversized scimitar. It feels like an upgraded take on the Vagabond or Samurai and is a great choice if you want strong defenses and heavy weapons from the start.

The Idus Knight is more interesting. It begins with the Idus Sword, a variation of the Milady Light Greatsword. That makes it the only way to start with one of Shadow of the Erdtree's weapon types without first reaching the DLC, making the class an appealing choice for a fresh playthrough.

Beyond that, there isn't much that's new. You can customize the appearance of your mount, Torrent, and there are a few additional items, but these are minor additions rather than anything approaching another expansion. All of this content is also coming to the other versions of the game as a $5 Tarnished Pack. Unless you specifically want a portable version, there's little reason for existing players to buy the Switch 2 version.

That brings us to Tarnished Edition's biggest selling point: portability. Bringing Elden Ring to Switch 2 was clearly a challenge, and the game famously looked rough during its early demonstrations. The final version is much more successful. There are noticeable compromises to visual quality and frame rate, but the port is generally consistent. Performance remains fairly stable in both crowded areas and the open world, and after some initial adjustments, I could simply pick up and play. Being able to play Elden Ring on the couch rather than sitting in front of a TV was arguably enough to justify the port on its own.

More importantly, Tarnished Edition is a perfectly good first experience with Elden Ring. If you have the choice, I'd still recommend the PC or other console versions, but the Switch 2 port is a reasonable compromise. For dedicated Switch players who have been waiting to experience one of gaming's biggest releases, Tarnished Edition is a remarkably convenient way to do it.

However, the game doesn't play particularly well with Rest Mode unless you disable all online connections. That makes it less convenient for the kind of quick, five-minute sessions that portable gaming encourages.

Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition is arguably the weakest version of an incredible game, but the compromises aren't enough to undermine the experience. It's difficult to think of another Switch 2 game that matches its scale and sheer amount of content. If you enjoy Souls-style games and haven't yet played Elden Ring, you owe it to yourself to try it. As long as you can accept the technical compromises, Tarnished Edition is an excellent way to experience the game for the first time.

Score: 8.5/10