RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from TechRadar — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 4 sources
What a difference a year makes. Back when the Nintendo Switch 2 was first being shown off in 2025, Elden Ring Tarnished Edition looked like a disaster.
Review info
Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2 Available on: Nintendo Switch 2 Release date: August 28, 2026
Preview events allowed journalists to play a horribly compromised game with a flipbook framerate, then tellingly wouldn’t let them share any footage of it. This seemed destined to be an embarrassment of a port that would have Mario hanging his head in shame, if not outright giving up.
I don’t know what deal with the Devil the developers made to get this port in its current state, but it’s made a Satanist out of me. Elden Ring on Switch 2 is a revelation, the new gold standard that third-party ports should be judged by. It’s perfectly playable and smooth in handheld mode, with only the most minimal and unobstructive pop-in.
Even the included Shadow of the Eldtree expansion, with its increased level of visual detail and colossal wicker men enemies stomping about, runs like a dream. It’s the kind of port that restores your faith in the Switch 2. Perhaps anything really is possible on this little machine.
Arise now, ye tarnished
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)
For the uninitiated, Elden Ring is essentially open-world Dark Souls , the brutal action-RPG that every other action-RPG has annoyingly been ripping off ever since.
So combat rewards perseverance while also punishing even the slightest mistake. Every time you die, you lose all your levelling-up currency and have just one chance to get it back. And it’s all set in a dark medieval fantasy world that’s so grim it makes House of the Dragon look like an episode of Peppa Pig.
Elden Ring takes that winning formula and blows up the scale dramatically. It’s the most confident and successful leap a series has taken to going open-world since Nintendo’s own The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild . This is a game all about charging through gorgeous fields on horseback, because a) you’ve spotted an epic castle on the horizon you want to explore, and b) a giant is shooting arrows at you, and you desperately need to find some cover.
The Lands Between, Elden Ring ’s absurdly large setting, is beautiful and deadly in equal measure. And it’s really deadly. Birds with swords strapped to their legs swoop in for the kill. Knights on horseback roar to the Heavens and are rewarded with lightning storms cascading down upon you.
Even a lowly zombie tossing a rock at you can be lethal if you’re not paying attention. Few games demand you lock in to succeed like this and fewer still reward you so immensely if you do.
Slice, spell, scream or smack?
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)
You’re spoilt for choice on how you take it on, too. There are swords, axes, hammers, magic, curses, hand-to-hand combat (surprisingly effective, that), roaring (ditto), horseback jousting, and far more to be covered here. Stick with one weapon, and you’ll still have fun, but keep swapping out your loadout for new toys and you might just find your favourite gaming weapon ever.
The variety here is ridiculous, every dud weapon offset by another dozen inspired ones. Impressed with the last attack the latest boss fight used on you? Chances are, you can find the weapon they used on you and learn how to execute its special attack yourself.
Best bit
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)
Engaging in an epic jousting battle with a dragon in one of the more visually intense areas, and not experiencing a single dropped frame in handheld mode. Good thing I wasn’t playing on the bus, given how many times I yelled “HOW!?” at the screen.
Its world starts with traditional green fields and foreboding castles designed by architects who clearly never visited a cosy cafe once in their horrible lives. Gradually it gets more delightfully surreal, like a golden city drenched in ashes where the music is actually being performed by the enemies you’re fighting. Or a village full of dancing, giggly oddballs who’ve watched Midsommar a few too many times.
The city hidden beneath the map is easily one of the most incredible-looking environments I’ve ever visited in a videogame. Oh, and died in. Repeatedly.
Every inch of The Lands Between is occupied by monsters, warriors, dragons, and enemies who really look like giant sentient sperm, and all of them want to say a very violent hello. It should get repetitive.
Outside of the occasional puzzle, this game is basically all-combat all the time. But the sheer variety and depth to its combat system practically dares you to get bored. Each enemy is almost a puzzle in itself, as you slowly learn their attack patterns, weaknesses, and how effective they are at outrunning a horse. Not at all? Perfect, bye then!
That open-world structure helps stave off repetition too. There’s plenty of brick wall boss fights that you’ll spend hours bashing your head against. But whenever you’re stuck, you can just hop aboard your magical double-jumping horse and gallop somewhere else. It means you can be swordfighting with poison-spitting bug men one moment, and then in an epic joust with a dragon barely ten minutes later.
Barbie’s Horse Adventure 2?
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)
You can also find alternate outfits for your horse now, presumably to finally get the My Little Pony crowd aboard the Soulslike train.
Gameplay benefits? None whatsoever, but it’s a cute novelty. I liked being able to dress Torrent up as the golden steed of one of the more irritating enemies, even if it does make them a little noisier. So if you’ve been on the fence about Elden Ring because you worried the horse wasn’t noisy enough, this is definitely the time to jump in.
The story? At first it’s about as impenetrable as Xbox’s gaming strategy. Your only hope of figuring out its mysteries is to examine every item you find, most of which contain a line of lore. There’s now a ‘recent items’ tab that shows everything you’ve recently picked up, which...
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.