Arise, foul tarnished, it’s time to explore the Lands Between in Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition. This edition of From Software’s 2022 game of the year includes the original game; the Shadow of the Erdtree dlc which you can read the review of here; and new cosmetic options.
Is playing this game fun or a sign of mental instability because why would you do this to yourself?
Gameplay
If you asked me to explain the lore of Elden Ring, I’d struggle because there’s a lot going on and not a lot of explanation. The game takes place in the Lands Between, a place ravaged by warring demigods, a big glowing tree and plenty of backstabbing. Truly to try and explain the story of the game would ruin the fun of finding all of the lore – something I’m still doing one whole platinum trophy later.
Elden Ring gameplay follows the standard Souls gameplay with rolling, parrying and attacking. It also adds in sneaking and jumping – which honestly I didn’t use all that often – as well as horseback world traversal with the Spectral Steed, Torrent. It’s a massive open world game with camps, dungeons and NPCs galore which is both wonderful and downright annoying. Unfortunately, completing NPC questlines is, in itself, an artform and it’s really easy to miss a key step in progressing stories. Some of them are significantly easier, such as Ranni’s or Giddeon’s. In comparison, I still couldn’t tell you the end of Nepheli Loux’s questline despite playing through the game upwards of 4 times.
Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is also included in Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition and expands the story even further. This DLC is really up there with some of the best DLC that From Software has released, let down only by the big empty map and the silly scadu fragments. Being able to play through the DLC alongside the main game on your first play through is something that I wish I had when playing the game originally but
New Classes
Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition has added two new starting classes – the Idus Knight and the heavy knight, as well as new invations, weapons and cosmetics. The Idus Knight is more of a quality/dex focused build. Their starting weapon has a lovely move set to it. In comparison, the Heavy Knight is for those who love to walk around and bonk things with a big sword.
The new classes are available during character creation. Meanwhile the new invation takes place after beating Radahn. Honestly, I really like the new addition purely because of it’s throwback to one of the best FromSoftware NPCs. This is something From Software tends to do with NPCs like Patches and Onion Man from the Dark Souls series. It was nice to see my girl Lucatiel from Dark Souls 2 make an appearance under a very similar name, outfit and weapon. It’s a nice collection of additions for the Switch 2 release and what’s even better is that the new content will also be patched into the existing game on consoles.
Graphics & Audio
When comparing Nintendo Switch editions of games to Playstation, you expect there to be some graphical discrepancies. It’s the same story for Elden Ring. The graphics sometimes feel dull and sparse in locations but the game can be just as breathtaking as before. In cutscenes there is very little different between the Switch and the more powerful consoles.
The issue with playing Elden Ring on the Switch is the very fast characters who have brutally fast attacks. Even simple enemies like the Misbegotten Leonine who have quick move sets were victims to frame rate and stuttering. Fighting the Tree Sentinel when you first enter the Lands Between is worse than it is on Playstation. As soon as he does that silly side barge my frames drop and I get the big “you died” banner.
Longevity
Elden Ring is a long game with plenty to explore outside of the main questline which is almost doubled when adding in the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. One thing about Elden Ring that has always been a bit annoying, though, is that exploration is useless. While players can spend a lot of time exploring, sometimes it feels like you’re getting nothing back. It’s a similar situation, if not worse, in the DLC which has a staggeringly large map without a lot in it. Even so, there is still a lot to explore in the Lands Between. There are just a few gaps in between.
Final Thoughts
Elden Ring was my game of the year back in 2023 and it’s been really nice to go back and experience the adventure all over again. Will I still predominantly play on the console? Absolutely but being able to experience the game on handheld so that I can loudly swear on train rides? That sounds like perfection. The obvious limitations of the Switch paired with the general issues I have with Elden Ring has knocked the game down to achieve the Thumb Culture Gold Award. It’s still one of my favourite games and it’s definitely worth adding to your game library!
Check out the trailer below or check out our other Switch reviews here.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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