While several games are making their way on to the Nintendo Switch 2, some might end up facing severe technical issues, especially when the console is used in handheld mode. According to Nintendo Life’s Felix Sanchez, Elden Ring Tarnished Edition is one such game, suffering from quite a few performance hiccups when played on the Switch 2 in handheld mode. In a video, which you can check out below, Sanchez noted that FromSoftware’s action RPG looks “really good” when it comes to visuals. However, there are frame rate issues, with handheld mode being capped at a maximum of 30 FPS.
Sanchez also noted that, at its booth on the Gamescom show floor, publisher Bandai Namco was not allowing players to record gameplay footage of Elden Ring running on a Nintendo Switch 2. He also brought up comparisons to Nintendo 64 classic The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which is famous for running at low frame rates when it first came out. He also noted that the frame rate of Elden Ring would drop down to 20 FPS, and some times even 15 FPS.
“It’s really bad, and I understand why they don’t want you to see this,” said Sanchez in the video. “It was like playing Ocarina of Time. 20 frames-per-second, sometimes it was like 15 frames-per-second.”
It is worth noting that Elden Ring, since its release, has run quite smoothly on consoles. However, the PC version of the title was plagued with issues like microstuttering, which was credited to the way the action RPG handles shader compilation. Curiously, despite the PC version facing these technical hiccups, the game ran quite well on the relatively lower-powered Steam Deck.
These problems didn’t stop Elden Ring from being incredibly successful for FromSoftware and Bandai Namco, however. The publisher confirmed back in July that the expansion for Elden Ring – Shadow of the Erdtree – had shipped more than 10 million copies worldwide since its June 2024 release. As for the base game, FromSoftware had confirmed back in April that more than 30 million copies had been sold.
Elden Ring has been available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S since release. A release for the Nintendo Switch 2 was announced back in April, with a general 2025 release window. The Switch 2 release is slated to include the base game as well as Shadow of the Erdtree.
Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on the Switch 2 is also set to get two new classes that players can start out with – Knight of Ides and Heavy Knight. Along with this, the release will also bring with it new armour sets, weapons, combat skill sets, and cosmetic customisation options for Torrent. Other versions of Elden Ring can also get their hands on this content through a DLC dubbed Tarnished Pack.
For more details about Elden Ring, check out our review. Also check out our review of Shadow of the Erdtree. While you’re at it, take a look at Elden Ring Nightreign through our review as well.
