Elden Ring Tarnished Version was purported to be the Nintendo Change 2’s killer app. Introduced final 12 months alongside the console’s full reveal, it seemed like FromSoftware’s open-world motion RPG was poised to be the sport that confirmed us how highly effective the brand new console was. That didn’t fairly pan out. After a shaky demo at Gamescom in 2025, FromSoftware delayed the port, then went near radio silent on each it and its Change 2 unique The Duskbloods. The six months of unsettling quiet left followers loads of open area to plant crimson flags. The excellent news? Elden Ring Tarnished Version is alive and effectively. At this 12 months’s Recreation Builders Convention, Bandai Namco rolled out a newly optimized construct of the sport on Change 2. I attempted out the demo in each docked and handheld mode to get a greater thought of how effectively FromSoftware is adapting to the Change 2 period. Even with some compromises, I’m feeling significantly better about how effectively Nintendo’s console is supplied to deal with FromSoftware’s grand type.
Picture: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco
The 15-minute demo tossed me proper into the start of Elden Ring, simply lengthy sufficient to beeline it to Margit and get my ass kicked in entrance of a room stuffed with press and builders. It additionally let me check out each of the brand new lessons coming with Tarnished Version: a heavy knight with a chunky dodge roll and a lighter knight with a lot faster putting capabilities. Each new archetypes look like completely good canvases to color on that slot in with Elden Ring’s present lessons. The massive takeaway right here is that the brand new construct appears far more steady than what FromSoftware publicly showcased final summer time. The picture high quality, as an example, is surprisingly sturdy in each docked and handheld mode. I didn’t discover any egregiously low-res or blurry textures, even in handheld mode. The long-lasting second the place my character first stepped foot into The Lands Between nonetheless felt as grand because it does on different consoles, with bushes and a sea of yellow colours spilling out within the distance. I get the sense that FromSoftware is optimizing the expertise for high quality first over efficiency.
Picture: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco
Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to return at the price of large sacrifices in body charges, both. Whereas the Change 2 model most definitely received’t be hitting 60 FPS, it doesn’t appear too far behind handhelds just like the Steam Deck anymore. At a look, I’d wager that it was working within the 30 to 40 FPS vary, relying on how demanding the scene was. I used to be capable of take down a straightforward, early recreation boss with out disruptive stutters. (And get destroyed by Margit with out hitches guilty.) The efficiency is much from excellent, thoughts you. The largest dip in body fee I noticed wasn’t in a boss battle, however when it began raining whereas using Torrent via the world. That’s what makes me slightly hesitant to say that FromSoftware has completely cracked the Change 2 code. I’ll be curious to see how stability holds up in visually busy areas like Crumbling Farum Azula, or what occurs after I begin utilizing flashy spells.
There are nonetheless query marks, to make sure, however six months of optimization appear to have labored wonders for a recreation that appeared prefer it was hardly going to work in any respect on Nintendo’s newest system. I assume that’s what occurs if you let FromSoftware cook dinner. Now we’ll simply have to attend and see if that additionally holds true for The Duskbloods, which we haven’t seen a second of since its preliminary reveal. But when an Elden Ring port can run on Change 2 effectively sufficient, I’m far much less involved about an unique recreation that was constructed across the console than I used to be final summer time.
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