Tales of the Shire Switch review – an adorable game but a bust on Switch

“It’s a dangerous business”, Gandalf once said, “going out your door”. He could not have been more right, especially when Tales of the Shire on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 looks the way it does.

What am I rambling about? Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings game has been on most cozy game wishlists for a long while now. Wētā Workshop and Private Division first announced it in 2022. It underwent a few delays from 2024 and then into 2025, before solidifying a summer 2025 release. But perhaps it wasn’t long enough.

I’ve been eagerly waiting for this game since 2023, and so I dove right in, despite how the opening of the game looked, and made a homely Hobbit named Celandine Twofoot. As the opening cutscene with a ‘stranger’ wearing a long white beard and grey robes plays, one thing pops into my mind. Do you remember that much-memed still of Hagrid from one of the old PlayStation Harry Potter games? That’s what the graphics feel like.

After waking up from an outdoor nap and being dropped off into your new home by Gandalf (surprise, he’s the stranger), you then get to work exploring and completing some quests in the village of Bywater. You can cook up a storm in your kitchen, tend to your garden and plant some seeds, and… that’s about it before the graphics get too gnarly. The game runs fine on Switch 2 with no frame rate issues or freezes, and only has small stuttering on the original Switch; it just looks bad.

For instance, to forage for items outside, you can look for a cloud of butterflies. The issue is, you can barely see them. What about fishing? You can do that too, but the ripples in the water aren’t that visible. If you set a waypoint, you can follow small blue birds that point the way. Except they’re not that visible, either. Maybe heading inside will be better? Here, you can decorate your home to your liking with furniture and tiny decorative items. But, say it with me now, you can’t really see the details on Switch.

I really wanted to explore the decoration, cooking, gardening, and fishing more, but the sheer lumpiness of the game stopped me. It sapped any cute countryside vibes right out of talking to neighbors, chasing down a lost cow, or wandering the woods. It’s just not nice to frolick in a forest made of approximately two textures. As I fumbled my way down Bywater’s lanes, NPCs would pop out of the ground, trees and plants would morph into existence as I got close, and there was noticeably no fog, blurring of up-close items, or sunlight effects.

What’s interesting about this is that articles claim you can play this game “on an actual potato” of a PC. Now, I know the Switch isn’t particularly powerful, but it’s better than a potato. The Switch 2 performance is almost as bad as the original console, though it offers faster load times. I was advised that this is built for the original Switch, not the Switch 2, meaning it likely doesn’t take into account the capabilities of the new console. Whether this would truly change anything remains to be seen.

Doing some vague computer-part maths, it seems that the original Nintendo Switch holds around the same power as NVIDIA’s 800 series GPUs, and Tales of the Shire on PC seems to require a 700. The Switch 2 has higher capabilities, equal to the 2050 or 3050. So what on God’s green earth happened? You can see what the game is supposed to look like in videos of the first 90 minutes on PC, such as this one by Happy Hobbit. It’s just a bit shocking when the game’s advertised artwork – even on the Switch listings – looks like this and this. Clearly, these aren’t indicative of the actual performance on Switch.

As I was reviewing the game, the devs rolled out an update to improve stability and fix some bugs. While the difference isn’t massive, there’s now at least one detail on the ground instead of the previous singular muddy texture – and not in the outdoor setting sense. The Switch and Switch 2 appearances remain the same, with the Switch 2 still running a little smoother. There are some NPCs and NPPs (non-playable ponies) popping in and out of the floor, but it looks a little better, at least.

For some context, here’s how the game looks on my PC in very low, medium, and very high settings:

Look, I’m just disappointed. I’m very intrigued to see what the performance ends up being like on Steam, Steam Deck, and PlayStation 5. Chances are, I’ll rebuy the game to try on another platform, as I really want to properly experience what it has to offer. I made myself play The Witcher 3 on Switch as I liked the premise, and even those questionable graphics weren’t so bad that they held me back. Tales of the Shire is on the same level as My Time at Sandrock, with severe issues that do impact gameplay. Hell, even Pokémon Scarlet looks better than this.

Credit where credit is due, though – there are a few things I do really like about the game. It is a cute and cozy setting with plenty of wholesome activities to take part in, even if that doesn’t come across visually on Switch. If you like Hobbits and the slow life not shown in the Lord of the Rings films, there’s a lot to love here. I’d very much like to see more pre- or post-release updates, and even a Switch 2 upgrade or separate version, as I don’t think patches can change too much here. If any do come out, I will be sure to check them out and update if the performance does change.

Cozy and Hobbit-themed Tales of the Shire is, but worthwhile on the Switch or Switch 2? Absolutely not. I’d advise picking it up on Steam if the final product resembles even the previews from 2024. For now, it won’t be going on my list of favorite farm games or cozy games on the Switch.