For the first time in the history of FromSoftware games, the upcoming action RPG Elden Ring features a completely open world. Thanks to a network test in November, the size of the first area is known. But how extensive is the entire game world? Fans seem to have figured that out.
The game world of Elden Ring is said to be quite large. We know this from the scenes shown so far and the announcements from the developers.
However, how large the game world actually is could only be guessed so far. In this test version, it was possible to visit the first area of Elden Ring, Limgrave, and explore it freely. According to numerous testers, Limgrave is already very large and spacious.
But how large the entire game world would be could only be estimated based on a map. Reddit user AdLivTho has now made a direct comparison and calculated the ratio. The result shows: The entire game world of Elden Ring will likely be huge.
The test area is just a small part of the entire game world
How did he find that out? Basically, the player simply compared the areas. To do this, he counted the pixels on a screenshot of the map. Previously, he had divided which sections were playable in the network test and which were not.
The orange part of the game world is Limgrave. The blue part is the rest of the map that is supposed to be walkable. In pixels, the comparison yields:
- Playable area of the network test: 2,083,763 million pixels.
- Blue area: 13,575,593 million pixels.
According to this calculation, Limgrave constitutes a total of 13% of the game world depicted on the map. The area represents hardly more than a tenth of the game world.
This is what we know about Limgrave: Participants of the network test predominantly report that Limgrave is very large and spacious. Moreover, there seems to be something to discover around every corner.
- The landscape consists mostly of rugged hills, forests, and larger areas.
- Scattered throughout are various secrets, smaller dungeons, as well as mini-bosses, patrols, and enemy strongholds.
- Elden Ring provides you with a horse that allows you to quickly cover long distances.
Fans report having spent up to 10 hours in the network test and still have not seen everything. Some have even discovered things after over 20 hours. This might include the strange creatures found in Limgrave that the community loves.
Here’s 19 minutes of gameplay from the network test, where you can form your own impression of the area:
Fans are impressed, speculate about playtime
This is how fans react to the calculation: Many users are impressed by the size of the game world. Several players who were able to explore the first area themselves during the network test have voiced their thoughts.
raffaeldariiel writes: ‘The game is going to be so damn huge, I can hardly imagine it!’. User thorspumpkin also points out the dungeons: ‘The underground areas are not taken into account yet. This gets me even more hyped. If the network test only represents 13% of the open world, I can only imagine there is so much more to see!’
Players are already excited about Limgrave and hope that the other areas of Elden Ring offer just as much to discover. Many also suspect that this is not the complete map of the game world. Thus, they speculate that the world could be even larger.
They speculate about which areas we can visit in Elden Ring. Players suspect biomes in the desert, underground, and even in the air.
Some even suspect that there could be sea exploration. However, there are no indications of this yet, and we probably won’t hear anything more about it before release.
This is what we know so far about the game world of Elden Ring: It is called the Lands Between and features 6 large, distinct areas. Within the game world, there will also be small and larger dungeons.
The latter are called Legacy Dungeons and are comparable to the tight and winding areas from Dark Souls or Bloodborne.
In addition to some screenshots, we also know thanks to a network test that took place in mid-November 2021 what the first area of the game looks like.
What do you think of the calculations and speculations? Do you like the new direction that FromSoftware is taking with the Lands Between? Or are you generally skeptical about open worlds?
The open world is one of the biggest differences from Dark Souls and Bloodborne. In our special, we have 5 more things that Elden Ring does differently.
