The Closed Network Test for Elden Ring impressed many of those who had a chance to play it last November, and its most striking demonstration of FromSoftware’s upcoming game might be just how large it suggests the entire game world could be. The Japanese developer’s previous action RPGs weren’t small by any means, dropping players into sprawling, interconnected series of levels, but Elden Ring‘s most frequently touted feature is its open world. Elden Ring‘s Closed Network Test left strong impressions, one of which was a sort of anticipation in regards to the sheer amount of content that could be packed into the game’s final release.
The CNT let players explore roughly half of the game’s first area, a region known as Limgrave. Those lucky enough to receive an invitation to the CNT were able to spend roughly 15 hours exploring every facet of this area, provided they could play during all five, three-hour time slots. Though some facets of Limgrave are going to be altered for release, there was an incredible amount of content packed into the playable area. Even those who managed to play Elden Ring‘s CNT for all 15 hours have come to find that there was even more content that went undiscovered.
Limgrave is one of six major areas that make up the Lands Between, and Elden Ring Network Test players found hidden secrets throughout that suggest the world may have more depth than initially thought. Assuming the other areas are of comparable size to Limgrave, the CNT would have been about a twelfth of the game’s entire footprint. However, that doesn’t take into account the underground labyrinths discovered by players circumventing the CNT’s fog walls, or instanced locations similar to the Dark Souls series’ Painted Worlds that might be in Elden Ring.
In terms of square mileage, Elden Ring may not end up as large as other open world RPGs like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but the CNT was already packed with an impressive amount of things to do. For the very brief chunk of the main story that was available, players would exit the tutorial area, find their way across a not insignificant section of Limgrave, and up to the first of Elden Ring‘s Legacy Dungeons, of which players were only able to explore a part of. The rest of the CNT’s playable area contained multiple mini-dungeons, bosses, points of interest, groups of patrolling enemies, and hidden items.
It didn’t necessarily take very long to ride Elden Ring‘s spectral steed from one end of the CNT to the other, but there was so much content waiting around every turn. A ridge near the exit from the tutorial area overlooked a shallow lake, which contained enemy filled ruins on one end, and the location of a dragon boss fight on the other, with various other foes and items to be found throughout. Following the water under a bridge led to a chasm, at the back of which was a sequestered dungeon with multiple levels. This sort of emergent exploration was repeated multiple times throughout the CNT area. The size of the Lands Between will be bigger than anything FromSoftware has previously released (though Elden Ring is built with Dark Souls‘ verticality), and the density of Elden Ring‘s first area suggests players will be continuously engaged throughout the game.
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Author: Kyle Gratton
