Elden Ring's open world will not have towns, will be traversable on horseback

Elden Ring, the forthcoming fantasy RPG by From Software, will boast a conventionally sprawling open world, rather than an interlocking Metroidvania style map. It'll be a departure from the likes of Dark Souls, Sekiro and Bloodborne, but it won't feature towns, according to game director Hidetaka Miyazaki.

"Creating a new type of game is a big challenge for us," Miyazaki told IGN. "If we would add towns on top of that, it would become a bit too much, so we decided to create an open world style game focused on what we are best at.”

So rather than bustling settlements the likes of which usually feature in open world games, From Software's take will likely settle for ruins instead, according to the article. The open world will be traversable via horseback, and while the gameplay is "heavily based on Dark Souls", according to Miyazaki, the world design will throw a spanner in the works.

"With a more open and vast environment, the way combat plays out becomes fundamentally different," he said.

George R.R. Martin wrote the "overarching mythos" for Elden Ring, which still doesn't have a release date, but is definitely coming to PC.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.