How The Witcher 4's Open-World Design Could Rival Elden Ring

Summary

The Witcher 4 could surpass Elden Ring by introducing more verticality in its open world for multi-layered exploration opportunities.
The Witcher 4 should rely less on map markers and feature unique points of interest to rival Elden Ring's curiosity-driven discovery.
CD Projekt Red has the potential to make The Witcher 4 a strong open-world example by refining verticality and map marker usage.

Open-world games might have once been immediately cringed at when mentioned, but game developers are continuously showing their dedication to the craft and fans by designing open worlds that don't settle for the status quo. Recent open-world games — like Elden Ring and Zelda: Breath of the Wild — are all proof that it's possible for a game to feature an open world that is both expansive and full of substantial, meaningful content. Among such titles, Elden Ring stands tall, with many today considering it to be the open-world benchmark. However, CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 4 may have a chance to rival Elden Ring in the open-world department, if it plays its cards right.

Likely to the surprise of almost no one, especially after The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's success, The Witcher 4 has been confirmed to be an open-world game. While The Witcher 3 was far from a failure, even in its open world, it still fell short in some areas that The Witcher 4 could not only improve on but also excel in to put it right up there in league with Elden Ring. The Witcher 4 likely already has storytelling going for it; now it just needs to decide how to best execute the design of its open world.

The Witcher 4 Can't Follow in Cyberpunk 2077's Footsteps After Its Reveal

While there are plenty of things about Cyberpunk 2077 that The Witcher 4 should avoid, there is one thing in particular it needs to stay away from.

Posts 1

By Josh Cotts

The Witcher 4's Open World Could Surpass Elden Ring's if It Tried

The Witcher 4 Could Introduce More Verticality in Its World

One thing that Elden Ring does brilliantly with its open world is its use of verticality to produce multi-layered exploration opportunities. Its world is filled with underground cities, hidden dungeons, and massive vertical traversal, making exploring every inch of the map a regularly fresh experience. Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC then took this aspect of open-world design to even greater heights, showing the full extent of what verticality is capable of when it comes to open-world exploration. In the same way, The Witcher 4 could introduce more verticality to make its open world feel much larger than its borders even suggest.

The Witcher 4 likely already has storytelling going for it; now it just needs to decide how to best execute the design of its open world.

There was some verticality in The Witcher 3, but it was far from what Elden Ring achieved in its environmental design. For the most part, The Witcher 3 was kept at ground level, with movement largely limited to ladders, scripted jumps, and traversal by horse. To counteract this, The Witcher 4 could add more layers to its world by featuring more underground tunnels, sewers, and catacombs or allowing players to parkour on rooftops. Climbing mechanics could also be revamped to simultaneously suggest more vertical traversal, like climbing mountains or other structures.

The Witcher 4 Should Rely Less on Map Markers and Feature More Unique Points of Interest

As many open-world games have been known to do, The Witcher 3's open world fell victim to an abundance of map markers, which ultimately made its content feel more like a checklist of chores to do than anything else. This is one area where Elden Ring excels, as it relies on curiosity-driven discovery rather than spoon-feeding its content to players. As such, The Witcher 4's open world could rival Elden Ring's if it reduced its reliance on quest markers and icons and instead directed players more through landmarks and environmental cues.

The art style of Elden Ring's map is also another great method for piquing players' curiosity.

In summary, if The Witcher 4 can refine its predecessor's open-world design by embracing verticality and moving away from excessive map markers, it could stand alongside Elden Ring as one of the open-world genre's strongest examples. CD Projekt Red has already proven its ability to craft deeply immersive worlds and tell compelling stories, and with the lessons learned from both The Witcher 3 and the evolution of open-world design, the next installment has the potential to be a major reboot for the franchise.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image