Yes, Elden Ring‘s Open World Easily Outsizes The Witcher 3‘s

I‘m over 100 hours deep into both Elden Ring and The Witcher 3, so when a fellow hardcore fantasy fan asked "Is Elden Ring‘s map really bigger than The Witcher 3‘s?" I had to put on my trusty adventurer‘s boots and find out.

As a passionate gamer and amateur cartographer focused on immersive fantasy worlds, I live for this kind of granular comparison. So let‘s dive into the hard numbers and vivid experiences that reveal the true scale of these long-revered virtual worlds!

By The Numbers: Elden Ring Is Undeniably More Vast

While internet estimates vary, here are the latest figures on the actual scope of each game‘s explorable overworld:

Elden Ring

• Total Land Mass – 79 sq km
• On Foot Traversal Time – Over 2.5 hours
• Regions – 6 main areas comprised of dozens of interlinked zones

The Witcher 3

• Total Land Mass – 136 sq km
• On Foot Traversal Time – About 1.5 hours
• Regions – 4 large areas with many small open world hubs

So by the math, FromSoftware‘s Elden Ring takes the size crown with nearly double the traversal time. For context on just how huge that is, Elden Ring‘s world dwarfs classics like Skyrim (37 sq km) and the entire Grand Theft Auto 5 map (81 sq km)!

Vastness vs. Density – As Important As Scale

However,MATH raw map dimensions are only part of the equation. How game developers utilize a world‘s available space impacts perception of scale just as much.

While Elden Ring sprawls wider, The Witcher 3 feels almost as vast thanks to its world density – everywhere you turn, handcrafted sites beg for exploration, tall grass ripples with hidden threats, bustling cities burst at the seams.

But Elden Ring eschews this intimate detail in favor of mystery – offering glimpses of a rich history through crumbling ruins and intimations of colossal kingdoms long fallen to ambitious demigods.

Both approaches result in an abundance of adventure – but realized through vastly different philosophies.

My Journey So Far In Each World

To better illustrate how these complimentary approaches to world design unwrap across dozens of hours, here are a few standout moments among the hundreds I‘ve experienced first-hand:

Elden Ring‘s Ever-Expanding Horizon of Discovery

• Staring out across the Mistwood‘s canopy from Stormveil Castle ramparts
• Spotting the Erdtree‘s golden boughs over Caelid‘s blood-red horizon
• Gazing upon the divine Rot Lake of Aeonia from a clifftop revealing Liurnia beyond
• & So much more! The sense of scope blooms eternally in Elden Ring…

The Witcher 3‘s Regional Depth And Rural Grandeur

• Roaming the sylvan paradise of Touissant at golden hour
• Standing awestruck before the towering granite spires of Skellige
• Surveying Velen‘s grim beauty from the peak of Bald Mountain
• Getting sucker punched by a rotfiend lurking in unsuspecting reeds!

Both games leverage scale and beauty differently to create the ultimate fantasy playgrounds.

Wrapping Up My Epic Comparative Journey

While the math proves Elden Ring the victor in sheer geographical size, both games deliver such richly realized worlds brimming with adventure that comparing almost seems pointless.

Yet like a true wanderlust-stricken gamer I could‘t resist taking a crack at definitively answering the "which is bigger?" question through data, experience and rumination.

So there you have it – by the numbers and by my hundreds of hours played, Elden Ring does indeed boast the more vast open world. But The Witcher 3‘s unmatched density and detail crafts an equally endless fantasy playground to get lost in for months on end!

Now if you‘ll excuse me, I see a question mark on the horizon…and it demands my investigation!