Dark Souls and Valheim collide in massive new open-world sandbox

Dark Souls and Valheim collide in a new and massive open-world sandbox game that’s coming soon.

If you told me that a new open-world sandbox game is on the way that could be compared to Dark Souls and Valheim, you can bet that you'd have piqued my interest, so I'm hoping I've just done the same for you.

Originally released in 2021 as an early access title on PC before being ported to Xbox two years later, Valheim is one of the most popular MMORPGs in what is a very crowded genre, to say the least.

Then we have the legend that is Dark Souls, the originator of the sub-genre known as soulsborne (following the release of Bloodborne).

It doesn't matter which entry in the series you play, Dark Souls will eat you for breakfast, lunch and tea, then regurgitate you, and start all over again. The beloved FromSoftware series is nice like that.

Being chewed up and spat out aside, if you were looking for a new RPG that has vibes of Valheim and Dark Souls, then look no further than Ars Notoria, developed by Xron Software.

“Explore the fantasy world of Ars Notoria, a survival-action RPG set inside an open-world sandbox that lets you hunt powerful possessed creatures,” reads the description of the game on Steam.

“Strike out on your own or play together with friends to build a sprawling faction, utilising deep crafting mechanics and strategic recruiting of allies.”

The gameplay trailer on the dedicated Steam page certainly has vibes of Valheim and Dark Souls, but it also gave me vibes of old-school Dragon Age, which is a nice bonus.

Ars Notoria does not have a release date at the time of writing, but it plans to arrive on Steam early access at some point. In the meantime, be sure to add it to your wishlist to be notified of any updates.