Nodusfall: A Carbon Copy of Elden Ring or HoYoverse’s Turning Point?

When the first Nodusfall trailer was released, the international gaming community instantly split into two camps. A few frames of a white-winged warrior and a white-haired woman were enough to trigger a wave of comparisons with Elden Ring. The word “rip-off” spread across forums, beside side-by-side images of HoYoverse characters and FromSoftware characters. But can a game that has only revealed static images be judged so quickly? This controversy is not just about one title; it is a test of how the community reads a product before it truly runs.

HoYoverse is known for anime-style gacha games such as Genshin Impact and the Honkai series. Nodusfall marks a completely different turn: abandoning anime style, moving to dark fantasy with realistic graphics, and focusing on co-op boss hunting for up to four players. That difference drew attention from the start. But attention quickly turned into debate when players noticed visual details that could be placed beside Elden Ring. A white-winged warrior was said to evoke Malenia, and a white-haired female character was compared to Melina. The big names of FromSoftware suddenly appeared everywhere.

Elden Ring is a milestone of the gaming industry in 2026, winning Game of the Year and redefining the soulslike genre. Its influence is so strong that many new projects choose similar combat styles, world design, and atmosphere. When a Chinese giant like HoYoverse announces a move into the territory dominated by FromSoftware, the community’s first reaction cannot be gentle. The history of the industry has seen many copying controversies, and Chinese developers are often placed under a microscope. Nodusfall being immediately suspected may fit that pattern.

In reality, the accusations are based on very thin evidence. Players have only seen a static trailer, not a single second of real gameplay. Comparing character appearances may be valid, but it does not reveal how the game actually works. Nodusfall aims for co-op boss hunting in a four-player format, a mechanic closer to Monster Hunter than to the lonely single-player challenge of Elden Ring. If the community judges only by images, they may miss the key difference. Based on my experience following action role-playing games, what determines whether a game is remembered lies in its gameplay loop, not in the color of a character’s armor.

The co-op boss-hunting mechanic is the strategic differentiator HoYoverse is holding. If Nodusfall allows four players to coordinate against giant bosses in a dark fantasy world, the actual feel of play will lean toward Monster Hunter. At that point, direct comparison with Elden Ring becomes inaccurate. Elden Ring is known for solitude, a heavy atmosphere, and one-versus-one battles. Nodusfall promises teamwork, coordination, and the feeling of overcoming trials together. These are different experiences, even if they share a visual language.

Outside the legal domain, the real battle takes place in the minds of fans. Copyright law protects specific expression, not ideas or mechanics. The dark fantasy world and soulslike combat are not things FromSoftware can monopolize. Comparing Malenia or Melina is archetypal rather than direct copying. If the case goes to court, legal risk is low. But the court of public opinion is harsher than any real court. Once the label of “copycat” sticks to a brand, removing it takes years, regardless of product quality. HoYoverse faces a reputational risk bigger than a financial one.

Commercially, HoYoverse has enough capital to survive the media storm. Genshin Impact alone generated billions of dollars in revenue, keeping the company stable through any crisis. But Nodusfall is a bold bet on identity: leaving the safe anime-gacha zone to enter the premium console and PC market, where FromSoftware’s credibility is nearly unassailable. If Nodusfall fails, not just one project collapses; the HoYoverse brand is also eroded. If it succeeds, the company opens a new path for the entire Chinese gaming industry.

Interestingly, the controversy itself is generating massive free publicity. Players hating Nodusfall still means they keep mentioning Nodusfall. If HoYoverse soon releases a long gameplay segment focused on four-player boss hunting, the story can reverse. The community will begin using the phrase “Elden Ring meets Monster Hunter” instead of “Elden Ring clone.” At that moment, the scandal becomes a promotional springboard. Gaming history has seen many titles doubted at announcement but embraced at release.

The real battle for Nodusfall is not in the first trailer but in the next gameplay reveal. If HoYoverse only keeps showing beautiful images, the wave of criticism will grow. If they show four players coordinating to take down a giant boss in a dark fantasy setting, community attention will shift from accusation to curiosity. The biggest risk is when the game launches and the gameplay still feels familiar to the point of boredom. Then today’s accusations will be seen as correct intuition, and the backlash will be even heavier.

Nodusfall’s story reminds me of how fans judge a match by only a few opening minutes. Some teams are mocked after the first half and then make a stunning comeback in the second. Others start brilliantly but collapse when pressure rises. A static trailer is only a few frozen seconds, not the whole match. Three seconds in Kazan once lasted longer than a fan’s lifetime, but those three seconds only mattered inside the full context of the match. Nodusfall is in a similar moment: people look at one frame and write a conclusion, while the entire story has not begun.

The pitch is a page, the players are strokes of the pen, and the audience is the poetry. With Nodusfall, the page has only been sketched in a few lines. It is too early to say it deserves to be buried, and also too soon to claim it will become a masterpiece. HoYoverse needs to prove its identity through gameplay, and the community needs to wait for more evidence. If both sides do what is right, today’s controversy will become a footnote before a new poem truly rises.