Nodusfall and the Reputation Battle: When HoYoverse Bets on the Soulslike Territory

On November 14, 2026, a trailer lasting less than two minutes heated up the global gaming community like never before. HoYoverse — the developer behind the global phenomenon Genshin Impact — announced a new project called Nodusfall, an action RPG set in dark fantasy with realistic graphics, completely different from the anime aesthetic that has become the company's DNA for over a decade. Immediately, numerous screenshots from the trailer were placed side by side with Elden Ring — the game that redefined the soulslike genre and won Game of the Year in 2026. A winged character was compared to Malenia. A white-haired woman was compared to Melina. The term "rip-off" appeared everywhere on forums, from Reddit to Weibo communities, Discord, and gaming groups in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Six months ago, I sat with a group of game industry analysts in Beijing discussing the "soulslike-ization" of the industry. One of them said: "After Elden Ring, no action RPG dares to launch without at least some dark fantasy color." Nodusfall — with its decision to completely abandon the anime style to jump into territory dominated by FromSoftware — is the clearest evidence of this observation. But precisely because of that, every design line, every character proportion, every dark color palette is being scrutinized under a microscope. HoYoverse is no stranger to criticism. The company has been criticized for its gacha model, accused of expensive character progression systems, and has long been a target for players who value purism. When a company with money, market share, and a history of "following trends" steps into a genre founded by a Japanese studio, the community won't easily accept it. That's human nature — and also the nature of the gaming industry. The first thing to clarify: there's no playable version, no actual gameplay, no complete combat system information. Everything the community has is a trailer lasting less than two minutes, with all images from engine renders, not actual gameplay. This is the biggest blind spot in the entire controversy. In 18 years of following the sports and gaming industry, I've witnessed countless times when communities "condemned" a game based on a trailer, only to completely change their assessment when actual gameplay was released. Elden Ring itself was once criticized as "Dark Souls 4 with a bigger map" before everyone recognized the depth of its open-world design. If we can't judge a released game by its trailer alone, then judging a game that hasn't been released is even more unfounded. Looking at market data, HoYoverse is one of the highest-revenue gaming companies in the world. Genshin Impact alone has generated billions of dollars annually since its 2026 launch. This financial empire allows the company to do things most other studios cannot: hire top talent, invest in proprietary engines, and most importantly — accept major strategic risks. Transitioning from anime-gacha games to realistic dark fantasy isn't a small decision. It requires artists to completely change their working methods, demands significantly higher production costs than anime style (because requirements for textures, lighting, and realistic environments are far more complex), and requires an entirely new design framework. This is a big bet — and big bets usually come with equally big risks. However, what the majority of the community is overlooking — and this is the key point in the entire analysis — is Nodusfall's core feature: a cooperative boss-hunting mode with up to four players. This wasn't emphasized in the trailer, but it's information that appears in project description documents. While Elden Ring is a purely single-player experience with a vast open world, Nodusfall is heading toward the Monster Hunter model — where players cooperate to hunt giant bosses. This is a profound mechanical difference, not just a visual one. A game can look like Elden Ring but play like Monster Hunter — and that is all the difference in the world. Legally, the risk of HoYoverse being sued for copyright infringement is low. Under international intellectual property law, gameplay mechanics cannot be copyrighted — only specific expressive elements such as character designs, art assets, and names can be infringed. Using dark fantasy settings, high-difficulty combat systems, or even a winged character in a fantasy world — these are all genre elements, not owned by any particular studio. The characters being compared — the winged character with Malenia, the white-haired woman with Melina — are all archetypal figures in fantasy: warrior woman, mysterious guide. FromSoftware doesn't hold exclusive copyright to these figures, and any intellectual property lawyer would confirm this. However, law and public opinion are two completely different battlefields. In the battlefield of public opinion, "looks similar" is enough to cause reputation damage. There's one perspective I believe the community is seriously missing: this isn't just a plagiarism dispute. This is an expression of genre-level competition at the industry level. Elden Ring proved that the soulslike genre — with high difficulty, mysterious worlds, and dark atmospheres — can achieve massive commercial success beyond the traditional "hardcore" community. In 2026, Elden Ring sold over 20 million copies in just its first few weeks. That number completely changed how developers view this genre. After Elden Ring, numerous new projects have chosen similar combat styles, world designs, and atmospheres — not just Nodusfall. But HoYoverse is the biggest name daring to publicly enter this territory, and therefore, also the most criticized. Financially, HoYoverse has enough "cushion" to withstand a reputation failure. But reputation failure isn't what they want. Genshin Impact built its brand on creativity and product quality. If Nodusfall is permanently labeled as an "Elden Ring clone," it won't just affect this game — it could damage the reputation of the entire HoYoverse ecosystem. This is a systemic risk — and that's what keeps HoYoverse's communications team awake at night. The key question isn't "Is Nodusfall copying Elden Ring" — it's "Can Nodusfall create a strong enough identity to escape Elden Ring's shadow?" The answer lies in the future, not the present. And that future will be decided by one thing alone: actual gameplay. If the next trailer shows the four-player cooperative boss-hunting system is excellently implemented, if it delivers a fresh and satisfying combat feel, if it has mechanisms that Elden Ring doesn't have — the entire controversy will reverse instantly. Conversely, if actual gameplay is just a pale copy of what FromSoftware has done, then the community's outrage will be proven justified, and this time, no trailer can save them. I've been following the gaming industry for over 18 years, and one thing I've learned: the gaming community has a shorter memory than anyone imagines. They might hate a game on the day a trailer is released, then love it after playing. Or vice versa. With Nodusfall, we're in the stage of "before anyone has played" — this is when emotions usually triumph over reason, and accusations are made before evidence exists. That doesn't mean these concerns aren't valid — they are valid, but that validity lies in industry history, not in Nodusfall's documents. HoYoverse has made a bet. The billion-dollar anime-gacha brand is targeting the premium Western console and PC market — a market that Elden Ring proved has enormous unmet demand. Failure will be an expensive lesson. Success will open an entirely new territory for the entire industry. But before either of those things happens, the community will continue to compare, continue to judge, and continue to demand. That's their right. And it's also the nature of the industry we love.