Nodusfall and the Shadow of Elden Ring: Is HoYoverse Copying a Legend or Rewriting Itself?

More than fifteen minutes after HoYoverse's trailer for Nodusfall ended, gaming forums erupted. Side-by-side images appeared quickly: a winged character was placed next to Elden Ring's Malenia; a silver-haired woman was compared to Melina. The word “rip-off” was used so widely that HoYoverse faced an unprecedented reputational attack. But looking closer, the storm is not about whether a Chinese studio copied anyone; it is about the community's fear of betrayal. From a sports perspective, I have seen similar moments. In 2026, I wrote about a new item meta in the LCK and was mocked for proposing a marksman-support style in the jungle. Two weeks later, Samsung Galaxy used that exact tactic to defeat SK Telecom T1. Based on my experience tracking competitive game launches, I know communities often judge too early based on surface images. Every generation needs a shock to believe the impossible can happen. HoYoverse's shock is not that its game resembles Elden Ring; it is that the studio suddenly abandoned the anime identity that built its brand. Context matters here. HoYoverse is one of the highest-grossing game companies in the world, thanks to Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. Its famous products share anime-inspired visuals, gacha mechanics, and colorful open worlds. Nodusfall reverses almost that entire formula: realistic graphics, dark fantasy setting, and a four-player co-op boss-hunting mechanic. News spread so fast that the community only had time to see a few still frames before judging the whole game. That is the blind spot of social-media-era game criticism. Elden Ring, released in February 2026, became a global cultural phenomenon. Game of the Year awards, massive sales, and devoted players pushed many studios toward the soulslike formula. It is easy to see why Nodusfall is being scrutinized. Barren landscapes, grotesque character designs, tense combat pacing—all of it evokes FromSoftware's work. But if we only focus on visual inspiration, the story has nothing new. What matters is that the community is using a single-player game to measure a co-op game. That is a comparison with the wrong units. Imagine a football team switching to a rival's red shirt and being accused of brand theft, while their actual style is based on a completely different high-pressing approach. Nodusfall and Elden Ring may share visual language, but the backbone of their gameplay points elsewhere. Elden Ring is built around a solo experience, a vast open world to explore, and co-op as a support tool. Nodusfall places four players in a boss-hunting loop where role coordination, timing, and resource management decide victory. Structurally, it is closer to Monster Hunter than to Elden Ring. In esports, I have seen teams underestimated because their style looked “similar” to a strong team, only for them to reveal completely different operational models in real fights. At the 2026 World Cup, South Korea used a 3-4-1-2 to neutralise Germany's midfield. At first glance, that looked like a deep defensive block, but in reality it was a full-scale flank gank. If you only analysed with your eyes, you would call it a copy of defensive counter-attacking football. Only by watching the movement closely would you see the difference. Nodusfall may be facing the same challenge: convincing people to look beyond the trailer. The core of the debate is identity. HoYoverse is trying to shed the label of an anime gacha developer and enter the premium action-RPG market, where FromSoftware dominates the minds of Western players. This is strategic, but also a gamble on identity. If Nodusfall is simply a beautiful soulslike, it will lose at the starting line, because it cannot beat Elden Ring on its rival's home ground. But if the four-player boss-hunting system is deep enough to create coordination moments Elden Ring cannot offer, Nodusfall could open a new sub-genre: co-op soulslike. No data allows a verdict yet. We have only seen a trailer, not a single minute of complete gameplay. The community compares frames but has no metrics on latency, combat loops, progression systems, boss design, or interactions between four players. Both critics and defenders lack evidence. “Rip-off” is only a comment from part of the community, not an official conclusion from any regulator or court. In intellectual-property law, game mechanics and dark fantasy settings are not easily considered infringement unless there is direct copying of specific artistic assets. The player descriptions of a winged figure or a silver-haired woman remain closer to “evocative” than “copying.” But I do not defend HoYoverse unconditionally. A critical angle shows this is not entirely a clean misunderstanding. First, a Chinese studio with a decade of copycat accusations releasing a product packed with imagery “evocative” of Elden Ring is a communications mistake hard to excuse. Even if the four-player mechanic is different, viewers cannot know that from a trailer. They see only the outer shell and react instinctively. Second, the biggest danger is not the current wave of criticism but the “second wave” at release. If players open Nodusfall and feel that the attack rhythm, movement, and world texture are identical to an Elden Ring mod, the backlash will be far more destructive than this trailer. Belief does not die on the day the match ends; it dies when we stop asking questions. In this case, the community has asked the wrong question. There is a familiar lesson in transfer markets: small clubs raise talented players and then see them bought out by big clubs using release clauses. HoYoverse is in the opposite position. It is the wealthy club entering a market full of prejudice and pressure. But wealth does not automatically become victory. The studio must prove that its investment in Nodusfall creates something original, not merely a pretty interface. Judging a game from still frames is like evaluating a footballer only by his goal celebration without ever watching him make runs. What I want to emphasize is the difference between visual design and experience design. Elden Ring's influence is so huge that many projects have voluntarily entered its orbit. That is the inevitable effect of a masterpiece. But FromSoftware does not hold a monopoly on dark fantasy or difficult combat. Things that cannot be monopolized should not be turned into weapons to condemn anyone. Nodusfall deserves to be judged by the whole game, not by a set of trailer stills. The first shock is never a mistake; it is an invitation to rewrite the story. HoYoverse's story has only just begun, and it will continue when players actually hold the controller, coordinate with three friends, and face a boss designed for four players. Only then will the question of being a copy be answered through gameplay and emotion. No one can deny that the pressure on HoYoverse is heavy now. The pivot from anime gacha to realistic dark fantasy goes far beyond changing an art style; it changes design thinking, server operations, character balancing, and storytelling. Nodusfall's developers need more than a strong graphics engine to escape the shadow of Elden Ring. They need to create a moment that makes players stop comparing them to FromSoftware, just as a football team needs a signature goal to erase memories of a rival's playing style. More broadly, the Nodusfall controversy signals that the action-RPG market is entering a phase of idea saturation. Every new product is measured by Elden Ring, and any visual deviation can be perceived as copying. This sets a harsher requirement for HoYoverse: prove its brand through gameplay DNA rather than excuses. If it succeeds, Nodusfall could become a milestone that brings the company closer to Western audiences. If it fails, this will be an expensive lesson about daring to leave one's comfort zone. I still remember watching the LCK Summer 2026 final in an arena without spectators. No cheers, only breathing and the sound of keyboards. That was when I realised that sporting glory is not in the stands but in the smallest details of how a player handles a situation. Nodusfall is now in an empty arena like that: no gameplay yet, no real match, only a trailer screen and the noise of hasty judgment. When the stands are empty, we hear our own breathing—that is where every tactic begins.