Nodusfall and the Battle of Identity: When HoYoverse Enters the Soulslike Territory

The training ground grass at Incheon still remembers every step I took waiting there, but today I'm not standing by the pitch. I'm standing in front of my computer screen, watching the first frames of a game that the entire industry is discussing. Nodusfall — the newest project from HoYoverse — is not a football match, but it gives me a familiar feeling: a new team just launched, being compared to the defending champions, and having to prove it's not a copy. HoYoverse, the company behind Genshin Impact — a game that generates billions of dollars annually — has just announced its biggest directional shift in history. They abandoned the familiar anime gacha style, entering the dark fantasy territory with realistic graphics and co-op gameplay. The first trailer aired, and the gaming community erupted. Comparison images flooded forums: a winged character alongside Malenia, a white-haired girl next to Melina. The word "rip-off" appeared everywhere. This is a story about the fragile line between inspiration and plagiarism, between the courage to change and brand self-destruction. I've been following Incheon United's matches for eight years, and I understand one thing: people always compare new teams to champions. When Incheon loses heavily, fans mention top K League teams. When they win, people say "luck." HoYoverse is exactly in that position — a Chinese game company, once criticized for gacha models and anime content, now entering a genre that Japan has defined for ten years. Pronouncing a name wrong once, I realized I understood nothing about that football culture. For HoYoverse, the first trailer was like that wrong pronunciation — the whole world is repeating it. Elden Ring is not just a game. It's the gold standard for the entire open-world action RPG genre. Released in 2026, it won Game of the Year at most major awards, generated billions in revenue, and more importantly — it redefined the design language of the entire genre. From world-building to combat to atmosphere, Elden Ring became the benchmark for every soulslike project since. Many new games have chosen similar combat styles, world design, and atmosphere. Not because they want to plagiarize, but because Elden Ring set expectations that players expect from any game in this genre. Nodusfall is not outside this trend. But what makes it different — and what the community is overlooking in their anger — is the four-player co-op boss hunting feature. This is not Elden Ring. It's not even a traditional single-player game in the conventional sense. If forced to compare, Nodusfall is closer to Monster Hunter than Elden Ring in actual play feel. Four players cooperate to hunt giant bosses, each taking different roles in battle. This is the core differentiator HoYoverse is trying to build — but no one is talking about it. I was in Incheon on days when the home team lost heavily more often than when they won. Not because I enjoy suffering, but because in failure, I see the true nature of a team. With Nodusfall, the community is judging based on a trailer — meaning they're looking at the surface, not the content. The comparison images only show similar visual style, not actual gameplay. A contract is a breakup signed, but a trailer is just the first invitation. Nothing has been decided yet. HoYoverse has financial advantages that most other studios can only dream of. Genshin Impact alone generates billions in annual revenue. They can afford the largest development teams, invest in new engines, hire the best designers, and iterate until the product meets standards. This is an advantage FromSoftware doesn't have. The Japanese developer behind Elden Ring is famous for top-tier design but its financial scale cannot compare to the Chinese giant. The issue isn't money, but time and credibility. FromSoftware has been building the soulslike brand for over a decade. HoYoverse is trying to enter someone's backyard with a debut project. But what exactly is the community comparing? When placing images side by side, they see a winged character reminiscent of Malenia — the female warrior infected with Rot by the Outer God in Elden Ring. They see a white-haired girl next to Melina — the companion character in the Tarnished's journey. They see dark atmosphere, ruined world, and supposedly similar combat. All of this is true in visual terms — but visual is not gameplay. I watch how they tie their shoelaces before kickoff. It's a habit no one notices but reveals everything about a player's psychology. With Nodusfall, the equivalent is how they build the co-op system. Four players is not random. HoYoverse has researched the market and found that Monster Hunter — a co-op boss hunting game — has a massive loyal fanbase but lacks significant competitors in the Western console/PC market. They're not trying to copy Elden Ring. They're trying to fill the gap that Elden Ring didn't occupy — the co-op soulslike market. What's worth noting is that the community itself is starting to realize this. Some players have begun calling Nodusfall a combination of Elden Ring and Monster Hunter — meaning they're acknowledging the differences. This is a good signal for HoYoverse. If they can push the co-op message in subsequent trailers, if they can show actual gameplay clearly different from Elden Ring, the controversy could turn into momentum. Controversy is still publicity. As long as the product is quality, today's anger could become tomorrow's pre-orders. But risks remain. The biggest risk isn't legal litigation — under copyright law, game mechanics and dark fantasy atmosphere aren't protectable. Only specific assets like character designs, images, and names can be accused of infringement. And the similarities compared in the trailer — winged characters, white-haired girls — are archetypes, not direct copies. The real risk is reputation. HoYoverse has built its brand on creativity and product quality. If they're tagged as a "copycat," it will affect not just Nodusfall but all future products. People remember goals. I remember the substitute clapping for teammates. For HoYoverse, that applause could come from proving identity. They need to show that Nodusfall isn't just another dark fantasy game. They need to show that co-op boss hunting is something Elden Ring can't do, and they'll do it better than anyone else. This is a story I'll continue following — not because of controversy, but because this is a test of whether a company can successfully pivot its brand direction when the whole world is skeptical. I buried a story for six months because no one was ready to hear it. With Nodusfall, I don't need to wait — the story heated up the moment the trailer aired. But I still need time to truly understand it. For now, I can only say one thing: this isn't the final match between HoYoverse and the gaming community. This is just the first half. And in sports, the first half decides nothing — unless you collapse before the second half begins. The training ground grass at Incheon still remembers every step I took waiting there. But this time, I'm not waiting for a match. I'm waiting for a gameplay reveal — a video showing actual gameplay. That's when the real Nodusfall begins, and that's when we can judge whether HoYoverse deserves to be called a contender in the soulslike territory or not. By then, all comparisons to Elden Ring will become meaningless — the game will tell its own story.