HoYoverse debuted its new co-op action RPG Nodusfall at Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 26, and the reaction from the soulslike community was immediate: this looks a lot like Elden Ring.
Not in a vague, genre-adjacent way. In a "that character is literally Malenia" way.
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The comparisons that hit hardest
Within hours of the trailer dropping, players on Twitter/X were posting side-by-side screenshots. A winged character in the reveal drew direct comparisons to Elden Ring's Malenia. A white-haired female character bathed in orange light looked strikingly similar to Melina. One user pointed out what appeared to be Godfrey and the Nameless King from Dark Souls 3 in the same trailer, writing "You can't tell me that's not Godfrey."
Here's the thing: FromSoftware doesn't own gritty dark fantasy. Soulslikes have been a thriving genre for years. But the issue isn't genre inspiration, it's specific visual echoes of specific characters. That's a harder argument to wave away.
Nodusfall wasn't the only Gamescom reveal to catch this kind of heat. Tides of Annihilation faced similar criticism, with its platinum-haired, silver-masked female character drawing comparisons to Dark Souls 3's Fire Keeper. Multiple games finishing their development cycles around the same time is producing a wave of Elden Ring-adjacent aesthetics, and players are noticing.
What HoYoverse is actually building here
The game's official synopsis positions players as a Weaver navigating a world where "the divine offer no answer" and "boundless wilds overtake the land." It's co-op, it's action RPG, and it's a significant genre departure for a studio best known for Genshin Impact's gacha-driven anime aesthetic.
That pivot deserves some credit. HoYoverse building a soulslike-adjacent co-op RPG is a genuine swing, and the structural ambition behind Nodusfall isn't nothing.
The AI angle matters here because it shifts the conversation from "inspired by" to something more uncomfortable. When designs look this close to existing work and the developer has publicly committed to AI-powered content pipelines, the community is going to connect those dots whether the studio addresses it or not.
Why it's too early to write Nodusfall off
The reveal controversy is real, but it's also just a reveal. Character designs can be revised. What most players miss in these early-stage pile-ons is that gameplay systems, co-op mechanics, and world design are the things that actually determine whether a soulslike lands. None of those have been shown in enough depth to form a real verdict.
Nodusfall's co-op framing also puts it in a different bracket from a pure Elden Ring clone. Elden Ring: Nightreign is already occupying that co-op soulslike space with FromSoftware's own name behind it. For Nodusfall to compete, it'll need to offer something mechanically distinct, not just visually adjacent.
HoYoverse has proven it can build games with serious staying power. Genshin Impact still pulls enormous player numbers years after launch. The studio knows how to sustain a live-service RPG. Whether those skills translate to a darker, co-op action RPG with a completely different tone is the actual question worth asking.
The key here is watching how HoYoverse responds to the backlash. A statement addressing the design comparisons would go a long way. Silence, on the other hand, tends to let these narratives calcify.
For players keeping tabs on the game's development, the Nodusfall strategy guides hub will be the place to track everything as more details surface closer to launch.
