HoYoverse, the developer known for anime-inspired hits like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, is venturing into new territory with Nodusfall, a cooperative monster-hunting action game revealed at Gamescom 2026. Departing from its signature visual style, Nodusfall adopts a photorealistic aesthetic with a tone described as more akin to FromSoftware's gothic fantasy than HoYoverse's previous work. However, a hands-on preview suggests the game's gameplay more closely resembles Final Fantasy 16 than the "Elden Ring meets Monster Hunter" comparisons it has drawn online.
Nodusfall is designed as a cooperative experience for up to four players. During the preview, participants selected from classes such as archers, a broadsword wielder, and a sword warrior. The game allows for character customization through loadable abilities, with one player opting for an area-of-effect healing spell to supplement the group's offensive focus. The base camp is depicted as a tent village on a mountainside, featuring areas for gear upgrades, merchants, and a quest board for monster-hunting missions, evoking a strong Monster Hunter feel.
Combat in Nodusfall is presented as a third-person action affair, incorporating basic and special attacks, dodges, and a unique parry mechanic. This parry system involves charging a heavy attack and releasing it at the opportune moment to "clash" with an incoming enemy strike. Players can also equip up to four abilities on cooldowns, which are accessed via the right bumper. While the animations for these moves are smooth, the impact of attacks is noted as lacking significant weight, though special attacks, like a character turning into a flying demon to hurl miasma orbs, add visual flair.
The preview mission, "Purge Evil Spirits," involved hunting a 30-foot-tall gryphon named Quongqi. Players navigated the overworld on mounts that do not feature double-jumping. The fight against Quongqi, which had three health bars, saw the player character taking significant damage, highlighting the utility of the equipped healing spell. After being weakened, the gryphon fled, leading to a chase and its eventual defeat in a subterranean lake. During cooperative play, weakening enemies sufficiently allows for "joint executions," powerful team attacks such as summoning a spectral giant to deliver a finishing blow.
The mission culminated in a fight against a dragon, Maldrake, and its rider, the Maldrake Knight, who wielded a colossal sword of light. This encounter, like the previous one, featured multiple health bars and spectacle, including the player being launched into the air and pile-driven into the ground. This boss fight's dramatic presentation, particularly the summoned spectral giant and the intense player-versus-player style combat, drew parallels to Final Fantasy 16's Eikon summons and Clive Rosfield's combat style, rather than the more methodical approach seen in Elden Ring. The developer suggested this design choice facilitates cooperative play, potentially reducing frustration for less experienced players.
Nodusfall is planned as a free-to-play title with an in-development PvP component. HoYoverse has stated that characters will not be acquired through randomized mechanics, and that microtransactions will be cosmetic in nature, though the specifics are still being finalized. The game is confirmed for Windows PC, but no release date or other platform confirmations have been provided.
