Gamescom 2026 has finally arrived, and with it, we have seen so many great new games and announcements across virtually every genre and setting imaginable. One of the most surprising trailers was shown right at the start of the event, with HoYoverse giving us a glimpse at their brand-new co-op ARPG, Nodusfall. Taking influence from all sides of the fantasy and mythological worlds, it is a strong new direction for the developer, but many players quickly pointed out that there were a lot of similarities to games like Elden Ring, from the visual style to the enemy designs, to the actual gameplay.
Now, it wouldn’t be the first game to follow in FromSoftware’s footsteps, and Elden Ring doesn’t exactly have a monopoly on fantasy action games. However, there is a fine line between inspiration and straight-up mirroring existing ideas, and it seems as though Nodusfall falls much more towards the latter side of that spectrum. Although we have only seen a few characters and bosses so far, there are already comparisons being drawn to Malenia, Godfrey, Midra, and more from a design point of view, with the models lining up pretty accurately to the point of borderline copying. There is nothing wrong with using ideas and attempting to emulate some of the same themes as a previous game, like the almost Monster Hunter-style gameplay Nodusfall appears to have, but I think if we start directly pulling concepts more explicitly, then the final product starts to feel far more derivative than genuinely new.
Nodusfall Looks Like It Was More Than Just Inspired by Elden Ring
No one expected a developer who is primarily known for Genshin Impact to come out with a free-to-play, brutal-looking fantasy RPG, fit with menacing dragons and explosive landscapes that would feel more at home in a Game of Thrones episode than a colorful adventure game. Gameplay-wise, you or a group of up to four players will set out to take on various mythologically inspired creatures, some from Ancient Greece and others from the east, and you will have access to a range of different characters that can be obtained through play, rather than gacha pulls as many players would have assumed, judging by the devs’ previous games.
That pitch sounds pretty great, and purely from the initial trailers and images, the quality seems top-notch and will likely compete with the other big names in the genre. However, all the positives start to fall apart when we actually start looking at the individual scenes within the trailer and gameplay shots. In between the wider landscape views that give a clearer image of the world the game is set in, there are several rather interesting designs that I and many others couldn’t help but feel we had seen before. One female character leaps into the air and spreads her wings, looking a lot like a certain Blade of Miquella, and another charges around with a greataxe and a lush head of hair, carrying the same stature as our beloved Elden Lord, Godfrey.
There is a fine line between inspiration and straight-up mirroring existing ideas, and it seems as though Nodusfall falls much more towards the latter side of that spectrum.
This doesn’t mean to say that the game doesn’t have some unique and original shots and ideas. There are some cool images of floating bodies and a stunning set of backdrops that clearly show where those myths have been brought into the digital world. My concern is that if they are using these characters not just as reference points from their own IP, but are effectively just pulling them from one game to another, then you are going to see a lot of criticism from Elden Ring fans who are more than happy to call out other games for stealing ideas, especially one made by HoYoverse who are already under a microscope for plagiarism and excessive applications of inspiration.
In fairness, FromSoftware isn’t exactly the king of original ideas, and in fact, there are quite literally hundreds of different designs and concepts in their games, from Dark Souls all the way up to Nightreign that existed long before the games dropped. Berserk is often the main reference point that a lot of people bring up, and they have drawn on other visual designs from history, literature, and real-life architecture to flesh out their worlds with a bit more flavor. Yet, at no point would I consider these influences to be copies. Take Malenia, for example, whose armor reflects that of Princess Kushana from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and people with wings is far from an original idea, but by blending several ideas into one, you end up with an inventive design that appears engaging, not a simulacrum of something that already exists.
When Does Influence Become Derivative?
The wider ARPG space has certainly gotten a lot more crowded over the past few years. There are so many new soulslikes and action games that are all looking to take the formula in a new direction, but even if you have a dozen creative ideas, the similarities and derivative concepts are bound to crop up. Soulslike boss fights, for example, have followed the same pattern for many years now, with only a few exceptions, like Sekiro, actually pushing into new ground in a big way. Aesthetics also play a big part in this kind of fatigue we are seeing, and unless you are willing to break out into uncharted waters, it is often better to play it safe and pick a setting that is known to work and closer to home for the development team.
So if you go from playing Nioh to Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, then move to Black Myth: Wukong, although they all play differently and the latter is far more like a hack-n-slash than a soulslike, you still encounter a situation where you are fighting soldiers, knights, dragons, and demons in the same few backdrops, with the same kinds of weapons and moves. Which is why unique ideas become so important for these games to employ, and exactly why Nioh 3 managed to set itself apart from Elden Ring, by having a distinctive approach to combat and changing the way you interact with a more open world, rather than slapping the previous game’s ideas into a giant landscape and hoping it would work out.
Another aspect to consider is that people are always hungry for innovation and a step up from the past, which, in the world of game dev, is certainly easier said than done. You can have an original idea and apply it to a congested genre like soulslikes or ARPGs and find a good amount of success, but if you simply take the blueprint, visuals, gameplay, and entire concept from another game, then the question for the consumer becomes “why would I play x when I could just play y”. What that means for Nodusfall is that the game has to be more than just Elden Ring or Monster Hunter with a fresh coat of paint, and it also has to be able to stand on its own two feet, without taking too many ideas straight from the sources of inspiration.
I am cautiously optimistic about Nodusfall, as it can be hard to rally behind a new project when all you can see are visuals and concepts from an existing title. Part of that does come from the sort of tunnel vision that you get around such acclaimed games, where the supposed best game in a genre will be the one that every subsequent entry gets compared to and has to compete with. Thankfully, for Nodusfall, because it appears to be closer to Nightreign than the continuous, open-world epic of the original Elden Ring, there is still room for it to flourish and to go further than FromSoftware did in their little co-op experiment.
