Nodusfall: HoYoverse branded 'rip-off' of Elden Ring right from first trailer, but rushing to judgment is a mistake

Right after HoYoverse released the first Nodusfall trailer, the gaming community did not talk about the four-player mechanics. They talked about a winged warrior that reminded them of Malenia, a white-haired woman that made them think of Melina, and a ruined land carrying the breath of Elden Ring. The word 'rip-off' spread faster than any marketing message. This is a moment I have seen many times in nearly two decades of following the game industry: a community passing judgment before enough data exists. HoYoverse is the company behind Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail and many successful anime-style games. Their brand is tied to bright visuals, gacha systems and extravagant universes. Nodusfall breaks all those expectations. The trailer introduces a dark fantasy world, realistic graphics, a gloomy atmosphere, and a focus on co-op boss hunting with up to four players. This is the first time HoYoverse has left the anime comfort zone to enter the premium console and PC segment. The shift is big enough to attract attention, but not big enough to escape the shadow of Elden Ring. Elden Ring is not just a game, it is a milestone. FromSoftware's title won Game of the Year 2026, sold tens of millions of copies, and reshaped what players expect from an action RPG. Any project released after it, if it carries a dark tone, an open world, and difficult combat, risks being compared on the same scale. Nodusfall is no exception. But being compared to Elden Ring does not mean copying Elden Ring. The community is confusing stylistic influence with plagiarism. Looking at the side-by-side images, I understand why players are upset. A winged character is placed next to Malenia, a white-haired female character is placed next to Melina, and some architectural scenes create déjà vu. But a trailer is a marketing film. It is built to create visual impact, not to reveal the full gameplay mechanics. A 'rip-off' conclusion based on a few frames is hasty. People laugh at my predictions, but no one laughs at how I count the numbers again. With Nodusfall, the real numbers lie in the four-player boss hunting system and how HoYoverse designs the combat loop, not in the color of the sky. What makes me believe this debate is heading in the wrong direction is the fundamental genre difference. Elden Ring is a single-player game, focused on exploration, staged combat and environmental storytelling. Nodusfall, according to what has been announced, is a cooperative boss-hunting game that allows four players to coordinate in the same fight. This structure is closer to Monster Hunter than to Elden Ring. Try separating two layers: the dark fantasy visual layer and the cooperative gameplay layer. The first reminds players of FromSoftware. The second is a playground FromSoftware has never explored deeply. If Nodusfall proves its cooperative gameplay layer, the whole 'Elden Ring clone' accusation will become a short story. I once predicted Croatia would reach the 2026 World Cup final while the whole internet laughed. I once declared 'home advantage is a lie' when the Bundesliga returned in empty stadiums, then had to issue a correction when the Premier League showed the opposite numbers. The lesson I learned is: a valuable opinion must offer conditions that can disprove it. If someone says Nodusfall copies Elden Ring, the question to ask is: what evidence proves it? If the evidence is only a few trailer frames, it is not enough. If the evidence is the full gameplay, I will gladly change my mind. That is how I work: flexible enough to correct when the data flips, and stubborn enough to refuse defense by ego. We also need to address the legal side. In game industry history, gameplay mechanics are almost never protected by copyright. 'Soulslike' is a genre, dark fantasy is an aesthetic, and no studio owns them exclusively. What can be challenged are specific assets: character models, art assets, names, or identical scenes. So far, no lawsuit has been filed, and the similarities the community points out are suggestive rather than direct copies. Calling Nodusfall a 'rip-off' is the opinion of part of the community, not an official conclusion. But I am not saying the critics are completely wrong. There is a scenario where they are right: if Nodusfall launches with gameplay that borrows too much, not just visuals but movement rhythm, stamina systems, and boss placement, the second wave of backlash will be even more intense. The community will see it as confirmation of their initial accusation. HoYoverse has strong finances, but reputation is an asset that money cannot buy. A 'copycat' label attached to Nodusfall could affect their entire game ecosystem. Therefore, the risk here is not legal exposure, but brand positioning. My contrarian angle is that this controversy could be the best thing to happen to Nodusfall. In a saturated game market, getting hundreds of thousands of people to discuss your game before release is a massive form of free advertising. If HoYoverse soon releases a long gameplay segment focused on four-player boss hunting, the story will shift from 'Elden Ring clone' to 'Elden Ring meets Monster Hunter'. That framing has already appeared in many player comments. It is a signal that the community is ready to change perspective if new data arrives. An empty stadium does not make the away team stronger, it only unmasks the home team. A trailer does not make Elden Ring stronger, it only strips the makeup off the imitator — or reveals the innocence of a developer with big ambitions. Esports moves faster than football because esports is not afraid to be wrong. The gaming community is the same. They make quick judgments, but they can also change quickly when they see evidence. What HoYoverse needs to do is not to fight back against criticism, but to provide evidence. A five-minute gameplay video, a video explaining the combat system, a stream with four players taking down a boss together — all are far better tools than a press release. A good hot take is not about daring to be wrong, but about daring to be right before the rest of the world. With Nodusfall, I choose to wait for more data. Not because I believe HoYoverse is innocent, but because I believe in method. If the game launches and everything resembles Elden Ring, I will write a correction and explain why I was wrong. But if the game launches and four players bring down a giant boss in a dark fantasy world built by HoYoverse, I will come back and remind everyone: a few frames have never been enough to convict a game.