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HoYoverse’s ‘Elden Ring Meets Monster Hunter’ Actually Plays More Like Final Fantasy 16
HoYoverse, best known for anime-styled gacha games like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, unveiled Nodusfall at Gamescom 2026's Opening Night Live, marking a notable departure from its usual aesthetic and audience. A Polygon journalist who played a hands-on demo argues that while comparisons to Monster Hunter are apt, the widely repeated "Elden Ring meets Monster Hunter" description is misleading, as the FromSoftware influence appears mostly superficial, in the visual style rather than in gameplay mechanics.
Nodusfall is a four-player cooperative action game built around Monster Hunter-style structure: players return to a mountainside tent village to upgrade gear, trade with merchants and pick up hunting quests, then head out on mounts to track giant creatures. Combat blends familiar third-person action mechanics, including basic and special attacks and dodges, with a distinctive charge-and-release "clash" parry system and cooldown-based abilities. In the preview mission, a four-person party fought a 30-foot gryphon called Quongqi across multiple health bars, culminating in a flashy cooperative "joint execution" move, before moving on to an unfinished final boss encounter.
In short
- HoYoverse revealed new co-op action game Nodusfall at Gamescom 2026.
- Journalist says it's more Monster Hunter than Elden Ring in practice.
- Four-player demo featured mounts, quests, and cooperative "joint execution" attacks.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The “Elden Ring meets Monster Hunter” comparison may be useful shorthand for Nodusfall’s striking fantasy visuals and its demanding battles against large creatures. Its clashes, dodges and boss encounters could also evoke the tension of Soulslike games, while the hunt structure and cooperative finishers give it a distinct blend rather than a direct imitation.
The case against
The hands-on account suggests that Monster Hunter is the stronger guide to how Nodusfall actually plays: players prepare in a village, take quests, track creatures and fight them as a party. Its cooldown abilities and charge-and-release parry system sound closer to contemporary action games such as Final Fantasy 16 than to Elden Ring’s mechanics, so the latter comparison risks setting expectations the demo does not support.
Explained simply
HoYoverse is a Chinese game developer best known for anime-styled games such as Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. Nodusfall is a four-player cooperative action game, a different style of project for the company.
Its structure resembles the Monster Hunter series: players prepare in a village, take on hunting quests and work together to track and fight large creatures. The game also has its own combat features, including a timed parry and abilities that recharge after use.
The “Elden Ring” comparison refers mainly to the game’s visual style; its hunting missions and team battles are closer to the Monster Hunter format. This distinction helps explain what players can expect from HoYoverse’s new direction.