As with every big conference, you need one game to open the festivities and another to close them. For Opening Night Live, Geoff Keighley chose Nodusfall: new game, new IP, but coming out of China. Many probably took it for a new FromSoftware title, given its dark fantasy atmosphere, its gigantic bosses, its massive knights and its ravaged landscapes. Then the HoYoverse logo appeared, and the surprise was inevitably total. Because the studio behind Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero has very clearly stepped outside its comfort zone here. Gone, or nearly so, is the colourful anime style that contributed so much to its success: with Nodusfall, HoYoverse takes on a far darker universe, one that immediately evokes Monster Hunter, MMOs and above all Elden Ring.
Elden Ring + Monster Hunter = Nodusfall
Nodusfall will in fact be a co-op action game in which several players have to join forces to take on gigantic creatures. HoYoverse has placed particular emphasis on how the characters complement one another, with different combat styles and abilities that let you tailor your team to the enemies you meet. Players will have to keep the pressure on the monsters in order to create openings and exploit their weaknesses. Once defeated, the creatures yield resources used to improve abilities and equipment. On paper, it is hard not to think of Monster Hunter, but the art direction clearly points to another reference: FromSoftware. The world of Nodusfall is particularly dark, populated by unsettling creatures and gigantic monsters that look straight out of a dark fantasy nightmare. And yet HoYoverse claims a universe that doesn’t limit itself to Western inspirations. The game will blend different mythologies, notably with creatures drawn from Chinese mythology and the Shanhaijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas), but also dragons and other figures more familiar from Western fantasy.
The story will take place in a world where divine authority has collapsed and order has vanished. Players will take on the role of “Weavers”, able to forge bonds with powerful companions in order to confront the creatures that have plunged the world into chaos. At the centre of this threat are the “Dreadnodi”, a kind of corrupted node responsible for spreading a mysterious corruption.
It’s free (to play): has it worked it all out?
The business model will be worth watching too, and from what we know, Nodusfall will be free-to-play, but HoYoverse has indicated that buying characters won’t be necessary. That is an important departure from some of the studio’s usual mechanics, even if it doesn’t yet tell us how the game will actually be monetised. That said, a great many unknowns remain, and HoYoverse has for now announced neither a release date nor even the platforms that will host Nodusfall. But we’re staying tuned so as not to miss any of its news.
