{"id":80922,"date":"2026-08-31T07:16:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T23:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=80922"},"modified":"2026-08-31T07:16:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T23:16:07","slug":"hoyoverses-elden-ring-meets-monster-hunter-actually-plays-more-like-final-fantasy-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=80922","title":{"rendered":"HoYoverse’s ‘Elden Ring Meets Monster Hunter’ Actually Plays More Like Final Fantasy 16"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Zenless Zone Zero<\/em>. Honkai: Star Rail<\/em>. Genshin Impact<\/em>. You probably know HoYoverse for its signature anime-inspired aesthetic and mobile-friendly games. But the international gacha powerhouse is expanding its purview in the coming year with a slew of games that don\u2019t neatly fit into its existing oeuvre. One of those is the monster-slaying action game Nodusfall<\/em>, revealed during the 2026 Gamescom Opening Night Live showcase.<\/p>\n

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Nodusfall<\/em> stood out as one of the more unexpected reveals of the show. Gone was the typical HoYo aesthetic, instead favoring a photorealistic graphics style, anchored by a visual language more reminiscent of FromSoftware\u2019s dour, gothic vibe than anything the company has produced before. Nodusfall<\/em> was described across the internet, including by this website, as a sort of \u201cElden Ring meets Monster Hunter\u201d type mashup.<\/p>\n

At a glance, sure. But after playing Nodusfall<\/em> at a hands-on preview during Gamescom, I\u2019m not totally sold on those descriptions. The Monster Hunter stuff? Yes, absolutely. But the Elden Ring comparisons seem to purely exist on a superficial level, at least according to the hour of hands-on time I spent with it.<\/p>\n

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\n Nodusfall hands-on gameplay is like FF16
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\"Four\n <\/picture>Image: HoYoverse<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Nodusfall<\/em> is a cooperative action game for up to four players. My demo paired me with three other journalists, and we chose from Suixi, an archer; Grahmer, a dude with a giant broadsword; Qiong, another archer; and Gamescom1, your typical sword warrior class, whom I opted to play as. (I learned too late that you can rename your character.) You can also customize which abilities you bring into the field. Instead of going with a purely attack-based loadout, I opted to equip one area-of-effect healing spell. None of us chose a dedicated healer, and it was clear none of us knew what we were doing. The healing spell couldn\u2019t hurt, I figured.<\/p>\n

Your base in Nodusfall<\/em> is a tent village situated on a wooden network of platforms on the side of a steep mountain, tucked partially into some caves. There, you can upgrade gear, interact with merchants, and get quests \u2014 which appeared to be of the \u201cgo track and hunt this giant monster\u201d variety \u2014 from a quest board. It\u2019s all very Monster Hunter-y, minus the cat people.<\/p>\n

Combat is much like many other third-person action games: basic attacks, special attacks, dodges, and a unique twist on the parry that so many of you sickos have grown to love these days. But rather than pressing the right button at the right time, you charge up a heavy attack then, right when you\u2019re about to get hit, release the button to \u201cclash\u201d with (i.e., parry) your attacker. You can additionally hold down the right bumper to access four equipped abilities, each tied to its own cooldown. Enacting these moves feels smooth and natural, though the hits don\u2019t land with a ton of weight. The special attacks certainly have more flair. One character wields a flaming sword. Another turns into a flying demon and hurls giant orbs of miasma.<\/p>\n

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\"Nodusfall\n <\/picture>Image: HoYoverse<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Our first mission, \u201cPurge Evil Spirits,\u201d tasked us with\u2026 purging evil spirits. After embarking from camp into the overworld, our party hopped on mounts \u2014 fantastical equine creatures who (sorry, Elden Ring<\/em> fans) apparently can\u2019t double-jump. The first evil spirit we came across was Quongqi, a 30-foot-tall gryphon with three health bars and tornado-summoning powers. As the close-combat sword wielder, I took the brunt of its focus (and quietly thanked myself for remembering to slot the healing spell into my loadout).<\/p>\n

As we whittled its health down to about the halfway point, Quongqi ran away. We hopped back on our not-quite-horse mounts and chased after it, eventually bringing it down in the center of a dramatic subterranean lake. When playing co-op, weaken an enemy enough, and you can team up for powerful team attacks called \u201cjoint executions.\u201d These moves are flashy as hell: In one, our party summoned a spectral giant who smashed his 30-foot battleaxe into the gryphon\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n

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\"A\n <\/picture>Image: HoYoverse<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The final boss fight of the mission was against a similarly 30-foot-tall dragon named Maldrake. Also, Maldrake had a rider: the suitably named Maldrake Knight, an enormous dude who can summon a 30-foot-tall sword of light. (30 feet seems to be the standard unit of measurement in Nodusfall<\/em>.) This played out much the same as the fight against Quongqi: three health bars, lots of spectacle. At one point, Maldrake Knight kicked me into the sky, then used his enormous weaponry to pile-drive me into the ground. To quote one of my party members: \u201cThat was awesome<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elden Ring<\/em>\u2019s boss fights obviously have flair, but are meticulous, demanding, patient affairs. Playing Nodusfall<\/em>, I couldn\u2019t help but feel like I was playing a cooperative mod for Final Fantasy 16<\/em>, the divisive series entry that impressed even its biggest haters with those speculator boss fights. Summoning the giant axe-wielding spirit seemed like calling forth an Eikon from Square\u2019s action-RPG. Maybe it\u2019s because I was playing the most Clive Rosfield-like character in the roster, but even the basic attacks felt more like Clive\u2019s reckless sword-swinging than like the Tarnished\u2019s methodical expertise.<\/p>\n

This makes sense for Nodusfall<\/em>, what with its heavy emphasis on playing with other people. If combat in Nodusfall<\/em> were as technical as it was in a FromSoftware game, it\u2019s not hard to imagine how high-skilled players could get frustrated playing alongside beginners.<\/p>\n

Nodusfall<\/em> is a free-to-play game with a PvP component in the works, but it\u2019s unclear exactly how microtransactions \u2014 which have been present in every HoYoverse game to date \u2014 will manifest here. In a press release, HoYoverse said that characters will not be obtained through randomized rolls and that additional purchases will be cosmetic in nature, but noted that it\u2019s still fine-tuning exactly how microtransactions will appear in the game.<\/p>\n

Nodusfall<\/em> does not have a release date. HoYoverse said it will \u201cdefinitely\u201d be released on Windows PC but did not confirm other platforms.<\/p>\n\n

HoYoverse provided Polygon’s flight and hotel for purposes of attending this preview. Read more about Polygon’s travel and ethics policy here.<\/em><\/p>\n