Nodusfall: HoYoverse ditches anime, Unity, and gacha
Credit: Crédit : HoYoverse

Nodusfall: HoYoverse ditches anime, Unity, and gacha

Fabian Fabian Lainé
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In brief

HoYoverse unveiled Nodusfall at gamescom, a cooperative dark fantasy action RPG that marks a radical break from its other titles. No more anime, no more Unity, no more solo gacha: the studio is switching to Unreal Engine 5 with realistic visuals and team-based combat inspired by Elden Ring and Monster Hunter.

HoYoverse lifted the veil on Nodusfall on Tuesday, August 25, during gamescom's Opening Night Live. It's a cooperative dark fantasy action-RPG, and a break from almost everything that made the studio's fortune.

The Genshin Impact studio changes territory

Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Zenless Zone Zero share the same recipe: anime art direction, Unity engine, single-player-friendly gacha. Nodusfall drops all three at once. The game runs on Unreal Engine 5, sports a realistic and dark look, and has players tracking creatures drawn from mythologies around the world as a team.

Players take on the role of a "Weaver", and HoYoverse has not published any French wording. The official website only offers English, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese, and the fr-fr address redirects to English. For a studio that fully translates its other three games, the absence stands out. We are therefore keeping the English titles.

A knot of black filaments with a red core tears through a weave of white light against a dark sky
The hero image from the announcement video released by HoYoverse. Credit: HoYoverse

Plenty of questions, no answers

Reactions converge on two references, Elden Ring and Monster Hunter. Take it as a trailer impression, not a promise. HoYoverse has announced neither a release date nor platforms, and has said nothing about its business model. Yet that's exactly where everything will be decided for a co-op game signed by a gacha specialist. The only certainty: pre-registration is open on the official website, in English.

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Do you think HoYoverse can pull off this gamble, so far removed from its strengths?

Key takeaways

  • HoYoverse is simultaneously dropping the anime art style, the Unity engine, and the solo gacha formula that defined Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail
  • Nodusfall runs on Unreal Engine 5 with a realistic, dark art direction, far from the studio's colorful worlds
  • The monetization model remains a big mystery, one that's crucial for a co-op game from a gacha specialist
  • HoYoverse is offering no official French translation, a first for the studio on its major projects

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