Leaving quite a different first impression from their typically colourful, anime-style games – HoYoverse has pulled the curtain back on its next project which is shaping up to be of a very different aesthetic. Nodusfall received its world premiere during Opening Night Live at gamescom 2026, introducing a co-op action game that pulls from a range of mythological traditions and presents them through a realistic art style.
The premise places players in a world where divine authority has collapsed and order has broken down. The cause is the arrival of the Dreadnodi, a mysterious force that spread corruption across the land, warping legendary creatures and leaving ruin behind. Players take on the role of Weavers, figures shaped and enlightened by the divine and given sacred missions capable of altering the fate of the world. Their task involves confronting the corrupted, cutting the Dreadnodi off at their roots, claiming what divinity remains, and restoring order.
Rather than adapting any single mythological canon directly, HoYoverse has described the setting as a self-contained fantasy world with its own internal logic governing landscapes, civilisations and divine order. Shared motifs drawn from mythological traditions around the world serve as the building blocks, but the studio states the story itself is original. The continent is populated accordingly, with ferocious beasts rooted in Eastern mythological classics sitting alongside Western dragons cast as omens of disaster. New regions are set to open up as the campaign progresses, each carrying its own ecology, culture and history.
Combat is built around squads. Players band together to take on mythical creatures in encounters that HoYoverse frames as tests of both coordination and tactical adaptability. Characters can be configured through different Styles and Skill combinations, allowing groups to shape their approach around the flow of a given fight and the composition of the team. The intended rhythm involves maintaining sustained pressure until an enemy exposes a weakness, then capitalising on that opening. Victories over these creatures supply the resources needed to unlock additional Skills and weapons, feeding back into character builds and widening the range of available tactics.
