Warframe developer Digital Extremes has unveiled more gameplay for its upcoming fantasy MMO, Soulframe.
The studio pulled back the curtain on its next project during an inaugural dev stream as part of TennoCon 2024. It’s a closer look at some of the game’s opening moments, revealing customization features, new magical abilities, and combat. The footage also gives us a longer look at the players’ wolf-like mount and the Nightfold hub, where you can relax, customize your arsenal, and talk to NPCs, all with the press of a button. It shares some similarities with Warframe’s Orbiter ship, and in case you were wondering, yes, you can pet your mount here.
It all kicks off with a look at the Warsong Prologue, which higlights customization options for their mother’s hair, skin color, eyes, and more as Soulframe begins. It reveals a taste of not only new features but also how themes of ancestry have been woven throughout the experience. This fully narrated intro sequence is then cut short as a time-skip launches us into the future, revealing what will eventually become each player’s Envoy character.
We got an even better look at the importance of visuals in Soulframe thanks to the introduction of a new NPC: Verminia, the Rat Witch. Digital Extremes says this character can “enhance the customization of cosmetics” while also helping out with potions, elixirs, and more. Although the Envoy’s abilities allows them to hurl their weapons at enemies and turn invisible for stealth approaches, Soulframe players will need more than brute force to take out large foes like Nimrod. This towering behemoth uses lightning abilities for ranged combat while using staff for close-quarters fights, and it looks like we’ll be fighting them more than once.
“The community we’ve formed around Soulframe has been really inspiring for the team and they are the backbone of everything we do.
“The community we’ve formed around Soulframe has been really inspiring for the team and they are the backbone of everything we do,” Soulframe Community Manager Sarah Asselin said in a statement. “We’re welcoming more new players than ever and we can’t wait to share our progress through regular Devstreams with the team as we continue to peel back Soulframe’s layers of intrigue.”
Today’s Soulframe gameplay should whet the appetite of both Warframe veterans and those who have never touched a Digital Extremes game, but there’s still a lot of waiting to do before it officially launches. However, during today’s TennoCon presentation, Digital Extremes promised plans to get its fantasy MMO in the hands of more players sometime this fall. As long as the plan goes unchanged, the studio says that anyone who wants to play Soulframe Preludes will be able to when they sign up.
“The closed testing we’ve been doing with our community has been so impactful; we’ve learned a ton, and we continue to listen and learn each day,” Soulframe Creative Director Geoff Crookes said in a statement. “We’re hoping to open this up to a lot more players this fall. Everything is still rough around the edges, but that’s part of our style – the feedback is important to us, and we really do iterate on it regularly.”
We learned even more about Soulframe during our interview with Digital Extremes CEO Steve Sinclair, Crookes, and Asselin. During our talk, we gained insight into how the studio is keeping with its community-driven development approach, weapon variety, potential Warframe tie-ins, and so much more. Keep an eye out for the full interview to drop early next week.
Soulframe is launching first for PC with plans to come to consoles at an unspecified point in the future. Another dev stream is set to take place in September.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
