Soulsframe developer, Digital Extremes, is finally giving us a more extended glimpse of what we can expect to see in this Fantasy MMORPG. It takes place in a world that’s “a little bit angry about what’s been done to it”.
Soulframe Gameplay Reveal Shows “Elden Ring” Inspiration
TennoCon 2023 has been on fire this past weekend as it has shed light on a lot of Warframe including the Whispers in the Wall campaign and Warframe 1999. You can read more detailshere. But more than these, Digital Extremes has been eager to show a demo of their new franchise, 10 years after Warframe’s launch in 2013. This Fantasy MMORPG is being led by Steve Sinclair, the former Warframe Creative Director.
There are new details included in a 30-minute gameplay reveal including the immersive melee combat, Wandering Souls, and Virtues that can be customized to change playstyles.
Based onlast year’s reveal, what we know is that Soulframe takes its roots in correcting the past mistakes humanity has made toward the natural world. And one of the few ways to do this is by taking the aid of several ancestors.
In contrast to the highly mobile Warframe, Soulframe takes a much slower and precision-based approach. This makes it more similar to the melee combat ofElden Ringand Ghost of Tsushima. This approach is confirmed by Steve himself who says,
It’s a long-running game, it’s going to be free-to-play and all of those things you’re able to expect from a Digital Extremes game, but the pacing is kind of inverted. Where Warframe is fast and frenetic, Soulframe is going to be slow and pensive.
Soulframe in a Nutshell
In Soulframe, players take on the role of an Envoy, a once Ode soldier whose memory and history have been stripped clean. In an effort to know who you are, you explore the open-world Midrath Island where you discover spirits wandering around and go up against the minions of Ode. You can form Pacts with the souls of these ancestors, allowing you to change your skills accordingly.
As seen the in trailer, this MMORPG is initially open-world in structure but it changes the moment you travel to dungeons, which are procedurally generated, something that fans of Warframe are already familiar with.
In the gameplay demo, you are initially guided by Ancestor Orlick with his cryptic messages until you come across this camp of soldiers. The scene is one that we have already seen from last year’s reveal but this time around, we rescue Avakot, a plant-like being who knows the location of the mythical stag we are looking for.
The Nightfold
After the conversation with Avakot, you traverse to a tent or the Nightfold, a hub that is located in the Silver Sea or lake of the ancestors, a different dimension from the real world. Similar to Warframe’s Orbiter, you will be able to customize your character’s abilities and swap weapon and armor pieces here as you see fit.
As you progress deeper into the game and gather more souls, you can bring them into this hub to eventually build it into a liveable village.
There are three Virtues in the game so far - Spirit, Courage, and Grace that act as the main stats. Investing points to Spirit improves your magical abilities, Courage to enhance your physical prowess, and Grace, which is best suited for assassin-type builds. Additionally, there are also Pacts that serve as the classes you can seamlessly swap to, together with Souls or the skills you gain as more ancestors are “saved”. Some examples of these skills include Archery, Blades, Arcanic, and Athletics.
Dermak Undercity
The Envoy then ventures into a procedurally generated dungeon known as the Dermak Undercity to retrieve the item Avakot is asking for in order for you to progress in the quest. It is here that you see influences of Elden Ring as you go deeper into the undercity - the dark but beautiful and picturesque structures donned with lush flora bustling with an unknown history. you’re able to even summon a big white wolf quite similar to Elden Ring’sLone Wolf Ashesto fight enemies for you.
You also see wandering soldiers whom you can destroy by throwing your sword against a hanging wooden trap to squash them or using the stun-like magical ability from your right arm, and then following through with a heavy swing of your sword. Mystery and exploration seem to be at the heart of Soulframe as you piece together your place in the world and that of the culture that has been left behind.
Soulframe’s Precise Combat
Soulframe’s approach to combat is slow and precise, allowing you to execute moves perfectly as long as you keep practicing. Like other Souls games, you will learn how to dodge, parry, and perform a series of actions to determine the best combos possible when casting spells and piercing through enemy armor. Stealth and environmental interactions are also going to be a factor in making these encounters more manageable.
And finally, there are Wandering Souls, which you can think of as modifiers or additional objectives to add excitement to the procedural aspect of dungeons. In the trailer, the Envoy gains access to Old Jotar who gives him a blazing fire sword, letting him kill enemies in one to two swings.
Soulframe is a free-to-play MMORPG with no release date in sight, nor are there playtests around the corner. We, for one, cannot wait to dig deeper and see the rest of the gameplay systems soon!
In other news, check outPath of Exile 2 Shows Off Some Explosive Gameplay of the Druid, Warrior, and HuntressandAnnual Warframe Conference Tennocon 2023 Shows Off New Stories, Features, and More!
