Digital Extremes announced the pre-alpha build of Warframe‘s fantasy sister title, Soulframe, in 2022, and itwent live at the tail end of 2023. Since then, the developers have been in active conversation with the player base, taking note of their celebrations and criticisms. The result is a game that flows better with each update, though “Verse of the Veilands” is set to be the most important expansionto date.
To celebrate the open-alpha build coming with the expansion, Digital Extremes spoke with members of the media (including Screen Rant), about some of the biggest changes coming to Soulframe Preludes 17, how it expands the game for a larger audience, and how it’s going to give players elements they’ve been asking about for years.
How “Verse Of The Veillands” Evolves Soulframe
Digital Extremes has always been adamant that Soulframe be connected directly to the players. Building off the enduring success of the sci-fi Warframe, Soulframe has always benefited from an open-ended development cycle where players can test out the alpha builds while offering feedback to the company.
Geoff Crookes, Creative Director on the game, explained in a statement that “Soulframe has been a community-driven game from day one, shaped by the tight-knit group of players that joined us for Preludes, and now, we’re ready to grow that community even further.” The latest upgrade for the game, “Verse of the Veilands,” reflects that approach.
Taking cues from player requests for refined combat and streamlined exploration, the developers addressed the issues by tweaking the open world to make it easier to explore and examine. Combat has also been something fans have wanted addressed, and the team admitted during a press chat that it needed refinement several times over the course of development to reach its current form.
That experimentation extends far beyond melee combat and includes ranged options like the bow, as well as mystical approaches. The result is an updated and improved combat system that makes gameplay flow more efficiently. “Efficiency” might be the key phrase for this improvement, as the shift gives players a much more streamlined experience.
This is reflective of the game’s shift to a more open-ended title. Previously, players could sign up for a potential invite to the world of Soulframe. This new update will formally open the game to an open alpha, encouraging scores of new players worldwide to try it at their own leisure.
Magical Corruption And Giant Wolves Flesh Out Soulframe’s World
While those underlying tweaks are solid means of adjusting gameplay for the player experience, “Verse of the Viellands” is also offering players plenty of new content to engage with. The season sees Midrath, the open-world continent that serves as Soulframe‘s primary sandbox, corrupted by a mysterious entity that also plays into some horror-tinted updates for the spooky season.
Players must venture into a “much more unforgiving and harsh” setting, according to Crookes. This new mission puts emphasis on teaching players how to move through the world and impact it, teaching them not just how to stop the siphons draining the world of life but also how to build out your own life in the world.
This is exemplified by the game’s approach to worldbuilding through audio logs and lore drops, with each faction adding its own lore. A new pact (the game’s answer to character class) that unlocks a ranger/hunter build is a perfect fit for what may be the update’s most requested element: in-universe pups you can care for, train, and eventually level up into massive wolves that can serve as mounts.
It’s a lot to take in, without even getting into all the bosses and side-quests added as part of “Verse of the Veiillands,” with each extension and expansion grounded in streamlined gameplay elements designed to make exploration more natural and combat more fluid.
Soulframe already has a lot going on, but this update takes it further, with a staggering amount of danger and intrigue hidden around every corner. So much is happening that the dev team admitted they’re still putting the final polish on the update just days before it comes out.
With a mix of excitement and dread, the team admitted they really hope to finish everything by the time the open-alpha goes live. It’s the most ambitious update Soulframe has put out to date and makes a good case for why players of all shapes and sizes should give Digital Extreme’s fantasy epic a try.
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