Soulframe, the new free-to-play multiplayer fantasy RPG in development at Digital Extremes, almost certainly sets a certain kind of expectation from folks that play video games and especially fantasy video games. The shadow of FromSoftware‘s titles looms large, after all, and Soulframe creative director Geoff Crookes knows it. So I had to know: why would you have “soul” in there at all?
“‘Cause we’re fools,” he says and then laughs. “We agonized over it, you’re right.”
According to Crookes, the team had written down a whole bunch of different names, but the themes that they wanted in Soulframe – “fixing the soul of the world, finding your ancestors through collecting their souls in the game, interacting with other players and connecting to them and having remnants of their souls in your world” – were always front of mind and important to what Digital Extremes was building.
So, instead of ditching the name because of the obvious comparisons, the team instead decided to commit and “double down on what the game’s identity” right from the start in order to be clear “this game is not a grimdark game.”
“We do not want to compete with people that are making some of the best games ever made and what they do,” says Crookes. “I think what it’s done is it’s really made us step up our game and make a really good first impression, when you kind of see the game and the potential for optimism that’s kind of there, the romanticism that we want to lead into with what’s presented in the game.”
What’s in a name?
So, what is Soulframe then, if not a Soulslike? While the “Soul” part of the name might cause some unintended comparisons, the “frame” part is absolutely intentional as the new title is very much meant to be associated with Digital Extremes’ long-running free-to-play multiplayer sci-fi title Warframe, though it would seem it is intended to be complementary more than anything else.
“I would say we very much lean into the ‘sister’ aspect of it being a sister project to Warframe,” says Crookes. “I think people that know Warframe would have an expectation, maybe, of what Soulframe might bring. There is a lot of shared things that carry over with the free-to-play action RPG setting, but we very much want it to be the counterbalance to what Warframe is.”
According to Crookes, Warframe in a nutshell is “fast, hyper-stylized chaos” while Soulframe is more slow-paced – “I’m trying not to say casual,” quips Crookes – with a warm, fantasy setting that isn’t quite as grim as others. There’s also a focus on individual enemies, rather than juggling a whole bunch of different enemies to focus on at once.
“We definitely don’t want this to be as hardcore as Warframe is at first impression, and we don’t want it to be a punishing game, either,” says Crookes. “Our ambitions are to kind of cover a pretty broad range of play styles depending on how the Pacts go. A lot of the packs that we’ve shown now, and that are in Preludes, are a bit more like either stealth-based or kind of heavy combat.”
Soulframe Preludes, which Crookes refers to as “closed, closed, closed alpha,” is an early test version that’s in the hands of some players already. According to Digital Extremes, more and more people are being let into Preludes as time goes on.
Crookes also notes that the team has plans for Pacts, which largely dictate players’ abilities, that have “way more range and be way more supportive.” In fact, the hope is to have plenty of opportunity for progression that isn’t tied to combat of any kind but instead through world exploration or ancestor progression, the latter of which seems to be a major feature through which characters unlock various bits of the game.
There’s every chance a good portion of all of the above changes ahead of launch in terms of implementation if not conceptually. Soulframe has no confirmed release date as of yet nor definitive platforms, though Preludes itself appears to be for PC, and the tone of my conversation consistently felt like the team is still figuring out some of the fundamentals. Maybe there’s even time for a name change, though it increasingly feels like there’s no escaping the trap Digital Extremes has set for itself, and if nothing else the vindication of success will be extremely sweet should it come to pass despite the name.
If you’re looking to pass the time until Soulframe launches, our Warframe beginner’s guide can help with jumping into Digital Extremes’ other game