TennoCon 2023 is happening right now and is celebrating ten years of Warframe during Tennolive. These annual events always focus on what is next for the game in the form of reveals both small and large. But this year, similar to last year is very special. As Digital Extremes have more than one game to focus on right now. Such as Soulframe, their next MMORPG that has gotten a very lengthy demo for everyone to see what this game is really like. Here is a full breakdown of the gameplay demo.
Soulframe Gameplay Demo Breakdown
For starters, the game is an absolute looker. It has a nice soft aesthetic to the graphics overall. The game also has a main menu similar to Warframe where you jump right back into the action. The world of Soulframe takes place in Alca. The first open world zone in Alca for players to explore and engage in is called Midrith Island. This will be the first zone the game launches with, but there will be plenty of procedurally generated dungeons to explore on the Island and partake in missions.
Where you are a heartless Envoy having to reconnect with the world of Alca and your ancestors to fight against the Ode. The gameplay demo focused on a quest of taking down a woman who has control over a scary looking deer. You have a guide in Soulframe similar to the Lotus from Warframe called Orlick. He will accompany you on every dungeon and quest you partake in. Quests will usually consist of taking down Ode outposts and saving the wildlife of Alca.
The dungeons will all have story component to them. The dungeon in the demo focused on the aforementioned woman who controls the scary deer. They also showed off a focus on more standardized RPG systems.
More RPG Than MMO
The first thing they showed off was a choice system when interacting with the wildlife of Alca. One saved creature could either be persuaded depending on dialogue options or simply paid off to give you information for your current quest. You can also go into the Nightfold Tent at anytime when roaming the open world. This will be the main player hub where you can unlock multiple vendors and customize your loadout.
There will also be three main stats to focus skill points on in Soulframe:
- Spirit.
- Grace.
- Courage.
Spirit will primarily focus on your capabilities as a caster, Grace will focus on your stealth capabilities and Courage will improve your main damage output during melee combat. These stat upgrades will be permanent to your character. You can also obtain different “Pacts” to differentiate your character from others. These will host different abilities and long-term progression. Finally, you will be collecting souls of your ancestors to give you stat boosts. In the dungeons of the game, you will earn an extra soul to use for that particular dungeon run.
But the meat of the game is definitely going to be the more methodical combat system, however.
How Soulframe Plays
They showed off a lot of varied combat for the game. It will be focused on heavy third-person combat. Where you can parry, dodge roll and can cast abilities. Similar to the bird ability in the original trailer for Soulframe. But you can also throw your sword at foes and recall it at anytime. Giving you the option of ranged and close quarters combat with your sword. They also showed off the ability to imbue your blade with fire, some coop gameplay and a multi-phase boss fight. As well as some musical elements like Ocarina of Time.
If you are in a pinch and cannot recall your sword, you can also punch enemies with your arm. There will be stealth components to the game, like takedowns and in dungeons you can throw your throw to drop parts of the environment on enemies. In the open world you can summon a wolf to use as a mount to get around the Island quicker. Both the Island and the dungeon they showed off has incredible levels of detail to them. Such as murals along dungeon walls, statues and in the open world the draw distance is fantastic, and the fog and foliage make it feel more realistic. The music is also very epic.
Soulframe will be a free-to-play game, and there is no release window at this time. There are no confirmed platforms for the game but may launch on PC first since Digital Extremes focuses on that platform primarily. If you are not a fan of the lightning-fast gameplay of Warframe, you should definitely keep your eye on this, if the change of pace feels more up your alley. You can watch the full gameplay demo here. As well as a new Prelude Trailer here.
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