During TennoCon 2023 in August, Digital Extremes showcased new gameplay for their upcoming new IP, Soulframe. The gameplay demo went for over thirty minutes and showed some weighty combat. As well as a realistically serene setting, a glimpse into its deep RPG mechanics and some epic boss fights. The gameplay took me by surprise as a long-time player of Warframe. But there is always more to learn about the game, even in its impressive early development stages. As such, we at Lords of Gaming were given the privilege of an exclusive Q&A to get an even better understanding of the title.
Diving Into the Inspiration of the Setting for Soulframe
We were able to ask Geoff Crookes, Creative of Soulframe the following from our very own Ty Tano:
Steve and I were very excited to make a fantasy game that we could add our own flair to in the way we did with science fiction and Warframe. The foundation for Soulframe is using an Arthurian setting to ground it in something familiar. Then, we add our personal, expansive elements to the game to hopefully surprise the player in ways you wouldn’t normally expect in a traditional fantasy setting.
Of Music and Different Weapons
One of the core pillars of the gameplay experience in Soulframe will be its incorporation of music. We got the chance to ask Geoff the following:
The music-playing mechanic reminded us a lot of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. How will it fit in the game’s experience outside of quests?
With Geoff’s response being:
We are hoping that music itself will play a very significant role in Soulframe. We’re planning for it to be a key part of player progression and also a mechanic on expanding the world and opening paths to explore.
In the gameplay demo, there were segments of having to hit notes in succession to progress the story. The leitmotif of one of the songs was incorporated into the second boss fight. Creating an emotional and epic set piece that tugs on the heart strings.
We were also able to ask Geoff:
Yes, absolutely: we want to have broad weapon variety and offer many types of Medieval weaponry.
A Medieval, Soulful Live Game
Lords of Gaming’s Editor-in-Chief, Mahmood Ghaffar, wanted to know the following:
Yes, as a multiplayer live game it will have a lot of similarities in structure to Warframe. The biggest differences will be in gameplay in how it’s the opposite of Warframe combat.
Soulframe will be a much slower paced melee focused, with some range mixed in for variety. When we launched Warframe it was more of a focus on the multiplayer aspect and while Soulframe will absolutely be multiplayer, there will be a bit more focus on the individual player’s role in the world and [their] progression.Co-op will have the usual mission flow where you party up to investigate dungeons or quests for loot – but we have some extra benefits we haven’t revealed yet for teaming up with people.
