I got into the Pre-Alpha test of Soulframe and finally got to play the highly-anticipated open-world PC game. Now that the NDA has lifted, and I can talk about my experience playing with a group of friends, I've got to say that it wasn't overly impressive to me, at least not yet. Soulframe Preludes introduces players to what Digital Extremes calls a "co-op action hybrid-MMORPG" in a vibrant world with interesting creatures in what is touted to be the next big thing in gaming.

When I jumped into the world of Soulframe, I wasn't really sure what to expect. My group of buddies and I have all played Warframe; though we weren't avid players, and I've never attended a Tennocon, though we understood and generally enjoyed that game. That said, I was more excited for Soulframe, as I am a fan of soulslike games. Even though the developers have outwardly said this is not one, the premise of using a sword and abilities in a giant open world against monstrous boss enemies provides enough similarities to draw the comparison.

Soulframe Feels Like New World

Not The Game You'd Be Expecting

New World, the MMORPG developed by Amazon Games, was released in 2021 and had a ton of initial hype behind it. Having spent more than 200 hours in that game, I can attest that it was definitely somewhat overhyped. While the cool combat system (I was a spear & musket player) innovated on the arguably boring WoW style, the luster eventually wore off once I got into the endgame and had to contend with the lack of content and meandering Gypsum leveling system.

In many ways, Soulframe felt like New World — which is to say; it wasn't a terrible game, but it also wasn't a remarkably memorable or amazing experience. In some ways, for me, it was missing the essence of what makes an MMO open-world game so intriguing and fun, which is the desire to explore and find new experiences and enemies. Throughout, there are flashes of brilliance and lore tucked away through various dialogues or text, but generally, it just feels like an Elder Scrolls Online or New World — something that could have a lot of potential if it weren't trying to strive for that MMO tag.

Although the game made a pretty great first impression on me, eventually, I found myself wandering around aimlessly with little understanding of what to actually do or what I was trying to accomplish. Even though the mechanics in the game attempt to tease out the dense lore in an engaging way, it ends up feeling hollow — like you are aimlessly tracking down the next quest marker in an attempt to continue the story without a greater understanding of the impact you are making on the world and characters around you.

The Narrative Gets A Bit Muddy

Why Am I Doing This Again?

Players initially awake on a beach, in what feels reminiscent of survival games like Rust. Character customization outside of gender, at least in Preludes, is effectively non-existent and a huge letdown, considering all of my friends looked exactly like me. Currently, it seems like Preludes is instanced — as my friends had to my session in order to play, and this would eventually result in a few game-breaking story blocks that prevented us from continuing the main questline (I think?).

We could only have three people per party, which effectively meant our fourth friend had to sit out, and we eventually just split the parties into two teams of two.

Also, there are no other players, at least in the starting region, so it's a pretty lonely experience if you're playing solo. Keep this in mind if you and your friends plan on jumping in on the quests at different points in the story. That said, Digital Extremes does make it apparent that this is a game in progress, "marshwarts and all," with a warning at the start of the game. Eventually, you'll traverse planes and discover your Nightfold tent and your awesome spirit animal. It's a pretty decent enough intro to the world and introduces concepts in a pretty easy-to-understand way.

Rather than having a mini-map like in traditional games, players travel to different quests and points of interest using a Guiding Sparrow, which spawns a bird that travels in the direction of the next marker. The graphics and world are beautiful, and the movement is pretty good, so initial impressions of this game were high at first, outside of the lack of character customization.

At the start, players are given a choice of weapons -- choose these wisely, as I played for a few hours and was seemingly unable to change my loadout.

Eventually, I met a strange ghost with a talking baby on his shoulder (it's exactly like it sounds) named Orlick, who goes into the lore, talks about some key aspects of the game, and sets me out on my first official quest. Here is where some of the denser, more confounding aspects of the narrative truly start. From here, it was a matter of following the bird in an attempt to unravel more of the story and discover the Torment Stag.

I'm Not Sure What I'm Supposed To Be Doing

We Need Clearly Named Locations

Like other open-world games, the region of Midrash contains a variety of different areas with enemies of different levels. I found myself in the earlier stages, wandering into level 10 areas unknowingly, but I was still able to fight my way out. Area names on the map are obscured by hieroglyphs that players can translate by completing tasks and quests, as well as picking up notes. Although this seems like an intriguing way to discover different points of interest, it honestly just confused me and wasn't very fun.

Trying to meet up with friends at "the marker in the middle left" was not fun since even traveling to the locations doesn't fully translate the location's name.

Upon completing quests, you'll return to your Nightfold tent, and this is essentially the game loop. Complete quests in the real world, go to the Nightfold tent, and discover more lore by reading logs after speaking with different NPCs. With very little direction on what to actually do, I found myself meandering around to different quest markers without a clue of what I was supposed to be accomplishing. I completed the same cave probably three or four times. I got the main points — like preserving nature and being one with the animals, but I felt like I was missing details until the next cut scene.

There's a strong foundation for something fun here, and it's gorgeous; I just need a more compelling story and more varied enemies and locations to pull me in even further.

Some of this might have been a result of playing multiplayer with friends at different points in the story or some other unrelated bug that blocked the main quest progress. To say I was completely lost for a lot of the narrative would be an understatement. At one point, I joked with my friends that this was a "bird following simulator" because I was just so confused about why I was doing what I was doing, where I was going, or what the point of any of this was.

Combat Should Feel More Challenging

There's Something Here

By the end of the playthrough, my entire Pact of the Feykin skill tree was completely filled out, and special abilities made fights a breeze. Maybe this was helped by the fact that I had friends I was playing with, but this is supposed to be an MMO, so I thought part of the point was to play with others. The combat is fun, don't get me wrong, but it feels like it should be harder. Even on solo, it's not overly punishing, and with the use of special abilities, the game becomes incredibly easy once hitting level six or seven. Even though it's not a soulslike, enemies should scale and be harder as abilities unlock.

Creative Director Geoff Crookes has went out of his way to proclaim in a GamesRadar interview (via DualShockers) that Soulframe, is indeed, not a soulslike game, even going as far as saying, "We do not want to compete with people that are making some of the best games ever made and what they do."

Even though I felt lost for most of the game, I think I'll return to it to investigate it more. There's a strong foundation for something fun here, and it's gorgeous; I just need a more compelling story and more varied enemies and locations to pull me in even further. I think it could have more potential than New World, but it'll all depend on how the game continues to develop. While I enjoyed the stripped-down UI and lack of direction in some respect, I think the game can make a better effort at elucidating the main quest line for those who want to progress and not meander.

The fact that the game will be free is pretty awesome, and Soulframe should be made available to a wide audience. That alone makes me hope that there's success in the future for the title, even if it has been somewhat overhyped, at least in my estimation. Hopefully, by the time the game fully launches, it will improve in some of these key areas.

This article previously called this version of Preludes a closed beta, but it is actually a Pre-Alpha test.

Source: Games Radar, DualShockers