When you ask Morrigan her name at the start of Dragon Age: Origins, she retorts with “names are pretty, but useless.” It’s a statement that’s sat with me for a long time. What truly is in a name? For some, it’s an identity; for others, it’s a prison – a reminder of what they’re not. In videogames, it’s often make or break: if your game doesn’t sound cool, people won’t want to buy it. Naming a game is equal parts a brand exercise and an expression of passion, and as someone whose gamertag is ‘Morri’, it’s not a task I envy. Digital Extremes’ upcoming RPG Soulframe suffers from a confused identity that all comes back to – you guessed it – its name. After plowing hours into its Preludes pre-alpha tests, I can say the title simply doesn’t fit the game, and I worry it’ll suffer for it.
The brainchild of Warframe’s Digital Extremes, Soulframe is many things. Its core gameplay loop is similar to action games like Black Myth Wukong, but its sprawling open world and newly unveiled player hubs feel more like something out of World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs. Multiplayer seems like it’ll function similarly to Warframe’s, with these social hubs mirroring the ninja game’s Relays versus the bustling metropolises of Orgrimmar or Stormwind.
It’s hard to pin down exactly what Soulframe is. Having played a lot of Preludes, I’d say it’s aesthetically gorgeous and boasts incredible worldbuilding, but it feels like a collection of disparate parts that don’t quite fit together yet. Preludes is of course a pre-alpha build, so some of this is to be expected, but as solid as the individual gameplay elements are, Soulframe’s overall identity remains muddy.
Let’s start with the ‘soul’ part of its name. It’s something I’ve asked Digital Extremes CEO Steve Sinclair about before, and while he notes that the team is “taking a lot of inspiration” from the likes of Elden Ring, the ‘soul’ in the name comes from the heavy narrative focus on the idea of utilizing “the souls of our ancestors.” The team has since said that it understands why players might get confused.
Having played Soulframe’s opening sequence and associated boss fight, it’s certainly a lot more forgiving than a Dark Souls or an Elden Ring. Dungeons feel more open, and while encounters aren’t a cakewalk, they’re never close to brutal. The Lady Deora and Torment Stag fights, for example, have the majesty of a FromSoft encounter but lack the life-and-death intensity you’d expect from a bone-crunching Margit-style opener. Calling it a soulslike sets the wrong expectation, then, even if ‘soul’ is right there in the name. A switch to ‘Spiritframe’ is hardly the answer, but at least it gets across the ancestral focus and sidesteps the immediate FromSoft comparisons.
And then there’s the ‘frame’ part. It’s no secret that Digital Extremes likes to have a throughline in everything it does – Dark Sector morphed into Warframe, which borrows the ‘Tenno’ part of Hayden Tenno’s name, for instance. Rightly or wrongly, Warframe’s Duviri Paradox spinoff has oftentimes been labeled as the testbed for Soulframe, with its aesthetics and melee-focused combat certainly feeling similar to what we see in the sister RPG.
Warframe as a unit, however, is known for being fast-paced and frenetic – its slogan is ‘ninjas play free.’ Soulframe is the polar opposite: combat is slow and weighty, with heavy polearms, swords, and shields the primary weaponry versus katanas and guns. From the name, I was hoping that Soulframe would offer a mashup of methodical soulslike combat with the speed and ferocity I love from Warframe, but pace-wise it’s much like an early Dark Souls game.
Equally, Soulframe isn’t just a Warframe spinoff like Duviri; it’s a new adventure in a new universe doing completely new things. While the essence of Hayden Tenno is preserved with Warframe, perhaps it’s time to embrace the idea of creating something completely different – something that doesn’t have that obvious connection but instead nods subtly to its predecessors in its mechanics and community-centric approach. Given Digital Extremes’ pedigree, I want to see what the future looks like for them and worry that clinging to the past may become an inhibitor.
But let’s not get it twisted: I want Soulframe to be a good game. Aesthetically, it’s absolute perfection, blending The Lord of the Rings’ people-centric fantasy with otherworldly sci-fi themes. Its combat is crunchy and satisfying, and the Torment Stag fight is easily one of the best I’ve played in a videogame, brought to life by a magnificent and moving soundtrack.
My concern is that Soulframe’s name is indicative of a deeper issue. The hardened soulslike fan will bounce off the action, and those looking for a fast-paced, mission-focused experience like Warframe will leave disappointed. They’ll never get to experience that great fight or the sense of wonder as magical workshops erupt from a shimmering pool in the Nightfold, and that’s a damn shame.
I go back to the question ‘what’s in a name,’ and with Soulframe it’s a case of confused identity. Digital Extremes’ ideas are strong in isolation, but if I’m struggling to put my finger on what exactly the game is after hours of play, I can’t imagine how the broader prospective playerbase feels. I hope people give it the shot it deserves when the wider Soulframe release lands sometime next year.