Digital Extremes has revealed major Soulframe news at TennoCon 2025. Preludes, the Pre-Alpha version of the game, will be opened to public access for everyone who signs up on the official website by July 20 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. They’ll continue to have access until the game’s full public launch. After the open sign-up period ends, players can still sign up but will be placed in a queue until additional access becomes available.
Geoff Crookes, Creative Director of Soulframe, said in a statement:
Over a year now of players going hands-on with Soulframe in our Preludes pre-alpha builds, we’ve learned so many lessons and built a lot of new features for us as a studio. After last TennoCon, we put a huge amount of effort into improving combat fluidity and continued that passionate work into exploring brand new features like player social hubs, asynchronous player messaging with World Trees, among so many other additions. Today, we shared what the latest additions to our next Preludes build would be and beyond. We promise to all existing and future players to keep trying new things outside our comfort zone and work with you to create something we’ve all been looking for.
Combat has been significantly improved since last year, with smoother and more grounded fights. Movement and stagger have been overhauled, and a new “Smite” critical hit that allows “soul stealing” from enemies has been implemented. Bows have been reworked as well, and a new “Combat Arts” system, where packs and weapons level up through combat to unlock unique arts, is being introduced. More weapons will be added, including a two-handed axe.
The gameplay demo from TennoCon 2025 also showed new content and features coming to Soulframe. A new fable, “The She-Wolf Snared,” which is Orgal’s fable, has been added. Playing it allows players to get their own puppy. New time-based festivals, including the “Festival of the Circade” and “Akfolmar” (a spooky season event), have been introduced. Improvements have been made to the Sparrow’s Tale system, an in-game mission system now tied to factions, offering greater variety in mission types. The new player experience has been improved, too, with the game now starting with a choice to pick an alignment (Spirit, Courage, or Grace), which is connected to one of three enclaves in their faction system (Alchemist’s Children, Kith and Kin, and Silent Rose).
Players will soon find a new enemy, the Wazzard of Wastes, who is the source of the rot in the heart of the Galvinar Swam. Furthermore, this magical mini-boss offered a new perspective on Magick-focused combat in Soulframe, showing off a new parry feature that can reflect projectiles back at the corrupt thaumaturge. After an initial tease, TennoCon 2025 attendees and viewers were even treated to the next Omen Beast boss fight: Bromius. Players will explore the underground realm of the Neath’uns, which is full of corrupted Sproutfolk and environmental puzzles that hinder the rehabilitation of the mutated, three-headed Bromius from the sinister whispers within the dark, tainted sap.
The Soulframe development team then showcased the first set of hairstyles available for players to customize their Envoy. Eight different hairstyle cosmetics are in production, and additional customizations for Envoys are still to come. More interestingly, the Soulframe team presented a customizable approach to combat techniques and skill progression that can be tailored to individual playstyle preferences. Offensive and defensive build options can be mixed and matched, including close-range melee focused on creating space with dodges and ranged damage that can close the gap with timed parries. Other combinations include more supportive roles. This progression approach allows players to tailor their Envoy’s strengths to their preferred playstyle. It also adds to situational party compositions when playing cooperatively with others across various encounters.
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