The first time I played Soul Frame, I was in awe of its beauty. Looking up at the night sky and seeing that wide cluster of stars lighting up the steely blue atmosphere had me hooked on the Soul Frame aesthetic. The world is simply natural, with large swathes of forest or field or beach or pond. Then you’d run into spots of Ode’n corruption; maybe it was a harsh metal wall bisecting the serene landscape, or an odd statue spilling bile-y Ichor into a nearby stream. The Ode are a force that despoils, and now they’ve pushed Alca to the breaking point.
Recently, I got to attend a preview for Soulframe Preludes 17: Verse of the Veil Lands, which, as my preamble probably tipped you off to, unleashes Ode’n corruption on a massive scale, plaguing every region of Midrath into a decayed state. The trees are dead, the sky is smoggy, and the ground is ashen. Envoys will need to cleanse the land region by region by using the newly updated votive system to target Ode’n syphons. The devs said this will bring much better quest breadcrumbing for new players, make it easier to track quests and find activities, provide a stronger introduction to faction reps, and that the mesh of the corruption and votive systems will bring a much more directed experience. The team is building a quest throughline for the corruption plot, and a massive amount of new voice-over is coming to the game. Healing corrupted zones won’t reinforce the aesthetic and narrative surrounding the player envoy as a restorer, but it also brings loot. Players can expect their purification journey to start after the Tormented Stag quest.
Wolf mounts arrive just in time to help players tackle this newest threat. Players can now craft a biscuit with Vermina to turn their lovable pup into a full Omen Wolf mount! Of course, you can still pet your wolf. While you can’t currently have a new pup and a mount, the devs seemed to imply that players will be able to have both in the future.
Then there’s the new Pact, the Ode Shrike. The Pact has an Ode’n hunter/poacher theme, with a lot of traps and deception built into its kit. The devs said it can be very fun to play in stealth. I didn’t get to see a lot of gameplay with the new Pact, but I did see its skill and virtue alignments. Their Courage ability seemed to be some kind of trap that raises spikes to attack an enemy. The Spirit ability seemed to be an Ode’n cage of some sort, judging by the icon, probably to crowd control (CC) enemies. Last up, the Grace ability seemed to be a chain Bola, which links damage of nearby enemies, and I assume will also CC enemies. The developers said something about one of the abilities being inspired by those Ode’n balloons you see everywhere, so you can float enemies away from combat, which I very much look forward to using as it sounds hilarious.
Bita’s Eve, the Halloween-like event, is also coming back, allowing players to grind for event cosmetics! Those who participate will find themselves hunting down scarecrows, winter squash, and “something of a headless nature.” The rewards include a spooky sack mask with feathers, a talisman that looks like a dreamcatcher, as well as a sickle – likely a weapon. Overall, this ought to be a fun, spooky event!
Last on the major updates list is that Soulframe will have open Preludes beginning November 6. That’s right, players no longer need a code to play; they can just hop on the Soulframe website, download the game, and play. This will not only help the game grow, but allows the developers to gather more feedback. The devs also stated that in-game questions and surveys are hopefully coming soonish. The developers also noted some upcoming miscellaneous changes, such as more enemy types, new fish (including a hostile fish?), as well as updated caves. The team is hard at work, and it shows.
Preludes 17: Verse of the Veil Lands is looking like a massive shakeup to the Soulframe formula! I look forward to cleansing the newly corrupted island, growing my wolf pup into a full wolf mount, and grinding for that sweet, spooky Bita’s Eve gear. I’ll see you all on Midrath!
Verse of the Veil Lands will come out sometime in November.
