Soulframe opened its PC playtest to everyone on November 6. Digital Extremes calls the current build Open Preludes, and Windows players can create an account and download the client free from the game's website. The previous invitation requirement is gone. Preludes remains a pre-alpha build that the studio is using to develop its fantasy action RPG in public.
The opening coincides with Verse of the Veilands, the latest Preludes update. It gives newcomers a sizeable stretch of Midrath to discover and gives returning players a route from the Tormented Stag encounter into the Veilands. The area is part of a broader effort to tie progress to healing corrupted parts of the world, so what the Envoy does to an animal or a stretch of forest can determine what opens up next.
From wolf pup to mount
The Omen Wolf is one of the clearest examples of that approach. Players begin by caring for and training a pup. The route to riding it involves purifying two regions and using a Bairnday Biscuit. The mount comes at the end of a sequence that sends players back out into the world with a reason to engage with its restoration systems.
The update also adds the Ode Shrike, a Pact with abilities built around traps. Pacts are part of how an Envoy changes combat tools, while the game's Fables give its exploration a more narrative focus. There is room for a quieter detour, too. The update expands fishing, an activity that sits alongside the fights with corrupted creatures and exploration around Midrath.
How to get into Open Preludes
Start on the official Soulframe site, register an Envoy name and install the Windows client. Players who want to explore together can form a group of up to four. The Steam page offers a wishlist for the game. The playtest download is through Digital Extremes' own site.
The timing makes the Veilands update the first version of Soulframe many players will see. It puts mounts, exploration and the regional restoration system in front of a larger audience while Digital Extremes is still changing those features. The studio has yet to give a full-release date in the Open Preludes announcement.
