Warframe, the loot shooter from Digital Extremes, has always been a game that teases a lot of story but probably never expands much on it. That changed dramatically when I took on the quest “The Second Dream”!
Warning: The text contains major spoilers about the story of Warframe!
Warframe and the first Destiny have quite a bit in common: Both games feature heroes in futuristic suits, blasting aliens and mutants with all kinds of weapons while chasing after new loot. And both games take place in a universe that hints at a lot of story but tells very little of it.
Space Ninjas without Faces
That was how it felt to me. When I first tried Warframe back in 2013 – then still an intern – I thought, “Wow, everything looks so cool and these weird, degenerate clone minions must have an amazing story!”
Then came the appearance of my Warframe, and I was even more thrilled. What is the deal with these bizarre yet somehow cool combat suits?
Why do the “Frames” all look rather organic even though they are clearly of artificial origin and contain metal and plastic parts? And what actually is a Tenno? Am I a person sitting in there? Why do I never see “myself” and why do I change genders with the suit? Some of the Warframes clearly had a male or female figure. Are the Warframes actually not suits?
More Questions than Answers
But unfortunately, almost nothing is explained. Instead, the mysterious female voice Lotus and the onboard computer Ordis constantly feed me cryptic snippets of story. This raises even more questions, such as what “Sentients” are supposed to be or who the hell the Orokin were.
This ancient civilization was supposed to have created the Tenno before it fell and the Tenno along with Warframes were buried somewhere. But by whom and why? And who were the Orokin at all, whose beautiful and frighteningly clean structures hover in a kind of interdimensional space called the “Void”?
Where Is the Story?
I played longer and traversed several planets in search of loot, but also for the story, for the meaning behind all this grind. But after countless hours in the game, there came a disillusionment: “Okay, nothing more is coming, the grind is just everything and the world is just a backdrop!”
Disappointed, I left Warframe behind for a while and only occasionally let my buddy convince me to take another look. Such a point was reached again when the Open World Update Plains of Eidolon was announced, and I had to play the game again for professional reasons.
The Quest That Was Supposed to Change Everything …
When I returned to the game after a long absence, I could already see that there were a lot of quests in the Codex. I found tasks that were supposed to earn me a Kubrow space dog and quests to obtain a kind of space jetpack called ArcWing.
And then there was the quest “The Second Dream”, which my buddy highly recommended but stubbornly refused to reveal any details about.
He said it was just too amazing, you had to experience it for yourself! So I got to work, unlocked all the necessary prerequisites, and started with the preceding quest “Natah”. What the heck is a “Natah” supposed to be?
The Awakening from the Second Dream – Warning Spoilers!
During the Natah quest, which started off quite generically, I suddenly encountered something completely new, a kind of probe. The thing was harmless in itself, but Lotus, the ever-present voice in the background and mentor of all Tenno, suddenly vanished! Something had chased her away, and in her place was a weird guy named Tenshin, who wanted to convince me that Lotus had been lying to me all along.
Eventually, Lotus returned and turned out to be a representative of the mysterious Sentients, the former arch-enemies of the Tenno! But instead of annihilating the Tenno and their Warframes, she switched sides and helped them survive. However, she first kept me in the dark about more information. But then there was the follow-up quest “The Second Dream” …
Showdown on the Moon – Spoileroo!
Natah brought the long-drifting story of Warframe quite a leap forward, but what was to come in “The Second Dream” was absolutely unpredictable! It started with the mysterious Stalker, a kind of “evil Warframe” that occasionally appears in the game as an unexpected miniboss, making an appearance in a cool cutscene. He now seems to work for the Sentients and knows some terrible secret to annihilate the Tenno.
A cool quest series followed, sending me into the Void, where in one mission, the Earth’s moon suddenly appeared! The severely mangled satellite had presumably been hidden by Lotus for centuries. But why? After some more tough battles, I finally managed to fight my way into the center of the moon and witnessed in another cutscene how a cryo-pod released a delicate, humanoid figure in a kind of space suit.
Shortly thereafter, I was attacked by the already familiar drones of the Sentients and had to retreat to the ship with the unknown figure in my arms while swarms of Sentients fell upon me!
The Truth About the Tenno! – Still more Spoilers!
Back on the ship, a spectacular showdown with the Stalker occurred, and in the end, I could finally place the still unknown humanoid figure in a hitherto unreachable part of my ship in a kind of throne.
Then the space suit opened, and what followed: A character editor!
I really didn’t expect that, because behind the mysterious, rescued person was the true self of my Tenno! The Warframes are not just suits; they are living beings! They exist only in telepathic symbiosis with the “Operator”, the young human I was just putting together in the surprisingly diverse editor.
A New Face for Warframe – Still Spoilers
I can even customize the voice and clothes of the Operator, even though he just sits in his throne and does nothing. The whole thing is accompanied by atmospheric music. As if in a trance, I spent nearly an hour tinkering with the Operator until an androgynous figure with purple hair and a kind of mechanical laurel crown was sitting on the throne.
Now the term Tenno, actually a title of the Japanese emperors, finally makes sense. As my Operator sits still on the throne, it really resembles a divine ruler!
Afterward, for the first time, Lotus herself appeared and explained some background information. Finally, I could ask questions myself and heard the voice of my character. Finally, I got answers! And finally, I know that Warframe is not just a fun, continuous grinding game with space ninjas.
The Story Continues!
With the awakening from the Second Dream, even more questions arise. But now I know that Digital Extremes has actually thought something through and wants to bring more story quests. I can hardly wait for the continuation of the story in the yet-to-be-played “War Within” and in the upcoming quests.
For me, after the Second Dream, Warframe is no longer the same game. Rather, it finally feels complete, just like my Tenno is now finally whole with Warframe and Operator in one place.
How did you feel about your awakening from the Second Dream? Was it such a big revelation for you too, or did you already suspect all this beforehand?
If you want to experience the feelings of a new player discovering Warframe for the first time, don’t miss our article titled “How I Became a Space Ninja in Warframe Out of Passion!“
