The Canadian gaming company “Digital Extremes” has a successful SF MMO on the market with Warframe. With “Soulframe“, they are planning a fantasy MMO, but the name is causing them trouble. It allegedly evokes too many comparisons with “Dark Souls”, and they supposedly do not want these comparisons, says the creative director. “But why does it look so much like Dark Souls?”, critics ask.
This is the problem: The new Free2Play MMO from Digital Extremes is called “Soulframe” and that invites comparisons with “Dark Souls” from FromSoftware. The dark fantasy action RPG Dark Souls (2011) is such a milestone in gaming that it has established the genre of “Soulslike” – games that are similar to Dark Souls.
In an interview with Gamesradar, the creative director of Soulframe, Geoff Crooks, is asked why they included “Soul” in the title.
He says: “Because we are idiots. We agonized over it, you are right.”
But “Soul” had to be in the title somehow. Because the idea of the game is, Crooks explains:
The fortification of the soul of the world, finding the ancestors by collecting their souls in the game, interacting with other players and connecting with them, and the existence of remnants of their souls in the world.
Developers hope players see more of the “Frame” than the “Soul” in the title
Do they want the comparison with Dark Souls? No, they do not. Soulframe is not such a dark game, assures Creative Director Crooks.
At Digital Extremes, they probably hope that players see more of the “Frame” than the “Soul” in the title, as they want Soulframe to be strongly associated with the SF MMO Warframe:
I would say we lean heavily on the ‘sister’ aspect that it is a sister project to Warframe. I think that people who know Warframe have an expectation of what Soulframe could bring. There are many similarities with the free-to-play action RPG setting, but we want it to be a counterbalance to Warframe.
Compared to Warframe, Soulframe is supposed to be a bit less hardcore. You should fight more against one opponent than several at once. Soulframe is also not meant to punish players as harshly as Warframe does.
Fans believe: Comparison with Dark Souls is already planned
How is that being discussed? On reddit, people don’t quite believe Crooks. It is said that the first gameplay heavily leans towards the “Dark Souls” note. That certainly hasn’t helped avoid comparisons to “Dark Souls”.
On reddit, some are hoping that Soulframe will be a slower, more melee-focused game than Warframe.
Warframe is one of the most successful MMOs of the last 10 years and is considered one of the games with the best development after modest beginnings. Therefore, Soulframe is now also being followed and highly anticipated by genre fans: The chief shows 75 minutes of fresh gameplay from the new hope for fans of fantasy MMORPGs.
