Soulframe Reveals A Lot of Promise In Each Gameplay And Steam Deck Efficiency – Preview

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With the Soulframe Founder Packs out within the wild, we lastly have a clearer image of what Digital Extremes is crafting, and it’s rapidly turning into one of the intriguing upcoming RPGs on the radar. Soulframe isn’t simply “Warframe however fantasy”, it’s a slower, extra deliberate, extra grounded expertise constructed round heavy melee fight in a mystical world sure to nature, and an nearly dreamlike aesthetic that feels equal components historical folklore and ethereal excessive fantasy.

At its core, Soulframe is shaping as much as be a melee-focused motion RPG the place timing, dedication, and positioning matter way over the hyper-mobility Warframe gamers are used to. Each swing has weight, each dodge has intention, and each encounter feels such as you’re carving your means by way of a residing, respiratory fable. The world, an ever-shifting realm corrupted by business and imbalance, leans closely into exploration, puzzle-filled environments, and creatures that really feel like they stepped out of a forgotten legend.

The discharge of the Founder Packs doesn’t simply mark the beginning of early neighborhood constructing; it additionally provides us our greatest look but at Soulframe’s methods, tone, and long-term imaginative and prescient. Early glimpses spotlight an interconnected open world, emergent dungeon-like areas referred to as Archives, and a concentrate on constructing bonds with companions and factions deeply tied to the world’s pure spirit. Even the sport’s day/evening cycles and musical parts have an nearly ritualistic really feel, hinting at a world the place rhythm and nature matter as a lot as metal.

What’s instantly clear is that Soulframe desires to face aside slightly than trip Warframe’s id. The place Warframe is modern, quick, and sci-fi, Soulframe is earthy, deliberate, and mythic. The place Warframe overwhelms with spectacle, Soulframe invitations you to decelerate and sink into its ambiance. It’s a daring pivot—one that might make it one in every of 2025’s most unusual RPGs if Digital Extremes sticks the touchdown.

With the Founders period now underway, all that’s left is watching how the sport evolves as extra of the neighborhood steps in. If the sport really turns into the soulful, nature-bound journey it’s promising to be, this might simply be Digital Extremes’ subsequent long-running universe.

With Soulframe being in early entry and never on Steam but, we do need to get it arrange manually and add it on to Steam. That is precisely how we obtained it arrange:

Steam Deck Set up Information

Swap the Steam Deck to Desktop Mode (Steam button → Energy → Swap to Desktop).

Open a browser and obtain the Soulframe installer (.msi) from the official web site.

Open Steam (in Desktop Mode).

Go to Video games → Add a Non-Steam Recreation to My Library.

Click on Browse, change the file sort filter to All Information, and choose the Soulframe .msi installer.

Add it to your Steam library.

Proper-click the entry → Properties → Compatibility → allow Drive using a selected Steam Play compatibility instrument → select Proton Experimental (or the most recent Proton).

Launch the Soulframe entry to run the installer and let it obtain all sport information.

Swap again to Gaming Mode.

Launch Soulframe out of your Non-Steam video games checklist.

Steam Deck Efficiency – Soulframe

With a sport nonetheless in Early Entry and never but on Steam, no much less, it’s anticipated that Soulframe performs considerably poorly on Steam Deck, however the out-of-the-box settings are extra abysmal than one had hoped. With a wildly fluctuating body charge, normally maxing out within the excessive teenagers, coupled with an aggressive movement blur, it’s nigh-on unplayable. Fortunately, with a handful of adjustments, the sport shouldn’t be solely playable however extremely gratifying, providing solely a slight downgrade from a full desktop providing.

Our really useful settings are as follows:

Show Mode – Borderless Fullscreen

Side Ratio – 16:10

Vertical Sync – Off

Max Framerate – 40 Hz

Upscaling Methodology – FSR2.2

High quality – High quality

Graphics High quality Preset – Medium

Volumetric Lighting – Off

Native Reflections – Off

The settings beneath aren’t as important in hitting a steady play atmosphere, however are extra suggestions for a extra gratifying time spent all through Soulframe:

Movement Blur – Off

Glare – Off

Movie Grain – Off

Bloom – Off

With these mixed settings, Soulframe performs splendidly, providing near-stable 40fps throughout the board, excluding loading into a number of the dungeon-like areas and cutscenes. Minor fluctuations are nonetheless current exterior of those two aforementioned examples, however they’re hardly ever impactful or dire sufficient to trigger concern in any way.

Soulframe is in early entry, and you’ll acquire entry to it through Twitch drops or buying a Founders Pack from their web site. You too can wishlist it on Steam, since it is going to be releasing there as effectively.

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