There seems to be no shortage of reasons to detach from the world. AI data centers are gulping up water; there is more habitat fragmentation than ever, driving species to the brink of extinction; and a screen in every pocket is asking us to forget the world and stay focused on what’s online. Finding a fantasy story that thrives on teaching the player how connected to the world and its creatures feels like what we need. In a way, Soulframe is a salve for a tired mind and one that worries about the state of everything.
One important thing for me when we bought our house was to leave water out for the animals in the back. We wanted to do what we could to give the armadillos in our yard, the snakes in the garden, and the little lizards who hide behind our solar screens for shade in the summer a place that didn’t feel like we had pushed them out.
Being married to a biologist does that to a person. Your yard becomes a place where life is already thriving; despite the small size of the creatures who visit you, it’s on you to give them sanctuary. We don’t kill spiders; we just move them outside. While these small steps for the smallest of creatures may feel unnecessary, the little moments remind us of our importance in protecting the world around us.
As our neighborhood has evolved and a new apartment complex came in, the protected greenbelt behind our house has displaced coyotes, disrupted red-tailed hawks’ nests, and the pair of turkey vultures who call this area just off of a farm road home have more and more food as creatures increasingly lose battles against speeding cars. But even with everything around us seeming so bleak, in our little neighborhood we don’t give up the idea of being stewards of this land and its creatures when we can.
It feels like we’ve given up on the world; Soulframe shows us why we can’t.
Soulframe taps into my love of nature in a folkloric way. With Gaelic and Celtic inspirations, Digital Extreme’s free-to-play fantasy co-op RPG that sets players in the role of the Envoy. Currently in Pre-Alpha, the working title Soulfram Preludes has been used to denote each of the game’s ongoing updates, which the developers dubbed Fables.
Last year at Tennocon, I found myself crying during the gameplay demo that featured a large bear corrupted by the world, turned monstrous by it. It was an emotional reveal that highlighted the role that players step into in Soulframe, as stewards of the world. Tennocon 2026 also received a similar emotional response from the crowd, and this time it felt more personal.
During Tennocon Live, Digital Extremes announced the game’s latest Fable quest. Titled “Warsongs,” the Fable takes players into the Envoy’s past, showing us the woman who gave birth to us, the darkness she pushed against, and established a role for us to play moving forward. In the trailer, the Envoy is a baby, floating down the river, saved by Mr. Beaver. The Beaver navigates through enemy arrows, sustaining a single but devastating wound.
The opening in this trailer sets the stage for the Envoy and further connects you, the player, to the world of Alca in Soulframe. Ultimately, “Warsongs” is centered on delving deeper into the Envoy, their mother, and the broader significance of players’ interactions with the world around them.
While the community was more than excited for the announcement of mounts coming into the game, Soulframe’s introduction of a dual progression system and the visualization of darkness scaring animals away as you release them from captivity weigh heavily. But in your moment of need, nature and her creatures pull to the light.
The complexity of humanity and our role in protecting animals and the environment are pivotal to Soulframe’s themes.
This isn’t a piece about systems or how much the game is working to give players more variety in their Envoys’ paths. This is a piece about the themes that live at the core of Soulframe, and how surprising it was to see just what I have been looking for in the game’s announcements. Warsongs is a Fable quest that is working hard to
“Our approach to storytelling in Soulframe has focused a lot on redemption, with uplifting character arcs built around salvation and not necessarily the destruction of the human body and soul,” said Geoff Crookes, Creative Director for Soulframe, in a media release.
Crookes’ comment continued, “Life has many paths toward redemption, though, and with the Warsongs Fable we’re attempting to explore a smidge of that contrast to demonstrate the necessary balance and coexistence. Growth does not truly occur without a certain level of despair and fear. These are important storytelling mechanics that are incredibly relatable to the human experience and life’s journey. These themes aren’t comfortable to experience, but they’re essential to our existence as temporary inhabitants of Alca.”
Video games, like any immersive art, work to pull the audience into an experience where their emotions and perspectives build as much as the game’s narrative and mechanics do. In capturing core concepts of humanity in Soulframe’s Warsongs Fable, the nonlinear progression paths speak to the different ways that you experience Acna. For me, watching Soulframe’s development during its Preludes pre-alpha period has highlighted the importance of the natural world.
Bromius was my first emotional interaction with Soulframe Preludes, but our recent interview put that connection into words.
Still, it wasn’t until I spoke with George Spannos, Soulframe’s Audio Director, that his response to my last question in the interview put into words what I had been feeling since I first started falling in love with the title last year. To end my interviews, I tend to ask developers what they learn about themselves as they work on titles.
When I asked Spanno, he responded, “I’ve always like loved animals. But it’s really hit home to me about wanting to protect animals and their [environments], while working on Soulframe, that really kind of reinforced that for me. It’s funny seeing anthropomorphic characters, and animal characters in the game that talk or have that kind of [human] feeling. It really kind of hits home for me that we [have to] protect them. We just gotta.”
As in other fantasy games, clearing corruption from the world is a vital part of Soulframe. And as much as some boss fights are dark sequences, others are also about healing. Like the Story of Bromius, the Fable quest announced at last year’s fan event. Healing the environment and its caretakers is a central theme. And now, in Warsongs, it’s highlighting how much using your own soul to save others takes a piece of you to do it.
Soulframe’s purpose for me, as I explore it more, is to show just how important it is to always understand your place in a bigger world and story. And now, with a larger focus on ancestors rippling into the present, I can’t help but see my mother, who taught me to put others ahead of myself and care for even the smallest creature.
From mounts to fishing, all the elements of Soulframe’s Warsongs Fable quest connect the Envoy to Acna.
Spanno’s answer continued, “It’s kind of our duty as humans to watch out for animals. And maybe that’s a corny answer, but it really, it really affects me. It’s like each time I see it now, it’s like I’m rooting for the animals. [Soulframe] has made a big difference in my life that way,” he said.
The new Warsongs Fable quest offers players so much they’ve been looking for, but in doing so, Digital Extremes is also doubling down on the importance of being stewards of the environments and, in turn, of Acna. While we’ve already talked about progression changes, the other two big pieces in the upcoming “Fallish” update
Mounts are coming to Soulframe, but the real joy will come from players raising their mounts from a pup into a wolf they can ride. Fishing is coming into the game, but it’s not about catching and eating; it’s about catching and healing. Soulframe captures something that feels entirely too rare right now: hope. But more importantly, hope is built by the things that we do, the animals we cherish, and the environments we protect.
Soulframe Preludes’ Warsongs Fable quest will release sometime in the Fall of 2026.