Image: Digital Extremes

Warframe might be gearing up for its biggest expansion yet next month, but Canadian studio Digital Extremes has one more big release happening this year - its much-hyped and trailered fantasy follow-up, Soulframe, which is open to all for the first time today, along with the ability to ride a giant wolf, and a whole raft of gameplay changes for returning players.

Now, Soulframe has been available for some time, but for most, it has been behind a paywall. Players had to buy a Founders Pack, be chosen at random via a lottery system, or (after the most recent Tennocon) just have signed up for the game during the event to be let in. Obviously not the greatest of barriers, but there was some, unlike the fully free-to-play Warframe. As of today, the game is open for anyone to jump in and start playing.

It's worth noting that it's still early days for Soulframe. The game is very polished and glossy, but nowhere near complete, with the game currently in the 'preludes' series of updates, spanning pre-alpha and alpha testing where just about anything can happen. And I do mean anything. I previewed the game a while back for PC Gamer, and in the middle of writing it, an update rolled out that completely replaced the game's economy and the entire method by which weapons and gear are acquired.

So, why would you want to play a game that's not even half-finished? Because it's fun. While Warframe is a very mission-based, more arcadey game mostly set in procedurally generated dungeons, Soulframe is more of an open-world, lightweight Souls-adjacent experience. Not especially difficult or punishing in death, but with similar melee rhythms, lore-laden ruins to explore, and plenty of bad guys to parry and counter, Sekiro-style.

It also has a very fun setting. A mash-up of multiple mythologies (including more than a bit of Arthurian stuff going on), combined with an alien invasion story. You play as a druidic hero, out to protect nature, liberate corrupted animal spirits (and regular animals, when you find them caged), while the extraterrestrial Oden Empire is trying to convert your world into a polluted industrial hellscape. The bad guys from beyond appear mostly human, but they're frequently augmented with clockwork-looking cybernetics and accompanied by robot servants.

While there are some procedurally generated dungeons and scripted quest arcs, a lot of Soulframe's gameplay is just open-world adventuring, solo or in co-op, beating up bad guys, stealing their stuff, and gradually levelling up. There's a bit of Ubisoft spirit, with major enemy bases being places to storm and climb, and providing big rewards once conquered and their commanders ousted.

Accompanying the shift to the game being open to the public, the 17th big update for the game is also rolling out. Titled 'Verse of the Veillands', players will now be able to ride around the world on the back of their giant wolf pets, although you'll have to complete the quest to acquire one as a pup first. There's also a new world corruption system, with areas now able to be turned into polluted Veillands regions that can only spawn corrupted resources. You'll need to clean things up and kick out the bad guys to make the area pleasingly pastoral once more, and re-enable fast travel via World Trees.

There's also an almost GTA-like 'infamy' system included in this update, with bigger, tougher enemy patrols spawning to deal with you as you deal more damage. While potentially painful, the patch notes do mention that rewards and XP also grow to match, so if you're feeling confident, go kick that hornet's nest.

There's honestly a whole lot of new game systems that completely upend the formula that players had been used to until this point. You can see the full patch notes here, although for newcomers, this feels like a good starting point, with enough pressure to keep players engaged and on task, where the game was previously a bit too open and meandering for its own good, in my opinion.

While Soulframe has a Steam page, those wanting to join in early for this public test version will have to sign up directly via the game's official site. As of today (perhaps later in the day), that'll at least be free now, with no more requirement to own a Founders pack to get in on the fun.