Pensive and flamboyant action-RPG Soulframe has just received a new update that adds a pirate class, together with rapiers, cutlasses, and a flouncy sailor's outfit. The class in question is the Duelo pact, which boasts of "swashbuckling abilities": these include an artful dodge that spawns a decoy phantom, an enemy-slowing sword flourish, and the old classic 'flintlock to the face' manoeuvre. They're also introducing a haunted shipwreck environment, plus a bunch of new enemies, another siege infiltration activity, and the ever-popular quality-of-life improvements.
"WHY ARE ALL GAMES ABOUT PIRATES NOW," I lamented to James, before starting this article. James ignored me, being engrossed in his own piece on forthcoming Tortuga-tender Corsair Cove, but the large green parrot on his shoulder screeched "pier pressure!" Mortally wounded by the pun, I staggered across the swaying deck to the Captain's cabin, only to be knocked flat by a barrage of yo-hoing from Ollie's on-going game of Windrose. Flopping around on the planks like a walloped albatross, I cried out to Mark for a restorative glug of rum, but alas, we've not seen him for days; he was last spotted paddling in the spectral wake of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced.
Soulframe has sort of been in 'early access' for years, but this being a game from the jargon-gargling, poesy-imposing creators of Warframe, they don't actually call it "early access". Instead, each update is a "prelude". The 14th "Duelo" prelude introduces a new Fable or quest, Wreck Of Mestra Carmo, which packs you off to the briny blue to challenge a missing master fencer. To complete the quest, you'll need to explore shipwrecks and find the pieces of a Duelo Ribbon. This grants you access to a series of shipboard duels. From said duels you will extract the means to assemble yourself a pirate outfit.
If you hate pirates, possibly because THERE ARE SO MANY PIRATE GAMES RIGHT NOW, the Duelo update also ~~harbours~~ contains a few bits for the landlubbers. There's a Mirifuir Castle Siege Encounter, which sees you sabotaging the rites of Ode'n Conductors at the summit of a clifftop fortress (and also, gathering the materials for Espadarte, one of the new swords). You can also brave the shattered depths of the Fallen Ode Skytower, a citadel full of wriggly alien bastards that has dropped from the heavens. There are three other new weapons to extract from these places and things, including a curved ichor blade prised from the guts of a freshly incubated boss, the Rovgot Wyrm.
"Explore and experiment with the latest quality-of-life features, including five additional Votive side quests at World Tree job boards, a reworked journal UI and codex menu, and a revamped combat loop for Runes’ power activation – now tied to fully-charged heavy attacks," adds the press release. You can also now discover "lost histories" for an ancestor character, Orlick, in the game's Nightfold hub. Read more in the full Prelude changelog, which is both voluminous and partly written in rhyme. Ah, Soulframe, speaking as an obnoxious purple probro myself I do enjoy your fondness for wanking it up.
Topic for the comments thread: I'm fuzzy on what quality-of-life means these days? I feel like adding quests counts as more than just improving the player's experience of the game in general. Other topic for the comments thread: WHY ALL THE PIRATE GAMES? Did a bunch of you developers host a Black Sails marathon at GDC three years ago?