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■ Soulframe
My brother still has a GameStop membership with Game Informer. He got this month’s magazine with Soulframe on its cover and a game code that will allow me to access the game in its early stage to test out. I’m no stranger to testing games out early, it’s a good way to test out the water to see if I will buy a game in the future. Think of it like a demo or a work-in-progress. Sometimes I will pay for early access, such as my early play of Path of Exile 2 and Titan Quest II.

As I previously mentioned, my brother gave me a game code to Soulframe, so I’ve decided to check out this work-in-progress pre-release game. The game isn’t available right now, but if you are interested in trying out the game, you can get a code from the developer or you can also buy a founder pack and that will also get you early access.

Once the game launches, the game is free to play. How they make money is by fast-forwarding your weapon upgrades (it takes time to create an item) or you can buy armor sets or unlock new character types. I haven’t really explored that aspect of the game, as I would prefer to not pay anything. However, I can see myself rewarding the developers by buying new content from them, if I stick with the game.

After a long five+ hours of downloading the core game, I was able to get into the game in late April. Although this is an online-only game, you can play the game solo (as how I preferred to experience the game). To create your character, you have to tell the game what your mother looks like. Her appearance will pass down to you. Then you’re in the future and cast out to die. A moose or stag finds you and a small sparrow guides you to this underworld. It’s in this hub that you can pick your class. You can be a mage, bow user, or melee. I tried out bow and that didn’t work out well for me, so I went to warrior.

I’m kind of stumbling around this world, mostly sticking to the first area of the game. I unlocked the blacksmith and forged my first sword… which will take 9 hours to complete. I took that opportunity to log off and get some food and write about my experience.

From what I’ve seen of the game, it’s very good, despite being in early access.

Of course, like all early access games – there are bugs and some things felt incomplete. For example, there was a rat quest that failed to trigger because I had not completed a previous quest. I basically had to do the rat quest twice. The bug locked me out of entering the hub (I just simply can’t access the hub now). Then my map is all foggy (despite unfogging it in earlier playthroughs). Then there is the server/always online problem.

I want to reset the game from the start, but there is no way of doing this at the moment. I’m just stuck, there’s no way I can upgrade my character via the hub (since I can’t access it). The only thing I can think of is just to wait for them to patch this bug or maybe wait long enough for the game to “forget” the rat quest – so I will have to re-do the rat quest a third time. It’s just game-breaking for me.

Again, it’s early days. I am assuming much of my complaints will be squash by the time the game is released. In its current state, I simply cannot recommend this game.

Update: I was able to resolve the rat quest bug. This is one of the buggiest quests in the game, as well documented by other players. They helped me solve my problem – I just had to find Nimrod and kill him. Once I was able to kill him, I could now get back into the Hub.

Then I experienced another bug. I defeated the three-headed bear, but could not put on the finishing kill. He just sat there, and I couldn’t leave the fight area. I think the game didn’t trigger the next sequence. So, what can I do? I just logged out and waited a few days so the game can re-set itself.

Then when I logged back it, it seemed like I beat that quest – however there is a display error on my bird now whenever I’m in the wardrobe. So many bugs! I am hoping things will get patched up or eventually the game will just fix itself.

Anyway, now that I have fast and stable internet, I tried out the game on my Lenovo Legion Go … unfortunately it ran like crap on the portable device. I tried to lower the resolution, but at the moment, the game is locked to full resolution. Basically, I can only play it on my main gaming PC for now.