Have you ever seen something and gotten really excited about it, even though you know it is highly likely to be deep in the “not for you” territory? Yeah, that happened to me this weekend with the Warframe TennoCon and the release of the Soulframe trailer. For some reason, there is something in my brain that devotes entirely too many resources to games that I do not understand why I do not enjoy. I guess on some level I keep hoping that they will click and in the case of both Path of Exile and Guild Wars 2, that has actually eventually (a decade later) paid off for me. Warframe is one of those games that I have tried numerous times and just cannot seem to get into even though I desperately want to. I see the way that Digital Extremes supports that game, and I am jealous… but want it to play like Destiny and not whatever space ninja mess that it actually is.
The first problem I have with Warframe is that there is some combination of things about the game that makes me horribly motion sick while playing it. I think it is this unique combination of the weird camera angle that you are forced into, the very tight FOV, and the reliance of the game on the bullet jump mechanic. Whatever the case playing this game for a long period of time, in the manner you should be playing it… aka very fast and run and gun… makes me physically ill. I’ve tried a bunch of things to get past this but have yet to find any combination of settings that seems to lower the nausea induction. The weird thing about this is that under normal circumstances I do not get motion sick. I can read in a car for hours without any ill effect, but there is some specific pattern this game is doing that triggers it in me… and I am not the only one.
Problem number two. I don’t love the art style. There is something about the whole bio-mech thing that I have never really liked. It started back in high school when I first encountered the Anime Guyver. There is just something needlessly baroque about it that bugs me. I really like clean lines and clear silhouettes and almost all of the designs save for Excalibur are overdeveloped. I mean I play a Titan in Destiny for a reason because it tends to look like an 80s mech. Robots are supposed to look like either Gundam or Robotech, and I struggle with engaging with the Warframe design ethic. Over the years it has grown on me, but not to the point of really appreciating it.
Problem number three. The design of Warframe tends to focus on missions often with timers and fail conditions. What I really want is something that is equivalent to Patrol mode in Destiny, where I can just drop in and make my own objectives as I go. I get that there are now “open world” areas in Warframe, but for whatever reason, they do not scratch the same itch. I’ve tried them and I still feel like I am playing through a structured mission… just one that is bigger. I think maybe over time I could get used to this because similarly in Diablo III I used to lean hard into doing bounties as my defacto activity, and now I spend almost all of my time in Greater Rifts… which are not dissimilar to the timed structured gameplay look of Warframe missions. I mostly have been looking for some low-pressure gameplay loop that I can use to level weapons and frames and learn how they play. I also really really hate the sneak-in and get some data missions because I want to go loud immediately.
So it is for all of these reasons that I am both interested and immediately concerned when I watch the Soulframe trailer. I see some of the same baroque design decisions in the armors chosen, but because it is more fantasy based… it feels like something I could enjoy. The movement hopefully is slower-paced and might not trigger motion sickness. It appears like it might be an open-world experience, so that is already angling towards the types of gameplay that I enjoy the most. However, everything about Warframe tells me that this is probably not going to be a game for me. So I am teetering on this edge of being interested but at the same time trying to keep my expectations in the basement. I really like Digital Extremes as a company, and I would love to have a game that is more tailored to my interests that they support because they really do a great job of supporting Warframe.
In the meantime, it does have me wanting to give Warframe yet another shot… in the many shots that I have given it over the years. It is a personal failing in me that I have trouble just writing a game off completely when so many people that I love and respect seem to enjoy it. Like I said earlier… this eventually paid off in both Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile, but it was a long battle to get there.
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