Soulframe's Preludes 16 adds fishing and a wolf pup companion

Soulframe's Preludes 16 update is live. Titled Of Hook & Hound, it lands free for everyone in the closed alpha and leads with the two features Digital Extremes has been trailing since TennoCon: fishing, and a wolf pup companion you can actually bond with.

Fishing, and a pup that tags along

Fishing arrives with six lures and six fish, among them the Emerald Prickleback and the Boilhead Wumper. Land one and you cleanse the Ode corruption from its scales, then choose: release it back into the pond, or keep it to feed a wolf companion. Bonding is its own system. Once you have finished The Shewolf Snared Fable and picked your pup, you can play fetch, take it on walks, feed it fish and fight alongside it - the groundwork for the mount Digital Extremes has promised.

Weather that changes how a fight reads

The new dynamic weather system is more than scenery. Nights turn rainy, mornings foggy, and the combinations carry gameplay effects, such as increased lightning damage or reduced enemy perception ranges. It is the kind of addition that quietly changes how a fight plays out rather than announcing itself as a difficulty setting.

A rebuilt Tempering system and new gear

Tempers - the modifiers that shape how a weapon behaves - get a rework that hands more of the decision back to the player: dismantle weapons you have outgrown to reclaim their Tempers, then retune them with the blacksmith Tuvalkane. The update also adds the two-handed mace Wreath, the caster staff Gystalt, the sidearm rapier Grimana and the Suit of The Sleeve armour.

Still an alpha, still being shaped

Preludes remain the most honest thing about Soulframe's rollout. It is a closed alpha where features arrive early and get rebuilt on community feedback, and Digital Extremes says so plainly. Senior community manager Sarah Asselin called the response to the fishing and mount reveals "more than we could've hoped for", adding that features like fishing and wolf pup bonding "are just beginning" and will grow alongside the rest of the game.

Our opinion

Soulframe has spent its alpha looking for the thing that makes it more than Warframe played at a slower tempo, and Hound is the closest it has come yet - a pup you feed the fish you catch is a loop rather than a feature, which is exactly how Warframe's best systems work. The weather is the more interesting swing. Anyone can add rain; tying lightning damage and enemy perception to the sky changes how a fight reads before a single enemy appears, and this game needs more decisions like that, not more gear.