As you know, Warframe is getting its next big update: Unbind Dante. It will be released sometime in March as an echo patch to December’s excellent Whispering in the Walls patch – a narrative bombshell that sets the stage for Warframe’s narrative growth in the coming years.
But in the shadow of such updates, can “Dante Unlimited” be attractive? To find out more about what we can expect, I sat down for a quick chat with Creative Director Rebecca Ford and Community Director Megan Everett to find out more about what we can expect to see.
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Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. Dante, whoever he was, this bookworm certainly seemed untethered and thriving. As the 56th Warframe in the game (still feeling old), he’s also able to do wonderful things with the new book weapon type added in Whispers in the Walls.
“I don’t know if it’s too early for us to make a book Warframe after book weapons, but honestly, the concept of Dante and making this ‘Page Master’ Warframe is something I’ve always wanted to do,” said Ford of the concept at Digital How long has this been brewing in Extremes? “I was very opportunistic. I put this kit together and asked Pablo (design director) if I could bring this kit to the team – I knew exactly the fantasy we wanted […] As a concept, we started working on him as early as last year.
Ford continued, “I knew I wanted a story-based framework that could cast a spell to tell chapters through this custom UI, so that’s what it felt like. The design and implementation teams have been working on it ever since. .”
There is no elephant in Dante’s room, but an owl, an animal that was clearly the main inspiration for the frame’s look and core design. Aside from Ford, Dante’s unique look compared to the cast is largely due to Vadim Sverdlov. Dante is the concept artist behind Guass Prime, his first original framework.
“I wanted Dante to feel like a classic god of knowledge! A lot of us really wanted this pointy wizard hat, so we did that with an alternate helmet. I put a lot of emphasis on physique, strength, and casting.” Deem took this and went all out to see the owl as a reflection of knowledge and turned it into the shape and silhouette you see today.” To go with this look, Dante was the first to use a male floating action frame, further promoting the magical aura surrounding the frame.
Clearly, there’s more than just new Warframes on offer here. Inaros, a fan-favorite tank suit, is getting a much-needed polish. When asked how the team decides which frame needs such treatment, Ford told me that in this case it came down to a good old-fashioned lightbulb moment from a team member. “Credit to some of my colleagues, but they were just playing around with it and saying ‘I think I have some quick fixes that can really make things look new’. It wasn’t a major surgery, it was very much a A routine of positive refreshment. It’s a lift, not an amputation! (laughs).
Cosmetics can be overwhelming, especially for those who are reluctant to spend money. But when it comes to Tennogen – where fan-created items can be purchased within the game, with profits shared between Digital Extremes and those creators – the cool factor increases significantly. Enter Everett, who is more than happy to explain why Tennogen is making a grand comeback with Dante Unchained.
“Tennogen is very special to us, and it’s one of the most important things we prioritize when developing cross-saves specifically. We want to make sure we maintain artist security. The difference between Tennogen on PC is purchased through Steam, while on On console it’s through platinum. So we don’t want people to abuse that.”
With Dante Unbound, a new wave of Tennogen cosmetics are coming to the game. Each of them was created with the assistance of Digital Extremes staff, who apparently provide one-on-one advice to community artists.
To learn more about Dante Unbound, you can check out the latest Digital Extremes development stream. If you want to try it for yourself this March!
