from the void for a moment in the
quest’s closing moments. It was a
moment that had my jaw hitting the
floor at such a ‘what the hell is
this?!’ reveal. “Unforgettable is what
you want in your videogame,”
Rebecca says proudly. “And I think
we hit it in that scene.”
While there’s little known about
this entity, the giant statue that
appears shows a hand with a missing
index finger... something which ties
up with the giant mummified finger
that powers the player’s Railjack
spacecraft and also alluded to in the
story of Albrecht Entrati, who
recounts his first expedition into the
void which ends with him closing the
portal on a doppelgänger of himself,
which severed its fingers. Does he
need the Tenno to escape, or does
something keep him trapped? Or are
his goals even more elusive?
IDENTITY CRISIS
These wild twists and mysteries are
secondary to the core of The New
War’s story, which focuses on the
journey of the Lotus, the guardian of
the Tenno, formerly a Sentient
named Natah who partly assembled
her personality from fragments of
Margulis, who helped create the
Tenno. Her struggle between three
conflicting identities and roles is the
centrepiece of The New War, with the
Operator competing against Ballas
and the Sentient leader Erra, to guide
her towards one identity or another.
Only by realising they too may be
imprinting on them and letting go of
the need for their guardian, does the
Operator allow the Lotus to forge
her own identity, as she once did for
them. By contrast, when Ballas is
confronted with the possibility he
cannot control her, he decides, “If I
can’t have you, nobody can”... by uh,
exploding the sun and wiping out
the entire solar system. This larger
than life sci-fi story might seem
outlandish, but it anchors itself in
poignant human drama. A toxic
relationship can feel world endingly
destructive. The sci-fi elements just
heighten the very personal elements.
Rebecca describes it as “human
conflict in a post-human world”.
Badass space ninjas are ultimately
exposed as teenagers, struggling for
freedom and a sense of self. Lotus, is
in turn shown to be a woman who
chose to pursue her own purpose
against the judgement of her people
and enemies. By protecting the very
weapons she was tasked to destroy,
she flew in the face of all logic but it
was a decision that truly set her free.
“One of the most important parts of
The New War is ensuring that the
conflict remains as human possible
to make players understand their
role in the story.”At the end of the quest players
help her settle on an identity from a
choice of three: Lotus, Margulis,
Natah. None of these are framed as
right or wrong, only a choice. That
freedom to define herself and to have
self expression is the same as the
Operator’s, the scenes mimicking key
moments in their journey.NATAH GAIN
The New War’s closing cutscene
contains a shot of the Operator
carrying the Lotus, an image that’s a
role reversal where the Lotus once
carried the Operator to safety. “Two
years ago... there was a pitch that had
The New War ending with the
Operator carrying the Lotus, and two
years ago I knew that had to be the
ending,” Rebecca told me, citing it as
her favourite moment of the update.
“When I saw it happen and played
connect the dots that this was the
role reversal from The Second Dream,
I knew it would live in my mind as
my favourite part.” The relationship
between these two characters has
come full circle. It’s a beautiful little
moment of harmony, expressing the
value of supporting each other’s self
discovery. “It felt like such an
important closure on that arc.”
While it’s a satisfying conclusion
to this chapter of Warframe, Digital
Extremes are promising more for
2022, starting with The Angel of the
Zariman update which launches
early this year, taking players back to
the Zariman Ten Zero. “It
intentionally serves to prologue
what’s to come.” I can’t wait to see
how much bigger and stranger
Warframe is going to get from here.BELOW: Some of
Warframe’s iconic
moments were turned
on their head.Warframe
FEATURE