Eternal Strands (XSX) Review

Weave some magic

2024 saw some great games release, one of those that continues to be polarizing is Dragon Age: The Veilguard. If you are a fan of our ZTGD Podcast (and if you are not, you should be…it’s a great time) then you no doubt heard that Dragon Age made my top 10 list of the year, despite the wealth of complaints I have about it. I am not going to rehash it all here but you can listen to our GOTY 2024 show for the details. Well friends, did you know that the creative mind behind the Dragon Age series; Mike Laidlaw had formed a new studio, Yellow Brick Games. I am here to tell you that with their first game; Eternal Strands, Laidlaw and team have weaved together a game that feels like it could have been the next evolution for the Dragon Age games.

In Eternal Strands players will take on the role of Brynn, who is a young Weaver. These warriors who capable of unleashing magical spells as well as melee fighting prowess. Brynn is a part of a group of travelers known as a Weaverband, the team is full of characters who will craft armor, refine magic, and keep the many, many pages of lore that players will come across. Brynn is able to have conversations with each of the members of the band in-between outings, here players will learn more about each member and gain some backstory into the world or inter-personal relationships around the Weaverband. Brynn will be sent out on runs to explore the world of the Enclave, and to try and bring it back to its once former glory.

MSPR: $39.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $39.99

What may come as a surprise to some, and did to me is that despite Eternal Strands being worked on by some of the best in the storytelling business, the game itself isn’t narratively driven. Things like quests feel more like a push toward finding something or for exploration purposes more than it is actually filling in some grand tapestry. But that’s not to say that there isn’t story here, in fact there is but players will have to explore the massive world to uncover it. For those players who enjoy the open approach of the latest Zelda games, then this is going to be for you. Players will be met with large areas to explore, with the freedom to climb on any surface, depending you have enough stamina (more one that later). Hidden amongst the ruins of each level will be parchments and literally pieces of the Enclave’s past and once brought back to base; Laen the lore master will decode everything and it will be compiled into a codex for players to dig deeper into.

During my playthrough I also found a lot of hidden or optional conversations that can be had with the team at the base. One of the things I certainly applaud the studio on is that all of these are voiced interactions, which certainly was a welcome sight. As players progress their team will react to Brynn’s progress through her discoveries and such. Another thing that is wonderful about this game is the fact that its not about saving the world, its really about a team, exploring this lost land. So don’t expect any high stakes in these side conversations or anything. So, if this isn’t a big narrative type game, then what is it?

Well, it’s an action-adventure game that puts an emphasis on the combat and magical abilities; which I have a love/hate relationship with and I will tell you why, starting with the love. The magic system is absolutely amazing, and I feel like its something that we don’t see very often. Players will gain power over ice, fire and more and can combine all of these abilities to combat the enemies. Set a forest on fire and pick up a burning tree with telekinetic abilities a hurl it at your enemies. This is sooo cool, and the applications are near endless as each new area of the Enclave that Brynn explores unlocks new things in the environment to utilize. It really brought be back to early 00’’s games like Psi-Ops and others, ones that I thought we would have seen a lot more of since their inception.

Eternal Strands goes a step further by having an extremely well-done physics system. I cannot stress how impressive this game is, being that its this studio first. Elements and temperature play a crucial role in the game’s exploration and combat. Using fires will of course heat up an area and burn things, to that end having a fire spread beyond your control is common when the magic is used in buildings or in forests. The games real-time destruction is really something to behold and adds a lot to game play and style of play. Alternately just as fire burns’ ice will cool; Brynn can make ice bridges to cross and even freeze enemies to the environment or themselves. One of my favorite things to do when hunting one of the giant enemy dragons is freezing their wings to their head so they can’t use their fire breath.

So, the hate part of the combat comes when its time to use the melee or bow. Sigh, as I said before the game has a stamina system; which makes sense with the free-climbing and works to balance. But players will also have to juggle stamina in combat, so each swing, jump, dodge will cost them. Which is fine when fighting the games giant foes, (more on that in a bit) but is awful with the common enemies. Truly this is my biggest gripe about this otherwise great game; the stamina system just feels like it’s there to take away from the players fun, the combat is already simplistic. Don’t expect to drop combos like DmC or its ilk, players will get like a 3 hit combo and a heavy attack. Why add the stamina system when the basic enemies have so much health, not to mention the massive levels that players will run around in. Brynn will have to stop every so often just to catch her breath, it just feels like an artificial way to slow the progression of the game.

If the stamina is the least favorite part of Eternal Strands, then my hands down favorite is the giant bosses. Players will face giant bosses of varying types, massive birds, fire-breathing dragons, huge bi-pedal colossi that won’t go down by just chopping a leg and more. Brynn can climb these monsters and attack various like exposed arms, wings and even knock armor pieces off others. These fights were always thrilling, even after multiple times; as players will have to fight these creatures repeatedly in order to upgrade their magical powers. I love how Eternal Strands inspirations are worn on their sleeve, some Shadow of the Colossus, Breath of the Wild and even Monster Hunter. As a tip, players should consult their codex on the giant foes to find out the ‘real’ ways of slaying them.

I have waxes poetic about Eternal Strands for quite a while here and I am not going to lie, friends, gamers; we are starting 2025 off with a banger. Yes, I do not like the stamina system but when players are riding a dragon, chopping at its wing in hopes of making it land with that stellar soundtrack pumping; I mean it’s just a great time. I forget all about the floaty feeling movement, the stupid stamina system and any other gripes, because fighting those giant monsters and exploring this destroyed civilization is just that much fun. If you are remotely a fan of Dragon Age, Monster Hunter, Zelda, the Colossus games then I think you too will find some fun in Eternal Strands.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.

Good
  • Exploration and levels are amazing
  • Fantastic magic and physics system
  • Giant foes are so much fun
  • Killer soundtrack
Bad
  • Stamina system
  • Melee combat is lacking some ‘oomph’
9
Excellent
Written by
Terrence spends his time going where no one has gone before mostly. But when not planning to take over the galaxy, he spends his time raising Chocobo and trying to figure out just how the sarlaac could pull Boba Fett’s ship with its engines firing FULL BLAST into it’s maw with relative ease; yet it struggled with Han Solo who was gripping *checks notes* SAND!