Eternal Strands Review

Over 20 hours into Eternal Strands I was still encountering new enemies, new areas, and new ways to use the handful of magical powers my weaver Brynn had acquired. And though these moments were fresh in the scope of developer Yellow Brick Games’ debut title, not all of them were unfamiliar to a player like myself.

Eternal Strands evokes that old adage “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, one that frequently implies mediocrity. Were the game more ambitious, it may have buckled under the weight and lost focus of its core principles. Were Yellow Brick Games to cull too deeply, its product would be lost among an ocean of other imitators.

Yet some thing kept me enthralled throughout Eternal Strands. Perhaps it was those familiar elements being blended into this particular package. Maybe it was the delightful cast of characters and the extensive lore. Some of it was due in part to the questionable physics infrequently resulting in comically absurd scenarios. Regardless of whichever focal point, Eternal Strands presents a welcoming sandbox adventure, anchored by rich narrative, possessing crucial components that make for great games.

A cataclysmic event known as The Surge seemingly wiped out The Enclave, one of the world’s most prominent cities for anything magic. After The Surge, dangerous magic began pouring out of The Enclave, causing The Veil to be placed around the land to contain the danger from the rest of the world.

Bungie fans may feel mild whiplash from Yellow Brick Games’ emphasis on capital nouns but Eternal Strands doesn’t get carried away with it, I promise. As Brynn, players are a part of a caravan of weavers, researchers, and craftspeople who were forced into The Enclave as refuge from a sudden explosion of dangerous magical energy. Brynn has recently joined this group as a weaver, a person in tune with magic who can use a Mantle to cast various spells. A generous prologue allows players to get acclimated to Eternal Strands‘ numerous characters and the basics of the world.

An emphasis is placed early on to Brynn’s past experience with a band who took advantage of her enthusiasm and young age. Her new group is a collection of compassionate, experienced individuals who seemingly don’t have a vindictive bone in their body. A key strength of Eternal Strands is its cast. Brynn is a scrappy protagonist who packs determination but players also have the ability to shape her personality through a series of varying responses to other characters. While these options don’t alter the outcome of dialog, they may be referenced by a character later on as the game’s way of giving players narrative agency.

Being a fantasy game, the caravan is comprised of a cast of fun and aesthetically wonderful characters. Oria is a bird-like humanoid with colorful plumage. Dahl and Casmyn are horned people, while Sevastyan is a tusked bear. When conversations between characters occur, Eternal Strands opts for a kind of visual novel approach, having the character art appear above a text box. As moods and tones change, the art slightly adjusts to show the character smiling, frowning, or otherwise emoting.

Though it may be distracting for those who would rather see these conversations take place in-engine, the text-heavy dialog does benefit from this approach. Crucially, the voice actors across the breadth of the game do a phenomenal job with their roles. A number of accents are used to give the cast a unique feel that is fitting of their role in the game’s world. Eternal Strands features a significant amount of optional dialog and points of inquiry, making it important that everything outside of the codex is fully-voiced to draw the player in.

World-building was not something I expected to such a degree with Eternal Strands but the wealth of codex entries prove that Yellow Brick Games is invested in this world and hopes that the most curious players have plenty to chew on. Mechanically, a lot of these entries are unlocked in the world as glowing points of interest. During gameplay in The Enclave, players can seek them out and get a small tidbit and perhaps Brynn or another character will comment. Head back to base and Laen, who compiles these archives, may unlock further information.

The efforts made to present The Enclave as not just a space for players to exist in but a tangible location with history is admirable. This is definitely one for the lore hounds who enjoy environmental storytelling to a degree but prefer taking small breaks to soak up stories like they would a book in Skyrim.

Brynn and her caravan are seemingly trapped in The Enclave but also recognize the significance of their plight. For years The Enclave has been sealed off by The Veil and no one truly knows what is going on inside. Rumors and the occasional fiend seem to leak out but a permeating cloud of caustic magic energy called Tangles are a byproduct of The Surge and harm those who linger in it. Brynn acts as the point–or explorer–for her group and initially leaves the safety of the camp to learn more about The Enclave.

Eternal Strands‘ narrative is a slow burn where most reveals take place in the midst of conversations and discoveries. The game has a limited number of cutscenes and almost no cinematic setpieces. The prologue is one of the most guided aspects of the game. While this may be a detractor for those who prefer their adventures to lean more into action, Eternal Strands is not attempting to mimic a pace that would not benefit it.

The game’s loop is relatively simple and one that leans into a player’s flexibility. At the core of Eternal Strands beats a kind of survival/crafting game where players take root in an area and can harvest it for resources. These resources come from enemies, treasure chests, junk around the world, trees, rocks, and the environment. Initially, Brynn can hold a limited amount of resources but all of her capabilities can be slowly upgraded at the base by opting to salvage resources for the camp rather than saving them for potential upgrades.

Unsurprisingly, there are numerous types of ingredients and resources of varying rarities. More difficult locations, treasure chests, bosses, and tough enemies will most often drop the best stuff. Across the five varying rarities, players will use these resources to craft a sword and shield combo, a ranged bow, a two-handed sword, and four pieces of armor. Thoughout the numerous districts of The Enclave, blueprints can be found that unlock the ability to craft that item back at camp.

Crafting is simple, yet rewarding in Eternal Strands. Firstly, players can craft a piece of equipment but must have the right amount of resources. These are usually in one of four categories but apply to things like ore, wood, linen, cloth, fur, and parts taken from enemies. Once crafted, an item can then be upgraded for a minor stat boost using the same resources it was crafted from. Or players can reforge an item. Doing this means players can invest different materials into one of the four crafting slots for the item, boosting its capabilities.

Equipment stats are also simple to understand. Raw damage and defense, heat resistance, cold resistance, and weight. All equipment sets except for the basic gear also have a special attribute or magical property. Weapons may have an elemental-based attack while armor can boost health or magic regeneration. Higher rarity resources will greatly boost the stats of a piece of equipment. But depending on what’s used in reforging, players may use resources that amplify heat resistance over cold, or focus on light armor that makes stamina deplete slower.

If Breath of the Wild is coming to mind, you won’t be the only one. Eternal Strands features a system where hot and cold temperatures come into play. A cave may be crystallized in ice, crippling stamina usage and causing Brynn to walk slowly and take heavy chip damage. Enemies who lob fire can set trees and leaves on fire, causing a small inferno.

Of course, Yellow Brick Games works to play with this concept a great deal but in terms of environmental puzzles, it’s not too complex. The aforementioned ice caves can be managed by Brynn’s ability to use a spell that emits an extended blast of fire. It won’t suddenly cause the overall temperature to change but any nearby torches, boxes, or enemies can be set ablaze to temporarily warm the path. Cleverly, players later learn an ability to summon a fire companion who will follow them around, creating a mobile point of warmth. Some distant ledges or platforms can be reached by creating a bridge of ice or using a gravity spell to blast Brynn the required distance.

These moments are few and far between, often meaning that players who push through will reach a blueprint. Surprisingly, there are few fire “puzzles” that require the player to use ice to cool off the environment. In one area, an entire village is frozen solid, making navigation extremely difficult. Thankfully, players will acquire potions that temporarily increase Brynn’s tolerance for heat and cold that are refreshed when going back to camp.

While there is an attempt to emphasize these radical temperature differences, it can at times be more of an annoyance. Soon into the game, levels will be afflicted by a condition. If not “clear” as in neutral, there will be a drought, a cold snap, or a miasma. When it is a drought, it’s easier to catch things on fire; a miasma will produce pockets of poisonous magic all over a level. The most annoying, however, is when the entire level is cooled. By default, stamina regeneration will be reduced but players must also pay attention to lighter blue paths and crystallized ice that will “freeze” Brynn and cause her health to gradually be reduced.

Players are meant to combat these changing situations with the variety of equipment that can be created, perhaps opting for cold resistant armor to reduce that damaging build-up. The issue is that any kind of armor that would have a worthwhile resistance is difficult to craft, more so when it isn’t obvious how extreme these temperatures get. Breath of the Wild had a thermometer in the HUD. Eternal Strands has red or white grow in intensity around the edges of the screen. Though it may be less intuitive, it might take a few runs to entirely understand what damaging heat or cold is. And though these environmental hazards are meant to be an issue, players can simply rest to pass the time and clear out the weather.

Eternal Strands‘ structure is built around three sessions per day: morning, afternoon, and night. At night, it’s dark and enemies might be more ferocious and harder to see. Conveniently–and certainly a big quality of life move–the time of day only shifts when players return to camp. Should one desire, Brynn can teleport through all the various parts of The Enclave doing whatever the player sees fit. That being said, inventory space is limited and players can collect big stacks of resources, but not everything they find.

“Runs” in Eternal Strands are a delicate balance of trying to maximize resource collection to boost equipment to eventually navigate increasingly difficult areas and enemies. Thankfully there is a breezy pace that comes naturally to the movement and combat. It takes some time before encounters truly feel difficult, meaning players have plenty of time to experiment with the game before the challenge of its later levels rises to the surface.

The ultimate challenge in Eternal Strands are the massive bosses that wander each separate zone. Imagine a hybrid of Shadow of the Colossus and Monster Hunter. Similar to Monster Hunter World, the player is attacking these large enemies for materials. Players can fell the flying dragons, the statue-like Arks, and the hulking beasts through raw damage. When dead, they drop rare resources that are valuable in the best upgrades in the game. But in order to improve magical spells in the game, players need to specifically “harvest” these enemies in special ways to reveal a weakpoint that can instantly kill it and grant an upgrade to a spell.

For the flame-breathing dragon, players need to damage one wing and break all the horns off its head. Then when the dragon takes flight, its harvesting point will open up. The earliest Ark in the game can be harvested by removing every piece of armor it wears, which fall after striking small stone circles keeping the armor locked in place.

Combat is where Eternal Strands‘ playground of spells truly comes into play. If blades and arrows prove to not do enough damage, why not constantly blast a foe with fire? How about pick them up with a kinetic spell and toss them into a chasm. Or pick up an explosive plant and toss it at a boss, doing splash damage to all its parts. One spell creates a gravity well that sucks up everything in it, and causes damage the more inside of it. Create a wall of ice around a group of enemies, suck in all that ice, make it explode, and if they are still alive pick up rocks and barrels and launch them.

Numerous small battles in Eternal Strands can be bypassed simply by running away. Keep in mind, enemies and their projectiles have a tendency to rubber-band towards players. But the hulking bosses are a different matter. Harvesting them is worth the slower process because the spell upgrades make a big difference in their potency. And when Brynn gets stronger, it’s significantly easier to make short work of them.

The entertainment value of these encounters can make Eternal Strands quite enjoyable and I frequently had memorable and tense encounters. My second go at the dragon and harvesting it ended up with me running around the map, desperately hiding from its fire bombs and breath and scavenging for potions. Ultimately our battle concluded in a small wooded area with huts nearby. The dragon’s attacks laid waste as I hid behind trees popping out and taking shots with Brynn’s arrows. After the dragon died I ran around and collected all the wood from everything that had been destroyed, saving me the time.

But these fights also highlight the imprecise and sometimes laughably wonky physics at play in Eternal Strands. Brynn can climb virtually any surface in the game by pushing up against it. The action is simple, intuitive. Her base stamina is pretty high and without previously running or trying to jump higher up, climbing the highest spots are simple. Often I used this ability to get out of danger. Other times I would be running away and accidentally cling to a surface. Climbing bosses is often painless, yet sometimes it can be a mess. The camera may uncomfortably shift, or Brynn refuses to properly move around a dangling piece of armor. When dealing with a flying boss whose wings flap, or a boss with long body parts, Brynn is likely to just grab onto that part of the body because the player is moving the control stick in a direction, thereby performing the action to grab onto a surface. Separately, bosses will try and shake Brynn off and the player can press a button to cling and hold on, using significantly less stamina.

A handful of times, the physics caused Brynn to be launched up and away into the air. Other enemies have gravity-based attacks. Surprisingly, the fall damage is extremely tame and can be lessened more by rolling right before impact. A handful of times gripping and platforming simply failed and I fell to my doom. Yet I have to give Eternal Strands credit for how it handles death. Simply put, Brynn can’t die. Narratively, she is constantly monitored by Oria through a device called The Scry and when she loses all her health or falls to her doom, Brynn is pulled to safety by The Scry and starts over at a waypoint. The tradeoff is that all resources are lost except for a handful of slots which the player can designate.

Since Eternal Strands is so lenient in this way, I can forgive those shortcomings. I have a feeling some of this will be patched over the game’s continued existence. And while it can be frustrating to unceremoniously fall or have difficulty getting in the best location to attack a boss’ parts, the game’s pace and tone lessen the blow.

Honestly, Eternal Strands was a massive surprise to me. At first glance, the game strikes one as relatively humble. Its stylized visuals aren’t groundbreaking, mainly an attempt to communicate its geometry and rules. But the environments feature amazing details and its character art is striking. The voice acting and soundtrack by Austin Wintory are impeccable and carry the player through a dense narrative that features some fun turns. While more polish would be great, I think Yellow Brick Games needed to add more unique puzzle elements to the world instead of making combat the more interesting aspect for experimentation.

Eternal Strands has the DNA from familiar and critically acclaimed games of the last few decades. But, more importantly, it works tirelessly to differentiate itself from the pack. This game is the kind of sandbox players enjoy diving into, one both forgiving and fun. Yet it’s the brilliant narrative and character work that give Yellow Brick Games’ debut an edge, making you come back run after run.