Yellow Brick Games is among the many game development studios formed in the past few years by AAA industry veterans that show a lot of promise. Earlier this year, the studio founded by longtime Dragon Age series creative director Mike Laidlaw, among others, announced Eternal Strands, an action role-playing game set in a magical world where players control Brynn, one of the last magic users remaining in the world after a cataclysmic event.
Magic definitely seems to be at the center of the experience, judging from the around 20-minute-long demo I had the chance to try out during Gamescom 2024. As the developers themselves revealed, the game feels a lot like a combination of the latest entries in The Legend of Zelda series and Shadow of the Colossus, with a sprinkling of Monster Hunter on top, with large colorful locations to explore, tons of enemies to defeat and some massive bosses that require players to climb on them to reach and exploit their weak points.
From this very brief overview, one may think that Eternal Strands is nothing special, but that is not the case at all. While it is true that the experience feels a little derivative here and there, with mechanics like stamina-based climbing inspired by Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, the game has plenty that makes it stand out from its illustrious inspirations. For starters, Eternal Strands doesn’t feature a massive weapon selection, but only three of them – Sword and Shield, Bow, and Two-Hander. All three weapons have an extensive moveset, which is further expanded by the elemental properties Brynn can wield using magic. Combat feels fluid enough, coming with all the features seen in similar third-person games, such as combos with light and heavy attacks, dodging, lock-on (which is not available for bosses), and the like.
What truly makes Eternal Strands stand out is the well-realized magic system. Every spell, from the simplest elemental shots to the more complex gravity-based ones, interacts not only with the environment and the enemies but also with one another. One gravity spell, for example, can propel Brynn forward and up in the air, but it can also be used to push enemies into chasms or to extend the range of elemental shots. In other cases, another spell can make other spells whose effects go off after a short while activate instantly.
The interactions with enemies are no less varied. An enemy is using a wooden shield? No worries, you can just burn it off using fire magic. An enemy is too mobile for your tastes? No problem, just freeze their legs and they will stop moving. During my short time with the game, I tried experimenting a bit to find some unique interactions, finding it incredibly fun to burn grass to set a large group of enemies on fire or use a gravity spell to attract them to a single spot and then launch them in the air with another. The developers themselves are expecting to see players come up with interactions they didn’t know about, so in this regard, Eternal Strands should offer plenty of fun.
Having experienced almost nothing of the story, it’s hard to say if Eternal Strands will deliver a well-rounded experience when it launches sometime next year on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, but there’s no doubt that the game by Yellow Brick Games will offer plenty of fun for those who like experimenting and finding new ways to break the experience, as many have done with the latest entries in the Zelda series. I, for one, am definitely looking forward to seeing more of the possibilities the game will offer. Meanwhile, check out our interview with Game Director Frederic St-Laurent.
