Eternal Strands Review – A Mixed Bag

As a devoted gamer, I was thrilled by the idea that Eternal Strands would offer a blend of the captivating worlds found in both Shadow of the Colossus and Breath of the Wild. While it certainly shares some similarities with these beloved classics, it unfortunately doesn’t quite manage to capture the same level of enchantment or intrigue. It might be unreasonable to expect such a feat from a new indie studio like Yellow Brick Games, especially given that Eternal Strands is a fresh intellectual property. Nevertheless, despite its solid foundation and enjoyable gameplay, I found myself losing interest fairly quickly. However, it’s worth noting that the game does execute what it sets out to do quite competently, so let’s delve into its gameplay after we’ve covered its basic narrative first.

Eternal Strands

Story Overview: The narrative follows a group of magic users, known as “Weavers,” as they delve into the mysteries of an ancient civilization that inexplicably crumbled to dust. This society once thrived, but after its sudden collapse, the use of magic was outlawed and Weavers were shunned. The tale starts with a team of magic-wielders venturing beyond The Veil – a powerful magical barrier safeguarding the long-lost civilization from the outside world. As a skilled Weaver, Brynn’s mission is to unravel the enigma surrounding this vanished culture and help her companions navigate its treacherous remnants.

It seems that a game like Eternal Strands could boast outstanding exploration and combat, but if it has poor controls, it may still disappoint. Fortunately for fans of Breath of the Wild, Eternal Strands features seamless movement technology, ensuring a satisfying gaming experience. Brynn’s movements are swift, immediate, and responsive. Climbing is also smooth and reminiscent of games like Dragon’s Dogma or Zelda, which is beneficial because most objects in the environment can be climbed upon, except for the minimal use of invisible walls. In summary, exploring and jumping on various things can be an enjoyable experience overall.

“You’re left wildly swinging weapons or using other less reliable means to mine materials.”

In Eternal Strands, the gameplay can feel awkward during resource-gathering moments, particularly when you’re dismantling objects for materials. The act of smashing rocks and barrels isn’t as enjoyable as it could be. For instance, your character moves forward each time you break down an object, forcing you to frequently readjust your position until the object is finally destroyed. Unfortunately, there’s no way to lock onto objects, so you end up swinging weapons wildly or relying on less precise methods to mine materials. While other survival crafting games excel at the rewarding process of material collection, Eternal Strands could improve in this area, despite offering a variety of abilities for players to utilize.

It’s great that the enemy targeting system is swift and enjoyable to work with. Managing multiple adversaries doesn’t feel excessively challenging or awkward, thanks to well-placed cameras and quick target acquisition. However, certain enemies can be frustrating to battle. For instance, groups of invisible creatures that populate the early stages of the game make lock-on obsolete, as they swarm you in large numbers. Fighting the same adversaries repeatedly becomes monotonous because of the limited resources in your inventory and the meager experience points gained from defeating them.

Make sure to save all your crafting supplies wisely, as each type only has a limited number of storage spaces available.

Correct, it’s essential to manage your crafting supplies wisely since each material type has a limited storage capacity in your inventory. I’m still puzzled about the strict inventory restriction within Eternal Strands. It seems like I spend more time traveling between areas rather than immersing myself in free exploration as one would expect from an open-world game. However, it should be noted that Eternal Strands doesn’t fully fit the definition of a true open-world title. Instead, the game is divided into different zones with a central hub where you can store materials, craft items, and interact with your caravan crew. The gameplay can essentially be described as an ‘expedition’, as you don’t get to traverse the expanses of The Enclave for long before your inventory becomes full and you require more healing potions.

As a gamer, I’ve found the save system in this game to be somewhat convenient with its semi-frequent autosave, but there’s one aspect that’s not so enjoyable for me: the fact that manual saving is quite limited. You see, you can’t save the game during expeditions and must return to the Southwall Waystation hub first. This limitation on manual saving during expeditions is made even more frustrating by the lack of fast travel during the initial stages of the story. Fast travel becomes available later in the game, but I still found it a bit tedious having to constantly go back and forth between the hub and expedition zones.

In this video game, Loomgates serve as teleportation spots. This means you won’t need to walk or swim extensively through a marsh to carry on your exploration.

Each expedition area consists of distinct regions and towers that serve as activation points. These Loomgate towers act as teleport spots within the game, saving you from walking long distances like trekking across a swamp to continue your exploration. However, even with the convenience of fast travel, frequent interruptions during expeditions due to a full inventory or low health can disrupt the flow of exploration somewhat. The need to retrace your steps isn’t particularly enjoyable because of the slow movement speed and high density of enemies scattered throughout the environments.

In essence, Brynn’s magical skills aren’t particularly useful for navigating through environments. I rarely found myself needing or wanting to create ice bridges over gaps or similar feats. Her powers are mainly utilized in battles, and the environments themselves don’t demand much creative application of her abilities beyond climbing and jumping. However, there are instances where objects need freezing or torches lighting for progression. Unfortunately, the design of the levels doesn’t fully exploit the potential of magical terraforming.

My primary concern, though, is not about untapped potential but rather the speed and immersion in traversal. A horse mount or glider would have significantly improved the experience of moving from one place to another. However, it seems that the level design didn’t require such conveniences, even though they were occasionally necessary.

“Some hot objects need to be frozen and some torches lit to progress forward”

The zone maps are quite adequate; they’re not overly large or complex for exploration, but they provide enough ground to warrant multiple returns. The Watcher’s Wisp skill enables Brynn to determine the location of an objective once it’s unlocked after the initial three hours. There isn’t a minimap or compass in the game, which can be inconvenient given how crucial finding specific crafting materials is emphasized. If they don’t add a basic compass as a fix, you’ll likely find yourself frequently accessing the menu map to figure out the general direction of a region or point of interest.

1. The zone maps are suitable in size; they aren’t expansive or intricate enough to exhaust exploration, but there’s enough area to warrant repeated visits. The Watcher’s Wisp skill aids Brynn in finding objectives as long as it’s unlocked after the initial three hours. In this game, you won’t find a minimap or compass, which can be frustrating considering how much importance is placed on locating specific crafting materials. If they don’t include a simple compass in an update, you may often need to check the menu map just to understand the general direction of a region or point of interest.

Beyond just gathering materials and progressing through storylines, each zone in the game offers a wealth of additional information once you’ve accumulated sufficient manuscript documents. These documents provide insights about both gameplay mechanics and the game’s lore. One intriguing tidbit that becomes accessible is the specific weather conditions for each area. The game, Eternal Strands, features an engaging weather system where zones experience snowstorms, heavy rain, or sunlight according to a cycle. Weather plays a significant role in determining the types of monsters that appear in a zone and also affects extreme temperatures which can impede your character if they’re not properly equipped. For instance, preparing for extreme cold with cold resistance armor or potions is crucial if you plan to explore that zone. Unfortunately, without enough manuscripts, you won’t know the specific weather conditions of each area. However, you can advance time and wait for the weather to change by resting at camp, as this system could become quite frustrating otherwise.

“Zones get beset by snow storms, torrential rain, or blessed by sunlight based on a weather cycle”

Gathering scraps of ancient manuscripts offers more than just meteorological data; it also unveils vast amounts of lore within the Codex regarding history, politics, ethnicities, and geographical details. Apart from amassing these texts and materials, there isn’t much else to delve into in the game Eternal Strands. However, aside from completing story goals, there’s not much more to discover within it.

For me, the most thrilling part of the game is the massive Ark boss fights. These encounters seem to draw inspiration from the Colossi in “Shadow of the Colossus” and “Dragon’s Dogma”, as they involve scaling and attacking vulnerable spots. The battles primarily consist of climbing and striking weak points, only to be thrown off hundreds of feet back to the ground. The climbing and hanging mechanics feel responsive and rewarding, while strategically hitting each weak spot while dodging counterattacks keeps things exciting. The challenge of finding the right balance between holding on for dear life and locating vulnerable spots never grows old. While the design of these Ark bosses may not be particularly remarkable, and the strategies for defeating them don’t offer much in the way of unexpected twists, it’s a fun experience overall.

“The highlight of the game for me has to be the towering Ark bosses”

Previously stated, other combatants in this game aren’t as engaging compared to others. While parrying and dodging are entertaining, the game could use hotkeys for quicker weapon and spell switches. The wheel for switching feels too slow during intense battles, often leading to unintended selections of spells or weapons due to imprecise thumbstick scrolling. Additionally, the urgency in enemy encounters can sometimes be lacking because there seems to be no consistent musical cue. Sometimes there’s no music at all, while other times it starts playing without warning, making it feel rather random. Despite being composed by Austin Wintory, I found the soundtrack underwhelming. It successfully creates an appropriate atmosphere, but lacks memorable themes or motifs, leaving it unremarkable and easily forgotten in my memory.

In the game, there’s a good assortment of both weapons and magical powers across various categories that appear on your character. To enhance them, you need better quality materials or create new ones using different resources. Magic abilities can also be improved with materials, but unlocking entirely new abilities happens more gradually than acquiring new weapons. I particularly enjoy freezing enemies before slashing them with my greatsword while they’re immobilized. As for the elements, most weapons come in fire and ice versions, which is pretty neat. It’s a bit disappointing that there’s no option to compare equipment in any of the crafting or purchasing menus, nor can you see what specific items you own. I hope they add these features later as they would be essential for a game like this that emphasizes crafting.

I delight in immobilizing foes with a freeze, followed by a swift strike with my mighty sword when they’re motionless.

In addition to its engaging combat and gameplay, Eternal Strands distinguishes itself by placing a strong emphasis on storytelling. The narrative style and wealth of lore within the game bears a resemblance to that found in BioWare titles, given that the lead designer was previously with BioWare. However, despite an abundance of character conversations and backstories, I found myself uninterested in them.

Firstly, the characters in Eternal Strands tend to reiterate plot points repetitively, often accompanied by excessive exposition. The dialogue lacks authenticity, coming across as safe and bland instead. Each Weaver has their unique personality and history, but these elements feel formulaic and somewhat clinical.

Brynn, the main protagonist, is another character who seems to be universally accepted as the band’s leader without any significant flaws or justification for her exceptional competence. The characters in Eternal Strands lack the depth and emotional resonance needed to capture our interest.

In this scenario, the choices you make in conversation don’t significantly impact the outcome, as it might initially seem. The game attempts to give the impression of being one with branching dialogue options on occasion.

The abundance of storyline in the game “Eternal Strands” is undeniably impressive. However, the codex entries about various government bodies, races, and cities (many of which you don’t interact with) are detailed and well-written, but the main plot lacks any sense of urgency or engaging twists. Despite exploring a devastated civilization and trying to survive in this harsh new environment, there are no personal stakes or intriguing elements that grab your attention. This story criticism wouldn’t be an issue if it were primarily a game focused on gameplay, but “Eternal Strands” emphasizes character development and lore, much like its ancestor Bioware games. Additionally, some players may find the frequent use of unique terminology off-putting, with the opening narration serving as an example of excessive jargon usage.

In summary, the game’s dialogues don’t have a significant impact on the gameplay or the storyline in “Eternal Strands”. Regardless of your choice, it usually only provides extra information or lore, rather than shaping the course of events as one might expect from a game that seems to suggest otherwise. The speech indicators can be confusing since they appear for both new and previously checked dialogue options within the same conversation, making it challenging to determine if a character has new information to share.

The records for the government entities, races, and cities are meticulously crafted, brimming with intricate details.

The game Eternal Strands didn’t quite meet my high expectations set by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While the movement and magic mechanics were enjoyable, I found myself lacking a strong reason to continue playing. After defeating a few Ark enemies and exploring their capital, I felt content to stop there. For the price, you’re getting a good amount of gameplay, but it doesn’t offer anything unique compared to other action/adventure games in its genre.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

2025-01-29 18:14

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