Eternal Strands, Review
The last 10 years has generally seen a predictable or very “safe” approach to game design by the big studios. Ubisoft and EA are the prime examples of the “safe” design philosophy. Essentially just spitting out the same game in a new wrapper every year. But we gamers have cottoned onto them, and big publishers are now floundering to catch our attention and avoid the backlash that comes with dull game design.
Obviously, exceptions like Elden Ring and Baulders Gate 3 have shown what can be created without big publishers messing with the magic sauce. But these amazing games are the exception, not the rule. I honestly see a renaissance for AA or AAA quality games, coming down the pipeline. I’m not talking the glory of the 80s making a return, I’m talking more recent than that. Think more Xbox 360 generation type games. Where small teams with a good engine can take a few risks, try some stuff and make something great.
So, as you may have guessed. Eternal Strands has hit very well with me.
I honestly hope “AA+” self-published games like Eternal Strands becoming the norm. There are all sorts of factors that will come into play, but it will be in large part thanks to the now experienced and mature workforce, who have serious “chops” in game design. Who have come to the realisation big publisher are no longer needed, combined with desire of not being “safe”. Then chuck in an amazing modern game engine like Unreal Engine 5 to the mix. A small, experienced, skilled team can deliver AA+ experiences that will put the big publishers to shame.
The Canadian developer Yellow Brick Games have done a great job, but as they should. With ex-Bioware Creative Director of the first three Dragon Age games, Mike Laidlaw is at the helm. Music Director from Playstation gem, Journey in the mix and the Technical Lead from countless Assassin Creed and Splinter Cell games, Louis Tremblay on the team; to name just a few who are part of Yellow Brick Games. Eternal Strands is the perfect example of skill, ideas and creative freedoms, coalescing into an enjoyable experience, without the limitations big publishers bring to the table.
With the wider opionons on the state of the industry out of the way, why is this game, Eternal Strands, good?
Well, it nails the most important element of an action-adventure game. The gameplay is creative and fun. Mike Laidlaw stated when Eternal Strands was first announced, that their development process started with their desired gameplay elements ….then the world design and story came after.
Eternal Strands is a mix of Breath of the Wild, Shadow of the Colossus, Monster Hunter with a dab of Fortnite. There is a full-on physics engine to manipulate the world. Break things, throw things, freeze and burn stuff, and you can climb on anything and everything, stamina allowing. The player abilities and progression hinges on finding and felling massive monsters and bosses. And the upgrading of gear and the base camp, all comes from resource collection done during expeditions out into the various “zones”. There is a lot of systems, but the veteran design team have made it all very approachable.
Eternal Strands is set in a realm where magic is shunned and your character Brynn finds herself quickly promoted to be the point-person for a band of adventures, trapped inside a long hidden and dormant magical realm. Brynns job is to explore the zones in this realm, learn about what happened and find a way out. The story and cast of characters are beautifully drawn in mainly static JRPG converstaion slide screens, but they are fully voiced, and there are some minor RPG dialogue choices to work through for those who care. But as stated by the dev team, the story is there to just provide context to the real goal of the game; interacting with the fun gameplay systems.
Systems that work and do, “just what they need to do”
Combat is a mix of parry focused melee and magical abilities. Swords and boards, two handed weapons or bows play as one would expect. But the abilities are what feels new. Any enemy can be picked up and thrown, frozen in a block of ice or set on fire. And more, but I won’t spoil the surprises that come.
And not just the ‘ads’, but even the bosses can feel the force of the physics engine. In the opening sequence I fought a massive dragon. To stop him flying away, I froze its head and front left leg to the ground! I remember it clearly. As when I thought I would try this on, in the back of my mind, I doubted this was going to work. But low and behold it did, and then I climbed up onto its massive back and started wailing on it with a sword.
The art design is great. There is some Fornite-y feel to it, but to be fair. These days anything that looks like a 3D cartoon feels “Fortnite-y”. Brynn and her troop are all unique and look and sound wonderful. The world is gorgeous too. Zones are a mix of forest, desert, and urban areas, that have been left to nature for hundreds of years. Areas have intuitive verticality designed in as well, to feed into the climb-everything mechanic.
These worlds are not static however, as they cyclical weather effects, like drought through to freezing. Which have a direct effect on Brynn, as having the right gear with the right resistances equipped before returning to various zones, is crucial.
Simple, and effective, with hidden depths.
This is extends to the day/night rotations too. So, every trip into a zone moves the day forward, Brynn gets two trips during daytime then one at night, then the next days begins. Enemies, the environment, and resources that can be collected, change depending on where in the day/night cycle Brynn is. There is a raft of resources to be collected and farmed, but once again the genius in the mix here, is that the Devs have hidden a simple system under a shiny outer layer.
So those who don’t want to farm and grind, don’t have too. As there are only 4 types of resources. Such as in the “fibres” category for example. There are all sort of fibres. And they all can be used to craft and upgrade gear to similar effect. But for those who care, the build crafting and cosmetic appearance can be finely tuned with the different sorts of fibres that can be collected. This is the same for solids and leathers etc… too. A clever system, which is suuuuper easy to follow or ignore.
If I had to lay one complaint at the feet of this excellent game, it would be the controller mapping. And to be honest this is very subjective. But the two preset mapping choices don’t gel with me 100%. The reliance on using the triggers to use the magic abilities just doesn’t feel quite right, especially when bows and swords are in the mix too. Without a re-mapping option it took a good 10hrs until I felt comfortable in a big boss battle. But as you can tell, it still grates for some reason.
Overall, Eternal Strands is an excellent game and it shows what a team of 68 talented and creatively unhindered devs can do with UE5. Fun, beautiful and beautifully made and an easy 25+hr game…all for just $60 NZD. Bargain!!
