Offering depth, beauty and fun in equal measure.
Disclosure: Yellow Brick Games provided the game for review.
Eternal Strands grabs you from the get-go. It’s a vibrant fantasy adventure with a magic system that lets you burn, freeze and fling your way through fights, and creatures big enough to climb. It launched day one on Game Pass, and it’s a testament to what a well-crafted game can achieve, offering depth, beauty and fun in equal measure.
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Eternal Strands Review: Climb, Burn, Freeze and FlingWant to play it? Grab it on the Xbox Store or see Where to buy.
Story
Magic was once celebrated in this world, but now it’s a source of fear and conflict. The Enclave, once a prosperous center of magical learning and culture, has been sealed off for decades. You play Brynn, a young member of a band of Weavers, people who harness magic, and her journey kicks off when her band breaches the barrier around the Enclave. The main drive is uncovering why it was isolated and what secrets it holds.
The story gave me a solid reason to push forward, but what really drew me in were the characters and their individual stories. Brynn is likable and her arc is engaging, and while your choices don’t change the overall plot, they let you color the narrative and shape her personality. Cinematics mix hand-drawn animation with in-engine scenes, and both look great.
Gameplay
This is where Eternal Strands truly comes into its own. Controls feel intuitive, with a lot of freedom and precision in movement, and combat is responsive and rewarding. Magic is split into fire, ice and kinetic types, each useful in fights and for interacting with the world. Kinetic magic lets you grab enemies and launch them off cliffs, which is both strategic and hilarious. Fire spreads naturally through the environment, and ice can block or open passages.
The star is climbing. You can scale virtually any surface, including the massive creatures themselves, with the thrill of Shadow of the Colossus. Dynamic weather keeps you adapting too: a nice day can turn into a deep freeze that makes ice spells more potent, or forces you to find heat or gear up for the cold. Late-game enemies bring a steep difficulty spike that sometimes pushes you to avoid fights rather than take them, which can break the flow, though it also forces you to get creative.
Visuals
The visuals are a feast, like a high-end, next-generation take on Breath of the Wild. The art direction is exquisite, with characters whose designs carry real personality, and the materials you forge armor and weapons from change how they look. Enemy variety is impressive, from small creatures to towering bosses with unique abilities, and the giant constructs are breathtaking in scale. Lush landscapes shift with the weather, lighting sets the mood of each area, particle effects sell fire, ice and magic, and character animation flows smoothly from walking to sprinting.
Sound
The script is fully voiced, and the performances are authentic and bring the characters to life. Dialogue is often presented through 2D panels, which doesn’t always work for me. Ambient sound is meticulously crafted. You feel the ground rumble as giants walk by and hear distant, ominous cries. Combat sounds are effective but not especially memorable, while the adaptive score is where the audio really shines, heightening big emotional scenes and battles alike.
Verdict
Eternal Strands does many things right. The visuals, sound, story and gameplay come together into something truly special, and even the late-game challenge adds a layer of fun by making you think about evasion and tactics.
Image: Yellow Brick Games
More on OnPoint: South of Midnight Review: Compulsion’s Near Masterpiece and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Review: A Resounding 10.
The verdict: Great
Offering depth, beauty and fun in equal measure.
Pros
- Freeing climbing system, including on giant creatures
- Fun fire, ice and kinetic magic with real world interaction
- Gorgeous art direction and creature designs
- Fully voiced cast with likable characters
- Adaptive score
Cons
- Steep late-game difficulty spike
- 2D dialogue panels don't always land
Platform played: Xbox
Where to buy
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