Eternal Strandsis the debut action-adventure title for Yellow Brick Games, which was founded in 2020 by BioWare and Ubisoft veterans like Mike Laidlaw (Dragon Age) and Thomas Giroux (The Crew), among many others. This means there are big expectations out of a relatively small studio, but there are advantages to that. Because of a focused idea and the studio’s hopefully well-paced execution,Eternal Strandswill be released in Q1 2025 - roughly five years afterYellow Brick Games was founded.
InEternal Strands, players take on the role of a Weaver named Brynne who seeks to recover her people’s cultural home. She seems to be a descendant of the Enclave, a culture that sealed itself away from the rest of the world long ago. This, according toEternal Strands' description, leaves “a once powerful center of magical wonders” dormant. This implies some degree of fantasy background and lore, which is enticing, but it also approaches art and gameplay in an interesting action-adventure direction. Indeed, at first glance,Eternal Strands' artwork feels reminiscent ofImmortals Fenyx Rising(a Ubisoft work), but where it seems to truly make its mark is on action-adventure gameplay.
Eternal Strands Gameplay Features
Weaver Combat in Eternal Strands
As a Weaver, Brynn’s combat and gameplay focus on magical abilities and magical weapons, ones that also gamify the surrounding environment, through an artifact called The Mantle. This Artifact lets Brynn use Frost, Flame, and Kinetic magic against her enemies, burning them, freezing them, or just lobbying something at them. This is what Yellow Brick Games means by a true physics playground. Players are able to use these abilities in conjunction with the environment in combat; for example, Brynn can use kinematic magic to lob a tree at an enemy. In theory, she could light that tree on fire and lob a flaming tree at an enemy. Brynn can also block enemies with walls of ice or use Kinetic Force to yeet enemies off a cliff (which is a gaming classic).
Brynn will need these abilities to survive against enemies, some of which are colossal in size. One colossal enemy shown so far are giant constructs called Arks, upon which Brynn can also climb—gameplay similar toDragon’s Dogmaor evenShadow of the Colossus. It also seems players will be able to combat and climb onto dragons, as one trailer shows Brynn on the back of one. Manipulating the environment, climbing enemies, and combining all of these abilities are at the heart ofEternal Strands. Of course, this style of gameplay needs some progression. Defeating Arks is at least one method players can use to obtain Strands, which can then be used to infuse the Mantle with new magical abilities.
Beyond that, players can customize their gear for theall-important fashion elementofEternal Strands, but these enchanted weapons and armor also make Brynn all the more effective in combat. Players can expect a standard suite consisting of head armor, body armor, bracers, boots, a sword and shield, a two-handed weapon, and a ranged bow. There is also a consumable belt shown to utilize 2-3 items for those all-important heals.
Weaver Exploration in Eternal Strands
All of these features translate into the exploration and world ofEternal Strandsas well. Players not only climb the gigantic monsters left behind by the Enclave, but they can climb virtually anything in the environment. Yellow Brick Games has citedZelda: Breath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomas inspiration before, so this is no surprise. But it opens up a huge avenue for exploration when players can do this in conjunction with melting or burning away roadblocks, forming ice bridges, and even throwing Brynn herself with kinetic magic (which sounds super exciting). I just know I am going to yeet myself at an enemy and fall to oblivion at some point.
Furthermore,Eternal Strandsfeatures anextreme weather systemthat is said to affect her abilities. While Yellow Brick hasn’t gone into detail on these features quite yet, it seems safe to assume that it means that fire powers could be stronger in Extreme Heat, but ice powers may be weaker. For now, fans should wait and see what else Yellow Brick reveals about this feature.
Your Eternal Strands Companions?
Joining Brynn is her Weaver Band, a collection of fellow Weavers who keep up camp for Brynn. Not much has been revealed about them yet, such as their story presence and influence, but it seems unlikely they ever join Brynn in the field. They are notDragon Age: Veilguard-style companions, but a collection of folks supporting Brynn’s journey. There appear to be 5-6 of them, including Oria the bird, a green wolf-like humanoid with tusks (shown to be working a forge), two Tiefling like figures, and at least two human-looking people. One of them also appears to be named Casmyn, though who remains to be seen.
Players will return to camp at the end ofEternal Strands’day/night cycle(although it’s uncertain if this is timed or just when players are ready to rest). Doing so will let players craft, forge and reforge weapons, and otherwise interact with these companions.
All in all,Eternal Strandsseems to be packed with fun features that make pursuing the Enclave’s mysteries and challenges all the more enticing.
Eternal Strands
WHERE TO PLAY
Play as Brynn, a young but fearless Weaver, determined to recover her people’s cultural home in the debut fantasy action-adventure title from Yellow Brick Games, a new independent studio founded by industry veterans.Armed with powerful magical abilities and an arsenal of magical weapons, face enemies that range from humanoid constructs to towering beasts. Use the environment and temperature to your advantage in battles against a diverse roster of fantastical creatures, like turning a dragon’s fiery breath against ice-covered minions. Climb every surface and use arcane skills to create new paths. Explore the world in pursuit of the Enclave’s lost mysteries and challenge giant titans on your journey.The World is Your Weapon: At the heart of Eternal Strands beats a revolutionary new system for gameplay interactions: heat spreads, cold chills, and real-time destruction allows for unprecedented reactivity in combat. Hurl burning tree trunks at enemies with telekinetic powers, snap nearby trees to block opposing fire, or channel raw telekinetic force to rip boulders from the ground.
