Eternal Strands, the fantasy action-RPG from former Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw’s studio Yellow Brick Games, has a release date and is coming to Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC on 28th January next year.
Eternal Strands follows the adventures of Brynn – a member of a dwindling group of magic users known as the Weavers – who sets out across a fantasy kingdom ravaged by a cataclysmic magical event to uncover the mysteries of the world and recover her people’s cultural home.
In more practical terms, all this comes together in the form of an action-RPG drawing inspiration from the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Shadow of the Colossus, with a bit of Monster Hunter thrown in. The latter two games can be seen in the bosses that roam Eternal Strands’ “open zone” world – 25-meter-high climbable creatures known as the Arks, and the way defeating creatures provides resources used to create new weapons and armour back at a base camp.
As for the Zelda influences, they can be seen in the interplay between Brynn’s magical abilities and the environment. Powers are built around flame, ice, and telekinetic force, all of which can be further enhanced in conjunction with the shifting temperatures caused by the world’s unstable climate. “Heat spreads, cold chills, and real-time destruction allows for unprecedented reactivity in combat,” explains the blurb over on Steam. “Create [ice] bridges, burn barriers, or launch Brynn across the world. The next-generation physics system encourages and rewards player creativity in exploration as much as combat.” Oh, and every surface is climbable too.
When Eternal Strands launches on 28th January, it’ll be available for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, and as a day one Game Pass release for Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers. Additionally, as per an FAQ on Steam, free post-launch content is planned, and a demo’s also on the way. Yellow Brick Games says more details on the latter will be shared at a “later date”.
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