Even in its early alpha state, my intensive hands-on time with Eternal Strands gave me lots to be enthusiastic about. Whether or not it’s the Monster Hunter-esque boss fights in opposition to large creatures, the fascinating and versatile physics-manipulating magical powers, or the apparent dedication to telling a healthful story crammed with lovable characters, this upcoming indie repeatedly shocked me by being very completely different from its action-adventure friends. By combining a hodgepodge of some of my favourite components from completely different genres into one action-packed bundle, developer Yellow Brick Video games hopes to drag off one thing wholly distinctive with its inaugural title. After quite a few hours climbing atop fiery dragons and freezing pesky knights in a block of ice, I believe Eternal Strands stands likelihood of delivering one thing actually particular, and I’ll positively be holding an in depth eye on it.
The primary main draw in this cross-genre cocktail’s repertoire is its boss fights in opposition to monumental foes that appears to attract clear inspiration from the likes of Shadow of the Colossus then provides a splash of Mega Man by supplying you with a brand new magical capacity for every behemoth you defeat. Although I used to be solely in a position to do battle with a handful of these formidable foes, which ranged from bipedal fireplace benders to four-legged snow salamanders, I used to be fairly impressed by simply how artful these huge monstrosities have been. Whereas climbing atop them, they’d do every part from lighting themselves on fireplace, to choosing me up and squishing me in their arms, to retreating when endangered to assault me from afar, usually stunning me after I thought I’d developed a plan of assault in opposition to them. Admittedly I additionally encountered occasions the place a boss would seemingly not know what to do with me, letting me get away with laying the beat down for much longer than I ought to have been in a position to, however I’ve to think about that can get ironed out in the months to come back, and I’m hopeful that every of these titans might be each bit as intimidating as they seem. You’ll be able to learn my ideas about one such boss combat right here.
These epic bosses are enhanced by the instruments you convey into battle in the kind of your physics-manipulating magical talents, which let you mild issues on fireplace, freeze enemies in their tracks, use telekinesis to toss issues at excessive velocity, and extra. I wrote a whole separate article about simply how cool these talents are, however in brief they comply with in the footsteps of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom by providing an open-ended toolbox of powers, then letting you experiment with them to drag off loopy stunts. The large distinction is that as an alternative of utilizing these talents to unravel puzzles, you largely apply them to fight to drag off goofy stunts like summoning some fiery minions to help you, then utilizing a telekinetic wormhole to launch them into the air at a hovering baddie. I solely had sufficient time to only barely scratch the floor on how these talents labored and interacted with each other, however I may already see some severe potential in gamers discovering artistic and stunning purposes for these powers and the way they may work together with each other – and I can’t wait to see the weird shenanigans the neighborhood will get as much as.
Past utilizing these powers in a combat, you’ll additionally have the ability to more and more have an effect on the world round you as your talents evolve, surprisingly incorporating mechanics that will really feel proper at dwelling in a simulation sport. By making sudden use of Unreal Engine 5, Eternal Strands lets your use of fireplace and ice have a thermodynamic affect on the world round you, making the biome hotter or colder passively as you make use of your stolen items. For instance, in one combat the place I repeatedly relied on fireplace spells, I instantly discovered the complete surrounding space arid, with dried out vegetation turning a sickly brown, then later glowing orange and pink to point they’d burst into flames at a second’s discover. I didn’t take the trace and unintentionally began a hearth that unfold all through the degree…simply earlier than working right into a flaming boss who took benefit of my error so as to add literal gas to the fireplace and burned me alive. Along with having the ability to alter the world with your personal magic, freak flash freezes, droughts, and different climate occasions will increase the world round you, inflicting completely different teams of enemies to look, blocking sure paths via the degree and forcing you to take detours, and making the effectiveness of your spells differ significantly relying on these circumstances.
Eternal Strands additionally places lots of give attention to its story, incorporating one more stunning mechanic with its visible novel-style dialogue sections seen in the likes of Hades. You’re put in the boots of a warrior named Brynn, who belongs to a ragtag group of renegade magic customers set on uncovering the mysteries of the ruined land of the Enclave, and in between slaying large automatons you’ll develop bonds with these loveable misfits. Between the avian biped Oria, who serves as your mentor, and the anime glasses man thirst lure Dahm, who you’ll flip to for enchanting, I get the sense this might be one of these feelgood tales of a discovered household overcoming the odds via the energy of friendship. And though it received’t have you ever making gut-wrenching ethical choices such as you’d anticipate from an RPG or construct overt social hyperlinks usually related to story-focused adventures, I’m inclined to suppose we’re in for a reasonably memorable story full of coronary heart.
With a potpourri of components cherry-picked from a handful of genres I like, Eternal Strands has offered me thus far on its potential to create one thing actually distinctive. With a lot of time left on the clock to refine it additional, I discover myself overwhelmingly optimistic that Yellow Brick Video games might need a success on their arms with their debut sport, and I’ll definitely be following its growth carefully.