Eternal Strands review: game of ice and fire

Magic is usually an important ingredient in fantasy, but many RPGs boil it down to a weapon to cast or hurl at enemies. New Xbox Game Pass release Eternal Strands manages to put a new spin on spells, while also taking Breath of the Wild, Shadow of the Colossus, Monster Hunter, and even Dragon Age.

Set in a world where magic is shunned and blamed for causing war, an Enclave that was once the heart of magical development and trade has sealed itself away with a spectral barrier. Once your band of magic-wielding outcasts find a way to get through this veil, exciting encounters with 80-foot titans and fire-breathing dragons await.

Playing with magic power

Eternal Strands may start off quite lore-heavy (perhaps unsurprising coming from a creative director whose last game was Dragon Age: Inquisition), but there’s quite an emphasis on your band of companions, who are happy to discuss story events or expand on the current quest while in the Enclave.

The focus isn’t so much on building relationships or moral choices, but on straight-up old-school action-based exploration and combat. The Enclave is made up of multiple impressive-sized maps that feel vast, despite this not being an open-world title. Each has cliffs and buildings that can be climbed with a stamina gauge, and enemies that can be looted for crafting materials. It can feel familiar to the point of derivative.

But then you spy a plant that sets its surroundings on fire when thrown to the ground. Lob it up a wall that’s blocked by ice and it melts a path forward – only now you’re taking damage from the heat. It goes further than modern Zelda physics by adding in the laws of thermodynamics, where sometimes chucking elements together has wonderfully chaotic and explosive effects.

Perhaps it’s why there aren’t many weapon types: just sword and shield (which also allows you to parry), a two-handed great sword, and a bow. It’s simply more fun to mix and match the spells (strands) you can learn. Sure, the great swords have a higher damage output, but why settle for a fair fight when you can encase an enemy in ice or use kinetic powers to chuck them off a cliff?

On the shoulders of giants

Most enemies are at best a nuisance, apart from the one later mob that’s a little more threatening in how far they pursue you and the damage they can deal. Still, they’re all small fry compared to the huge boss enemies that roam each map. With a mix of towering ancient robots and mythical beasts terrorising land and air, both Shadow of the Colossus and Monster Hunter spring to mind.

Most of these titans are merely optional targets, that exist outside of the drip-fed story missions. At first it feels like you’re being sent on fetch quests before anticlimactically teleporting back to camp to confer with your party, then setting out to do it again. Continuing to explore each map, gathering resources and taking on one of these gargantuan threats is a better way to enjoy each excursion – even if falling in battle (or out of bounds in a misjudged jump) risks losing your acquired loot.

Apart from the catharsis of taking down a titan or beast,  this is also how you actually gain new magic powers, as strands have to be harvested from bosses. Figuring out where to target their weaknesses and expose their harvesting spot, as opposed to simply knocking down their health bar, makes each encounter more a fun puzzle and Colossus-like. Further harvesting, Monster Hunter-style, then upgrades each strand’s power level.

The loop isn’t quite so satisfying, though, because once you’ve over the initial awe and figured out what to do, the fights themselves feel quite light. On the other hand, a structure where bosses can appear in other maps, which also have a day and night state and different weather conditions, does go some way of changing things up.

Forging alliances

Even though getting out there and toppling giant monsters with magic is where the fun’s at, there’s still a Dragon Age heart to the weaverband. Not that you’ll be making dialogue choices or romancing anyone, but there are still quests that allow you learn more about your companions and go through their own arcs and personal conflicts.

For those less interested in the talky parts, however, this is all strictly optional. Your companions are nonetheless worth investing in, though, as they each provide useful support functions worth upgrading; from creating and upgrading new strand powers, to the supply caravan that can expand the number of healing tonics and potions to protect you from extreme hot and cold conditions you can carry.

My favourite character to visit is Sola the smithy, who forges new gear based on recipes you discover in the Enclave. There’s a more flexible and thoughtful system for forging new gear that isn’t just about gathering x number of resources. You can mix and match different types of materials that can boost or reduce your stats. Instead of just a linear path of upgrading a piece of gear, you can even reforge what you already own by swapping out existing materials with some rarer materials you find later on.

Sure, you may find more variety of gear in a Monster Hunter game, but then that’s a different beast that you’ll be investing perhaps over a hundred hours in. Eternal Strands is ultimately a more compact game that can be beaten in around 20 hours that doesn’t necessarily keep you coming back after the credits have rolled. But that time still feels well spent with fun and smart ideas.

Eternal Strands verdict

Compared to its inspirations like Breath of the Wild and Monster Hunter, which can keep you hooked for well over a hundred hours, Eternal Strands has a humbler scope. This likeable and breezy action RPG is akin to a popcorn summer movie blockbuster that you might not think a great deal about afterwards but in the moment you’ll have a blast. Sometimes literally.

It’s in many ways a perfect Xbox Game Pass title to start the year off with, and a warm-up to the meatier Monster Hunter Wilds coming next month. Its thermodynamic-based gameplay also gives it an edge over other magic-based games, though if Yellow Brick Games gets to make a sequel, it’ll be tantalising what else can be achieved if you threw in a couple other elements in there.

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