Eternal Strands Gamescom Hands-On Preview – Surprisingly Fun Magical Mayhem

Yellow Brick Games is among the many game development studios formed in the past few years by AAA industry veterans that show a lot of promise. Earlier this year, the studio founded by longtime Dragon Age series creative director Mike Laidlaw, among others, announced Eternal Strands, an action role-playing game set in a magical world where players control Brynn, one of the last magic users remaining in the world after a cataclysmic event.

Magic definitely seems to be at the center of the experience, judging from the around 20-minute-long demo I had the chance to try out during Gamescom 2024. As the developers themselves revealed, the game feels a lot like a combination of the latest entries in The Legend of Zelda series and Shadow of the Colossus, with a sprinkling of Monster Hunter on top, with large colorful locations to explore, tons of enemies to defeat and some massive bosses that require players to climb on them to reach and exploit their weak points.

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From this very brief overview, one may think that Eternal Strands is nothing special, but that is not the case at all. While it is true that the experience feels a little derivative here and there, with mechanics like stamina-based climbing inspired by Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, the game has plenty that makes it stand out from its illustrious inspirations. For starters, Eternal Strands doesn't feature a massive weapon selection, but only three of them - Sword and Shield, Bow, and Two-Hander. All three weapons have an extensive moveset, which is further expanded by the elemental properties Brynn can wield using magic. Combat feels fluid enough, coming with all the features seen in similar third-person games, such as combos with light and heavy attacks, dodging, lock-on (which is not available for bosses), and the like.

What truly makes Eternal Strands stand out is the well-realized magic system. Every spell, from the