Eternal Strands review: magic monster hunting

As part of a traveling band of outcast mages known as weavers in a time when magic is shunned, you could be forgiven for assuming that Eternal Strands is a role-playing game (RPG) with a party of richly drawn characters like the Dragon Age games. Not least when developer Yellow Brick Games’ creative director is ex-BioWare Mike Laidlaw.

However, rather than dwelling on moral conundrums or building relationships, this is very much a capital A action RPG that has a mix of modern The Legend of Zelda‘s free-climbing and physics-based smashing and titanic encounters like those in Shadow of the Colossus. And while it may not reach the same heights of its inspirations, it nonetheless offers something unique with how you engage with its magical elements.

Strand game

You play as Brynn, a weaver who knows her way around a sword and bow. It’s her use of elemental magic powers, strands, that makes her stand out, however.

We all know that fire burns, ice freezes, that fire is effective against ice, and vice versa. But rather than just a simplistic rock, paper, scissors approach, the laws of thermodynamics are carefully applied. You don’t just shoot ice to freeze an enemy completely, but if you can encase a dragon’s feet with ice then it will stop them from taking off in the air. But get too close yourself and you’ll also take damage if you’re not properly protected from the cold.

These strands must be earned by felling the big bad monsters and arks (ancient colossal machines) that roam more than half a dozen of the maps that make up a secluded realm known as the Enclave. While you could just keep thwacking them until their health bar’s gone – you’re also encouraged to deal damage to all parts of their body – figuring out the steps to expose their weakness that allows you to harvest their strand.

It feels especially badass clinging onto these bosses for dear life then reaching into their glowing weak spot, sending the titan crashing down regardless of how much health they still have.

It would feel epic if these were one-offs like in Shadow of the Colossus. However, the structure here is designed so that you’ll have to fight them multiple times Monster Hunter-style to upgrade your gear, or powers, or to advance the story.

The loop diminishes somewhat on repeat because, once you know how to take down one of them, it becomes very straightforward and I found myself rinsing and repeating the same tactics. What does keep you on your toes is a more deadly enemy type that appears partway through the story that hits harder and requires flame or frost powers to finish off.

A good time, not an eternal time

Much of Eternal Strands is divided between a hub where you spend time with your weaverband companions and teleporting to different parts of the Enclave, made up of impressively large buildings to scale or underground caverns to delve deeper into. It’s worth exploring every nook and cranny, as you’ll find new information about an area, as well as recipes for crafting new gear.

The weaverband and other characters you eventually meet in the Enclave are well-written with their own arcs and issues, tackling topics like mental health and redemption, and there’s even a married couple who just about stay on the right side of endearing.

Personally, I was more interested in their function than their chattiness, such as Casmyn’s ability to increase the number of tonics I can carry or Sola’s forge that doesn’t just let you create new gear, but even reforge something you already have with better materials.

That said, my gripe comes from having to return to the hub more often than I’d like. There’s a stop-start nature to missions where, after you’ve found something, you just drop what you’re doing and have to teleport back to the hub to debrief with the gang before you can continue the story.

You can, of course double, up the mission by fighting a boss too, though because you can’t refill your supplies until you’re back at camp you’re at a disadvantage, and – if you die you lose most of your loot. At the same time, once you’ve explored these maps, the second half feels a bit padded, as you’re just revisiting the same areas as initially optional boss hunts suddenly become mandatory. A day and night cycle that also changes weather and enemy locations does at least things up here.

Nonetheless, these are minor complaints as the story avoids overstaying its welcome. Its mechanics may not sustain a much longer gameplay loop like Tears of the Kingdom or Monster Hunter World but then this is not trying to be an epic timesink.

With its novel use of magic and colossal set pieces, Eternal Strands is a fun and breezy adventure to kickstart 2025.

Should you play Eternal Strands?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility

Eternal Strands‘ options menu provides a suite of accessibility features. Subtitles can be toggled on, off, or only during cinematics and voiceovers, with three font sizes and the option to display on a background. Colorblind options can be set according to type and severity.

If you don’t have headphones, there is a night mode, which raises the volume of ambient sound while making explosion sounds less prominent. Game difficulty can be adjusted at any time, which only affects your maximum health and the amount of health recovered from vitality tonics. In easy mode, vitality tonics are restored after defeat.

How I reviewed Eternal Strands

I played Eternal Strands for 20 hours on my PS5 Pro, which allowed me to complete the main story and some side quests, although that didn’t include upgrading every strand to max level or completing all companion questlines, which would extend the game’s length.

There are no specific graphics modes apart from an option to turn on and off depth of field in-game.

Throughout, I used an LG C2 OLED TV with the default TV speakers and a DualSense Edge controller.

First reviewed January 2025