Full disclosure, I was part of the studio's Partner program and got to play the game early, and played it in full after release. Platinumed it on the Playstation 5 version.

TLDR
+ Stylized fantasy aesthetic is a nice chance from all the realistic grit and pixels.
+ Beautiful soundtrack by Austin Wintory
+ Colossal bosses to climb on!
+ Respects your time and what you're in the mood for in a gamesession
- Gravity effects can make movement feel too floaty at times

🟨 OVERALL
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The campaign can be cleared in roughly 20-25 hours depending on the difficulty, for completionist you can stack up another 10-15 hours on that. Eternal Strands is a complete package where you can decide your own plan when you venture out into the world of the Enclave. The story does a solid job of setting up the stakes with a action-packed intro that explains how the thermodynamics factor into the rather straight-foward combat. I enjoy it when the combat remains simple as to not distract from the ongoing events as much, but the simplicity is deceptive as the challenge does ramp up if you do not familiarize yourself with the magic & combat system (but more on that later).

🟨 GRAPHICS
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The stylized visual direction works well to help enhance the storybook adventure feeling I get from playing Eternal Strands. There's a intended choice in presentation at times; there are 3D cinematics, hand drawn 2D animations and visual novel style full body portraits for conversations between the characters. This may not be everyone's cup of tea, I personally appreciated it to allow for different disciplines in the studio's art department to shine. Eternal Strands is a beautiful painting to play and a fresh look from the many realistic gritty titles or pixelated chaos out there.

🟨 GAMEPLAY
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Eternal Strands isn't just an action RPG, it lets you slow down as well and respects your mood. If you want to chase towering monsters and challenge yourself in taking them faster than last time, you can. If you want to run around and gather materials for your next crafts, you can. If you want to explore and find secrets or fill out your codex, you can. And there's plenty inbetween as well, with no major penalty if you're finding yourself in a pickle and are defeated either by a big ark or by gravity. The traversal across the biomes is only enhanced further by the kinetic magic you unlock as your progress. It doesn't over-deliver or over-promise in what you can do, but you can do a lot with the tools you're given and that's wonderful.

🟨 COMBAT
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The combat consist of two elements: weapon-based combat and Magic abilities. The weapons available to Brynn are the sword & shield, a two-hander greatsword, and a bow. Each of these also have elemental variations of them, adding magical skills to each, further expanding what you can already do using your Ice, Fire and Kinetic spells. The elemental rock-paper-scissors format exists, but it goes further than just "ice enemy weak against fire", the environment affects the effectiveness of these elements as well. The thermodynamics system is what makes this work: Freezing or burning the ground immediately affects the enemies and sets them up for your advantage. Beyond affecting it yourself, the biomes are also affected by different kinds of weather that also immediately impact the effectiveness of your magic.

The world is your weapon, it's up to you how much of a weapon you turn it into. The game gives you tools to deal with every situation, the only limit is that you cannot swap elemental weapon affinity after you leave for an expedition.

🟨 CHALLENGE
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The game offers multiple difficulties, but even at the easiest level, it's still up to you how to tackle the bosses and that's where your own mastery of the skills comes in. Someone that doesn't know how to drive won't bring out the potential of a racecar after all. The different large bosses rotate through the different biomes, making the environment they appear in also become an important factor to how difficult the encounter will be.

🟨 EXPLORATION
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Your main goal for exploring the biomes is for the collectibes; these range from journal entries to blueprints for new armor and weapons. Brynn is able to climb any surface and her weapon/magic skillset allows her to utilize them for expanded traversal (my favorite was to use the kinetic Two-Hander's charged ability to give me an additional vertical boost, mid-air!). There's a lot to uncover in the game, but once you've ticked off all the boxes, that sense of completion hits well. Non-codex related, there are optional hidden yellow bricks in the world that are a nod to the development team, appearing as marks in the game's credits.

🟨 SOUNDTRACK
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Austin Wintory delivers a beautiful soundtrack, capturing the sense of adventure and mystery. It's different from what I've heard in other fantasy-focused games, giving Eternal Strands a very distinct musical identity. Gorgeous.

🟨 CONCLUSION
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Having released very early in the year, I still think incredibly fondly of my experience with Eternal Strands. I've called it my comfort game, a world to jump into and just enjoy the views and environment while climbing around and doing whatever magic Yellow Brick conjured up with this title. Even towards the end of the year having played other titles, this one is still one of my most favorite experiences of 2025. A solid debut title where the team made what they wanted to make, while positioning themselves as a studio that knows (and enjoys) what they're doing. For its price, it's a wonderful package that gives you a fun, magical action sandbox to play with. The collaboration DLC content with Square Enix and Grasshopper were a delightful excuse to go back to the Enclave. Looking forward to what's next from Yellow Brick Games.