Yellow Brick Games has released a gameplay trailer for Eternal Strands narrated by Dragon Age creator and the company’s chief creative officer, Mike Laidlaw. The trailer gives players a refresher on the upcoming action-adventure RPG and reveals an early 2025 release window at the end.
“We started development on Eternal Strands with a gameplay-first philosophy. The fantastic world of the Enclave was built with that in mind and gives players a sandbox full of flammable, breakable, launchable, and sometimes-explosive ingredients alongside massive creatures to test our player’s creativity. From that starting point, we put together a fun, adventure-filled story to tie those experiences together,” Yellow Brick Games chief creative officer Mike Laidlaw said.
The two-and-a-half-minute trailer gives a new look at Eternal Strands‘ gameplay, diving deep into combat, magic abilities, and game gear. Brynn, a young but fearless Weaver, can be seen climbing the Enclave’s environments, cutting trees, and using magic in impressive ways. Eternal Strands sounds inspired by Shadows of Colossus, as players are tasked with taking down nine towering bosses, including one look at a boss fight with the Ark of the Stricken Earth.
Those who take down one of these bosses will earn themselves strands and harvest enough to learn new magic abilities. That’s not all; players can craft and reforge their gear, weave new powers into their Mantle, or even learn more about the Enclave. Choosing and customizing gear wisely is crucial, but mastering the synergies between steel, frost, flame, and kinetic magic is vital to defeating any enemy in your path.
“We are breaking a lot of traditional conventions and giving the tools to the player to overcome the challenges in front of them however they see fit. Take our Ice Wall power for example. Sure, you can cast it to pin enemies in place, but you can also use it to create an ice shield against a drake’s breath or carve an ice path safely through a burning forest,” Yellow Brick Games executive producer and chief operating officer Jeff Skalski
“Perhaps one of my favourite uses is while climbing an epic and casting ice on its hands so it can’t grab Brynn, thus buying her time for a critical blow. Well, that is until it manages to crush the ice in its hand by using its sheer strength or melt it through other means.”
Eternal Strands is Yellow Brick Games’ debut title after the company was founded in 2020. The game was previously planned to be published by Private Division. The label’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, stopped publishing smaller games while laying off employees of said internal smaller studios. In a blog post earlier this year, the developer revealed that it would self-publish its first game.
“As we embark on this new chapter, our amazing team of 68 talented human beings is filled with excitement and determination. Since the beginning of our project, we’ve been incredibly fortunate to receive unwavering support from friends, partners, other studios, and, most importantly, our growing community. We’re taking control of the release of [Eternal Strands], and we know you’ll still be with us on our journey down this newly independent road. Yellow Brick Games is in a strong position to deliver the cutting-edge and refined independent gaming experience we set out to build at the company’s founding in 2020—a game that reflects our passion for innovation, quality, and storytelling,” Yellow Brick Games said in a post.
