‘Dragon Age Origins’ Creative Director Mike Laidlaw Returns With Genre-Defying Action Adventure ‘Eternal Strands’
Eternal Strands is an upcoming action-adventure game from Yellow Brick Games, a studio formed by industry veterans, including Mike Laidlaw, whom you might know as the creative director of Dragon Age: Origins. The game is bound to defy genre standards with its physics-based interactions, which will allow players to manipulate the environment in the most creative ways.
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If that is enough to interest you, a playable demo will be available on Steam starting on January 21st, while the full game is set for release on January 28th, 2025, for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.
For those needing an introduction, Yellow Brick Games was founded by Mike Laidlaw, Jeff Skalski, Thomas Giroux, and Frederic St-Laurent B. in 2020. Laidlaw is a former creative director for the Dragon Age series, who, after BioWare, joined Ubisoft. However, that adventure didn’t last long as he left the falling giant after his Arthurian-inspired RPG, codenamed Avalon, was canceled. The project faced multiple rejections in 2019, ultimately leading to Laidlaw’s departure in January 2020. St-Laurent B. was with Ubisoft Quebec for years, working on major titles like Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Far Cry 5.
They united for one goal, to focus on smaller and unique projects like Eternal Strands. That said, Eternal Strands draws inspiration from a number of notable titles but blends it into a unique adventure. The developers have cited The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom as art direction and gameplay design inspiration, which is more than obvious from what is seen in pre-release trailers.
However, it also takes cues from Capcom’s Monster Hunter in its progression system and expedition-based gameplay. On another note, unlike traditional RPGs, there is no XP system. And player progression depends on loot and crafting, while combat is unique in many ways. The player will have access to a plethora of abilities, including Flame, Frost, and Kinetic magic that will set her enemies ablaze, freeze them in their tracks, or launch projectiles. How players defeat an enemy determines the materials they can collect. For instance, using fire attacks on a creature with fur will burn and destroy the fur, leaving it unavailable as loot.
If you need more convincing, players take on the role of Brynn, a warrior seeking the secrets of the ancient Enclave civilization. Brynn is armed with a magical cloak granting her all the aforementioned abilities, but it goes beyond combat. She can burn obstacles and create desolate landscapes of once lush areas, create ice bridges by freezing the water, and use telekinetic powers to cross vast distances or hurl objects at enemies.
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Exploration is on another level, as Brynn will be able to scale any surface, reminiscent of Tears of the Kingdom exploration and player interaction with the world.
Eternal Strands is one of the indie titles that prove independent games can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with AAA games. Don’t miss the chance to experience it early with the playable demo available on Steam starting January 21st, before its full release on January 28th, 2025, for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.
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