Eternal Strands' incredible magic system and monster hunts are held back by the game's story. Eternal Strands weaves together a deeply intriguing scene from its earliest moments, stitching together a picture of a fantasy world built around the concept of magic emulating threads. It's a world I wanted to dive into from the jump, if only to uncover more of how it came to be and what the cultures of the different locations are like. And as much as the worldbuilding retains that wonder with incredible-looking environments that make for engaging play spaces for the physics-based magic system, the beat-for-beat details of Eternal Strands' story aren't nearly as rewarding to unravel.
Eternal Strands' story too often hits on familiar fantasy tropes, such as an inexplicable magical disaster that changed everything and a corrupting force that seemingly has no weakness and must be avoided at all costs. But the history that story is built on adds a semblance of life to the world, building memorable NPCs that you want to come back to again and again to talk about what in their life led them to where they are now, and painting a somber undertone to the world that begs to be uncovered through its detailed lore notes and optional collectibles.
I especially love how Eternal Strands packages aspects of its history so they're viewed through the art of weaving--not a typical choice for action-adventure games. Concepts like spells are recontextualized, transforming from arcane runes into fashion choices. You can largely avoid the historical exposition if you'd rather spend your time swinging a sword and spewing fire, but there's some great writing to uncover here for lore hounds. The moment-to-moment of the present-day narrative is less compelling, however, standing out in stark contrast to the far more interesting historical events that led up to it.
The main characters are memorable enough, and conversations with them are brought to life with great voice acting--Rebecca Hanssen as Casmyn is a notable highlight, giving a guarded edge to the soft words of the horned quartermaster that makes you want to get to know her more and her romance arc is so sweet!
You approach this cast as Brynn, the recently anointed scout who ventures out into the wilds beyond the safety of her party's camp to find resources, search dangerous locations, handle threats, and uncover the origin of a puzzling calamity. Her personality is shaped based on the options you choose during dialogue with other characters, allowing you to somewhat curate Brynn's always-positive disposition and plucky attitude to be more assertive, jovial, or stoic, and these choices are reflected in how the other characters regard her, with the most substantial effect being the option to romance some of them.
