Austin recommends: Eternal Strands (Review)

There's no romances? I'm fine with this. I am SICK and TIRED of every single companion just being there to bang.

I have to disagree with this. Eternal Strands tries to be your run of the mill aaa fantasy rpg while having none of the budget. The whole point of an AA title is that it should be taking humongous risks and talking to a niche. Combat feels incredibly underwhelming, animations have no impact, story is bland, enemies are generic. Visuals manages to look like fortnite while having less of an art direction. I have given it a good 4 hours before uninstalling hoping it would have something interesting to offer yet every fight left me disappointed.

By the fifth hour this game was the most boring thing I've ever played I'm afraid. Solid first game from Yellow Brick Games though. Also, why are the only two male characters in the game queer and b&%tchy?

Shadow of the Colossus meets Bioware is the best way to describe this game.

I know I recommend it because these days its so rare to find a game with an interesting world, characters, and lore that are all cohesively good. Most of the time those aspects are an afterthought due to the monetization bullshit plaguing the core experience. What you get with this game is a good experience and nothing more because it strives to be just that…a good game. That is something missing from most games being released these days in the AA and AAA scene. So overall this game is the real spiritual successor to Dragon Age Inquisition rather than what we got with Veilguard.

Hopefully the game is successful and gets a sequel or two because the team certainly knows what they're doing and left it open for a sequel.

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One small correction I have for the video is that it does indeed have romance but its a limited interaction with one specific character. Its not a complex thing or anything but it is rather wholesome with the way the voicework is done.

This is a great review, and honestly it made me really want to play it. I think you highlighted all the stuff that sounds appealing to me!

Some minor constructive criticism for Austin: I think you may have tried a little too hard to asterisk all of your criticisms of the game. It’s ok to point out the deficiencies or negative aspects of a review subject. And you definitely did that, which is great, but you spent a lot of breath trying to undermine your own thoughts (e.g. “maybe I just didn’t look hard enough” or “maybe this will be in a DLC”).

I think it’s good to be as confident in your negative feelings as you are in your positive ones. In my opinion it’ll make the review that much more useful. But it’s a minor issue. Thanks for the review, SkillUp team

Looks like it was inspired by Immortals Fenyx Rising.

Excellent review, as always.

– Reviewers complain about bloat in games for YEARS.
– Dislike massive open worlds with tons of side content, random puzzles, checkboxes, collectibles, challenges, etc etc
– Game releases with bare minimum bloat, decides to streamline this, respects the players time.
– Reviewer: Where's my bloat?

P.S. It's a budget title at $40 for perspective.

I decided to buy this based on this review, and you know what? I don't know what game you played. The good FULL STOPS at the art. The combat is some of the literal worst I have ever played in my life, the voice acting was immediately bad, the story is not engaging at all, the freaking ice you lay down to bridge things hurts you…this game is bad. Just bad. Nothing but bad.

Even after playing it on GP, I still plan to buy a physical copy. It's a sliw burn and grindy at the beginning, but it has enough charm and intrigue to keep me playing and explore every environment to find rare material.

This and Baldur's Gate 3 makes spellcasting actually fun

Wow.. was this a sponsered video?

I love everything about this game no notes. Except the combat. It’s just there. But I just got the two hander so we’ll see.

Does it have DualSense features like adaptive triggers and advanced haptic feedback?

too bad about the characters

The same guy that liked Alone in the Dark from last year

Played this game for a few hours. The art design and basic systems were compelling. The story and characters couldn't have been more mundane. I couldn't remember a single NPCs name. Asking for a myriad of collect and upgrade paths felt like a time sink rather than a compelling single player experience.

Seeing this game as a recommend hurts my faith in this channel. If pretty wrapping and a bow is enough for you then ya sure I guess.

My patience for sandboxes wore thin with tears of the kingdom. I wanted to see more focused and designed dungeons, and real NPCs, instead I got crafting. So I’ll pass on this one. It’s missing the same stuff TotK was missing.

I'd be interested if I could play as a male.

Smell of DEI is strong with this one, Bioware DNA shows indeed.
From what Austin describes companions are simple, whimsical and everyone in the group gets along, there is little to no conflict, so the only real difference between this and DA:V is that they didn't go HAM with deviant romances and sexual kinks like Bioware did.
For some reason the blacksmith/crafter of the group is a black woman with arms like a male bodybuilder, because we know women have overflowing testosterone and easily get 40 cm biceps.
"But it's a fantasy setting with magic" why not use a fantasy race like a dwarf then (If they are allergic to men, especially white ones)?
Because they can spread the "message" this way, and "subvert expectations" 😮‍💨

So yeah, dodging this.

definitely not my type of game. looks like it's suitable for 10 year olds.