izigame.me

I wanted to wait till I played more but this game is just so much fun, all the mechanics blend so well together.
This game might also have my favourite equipment crafting, ever. You have blueprints which require resource categories. Some might need more ore, others more wood, leather, fibre, etc. So you then choose which type of leather you have gathered, do I want leather from creature A or creature B, the stats will be affected but also the appearance! Changing the metal you craft a bit of gear from will give it that visual on all the metal bits!! This is such, I- aaaaaaaa. I have never been so motivated to go out and find rare materials to use!
Also the environments are STUNNING in art style, the combat is so unique, I love swapping between martial and magic. This is everything I have been craving in a game for YEARS. The characters have a good first impression and I love their designs. I could go on but I'm going to go back to play more of it instead.
Update:
Inventory
Your inventory increases before you reach the first boss, and it is better than some other reviews are suggesting.
You start with a few lots, I don't remember how many so let's say 12. You can carry 12 types of material, but you can gather a LOT of those 12 materials. I love this.
It quickly starts making you choose between 8 low quality materials, or to drop them and make room for two rare materials. Once I realised how the inventory worked, I started going on targeted expeditions focusing on monster parts, then another expedition to gather plants and rocks. This made the expeditions feel like role play and dragged me even deeper into the world.
Devs, please DO NOT change the inventory system. A pop-up encouraging this the first time your inventory fills up might be a good addition tho.
Clunky controls?
I found the controller sensitivity was hard to control when making small aim adjustments and switched to mouse and keyboard. Asside from that, the game is extreamly physics based so some jank is expected. I would actually say this game does better than most AAA games that use more physics based movement.
Performance?
This game runs smoother at launch than any other new release I have played in the last two years, especially given the type of gameplay it has.
Story
The narrative and characters are a nice side dish to accompany and support the main game, the meat of this is the gameplay.
I'm shipping two of the characters together and it's definitely not straight. I'm ok if nothing happens between them, I'm loving this anyway.

Critically, I would say it's a 7/10. You know, one of those solid 7/10 games you love despite the flaws.
Emotionally, 10/10. Love it. Enthralled by it. Ticks many boxes of things I personally enjoy.
The gameplay has some rough edges when it comes to combat, with some design choices around the a limited inventory I can either take or leave. - Though, while these flaws never fully went away for me, there is a learning curve to some of the combat that does result in some satisfying moments when you get the hang of things.
None of the gemaplay flaws stand in the way of the enthusiasm I feel to venture out and climb all over this beautiful looking world, looking for codex entries, armor schematics while learning more about the world, its history and its people.
Audiovisually, it's pleasing. The world is bright and colourful. I am sucker for that and it is what caught my attention in the first place. Yes, it is reminiscent of other games with stylised, colourful artstyles. There are elements that set Eternal Strands apart, such as the distant vistas. Seeing what look like cities far off on the horizon does convey the feeling of being in a vast world. And it's not as if the actual playable areas feel small either. The verticality does give a sense of scale. That said, I can see there's a limited set of art assets (e.g. building architecture), but the use of those assets still works. It feels economical in way that doesn't detract from the whole.
As for the audio: the supporting soundtrack is rarely overbearing, but it's always pleasant. I do notice the music and I am happy when I do. The moment when you return to camp and the camp music starts playing? I like that. It's nice. A welcome home.
And back in camp, your journey is further supported by writing and a voice cast that makes learning more about the weaver band (=the team) satisfying in its own way. I am not well-versed in literature to say anything worhtwhile about the depth or complexity of your companions, but I can try.
The dialogue never feels as if it's trying to hit a word count. It's not overly elaborate and it gets to the point while having enough flavour to not be stale. It feels lighthearted, yet it knows when it is time to be serious. All of the characters have distinct personalities as well as their functional role within the team, making it easy to understand who they are and what they do. E.g. Oria is the mother hen as well as your personal mentor. Casmyn is the quartermaster and pragmatist of the group. And so on.
Overall, the flaws in gameplay aren't stopping me from enjoying this adventure.
P.S. You can pet the ... Well, it's Arva. You can pet Arva.
It's the little things.

Quick early impression:
This game is really nicely done. While there are a few minor complaints about how some of the spells and combat work, overall this debut game form a new studio delivers a lovingly crafted and well thought out action adventure game that blends a number of familiar but fresh concepts into its own creation.
People are going to sleep on this game because it takes a little bit of time to open up and get into the meat of things and everyone is so used to instant gratification - but let me tell you - if you just put in a bit of time this game gets really difficult to put down.
There are bits of monster hunter in here with a really open and free form combat that allows you to combine some excellent physics based spells for some pretty neat results. It's the sort of game that just gets better and better the more you unlock and play. At first it feels a bit slow and you feel weak. The melee and ranged combat felt dull but once you start to build nicer gear things open up and get incredibly fun.
I had the most epic battle with a dragon that i think i've ever had in a video game. It was utterly thrilling the whole way through.
The battles with these giant creatures are so well done, from the freedom in how you approach them to the mechanics at play. It's honestly so much fun.
My first mistake was thinking i could rush into the action of the game and by doing so i missed out on alot of important story and guidance. This meant that i didn't really vibe with the demo as i was more interested in rushing and skipping dialogue.
While the full release does let you carry over your save i opted to start fresh and this time sit back and listen to the intro and to engage with the dialogue. The story is well told and wonderfully illustrated with gorgeous animated cut scenes. The dialogue scenes are again wonderfully illustrated and offer multiple paths for your answers as each fleshes out the game world and allows you to get to know each characters personality giving your companions a depth that you will miss when skipping. The voice work is very well done and each bit of information rounds out the lore or game world in a fairly natural way.
Visually the game is a real treat. The style is difficult to describe but i'm going to call it a photo-realistic cartoon look meaning the character and creature designs are stylised and more like something out of a comic book and the textures are not trying to be photo-real and yet the lighting and overall shading and rendering is very realistic and physically accurate. Its difficult to describe but the overall result is that you feel like you are inside a wonderful fantasy storybook where everything looks very tangible while still popping off your screen in a beautifully art directed style. I really like it and it really fits the overall theme and tone of the game.
Gameplay is really interesting. Without really spoiling the story, you are part of a small crew that have accessed a unique location and set out to investigate further. You go out on expeditions and gather resources while trying to progress further. You bring those resources back to your base to build up your gear and get stronger and more powerful. I have really only scratched the surface of this but so far that is what the main gameplay is based around. All the while you are pushing the story forwards and leaning more about this world.
Combat is where i feel the game could have been more fleshed out. The magic based stuff is really fun. You can use ice to stick enemies feet to the floor or block an archer from firing. You can pick them up and hurl them into walls or off cliffs or into environmental dangers. As the game progresses you can then combine a bunch of these into some pretty creative attacks. All this is great. I'm creating fire bombs by combining spells and taking out mobs with them. I'm freezing a dragons mouth shut so i can get in close to attack. Its amazing.
A short while in you can also upgrade or forge new weapons. I made a fire bow and instantly the ranged combat felt leagues better.
I need to spend more time with the game so these are just early impressions from my time with the demo and this full release and mostly to say yeah its good. Its an AA game but punching well above its class and i can't wait to immerse myself more into this world and find out what else there is to do and see.
Will update when i've played more.
Performance is very good for me.
I'm on a 3090 with a 5800X3D. 64GB Ram and running off M2 Storage.
I am playing at 4K with frames locked to 60fps
Everything is at max. The game auto configured to this and i left it that way.
I did choose to enable DLSS set to Quality to bring my GPU usage down from 89% to 71% as i prefer to not push my machine too hard if its not needed. Saves on wear and teare and also cuts down power usage and heat output.