Eternal Strands

Bon petit jeu à faire une fois.

TL;DR: Review got quite long, so here are the important points: [u]good:[/u] - well written characters that are excellently voiced (English dub) - fun "Monster Hunter lite" gameplay with cool bossfights that remind you of Shadow of the Colossus - a well-thought out experience from start to end, not falling off towards the end - rather getting better - with a satisfying finale - magic for combat and exploration, loot of varying rarity, gear upgrades, deep lore and world building [u]bad:[/u] - enemy variety (50% are the same "type", this is unfortunately also true for bosses) - sometimes janky controls [u]First Impressions:[/u] This game surprised me in a lot of ways. On first glance it looks like just another Unreal Engine game with colorful artstyle. It reminded me of Immortals Fenix Rising (which is not Unreal Engine), Asterigos or Kena. As I started playing I thought "This is BotW meets Shadow of the Colossus" (which in my mind was super cool). The more I played, the more I learned that gameplay wise it's actually closer to Monster Hunter. I would lovingly call this a [b]Monster Hunter lite with Shadow of the Colossus vibes[/b] during bossfights. But... it's more than that. [u]Voicework, Characters & Quests:[/u] What stands out is the amazing voice work and direction (English dub). The dialogue is well written, excellently voiced and the characters feel believable. At first you don't see that much of this, but as you progress more, you start doing quests for your companions and learn more about them. The side quests also tie nicely into current main quest events and feel like an essential part of the story or the characters, rather than disconnected optional stuff . You can also optionally chat with your companions at camp about current events which adds a lot to atmosphere and their personality. Over the course of the game it feels like your groups becomes super tight-knit and you grow to love all the characters. Some of the side quests and even optional chats you have get acknowledged during the finale of the game, which felt very rewarding and made the game feel like a well-thought-out experience from start to end. [u]Gameplay:[/u] So why is this game more like Monster Hunter than say BotW? First of all, the game is [b]not[/b] open-world. It is area-based. To keep the MH comparison: You depart on expeditions to one of the areas, there's always a boss present and a certain weather condition. You also collect a lot of materials of increasing rarity, color-coded like for example in Borderlands - giving you a similar dopamine spike when you get blue, purple or even orange stuff. The materials are used to forge, upgrade or alter your armor and its stats and also changes its color, depending on the material used. [b]Materials are fully refunded[/b] whenever you dismantle an item or swap the materials used. This is a big one and in that aspect I already appreciate it a lot more than MH. There is also magic (fire, ice, kinetic), which you can employ for combat but also traversal/exploration. A mechanic called [i]tempering[/i] where you hit either an enemy or ore rock with fire/ice allows you to manipulate the loot to a degree. The elements affect the environment and opponents in a logical and sometimes invaluable way. While i certainly used some spells more than others, I did make use of the full repertoire, depending on the situation. [u]World:[/u] The areas look good, some even exceptional. Traversal and exploration can be a lot of fun. My favourite area in that regard was The Institute. Visual-wise the city is gorgeous. There are a total of 7 areas (8 if you include the free DLC). Whenever you enter an area for the first time you get a little cutscene, showcasing the area and the new boss monster, again giving off MH vibes. Each area has a number of (hidden) codex fragments, required for 100% completion, but otherwise optional. As you collect fragments, you complete codex entries, revealing a rich and deep lore and a world that goes far beyond what you play through in the game. There is clearly a lot of effort that has been put into world building. [u]Bosses & enemy variety:[/u] The first time fighting a boss is always super cool. You're still figuring it out, trying your best to defeat it. After that you get a codex entry about the monster and learn how to expose its weakpoint, which is your goal for subsequent fights. Climbing the bosses is key to defeating them, giving Shadow of the Colossus vibes and an awesome feeling. Now [b]one of two negative things[/b] I have to say about this game: The enemy variety is not as great as it could be. 50% of all enemies (and bosses!) are the same "type" ([spoiler]bipedal robot, basically a replacement for human enemies[/spoiler]). I do enjoy everything that doesn't fall into this category, but after seeing the same type again and again it does become old, even though there are slight variations. [u]Remaining thoughts:[/u] The other negative point I have in regards to this game is that the controls are sometimes janky. I had cases where climbing the bosses worked as I wanted, but also cases where I cursed the controls because they didn't work out as I would've liked. I also had issues where the guiding light just would not respond to my repeated inputs (even fully upgraded, so the cooldown was not the issue). So also room for improvement there. When the controls do work out, it feels very nice and fluid. There are hand-drawn animated cutscenes as well as cutscenes in engine. Both of which are super cool and nicely done. They are rare, but they feel special. [u]Conclusion:[/u] If [b]Monster Hunter lite meets Shadow of the Colossus[/b] sounds appealing to you, I recommend you give this game a shot. There is a lot to love here. It's very clear that this was a lovingly crafted experience from start to finish and I hope we'll get another game from these Devs, hopefully with equally well-realized characters.