Eternal Strands, the new action game helmed by Dragon Age veteran Mike Laidlaw, just added another bit of RPG royalty to its ranks, in the form of Final Fantasy 14 and 16 developer Creative Studio 3.
In a new trailer unveiled during the PC Gaming Show Most Wanted, Eternal Strands developer Yellow Brick Games flashed up a new screen confirmed it's been "designed with" Creative Studio 3. While that's not the most imaginative name for a developer, Final Fantasy fans should be intimately familiar with it - Creative Studio 3 is Naoki Yoshida's team, and is responsible for Final Fantasy 11, 14, and 16.
It's not immediately clear how closely the two studios are working together, but it adds an impressive name to the already-impressive names currently working on Eternal Strands. The phrase "designed with" is probably intentionally vague, but it brings to mind something like George R.R. Martin's work on Elden Ring - perhaps while Yellow Brick will be piecing most of the game together, Yoshida's team has helped shape the wider world around the game.
It's worth pointing out that Eternal Strands might have some major RPG minds behind it - between Laidlaw's work as creative director on Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition, and Yoshida's Final Fantasy expertise, there are few other projects out there on its level - but it's not actually an RPG itself. Billed as an action game, there are some RPG elements to its character tools. With some towering boss fights to contend with in its trailer, there's a notable sense of Dark Souls, Breath of the Wild, and Shadow of the Colossus, albeit within a slightly brighter world than some of those games might boast.
Thankfully, we won't have to wait too long to find out exactly what's going on in Eternal Strands' world, as it's set to release on PS5, Xbox Series x, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store on January 28, 2025.
Our list of the best RPGs owes a pretty substantial debt to Laidlaw and Yoshida.
