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I’ve finally beaten The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, and I had a great time in this HD-2D Zelda-like time travel adventure — what a mouthful.
Much like everyone else, I got super excited for it once it was announced, got sold on the entire game after I played the demo, but forgot about it until it was close to its release day. I love making new video game-related memories while I’m at the beach, since it’s something I fondly remember from my childhood. In the end, it was what made me pull the trigger on this one, and I don’t regret it at all.
I managed to beat The Adventures of Elliot in roughly 30 hours, got all the possible endings, and almost completed the entire game — with just a few chests left to open and a quest that I missed. Which I still think about.
In these 30 hours, I was addicted to its gameplay loop, almost in tears with the story, and a bit burned out on exploring the world of Philabeldia.
With this said, let’s dive into this review and evaluate if The Adventures of Elliot is worth your time and money on Nintendo Switch 2.
What Is The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales?
As mentioned, The Adventures of Elliot is an HD-2D adventure game by the same people that brought you games like Octopath Traveler, Dragon Quest 3 Remake, and the soon-to-come Final Fantasy Resonance.
This time they chose to throw the JRPG genre out of the window and instead developed something that resembles 2D Zelda games in design. Some might say that it also takes a few notes from Ys games, but as someone who has played games in both series, I can confidently say that this is Square Enix’s “The Legend of Zelda.” Here are some of the similarities:
In Elliot, there’s a princess called Heuria whose magical powers are important to protect the kingdom. She gets cursed and is encased in ice during most of the game. It’s up to our fated hero, Elliot, to explore the land to find the cure while the princess continues to pray until she can no longer.
Elliot’s companion is a fairy that will follow you and help you throughout the game, and just like Navi, it talks a lot.
Elliot gets stronger by exploring and finding shards that will eventually boost his health, new weapons and upgrades, and also new powers for his fairy companion.
The game is filled with caves and dungeons with puzzles, mini-bosses, bosses, and keys you’ll need to open doors to progress.
Half of Elliot’s arsenal could fit in A Link to the Past — a sword, bombs, a bow, and a boomerang. And, when holding the attack button, you’ll unleash a special attack! Also, without spoiling much, there’s even some sort of Sword of Destiny you can acquire.
While time travel is not a mark of every Zelda game, it is in A Link to the Past and Oracle of Ages, where you’ll constantly be travelling between ages to progress. In The Adventures of Elliot, you will be doing the same.
Despite all these similarities, The Adventures of Elliot does enough to differentiate itself by attempting to improve on gameplay elements we’re already used to.
For example, for a 2D game, it has a deeper narrative that is fully narrated, and since Elliot is not a silent protagonist, it makes it easier to connect with him and understand his emotions throughout the journey.
And even though they share similar weapons, you can upgrade each in different ways, completely altering the way each feels and functions.
Faye, the fairy companion, is not just there to talk and guide you — the powers she acquires are important and useful to complete the game.
So, if you’re looking for a game that resembles past 2D Zelda games but stands on its own, The Adventures of Elliot is the game you’re looking for.
Is the Story of The Adventures of Elliot Good?
The story starts slow, and it has the same writing you’d expect from an Octopath game, which I actually enjoy. Everything has a soft and down-to-earth tone, the lines are well delivered, and the game takes time exploring the main cast of characters.
However, the story progression kept clashing with another important part of the game — the exploration. I can confidently say that throughout the game I was more invested in exploring and having fun with other gameplay mechanics than with the story itself.
And I don’t think the issue is with the story or the characters, since I loved meeting new individuals and trying to figure out if they are ancestors or descendants from someone from another era.
If you engage with the side quests, you’ll see these characters even more fleshed out, making the narrative a bit more tight.
There is a certain point where you’ll run out of places to explore, and you’ll have to commit to the story — and this is where it reaches its peak.
I did not see the major twist coming, and once it hit me, I had to drop my controller to process what I had witnessed. From here the story reaches its climax, almost made me cry, and that’s when I thought to myself, “What a great ending.”
But we cannot forget that this is a game by Square Enix, responsible for developing JRPGs, and if you’ve played them, you know there’s something more.
And it’s this something more that I think was unnecessary. While it was crucial to wrap up some character arcs and other loose elements, I feel it wasn’t executed as well as the previous climax.
Overall though, I enjoyed the story a lot, and I have this faint feeling that the adventures of Elliot might still continue.
Gameplay and Combat
Weapons and the Magicite System
While not groundbreaking, Elliot has a ton of weapons at his disposal that he can swap freely depending on how you want to dispatch your enemies or solve certain puzzles.
Each weapon can also be equipped with Magicite — which are basically weapon skills. Each has a cost, but you can mix and match them however you see fit as long as you don’t go over the limit of your Magicite box.
You can get Magicite by either exploring and opening chests or utilizing the Magicite fragments you collect from fallen enemies in a gacha system. You’ll want to use this as often as possible since the more you do, the better chances you’ll have of pulling rarer Magicite.
These have the possibility of changing entirely how your weapon functions. For example, my weapon of choice throughout the game was the Spear, equipped with Magicite that added a magical spear attack on top of my regular hits and another one that made Elliot dash with each thrust.
I was having an issue tracking my enemies with the Sword since after a hit or two, the knockback would push the out of range for the finishing blow, but with this build I could just spam ‘A’ until my enemies were dead.
Every weapon has its strengths, but for regular play, the Spear and Bow are a cut above the rest due to how great their Magicite options are. I’ve been experimenting with other weapons like the Bomb, and I was surprised at how well it can melt a boss’s HP bar — but this is only possible due to Faye’s abilities.
Faye’s Abilities: More Than Just a Companion
Faye, your fairy companion, has abilities you can trigger at given times that you unlock at certain points in your journey and can even be upgraded with additional effects:
Sprint — Allows you to dash for faster travelling. Ignite — Faye bursts into flames and can burn enemies or light torches. Warp — Elliot will teleport to where Faye is. Vacuum — Pull in every enemy surrounding Faye and other objects. Copy — Clones Elliot and all of its actions, even leaving bombs on the ground.
By far, Sprint and Warp were the most utilized in my run, with Copy being amazing in boss battles and Ignite and Vacuum super situational.
I liked most of the puzzles requiring these abilities, especially the ones where I had to warp and figure out where to position Faye.
As soon as you get one of them, you’ll also unlock mini-games you can complete to collect music records.They are fun, but since they’re tucked in a menu, I never engaged with them much — having them incorporated into the map would be a better option.
There’s also another ability that Faye can only trigger if you die. Upon death she will revive you in exchange for your hard-earned cash, doubling the amount needed with each subsequent death.
Although I enjoyed interacting with the other abilities, this is the one I wish to see gone since it made the game way easier than it should’ve been. Elliot can already carry a bunch of potions that will heal him up whenever he wants — the last thing he needed was a way to cheat death.
Exploring the World of Philabeldia
Exploration in The Adventures of Elliot is for those that like to check off lists. If you pass through an area and open the map, you’ll immediately see most of the points of interest — from chests to Shrines that upgrade Elliot’s health and Faye’s abilities, and even hidden entrances. After visiting one, it will tell you exactly how many collectibles you need to find.
Sometimes you might enter a dungeon in which you don’t have the ability or power to progress, and after you reach a dead end, Faye will tell you that there’s nothing left to do there. I like that there’s nothing stopping me from entering a super difficult dungeon, but I wish I could come to that conclusion myself.
I had a ton of fun travelling around, even more once I reached the Age of Reconstruction — the second era you’ll visit — and I was eager to see what changed and which new dungeons would open or change over the course of 200+ years.
The Four-Era Map: The Biggest Flaw
I was a bit disappointed that apart from the main Kingdom, the rest of the map is essentially the same. Some dungeons are smaller and don’t allow you to progress further, or the opposite, and after reaching the Age of Magic — the third era — I was feeling the burnout hitting.
But then, I entered a dungeon with a super difficult boss battle and unlocked the third weapon upgrade for the Spear just like that. I only had the original spear and was doing fine; after getting this one, I just steamrolled everything for the rest of the game, which was fun.
As mentioned, you will be jumping around in 4 different eras, and since we are essentially exploring the same map 4 times, it’s normal to see the excitement fade away. This is definitely the biggest complaint I have — and with it comes a great question: why did I have so much fun either way?
While I was feeling burned out by the end, that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy playing The Adventures of Elliot. I think it’s all thanks to its progression system. While you are exploring the same map multiple times, you are starting each era with a different set of abilities and weapons, which does make things feel a bit fresh.
To conclude, the repetitive gameplay elements in Elliot are mitigated by a great progression system with great new abilities, weapons, and fun customizability with the Magicite.
The Quests: Don’t Miss a Single One
During your travels, you will find plenty of people that will ask you for help, and I just couldn’t say no to anyone.
Most of the requests will have you fetch something, go to a certain location, or even defeat monsters, and the reward is not always mind-blowing. The real value is in the extra interactions you’ll have with certain characters. And that’s why I always rushed to them every time I saw one available.
In the Quest Menu, you can see which new quests just opened, in which era, and their location. Progress too far into the story, and you’ll be notified that certain quests will be unavailable soon.
I hate this because there is no way to complete a quest you’ve missed unless you start a brand new game. And even though I was super careful not to miss a single one, I eventually did because this quest needs to be completed immediately after it shows. I got even angrier once I found out how amazing the reward was and how useful it would be in New Game+.
How Does The Adventures of Elliot Run on Switch 2?
I think I’ve played this game an equal amount in both docked and handheld mode.
In docked mode the game runs beautifully well, and I never noticed any slowdowns or suffered from long loading times — everything was responsive, and I encountered 0 bugs.
The same can be said for handheld mode, except for the frame drops. It’s nothing that you have to worry about much, but it does happen when you are fighting a large group of enemies. It was never aggressive to the point of not being able to enjoy the game, though.
And it does all of this while looking and sounding amazingly well — it’s definitely one of the prettiest games by Square Enix this year, and I think I’ve played 3 that are already great contenders, those being Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade and Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined.
To summarize, The Adventures of Elliot runs great on Switch 2, despite some frame drops in handheld mode!
How Long Is The Adventures of Elliot?
The Adventures of Elliot is a roughly 15-hour game if you only follow the story. In my case, I almost completed the game 100% with just 1 quest left behind and a few chests in certain areas I didn’t want to revisit. I also didn’t complete all the mini-games to get all the music records.
If I did, this game would take me around 27 hours to beat — which is great for what I’ve paid.
After beating the game, you unlock New Game+, where you can start a new file with all your acquired gear, which is super fun and can easily extend your gameplay time 10+ hours.
I’m currently doing the Very Hard difficulty, and I’m currently at 35 hours with many more grueling hours ahead.
Is The Adventures of Elliot Worth It, and Should you buy it on Switch 2?
In my opinion, The Adventures of Elliot is a game you need to play, especially if you’re a fan of 2D Zelda games.
Yes, it’s not a perfect game due to how repetitive the maps end up becoming, but the gameplay is top-notch. The visuals and music are some of the best I’ve experienced in these HD-2D games, and the story ended up becoming one of the most heartfelt narratives I’ve experienced this year.
If you’re still on the fence, there is a demo you can try right now, and I urge you to do so because the price is a bit steep, and even worse, it’s a Game Key Card.
In my opinion, even though this is a great game, it’s one you should probably wait for a sale. I paid roughly €55 with the pre-order, so if you can get it around this price range or lower, that would be ideal.
Now, excuse me while I go back to my Very Hard Mode run while Star Fox looks at me with puppy doll eyes.
Pros
- Addictive progression: Magicite builds completely change how weapons feel
- One of the most heartfelt stories this year, with a twist that made me drop my controller
- Gorgeous HD-2D visuals and soundtrack — Square Enix’s prettiest this year
- Faie’s abilities make puzzles and boss fights shine
- Runs great on Switch 2, docked and handheld
- New Game+ easily adds 10+ hours
Cons
- The same map explored four times — excitement fades by the third era
- Permanently missable quests with no way to recover them
- Faie’s revival mechanic cheats death and kills the challenge
- Steep price for a Game Key Card release
- Music record mini-games are buried in menus
Great 8/10
