[0:00] In a relatively short time, Team Asano
[0:02] at Square Annex has made a name for
[0:04] itself. Between the Bravely and Octopath
[0:06] series, it has become known for taking a
[0:09] fresh look at retro RPGs by
[0:11] experimenting with new ideas and visual
[0:13] styles, creating games that feel both
[0:15] familiar and new. The developer takes a
[0:18] similar approach when it comes to The
[0:20] Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium
[0:21] Tales, an action adventure RPG that
[0:24] emulates the feel of a topdown Legend of
[0:27] Zelda or Manny game, but uses the
[0:29] studio's signature HD 2D visual style.
[0:33] But while the action and adventuring are
[0:35] well-crafted, a dull story and verbose
[0:39] characters have the unfortunate tendency
[0:41] of deadening the momentum.
[0:51] The Adventures of Elliot takes place in
[0:53] the fictional kingdom of Feldia. Try the
[0:56] cheese stakes. Ruled by a kindly king
[0:59] and under the magical protection of his
[1:01] daughter, the area surrounding the
[1:03] castle grounds is beset by deadly
[1:06] beastmen. And the princess's presence
[1:08] carries a passive spell of safety that
[1:10] keeps them at bay. Elliot is an
[1:13] adventurer, an actual job title that
[1:15] appears to be some mixture of mercenary
[1:18] and wandering odd job doer. And only
[1:21] adventurers are known to travel outside
[1:23] the castle walls and brave the beasts.
[1:26] After a sinister duke discovers a method
[1:28] to go back in time to claim a powerful
[1:31] relic, Elliot follows him and thus
[1:33] begins hopping between different eras,
[1:35] going further and further back in his
[1:37] kingdom's history. In terms of sheer
[1:39] mechanics, The Adventures of Elliot is a
[1:41] modest but welcome step forward for the
[1:44] genre. This HD 2D visual style works so
[1:47] well for a top-own Zelda style adventure
[1:49] game that you would never have known
[1:51] that it was created for turn-based RPGs.
[1:54] The combat is sharp and responsive, and
[1:57] the diarama-like presentation gives you
[1:59] a very clear idea of where the enemy
[2:01] threats are coming from. Elliot gets a
[2:03] wide variety of weapons, each with its
[2:06] own advantages and disadvantages in
[2:08] combat. And as you find upgraded
[2:10] versions of each, they get stronger
[2:13] charged effects that can have a big
[2:15] impact on the battlefield. Elliot also
[2:17] has a shield for blocking and parrying
[2:20] enemy attacks, adding a little more
[2:22] defensive nuance. And Elliot has a
[2:24] dedicated jump which is used for
[2:26] traversal and light platforming,
[2:28] especially within dungeons, but can also
[2:30] be used offensively depending on your
[2:32] build. True to its classic inspirations,
[2:35] Elliot only features a relatively small
[2:38] pool of enemies with pallet swaps
[2:40] representing stronger variants with new
[2:42] abilities, but it manages to offer a
[2:44] good variety of fast-paced combat
[2:47] encounters as these enemy types are
[2:48] mixed together. Combat scenarios are
[2:51] quick and snappy. So even though I could
[2:53] run past them when I was in a rush, I
[2:55] would usually stop to fight just for the
[2:57] fun of taking down some monsters. That's
[2:59] the mark of a strong combat system.
[3:04] >> Wow. How long can you keep this going?
[3:07] >> Shortly after beginning on his quest,
[3:09] Elliot is joined by Fay, a squeaky
[3:12] voiced little fairy that only he can see
[3:15] and hear. She's his constant companion
[3:17] through the rest of the game, offering
[3:19] her own commentary and being a sounding
[3:22] board for Elliot to think through his
[3:24] next steps. She also gains a number of
[3:26] magical powers. You can freely move Fay
[3:29] around within a certain radius of Elliot
[3:31] with the right stick, which makes her
[3:32] feel like a natural extension of
[3:34] Elliot's, and thus your power set. The
[3:37] dungeon design throughout the game is
[3:39] wellcrafted, even if most of them don't
[3:41] feel particularly distinct. This whole
[3:44] game is an homage to classics like the
[3:45] 2D Zelda games, and you can particularly
[3:48] sense that in the dungeons. Elliot can
[3:50] also enhance his abilities with
[3:52] Magisite, a very flexible upgrade
[3:54] system. Equipped Magic can enhance your
[3:57] attack power, give passive bonuses, or
[4:00] change weapon properties. Each piece of
[4:02] equipment has its own magisite box with
[4:04] a certain amount of slots, and you can
[4:06] both find pieces of magic in the world
[4:08] or turn in fragments to get random ones.
[4:11] Gotcha style. After you've upgraded
[4:13] enough, your total level goes up and you
[4:16] get even better magistite. So, it's
[4:18] always worth to be on the lookout for
[4:20] fragments. You can really get into the
[4:23] nitty-gritty of managing magesite to
[4:25] optimize your build. But if you don't
[4:27] want to worry about it, there's also a
[4:29] quick command option to let FA create a
[4:31] build for you, which she does decently
[4:34] well to make a balanced set. There are
[4:36] also accessory slots, which can change
[4:38] your style in even more meaningful ways.
[4:41] accessories can provide several
[4:43] different perks. I found one that gave
[4:44] Elliot a hovering jump effect on his
[4:46] regular jump and kept it equipped for
[4:48] the entire game because it was so
[4:51] helpful to the dungeon platforming. And
[4:53] then there are just thoughtful
[4:54] convenience features that help modernize
[4:56] and sand off the rough edges. Side
[4:59] quests are clearly marked with a visual
[5:01] indicator and a dedicated menu showing
[5:03] the character it centers around. and
[5:05] you're given ample warning if the next
[5:07] step in a story quest chain will nullify
[5:10] an ongoing side quest. As you discover
[5:12] more eras, you'll often have to jump
[5:14] back and forth between them, which is
[5:16] easy because there are guideposts
[5:18] littered throughout the map in every
[5:20] area. And while pointing can be a little
[5:22] difficult due to winding pathways, the
[5:25] overall map layout remains relatively
[5:27] similar in each era, which helps you to
[5:30] keep your bearings.
[5:34] As I've been playing The Adventures of
[5:36] Elliot, though, I've been thinking a lot
[5:38] about the trope of the silent
[5:39] protagonist. Classics like The Legend of
[5:42] Zelda have been known for their hero
[5:44] being remarkably quiet while the action
[5:46] occurs around them. Much has been said
[5:48] about this particular odd remnant of
[5:51] early video games. But in Elliot, we can
[5:53] see an example of what it's like to have
[5:55] that type of character written with a
[5:57] voice. Elliot is remarkably earnest,
[6:00] even hokey, and everyone who knows or
[6:02] encounters him comes away feeling he's
[6:04] just a swell guy. His personality often
[6:07] borders on feeling cloying and shriekly.
[6:10] But at the same time, a character like
[6:12] this almost has to be written this way
[6:14] because how else do you justify his
[6:16] status as a wandering dogooder?
[6:18] Sometimes other characters hint at
[6:20] Elliot being a mercenary and taking
[6:22] payments, but it's clear that he does
[6:24] most of his work pro bono or accepts
[6:26] whatever people can offer. So instead of
[6:29] a Linklike character who accepts his
[6:31] fated quest with quiet dignity onto
[6:34] which we as the player can map whatever
[6:36] internal motivations we want, we have to
[6:38] stop and listen to exhaustive
[6:40] explanations that don't add much
[6:42] interesting shading or texture to the
[6:44] character. What does Elliot want? To be
[6:47] a helpful, great guy. What does everyone
[6:49] think of him? That he's a helpful great
[6:52] guy. This type of character is mostly a
[6:55] cipher, so they make him utterly
[6:57] good-natured and well-liked and wise
[6:59] instead of simply silent. But it's not
[7:02] just Elliot. Fay is equally chatty, and
[7:05] her tone is even more sickly sweet than
[7:07] Elliot, though you can toggle an option
[7:10] to make her chime in less during your
[7:12] exploration. Wonder if there's anything
[7:14] to find here.
[7:16] >> And almost every quest giver you
[7:18] encounter details the motivations and
[7:20] their own stories in exhaustive detail.
[7:23] The classics that inspired Adventures of
[7:26] Elliot were forced into an economy of
[7:28] language and would get their points
[7:30] across with a few sentences or a
[7:32] paragraph at most. Without those
[7:34] limiters in place, these cutscenes feel
[7:36] over long and overexlained. Checking in
[7:38] to advance the story between dungeons
[7:41] just slows the pace to a crawl.
[7:42] Adventures of Elliot also struggles to
[7:45] really capitalize on its time hopping
[7:47] premise largely because it's different
[7:49] time periods are so nebulous. The
[7:51] concept appears visually and
[7:53] thematically inspired by Chrono Trigger.
[7:56] But one element that made Chrono
[7:57] Trigger's era spanning story work so
[7:59] well is that it mapped more or less
[8:01] recognizably onto actual historical
[8:04] periods. Adventures of Elliot's time
[8:06] periods are more vague. We explore four
[8:09] time periods in total that help us
[8:11] understand the essential sequence of
[8:13] historical events in this world. As we
[8:15] travel further backward, there was a
[8:17] great magical society that collapsed
[8:19] into ruination. The modern era from
[8:22] which Elliot Hails has recovered largely
[8:24] due to the influence of a great king.
[8:26] But none of the periods map cleanly onto
[8:29] real world history, and they aren't
[8:31] separated by clearly defined spans of
[8:33] time. The map remains largely the same,
[8:36] which is helpful for navigation, but it
[8:38] also makes it feel like not much has
[8:40] changed in this world over long
[8:41] stretches of time. There are moments
[8:44] where the idea of an adventure spanning
[8:46] generations shines through. One side
[8:49] quest showed a bar owner treating his
[8:51] employees poorly until I went back in
[8:53] time and accidentally taught his
[8:55] ancestor about basic kindness. And then
[8:57] I got to see that lesson passed down
[8:59] through the generations and impact the
[9:01] future. Moments like that and occasional
[9:03] story beats that I won't spoil did
[9:06] remind me of how you could see your
[9:07] actions echo through time in video games
[9:10] like Chrono Trigger. The Adventures of
[9:11] Elliot just doesn't reach quite the same
[9:13] heights. The Adventures of Elliot the
[9:16] Millennium Tales is a surprisingly
[9:18] strong first attempt at reaching into
[9:20] the genre from a studio not known for
[9:22] it. The combat is snappy and fun with
[9:25] loads of build customization and ability
[9:27] tailoring to your style. The dungeon
[9:29] designs are well-crafted homages that
[9:31] allow room for creative problem solving,
[9:33] and the HD 2D visual style is lovely for
[9:36] this type of game. I was left wanting
[9:38] for a story I cared more about with
[9:41] characters that were more
[9:42] three-dimensional in a world that felt
[9:44] alive and took better advantage of its
[9:46] time travel concept. Those factors make
[9:49] the game fall short, but it creates a
[9:51] foundation that I hope Square Annex
[9:53] builds upon.