The HD-2D art style that Square Enix pioneered almost a decade ago has been one of the most iconic styles for their RPGs since then. These have mostly been turn based or strategy based games, and we’ve gotten loads from new IP to classic remakes, to full trilogies. Now, however, Square Enix has decided to test the waters with a full fledged action game in the art style, and the result is The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. Honestly, the game feels like a first step of something new for Square Enix. Is it a good first step? Let’s dive in and find out.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales tells a time hopping tale that treads the usual fantasy and time travel tropes. You play as the titular Elliot who is an Adventurer and travels the world on the behest of others who would not survive out in the wilderness. When one of the king’s ministers betrays the kingdom and travels back in time to destroy it, Elliot is sent back to the past to stop him before he can destroy the monarchy. Thus, it sets off a time traveling adventure for Elliot where he meets all kinds of characters, cats, and he is also accompanied by the, way too chatty, fairy Faie. Faie can either be controlled with the right stick or by second player, but there’s not much to having another player control her as she can’t do nearly as much as Elliot.
Elliot traverses through four different eras of time seeing how the world evolved throughout until the present day. Where the game shines is in the fact it is the same map for all the eras. Thus, you get to see how the world changes between eras (though the game doesn’t state how much time passes between eras). This really comes to fruition in the side dungeons as you might not be able to progress through a dungeon in one era due to part of it being blocked, but going back to a different era could mean the path is cleared since the dungeon isn’t as old. I do wish this idea translated to the enemies as well. The enemy designs are great, you even get to see how one enemy type was made in an early ear, but there’s not much variation in the types of enemies. You would expect different enemies would appear in different eras, but it’s always the same few types of enemies for you to encounter.
Exploring the different eras is still a lot of fun though. Outside of the dungeons you can find there are also shrines where you can get health upgrades, do combat trials, as well as unlock and upgrade Faie’s five different magical abilities. Faie’s abilities mostly have an impact in the overworld such as using her fire ability to light torches or her warp ability to get to a hard to reach platform. A few of your weapons have some overworld uses like bombs exposing blocked or hidden paths or the hammer being used to crush pillars blocking the way. The game also has a great fast travel as you can fast travel outside of dungeons at any time and can directly go to any era you want without having to traverse between them from a set location.
The combat in The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is rudimentary for an action game with very little complexity. Elliot is equipped with eight different weapons, and can have two active at any time. Since there’s not really much of a difference between what the weapons are capable of, you’ll more than likely to stick to maybe your two favorites or just one with arrows or bombs active in the other spot for more range. Later in the game, Elliot gains the ability to parry enemy attacks when the enemy glows with a red aura. You can also find higher leveled weapons through the world which automatically replace the lower leveled one you currently have equipped. Faie can also help a bit in combat as she’ll ram into enemies to deal damage if you make her or she can burn them with her fire magic. She can also revive Elliot to full health when he falls in battle. However, this will cost some of your money, and keeps increasing in price the more you die. Luckily, the price can be reset when visiting a save point.
Overall, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is an adequate little action game. Unfortunately, it feels a little bare bones when it comes to the combat and overall story is a bit too familiar to other types of stories that deal with the same subject. However, exploring the world and different eras is a lot of fun still. While it might not live up to some of the HD-2D RPGs, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales feels like a good first step for what could become the next HD-2D franchise from Square Enix.
Score: 7 out of 10
Reviewed on PlayStation 5