I have been a long-time fan of Square Enix’s games, and despite always being drawn toward Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, I am also looking forward to new series. The one that hooked me instantly due to its art style and feeling like an old-school RPG was Octopath Traveler. This series not only introduced the HD-2D style but also refined it with each entry. Now, we have The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, which is easily the best-looking HD-2D title Square Enix has ever made, but also a callback to old-school action-adventure games. And while it certainly delivers on gameplay, making it a superb journey from start to finish, it also has a few issues that hold it back.
A Journey Across the Ages
Instead of being a silent adventurer like in Dragon Quest or a player-created character like in the recent Octopath Traveler 0, you take the role of Elliot, the best adventurer in the realm, who is willing to help anyone in need.
In terms of story, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales has an interesting setting. You are pursuing a villain across the ages who is trying to sow chaos in your current era, while also trying to help the Princess with a curse that has befallen her and is preventing her from keeping the realm safe from monsters. From there, you need to go back in time to different areas: the Age of Reconstruction, where humanity’s survival is hanging by a thread, the Age of Magic, which was the pinnacle of civilization, and the Age of Budding, where it all began.
Now, while I loved the game’s setting, as it had me going back in time to solve different issues, I sadly have to admit that this game features some of the weakest characters in the pantheon of Square Enix RPGs. Elliot is your goodie-two-shoes character with a noble heart and heroic aspirations. However, he never really stood out to me as other RPG protagonists. He often felt flat with almost no character development, despite having a solid background.
The rest are the same. While there were interesting side quests and the story takes a few shocking turns, I felt the overarching narrative felt pretty weak compared to other new series, such as Octopath Traveler, which managed to fit eight different storylines that were impactful, jaw-dropping, and memorable.
Also, and this might be a pet peeve of mine: your companion. During the first parts of the game, Princess Heuria accompanies you, and you then get Faie due to some story events. I’ve played so many RPGs so far that I’ve grown accustomed to your companion’s banter. However, The Adventures of Elliot borders on the irritating.
I don’t have an issue with the constant chatter. What grinds my gears is how there is no interaction between Elliot and his companions. Either Heuria or Faie can describe the situation or talk about the next objective, and Elliot won’t say a thing at times. And worse, the Princess and your helpful fairy are exposition characters. You will find a chest, and both will go: “Oh, you found a chest!” And that happens every single time, even with the option to reduce their chatter, which I appreciate was there, but didn’t really change a thing in the long run.
This really hurts the experience, as it makes two well-designed characters feel pesky at times. I don’t need to be reminded that I need to find monster parts when the dialogue told me that two seconds ago. And it doesn’t help that, 20 hours in, my companion is still reminding me that money can purchase important adventuring supplies. It tampers with the adventuring experience, immersion, and at times makes me wish I had a silent party like in some Dragon Quest games.
Old-School and Modern Action Adventure In One
If the story felt flat in some ways, I never felt that happen with the gameplay. After looking at the announcement, I was surprised that the HD-2D style would focus on an action-adventure title. Frankly, I was a bit skeptical of how this genre would translate to the art style. Well, I must admit that it was an excellent decision as combat is superb.
Elliot gets to use seven weapons, ranging from swords, boomerangs, hammers, and even a chain and a sickle. All of them have different playstyles. Swords hit faster but have almost no range, bows have a lot of distance but limited ammo at first, and the chain and sickle hit several enemies from afar, but don’t do anything to those close to you.
At first glance, the combat might look too simple. You only have your normal attacks with a charged one that becomes more powerful the higher the rarity of your weapon. However, it is the enemy variety that spices up combat.
There are just so many enemies in the game, and each one has different attack patterns. Elementals, for example, can shoot fireballs at you, explode with icy mist to freeze you, or even channel a lightning ray. And while you can block everything with your trusty shield, you’ll often have to juggle with several foes at a time, trying to dodge their attacks while also getting a few hits in.
Another thing I appreciated was how strategic every encounter was, from normal foes to bosses. While you do have a healing skill, it is on a cooldown, so you only have your healing potions. Now, these potions are limited, as you need empty vials to fill them with the concoction. Once you use it, you need to refill it at a store. This means that even healing up requires a lot of planning, as there is no way to refill potions during a fight. And while you can find health globes of sorts in some encounters or by breaking the thousands of pots and barrels in every era, they don’t come easily.
Lastly, there is another key aspect of combat: Magicite. You earn this material by defeating enemies or opening chests. Once you have it, you can exchange five to create a combat Magitice. You can then add this Magicite to your weapons, assuming your Magicite box has the space. For instance, you start with around 20 Magicite capacity. Each Magicite has different costs, meaning that you need to activate them so that they don’t surpass the box’s capacity.
While you can increase the size of your box, I still felt that this system also rewarded planning, as you have to be very careful with the Magicite you activate. Some are your plan stat boosting ones, providing more Attack or Critical Damage. However, some allow you to create some interesting builds. For instance, there was one Magicite for my bow that let me trigger an explosion if the enemy was on fire. I activated that one and burned them up with one of Faie’s skills, and I was defeating bosses in just a couple of seconds. My only minor complaint is the RNG tied to it, as every time you get Magicite, it is random, except for those in chests.
Overall, the combat in The Adventures of Elliot was a refreshing surprise, especially after having so many turn-based HD-2D titles. I think Square Enix did a fantastic job at translating old-school combat to this style, but also made it shine with a lot of build potential and challenging mechanics, which made every encounter memorable.
Exploring All Realms
Another standout, and what makes The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales the best HD-2D game to date, is the sheer scope, beauty, and attention to detail.
While we’ve seen many iterations of this art style, from its beginnings to this installment, Square Enix has truly refined it to provide an almost open world where loading screens occur only when entering or exiting dungeons and buildings. Furthermore, it was mind-blowing to see that each Age has its own style, despite sharing a similar map layout.
The Age of Safekeeping, which is the one where you start, feels like every MMO starting area, with lush forests, safer roads, and a brighter color palette. Then, you travel to the Age of Reconstruction to find more dilapidated buildings and a gloomier palette that fits the Age’s happenings.
There are also some subtle changes that affect the exploration aspect, which is another highlight of the game. In some Ages, traversing through dungeons will be impossible. However, going back in time will often have a new path that will let you reach that seemingly impassable area.
Speaking of exploration, here is where Faie takes the spotlight, as she has several skills that are helpful in and out of combat, giving the whole map a Metroidvania-like feel.
For example, her Warp skill allows Elliot to teleport to where Faie is. You can use this to reach certain spots in a dungeon, but also get away from certain enemy attacks. Her Ignite spells can light up rooms but also burn enemies, and some can only be harmed with said ability. I really liked how Faie was relevant both in and outside of combat, and also finding one of her new skills felt like a huge feat, as it encouraged me to return to unexplored areas to find lost cats or a new weapon.
The Start of a New Formula
Many of us might always be hoping for the next Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, but the truth is that I’ve always loved it whenever Square Enix has introduced a new series. Octopath Traveler brought back that old-school turn-based feel with superb storytelling. Even if its first iteration had issues, history has shown that the studio improves with each predecessor, and I expect the same with The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales.
Despite a somewhat weak narrative and cast of characters, the combat and exploration are superb, and it features one of the best uses of the HD-2D art style. The truth is, even after all my issues with this installment, I hope the formula returns, because Square Enix has established solid foundations for it; all it needs is to expand on them to keep raising the bar, as it always does.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
