Two of my favorite video games rising up had been The Legend of Zelda: A Hyperlink to the Previous and Secret of Mana. Lush inexperienced worlds, curious — and typically cute — enemies, and fluid motion fight for the time; as somebody who had largely solely performed turn-based RPGs for the primary eight years of their life, the SNES period of motion RPGs confirmed me a glimpse of what video video games had been able to. These video games particularly made me really feel daring and adventurous, and every time I revisit them as an grownup, they fill me with a childlike sense of surprise.
So I’m very a lot the target market for the upcoming motion RPG, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. I like HD-2D, and Octopath Traveler II is certainly one of my favorite Swap video games and RPGs of all time. However on the identical time, I needed Workforce Asano and Sq. Enix to do one thing a little bit totally different with this stunning artwork fashion; I used to be a little bit fearful concerning the course it appeared to be taking.
Nonetheless, I wasted no time downloading the demo after the July Associate Showcase, and even after spending two hours with it, and recognising a number of kinks that should be ironed out, The Adventures of Elliot seems like a shot within the arm for this aesthetic fashion, and I am itching for extra.
Like Octopath earlier than it, The Adventures of Elliot is aiming to recapture a few of that SNES magic, however within the motion division relatively than the turn-based. Assume Phantasm of Gaia, Terranigma, Ys III, Past Oasis; all of that ilk feed into top-down Japanese-developed motion RPG historical past, and it is on present right here. However the Zelda love is overwhelming — in spite of everything, the eponymous hero is carrying purple as a substitute of inexperienced, he has a fairy companion, you may throw pots… it is all right here, simply with a number of distinctive wrinkles.
One of the best a part of the Debut Demo is the world itself. Exploring this small nook of Philabieldia (not a typo) is extraordinarily moreish for me, and provides us a little bit perception into what’s to come back. After all, the very first thing I did was lower some grass, however whereas mowing the garden, I ignored my quest marker and headed south in the direction of a desert space, the place I discovered cracked partitions to bomb and shrubs to take away. I discovered a problem tomb which gave me a well being improve alongside the best way, too. Ultimately, I stumbled right into a cave, which acted like a miniature dungeon.
There are fight rooms to clear and some puzzle-platforming sections which compelled me to think about the dungeon’s format; dropping down sure sand dunes took me to decrease flooring, however sure areas had been solely accessible by dropping down sure holes. The final dungeon of the demo does one thing comparable with lily pads and switches. All customary stuff, however made extra enjoyable due to your fairy companion.
No, Faie is not Navi; she would possibly converse a little bit an excessive amount of, however Faie is a vital a part of Elliot’s journey as a result of she comes with the flexibility to battle enemies, collect gadgets. She spends more often than not following you round, however it’s also possible to transfer her through the use of the best stick. Alternatively, you may command her to fly forward, cease, disappear, or come again to you. Or, if you would like a little bit Secret of Mana magic, a good friend can be a part of you for some sofa co-op and take management of her.
Faie’s finest property come from her abilities, nonetheless. Certainly one of these is a splash that means that you can run at an especially quick pace for a restricted time, essential for getting round quick or for traversing crumbling flooring. The opposite is a warp which is extraordinarily helpful for getting throughout bigger gaps. It makes dungeon exploration genuinely attention-grabbing, going past simply strolling via caves and corridors and preventing enemies.
It is a comparable story with fight, which has a number of little touches to make Elliot’s journey really feel a bit distinctive. The fundamentals are acquainted — you might have customary and charged assaults, however selection is available in from weapons and upgrades you may equip and purchase. Together with a sword and protect, you begin with some bombs and a bow (see the Hyperlink right here?), although my noodling across the map and an optionally available boss led me to a model new weapon: a sequence and sickle.
The chain and sickle guidelines and was instantly extra highly effective than my sword. A faucet of the ‘X’ button and the sickle would swing round me in a large radius. Maintain it down, and it spins round Elliot a brief distance, successfully appearing as a protect. Cost the sickle up, and you may pull enemies in the direction of you. It is so satisfying to tug off. Besides while you handle to tug an enormous enemy with a membership in the direction of you simply because it’s about to bonk you on the top.
There’s truly lots of risk-reward stuff happening right here, which made the in any other case easy fight that little bit extra participating. Earlier than I even left the opening city, I purchased an adjunct that elevated my motion pace barely, but in addition meant I took some additional injury from enemies. Couple that with diving into the thick of it with the sickle, and it meant I needed to be a little bit extra cautious on how I took out huge teams of enemies.
Magicite, equippable gems that present stat will increase and weapon buffs, additionally include varied help-and-hinder results. One piece of sword magicite elevated my base assault energy, however at the price of slowing down my protect restoration time. One other allowed arrows to pierce via enemies, however diminished the injury they did. It meant I needed to weigh up my gear choices extra rigorously and — like badges in Paper Mario — I additionally had a set quantity I may equip.
I am not a lot of a blocker in video video games, which most likely explains my rusty fighting-game abilities, however in The Adventures of Elliot, blocking is fairly vital. There is not any dodge, which took me a minute to regulate to, however a perfectly-timed block stuns an enemy and provides you a number of free hits. For an motion RPG, it pays to be affected person and assume issues via, particularly within the boss fights, that are successfully like little puzzles. Identical to many, many Zelda bosses, there are semi-obvious weak factors that it’s important to exploit with all of your instruments after which strike away to win. The 2 I fought weren’t difficult, however they did make me smile.
There are some things that Sq. Enix and Claytechworks have to iron out, however that is what this demo is for; the body charge is a little bit inconsistent, out within the open world, issues are a little bit blurry, and the short menu is not precisely zippy. However, as an appetizer for issues to come back, it is the proper begin to whet my urge for food. Even with a brand new Octopath announcement through the Direct, The Adventures of Elliot was the standout reveal for me, and enjoying it has solely cemented it as certainly one of my most-anticipated video games for Swap 2 in 2026.
Have you ever tried The Adventures of Elliot: The Millenium Tales demo but? Shock us within the feedback together with your ideas.
