When The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales demo was first released in 2005, my initial impression was that it was a simple and quaint RPG. However, after beating it, I can confirm that Elliot quickly turns into one of Square Enix’s most complex and original games in years. It’s a perfect blend of classic Zelda and Final Fantasy Adventure that RPG fans won’t want to miss out on.
Note: I was able to play The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales in advanced for review purposes.
The Time-Travel Mechanic Is Brilliant
In the opening hours of The Adventures of Elliot, the story initially comes off as a classic adventure game. You’ve got a familiar kingdom setting, a princess who needs your help, and a dashing protagonist who rises from the shadows to become the hero. However, the game quickly shifts its perspective after the opening tutorial when it reveals its time-traveling mechanic.
The RPG essentially has a single map throughout the entire story. But because players are frequently traveling to the past, the overworld also constantly changes. Locations that were once blocked off in one time period will now become available in another. Enemies and challenges also change.
It isn’t just a visual gimmick, as The Adventures of Elliot requires you to use this mechanic to solve puzzles and progress important story moments. There are even a few side quests that require you to travel between the future and the past to find items needed to complete the storyline. Yeah, it’s mind-bending stuff.
Without getting into spoilers, The Adventures of Elliot has quite a lot of “Ages” that they can travel to as well. As a result, the game’s map, which initially seems small and simplistic, quickly becomes complex and layered in interesting ways.
Combat Gets Better the Longer You Play
One of the concerns some players had from the demo was the game’s difficulty being too easy. And yes, in the opening hours, combat at first feels pretty simple. However, like the game’s map, combat really starts to open up as you progress through the game. There are a total of six weapons in The Adventures of Elliot that you can equip in two slots. On your adventures you will unlock rarer variants of each weapon that have better stats. This can be done through side quests or by completing dungeons.
That said, what really changes combat is Magicite. It is similar to Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s Blade Resonance feature. Instead of summoning companions, you use the in-game currency to roll for weapon modifiers through a gacha system. You can then attach these to your items to boost their stats further or add magical properties to them. For example, you make your Hammer’s heavy attack summon an AOE electric spell every time you swing it.
Or one of my favorites is summoning a wave of fire after using my Spear’s dash attack. The Magicite system really transforms combat in a really big way. And because you can swap between any of your six weapons with a click of a button, you can come up with some pretty gnarly combinations. Imagine swinging a scythe out to grab an enemy across the map to stun them, then summoning a wave of fire to burn them.
Finally, the story eventually introduces you to a handful of fairy powers that also drastically change the way the game plays. No joke, at one point you get an ability that essentially gives Elliot booster gliders to his feet. You will be zipping around the map and enemies at lightning speed. Combat gets chaotic quickly, and I love it.
Boss Fights Are a Major Highlight
Speaking of combat, boss fights are one of the standout features of The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. Usually, these happen at the end of a dungeon or a key story moment. But let me tell you, I was consistently blown away by how cool these encounters are. Not only from a design point of view (they are some of Square Enix’s coolest character designs in years), but even mechanically.
Again, without getting into spoilers, there is one boss fight that has you dodging ice attacks. You then have to create ice blocks and throw them back at the enemy to stun it. However, this fight gets even more difficult, as it starts summoning rotating shields to protect itself. Using bombs and fire can quickly dispatch them. But I also had to use my fairy abilities to zip away from ice cyclones that would leave me frozen in a block of ice.
I’m not doing the encounter justice. My main takeaway here is that the boss fights get challenging quickly. Some of them are genuinely difficult and push players to utilize all of the game’s mechanics with quick thinking. Suffice it to say, don’t let the game’s opening hours fool you. The game’s combat really does get complex the further you progress through the story. Finally, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales even lets you replay earlier boss fights when traveling to different ages. When in the past, you will find challenge temples that unlock new rewards for completing past boss encounters. It’s really awesome.
A Charming Story Full of Heart
While The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales isn’t the most groundbreaking story in the genre, it has a lot of heart. In particular, it has an incredible cast of side characters. In every age you visit, you will meet a new cast that is instantly likable. But what I really liked about this plot device is that each age also has its own set of historical problems and conflicts that the people of that time are dealing with.
As you travel to the past, you really get a sense of the events that eventually lead up to the problems of the modern-day storyline. This is largely aided by the game’s side quest system. It’s actually pretty neat because, as you unlock more ages, more side quests become available. There is a menu screen that will tell you when an NPC from a different age needs help. And the game lets you time travel at any time between the different eras with a click of a button.
As a protagonist, some may find Elliot’s characterization a bit vanilla. However, in an age of cynicism and games often having darker themes, I actually found Elliot’s heroic optimism refreshing. He’s a charming hero who inspires others to reach out and help others in need. If that’s a bit overly sentimental, then sue me. I personally loved him, though.
A Few Minor Issues
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is a mostly perfect game, especially if you like classic adventure RPGs. However, there are a few elements of the project that I feel some players might find a bit challenging. One of those elements is your traveling companion, Faie. The fairy talks a lot. And I don’t just mean reaction dialogue. You will be walking around the map and will get the, “Hey, I think you should open that chest, Elliot,” or, “This isn’t where you are supposed to go right now.”
That said, Square Enix has added a “partner chattiness” option in the game’s setting menu, which lets you toggle this off. While this largely fixes the issue, partner dialogue can still be a bit too overwhelming at times. Another issue some may have with Elliot is it’s length and multiple-ending structure. I tend to play games much slower than your average player. So while reviewing The Adventures of Elliot, I naturally completed all side quests, and collected most items anyways.
If you just focus on the main story alone, the action RPG can be more on the short side. The issue some players may have though, is the game’s multiple-endings. To put it bluntly, the bad ending isn’t satisfying. Which makes sense, it’s a bad ending. But if you want to get the best conclusion to the story, you have to grind quite a bit. Again for me, this wasn’t an issue because I found the gameplay and exploration a ton of fun. But I figured this was worth pointing out.
Verdict
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is one of Square Enix’s best original IPs in years. It’s a perfect blend of classic Zelda and Final Fantasy Adventure, mixed with a unique time-traveling mechanic. While the game initially starts out deceptively simple, it quickly turns into a mind-bending adventure story with complex mechanics and exploration.
Verdict: Best In Its Class (9/10)
Pros
- The time-travel mechanic isn’t just a gimmick, as Square Enix really utilizes it in some interesting ways. The map, in particular, is constantly shifting with new puzzles and enemies.
- Boss fights are epic and require players to use the game’s various battle mechanics to overcome them.
- While simplistic at first, combat becomes addictingly fun and complex with the Magicite system. Towards the middle of the game, Elliot allows you to create incredible battle loadouts.
- While the story is pretty quaint, the game has amazing side character quests to explore.
Cons
- Companion dialogue can be a bit much at times. Too much commentary might annoy some players who prefer more silence during lengthy adventure sessions. Thankfully Square Enix has added an option to turn partner chattiness down.
- Map exploration can get a bit confusing in certain sections because of how complicated the time-travel mechanic is. However, this is largely only an issue in a small portion of the story.
- The game’s length is more on the short side for an RPG. Some players may also not like the game’s multiple-ending structure which forces you to grind to achieve the best conclusion.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is available on PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S and PC. A code was provided by Square Enix for the sake of review. Reviewed on PlayStation 5 Pro.
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