The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales
The Adventures of Elliot recovers the flavor of classic action RPGs with a beautiful, agile and generous adventure, although its world and its variety do not always live up to its best combats.
Introduction
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales arrives with a very recognizable promise: converting Square Enix’s HD-2D language into a classic action RPG, with a sword, boomerang, dungeons, secrets and a structure that focuses more on the pleasure of exploring than on the obsession with reinventing the genre.
After 32 hours on PC, with the game completed at 100% and all achievements unlocked, the feeling is clear: Elliot does not intend to be the most surprising action RPG of recent years, but it is a very solid, generous and easy to recommend one. Its charm is in that mix of “old school” adventure, modern rhythm and a presentation that catches the eye from the first minute.
It is also worth saying that not everything works with the same force. There’s a lot of backtracking, some biomes look too similar to each other, the variety of enemies could be greater, and some of the conversations don’t have the spark necessary to sustain the world on their own. Still, when the game focuses on combat, discovering routes and solving dungeons, it almost always strikes the right tone.
An adventure with a classic spirit
Elliot has some adventure from another time. Not because it is archaic, but because it understands very well the pleasure of advancing through a world that is opening up little by little. The structure is reminiscent of those action RPGs where each new tool not only serves to fight better, but also to look at the map with different eyes.
The most direct emotional comparison, saving distances, is close to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Not by copying its formula, but by that feeling of gaining control over the stage, of that coming and going between worlds that maintain a very similar geography and discovering that now you can reach a route, open a door or solve something that was previously out of your reach.
Time travel adds an interesting layer to that exploration. It does not always transform the world radically, but it does allow us to recontextualize spaces and justify turns that, on paper, could feel more mechanical. When it works, it gives the adventure a nice sense of continuity. When not, it reveals one of its main problems: not all returns are equally stimulating.
Combat: sword, boomerang and good feelings
Combat is one of the most consistent parts of the game. Elliot moves with ease, the shots read well, and the system finds a comfortable balance between accessibility and variety. The most classic base, sword and boomerang, works especially well because it offers closeness, space control and that traditional adventure point that suits the set so well.
Bombs and arrows also work, they are very powerful tools, but their limited use prevents them from becoming a universal solution. This restriction, far from being annoying, forces them to be reserved for specific moments and maintains the prominence of the main weapons. In my game, the magicites that improved attack, charge speed or critical were the ones that ended up defining my playing style the most.
It is not a system that forces constant changes in strategy, and that can work both in its favor and against it. In favor, because it allows you to find a comfortable configuration and enjoy the rhythm without friction. Against, because some combinations feel clearly more useful than others and the game does not always push enough to explore all its possibilities.
Faie and the tone of adventure
Faie, Elliot’s companion, fulfills several functions: playable support, narrative tool and constant presence during the trip. Its most interesting role is not so much in revolutionizing combat as in providing company to the adventure. For those who enjoy that type of presence, it helps the world not feel silent or empty.
It is also true that not all players will want that voice at their side all the time. If you prefer a more solitary adventure or one more focused on reading the scenario, the possibility of reducing its presence is appreciated. In that sense, the game understands that Faie can be part of the charm for some and an interruption for others.
As a narrative device, it works better when it accompanies the tone of an adventurous story than when it tries to carry less inspired conversations. This is where one of the game’s weaknesses appears: the world has an attractive base, but it is not always so interesting that each meo-cinematic secondary dialogue deserves the same attention.
Exploration, dungeons and backtracking
Exploration is probably the big reason to keep playing until the end. Elliot rewards curiosity quite well: paths that seemed closed, chests that remain pending, areas that change with new tools and a structure that invites you to complete the map without turning everything into a list of tasks.
Now, completing 100% also reveals some fatigue. Backtracking works when it opens a new route or changes the way you understand an area, but it becomes more burdensome when it forces you to repeat a dungeon or go through spaces that no longer have many surprises. In the final stretch towards the “platinum”, some turns feel more routine than exciting.
The dungeons are well-paced and usually clearly laid out, but not all of them have the same personality. Sometimes we miss a more marked identity between biomes, more variety of enemies or puzzles that take the possibilities of the tools a little further. The game rarely gets stuck, which is a virtue, but it also rarely requires much thinking beyond the obvious.
HD-2D: pretty, but no longer surprising
Visually, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is very pleasing. HD-2D still packs a punch when used well: depth, lights, charming sprites, and settings that look like little living dioramas. On the move, the game is generally clean and readable, which is essential in an action adventure.
The less enthusiastic part is that the style no longer produces the impact of the first times. Square Enix has turned HD-2D into a recognizable brand, and Elliot benefits from it, but it doesn’t always provide a visual surprise of its own. It’s pretty, it’s cared for, and it works, although it doesn’t necessarily break new ground for this type of aesthetic.
In any case, the presentation accompanies the general tone very well. We are not facing a game that seeks to dazzle with enormous scenes, but rather an adventure that wants to be clear, warm and constant. In that, he delivers.
PC and Steam Deck version
The version analyzed has been PC. In my experience, performance was good and I found no relevant bugs during the 32 hours of play. On a technical level, it meets what an action RPG of this type needs: stable response, clear reading and absence of problems that interfere with combat or exploration.
I also tried it on Steam Deck. There I did have to lower the graphic level to make the experience more comfortable. I can’t attribute it with certainty to a specific reason, but it does leave the feeling that the game asks for something more than its appearance on a laptop might suggest. It is not a serious problem, but it should be taken into account if that is going to be your main way of playing.
In localization, it has texts in Spanish and voices in English or Japanese. For an adventure with a lot of conversation and secondary objectives, having texts in Spanish helps a lot to maintain the pace without depending on external translations.
The good
- Agile and satisfying combat, with weapons and builds that work very well.
- Classic and appreciated exploration, especially when returning with new tools.
- Good performance on PC, texts in Spanish and a very careful HD-2D presentation.
The bad
- Biomas and enemies with less variety than desirable.
- The backtracking to complete 100% can be a bit tedious.
- Some conversations and secondary missions are not particularly interesting.
Conclusion
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales does not revolutionize the action RPG, but it offers a very well-constructed classic adventure: agile combat, pleasant exploration, good visual finish and a generous duration. Its variety, narrative and backtracking problems prevent it from going further, but they do not erase a clear sensation: it is a notable game for those who miss action adventures with an old school flavor and a modern finish.
Recommended for
- Fans of classic action RPGs with exploration, dungeons and secrets.
- Players who enjoy Square Enix’s HD-2D style.
- Whoever is looking for an accessible, complete adventure with texts in Spanish.
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