The Adventure of Elliot: The Millennium Tales - Preview

I'll die on the hill that The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is my favourite Zelda game, still to this day. It has all the charm that the series is known for and doesn't try to complicate the formula, considering how fresh and new the franchise was at that time. With The Legend of Zelda seeing a wide range of experimentations over the last 35 years, the top-down formula hasn't evolved all that much. Other studios (AAA and indie alike) have tried here and there to varying degrees of success, but The Adventure of Elliot: The Millennium Tales may well be the next best top-down action-adventure game in three and a half decades.

We were invited to Bandai Namco AU's Sydney offices to have an early go of The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales at the same time we previewed Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on Nintendo Switch 2. I'll preface that this preview was set up on a PlayStation 5, so I cannot speak to how The Adventures of Elliot runs on the Nintendo Switch 2. But if the Nintendo Switch 2 version runs just as well, we're in for something special!

Plenty of Promise

The first thing I was impressed about was the sheer scope of the game. But not to the point where it felt empty; rather, it was packed full of points of interest akin to Breath of the Wild's map. Every corner had something to look at, and fast travelling felt like a snap. This all becomes more impressive when you consider there are multiple time dimensions where you can experience the world in a variety of periods. I only had around an hour with the demo and was immediately thrust into what felt like a few hours into the game's story, but I can easily see how much these worlds have to offer.

This world is all complemented further by the HD-2D art style. I've reviewed plenty of HD-2D styles and every single time, I've sung its praises loud and proud. But what I haven't said is just how well the style is evolving, providing retro classics a new lease on life, like the Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake, or elevating new series, like Octopath Traveler. The surprise here is that it's being used in a game that does not feature a turn-based combat system, and it holds up really well.

Hey, Listen!

The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is such an homage to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past that it's, at times, to its detriment. While it has some new ideas, so much of what I played felt like the Super Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda title but with a new coat of paint. The heart containers having been replaced with blood drops, every weapon and item being the same, as well as a faerie companion that you can thankfully reduce how much she speaks (copied from Ocarina of Time, but you get my point). This all may not be a negative to some, especially if you've waited 35 years for a new top-down Zelda game akin to A Link to the Past, but it can sometimes feel like a case of "We have A Link to the Past at home".

Still Some Question Marks

The biggest question I had coming out of this demo preview was to do with its story. The world is beautiful, the combat is engaging (albeit derivative), and while we have an idea of Elliot and his companions' personalities, we still don't know much about the overarching plot. According to the official store page, this is what's been shared:

In a corner of a continent overrun with beast tribes, the Kingdom of Huther is humanity’s sole bastion, kept safe by a magic barrier. After the discovery of heretofore unknown ruins, the adventurer Elliot and his fairy sidekick Faie brave the dangers outside the kingdom on a journey across four ages to fulfill a thousand-year mission.

The preview build I played didn't share much more on this, but we should hopefully be learning more in the weeks leading up to its launch on June 18.

Final Thoughts

Despite being somewhat derivative, I'm optimistic about The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. For fans of classic top-down action-adventure games from the Super Nintendo era, it will feel nostalgic enough to give you the warm and fuzzies yet borrow Nintendo's open-world design elements that'll keep you finding new secrets aplenty.

The concept of travelling through different time periods also sets up plenty of promising possibilities and harkens back to the fan favourite Chrono Trigger (next HD-2D remake, for sure). But time will tell whether this concept opens up exciting possibilities or turns it into a needlessly complex system Square Enix has been guilty of in the past.

Thank you for checking out our The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales Switch 2 preview, thank you to Bandai Namco AU for inviting us to try it our early and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

• Andrew Caluzzi (Inca Studios / Camped Out)
• Bel Cubitt
• Bobby Jack
• Jack Caven
• Nintendo Maniacs
• RedHero