The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales can be more than a HD-2D Zelda-like

There’s one thing about The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales as a title that undersells the sweeping, epic nature of its story. Journeying throughout a number of eras all through the millennium, Elliot and his fairy companion Faie are in search of to stop the world from being overrun by beast tribes. Regardless of the understated title, it’s simple to attract comparisons to traditional 2D The Legend of Zelda video games, a comparability which holds true as soon as settling in to play the sport.

The primary shock to beat when enjoying The Adventures of Elliot is that that is an motion role-playing sport, when all of the earlier video games that Sq. Enix created inside this HD-2D visible type leans on turn-based fight and celebration programs. Right here it’s simply Elliot and Faie, and a dungeon filled with enemies and puzzles to defeat.

Our palms on began in a single such dungeon, a moodily lit place of stone blocks, the place outsized chicken-like enemies would seem with a combination of bow and arrow, spears and staffs whereas conjuring mini tornadoes, whereas shield-toting crustaceans scuttle in the direction of you and get in the way in which.

In response, I wielded Elliot’s sword with easy swipes and cost assaults, however with a fleshed out arsenal of weaponry out there to me, I might have turned to a spear or scythe on a series as a substitute, for longer distance prodding and a swinging flail by one other title. However then there’s the extras, from bow and arrow to bombs, a large mallet and boomerang. It’s, fairly unashamedly, very Zelda-like, however these additions present the way it’s making an attempt to be slightly bit extra as effectively.

That’s so true of Faie as effectively, who isn’t simply there to yell at you to hearken to her recommendation, however can even unleash offensive assaults and talents of her personal, similar to Ignite, which helps you to set first to stuff – who doesn’t love setting issues on fireplace in video video games? Managed with the proper analogue stick, she’s an excellent extra aspect to the fight.

It’s a neat dungeon, although, with an overarching puzzle that requires you to shift and spin mirrors on pedestals to direct laser beams by way of the atmosphere. This spans a number of flooring, opening up doorways and avenues in that of-so-satisfying, flowing vogue that this style so usually captures.

The dungeon constructed as much as a battle with two towering Guardians, one with a greatsword and one other with a pulse weapon, forcing me to prioritise what I might goal first. Do i am going for the sword guardian to keep away from his leaping assaults, or have interaction the good bow guardian which lacks shut vary assaults?

After which I used to be despatched out into an open world which, after the design of the dungeon, really felt surprisingly small to me. Small is the incorrect technique to describe it, although. It’s condensed and dense with element, making it really feel like an abstracted overworld to me, versus being the precise area. But you discover all of the little foot bridges, paths, enemies to battle, and secrets and techniques to seek out right here. As I discover and travelled from one space to the following, it began to make extra sense and really feel extra pure to me, similar to once I was capable of attain the final human settlement and see the decaying finish of this world which Elliot and Faie are in search of to revive and remodel by way of their time-hopping journey.

However it’s not all dire straits and peril. There’s additionally a little bit of time for some surprisingly enjoyable minigames. As Faie grows her talents, you possibly can tackle problem minigames for each, racing towards the clock or making an attempt to be a excessive rating for elusive excessive rankings. They’re good enjoyable, whether or not it’s developing a maze to teleport round, requiring dextrous motion with each Elliot and Faie to stay in vary, or a extra easy problem that’s a mix between rhythm motion and shmups, guiding Faie across the display screen with pixel precision.

Oh, and naturally there’s cats to seek out and meet throughout the eras. Fifty of them, with a Medal of the Katzenmeister as your reward for this completionist feat.

The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales may need an understated title, however it seems like there’s magic inside, taking that Zelda components and wrapping it up in new robes, with new talents and a few furthered concepts. Positively one to control because it heads to launch subsequent month… or to play proper now with the freshly launched demo from the beginning of the sport.