A thousand years well spent
By Paul Hunter
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales takes Square Enix’s HD-2D art style and for the first time ever puts it into an action RPG formula reiminscent of The Legend of Zelda and The Secret of Mana. But make no mistake, The Advenures of Elliot stands tall on its own with its unique mixture of weapons, fairy magic, dungeons, and an epic time travel story.
It is a bold shift for this style of RPG, and it pays off. Let's dive in and found out more!
You play as the titular Elliot who is a famed adventurer that helps townspeople, and spends most of his time supporting the orphanage that raised him. Early into the adventure, Elliot meets Faie, a fairy that guides his journey and only he can see and hear. She becomes his companion after he discovers the Doorway of Time, used to visit different periods in time. Her missing memories give the story a second mystery, while her frequent reactions make Elliot’s journey feel less lonely as he travels through Philabieldia’s past.
Through the Doorway of Time, Elliot and Faie will visit four distinct periods of Philabieldia’s history, including The Age of Safekeeping showing Elliot’s present, the Age of Reconstruction showing a darker struggle for survival, the Age of Magic showing humanity at its magical peak, and the Age of Budding showing the start of civilization.
I really enjoyed how the story uses these eras to build the larger world and develop Elliot and Faie’s personal connection. All considered, the narrative is strong and gives you a compelling reason to keep moving through time.
As Elliot, you'll begin the adventure with a sword and shield. The sword is good close-range combat, although it does have a charge attack with greater range. Your shield blocks frontal attacks and rewards good timing through perfect guards by sometimes staggering your opponent.
Throughout the adventure you'll acquire new weapons that all have their own unique purpose. Spears help you attack from safer melee range, bows are great for hitting distant targets, and bombs work in fights while also breaking cracked walls. The boomerang is useful as it also dolls out a returning hit, while hammers give you heavy swings and peg-pounding utility.
The game also features Magicite, which you'll collect fragments and form them at shops, and then equip pieces to give weapons stat increases or passive abilities. Upgrading the magicite box raises your Magicite equip limit, which gives your setup room to grow.
Faie supports Elliot with fairy magic that affects movement, combat, puzzles, and item collection. Sprint makes Elliot move faster, Warp sends him to Faie’s location, Ignite lights objects and detonates explosives, Vacuum pulls in items, and Copy mirrors Elliot’s actions. She's extremely useful in many different situations, whether that's combat, item collection and more.
Exploration is a huge part of this game, and your curiosity can lead to valuable rewards. Shrines of Life give you health upgrades, Faie’s Magic Lessons add minigames tied to her abilities, side quests offer useful accessories, and the Temple of Trials gives you combat challenges when you want a tougher test.
The changing periods make the world visually interesting throughout the adventure, whether that's the towns, ruined spaces, architecture, and older settlements all give the journey a strong sense of history. I loved recognizing places after time had changed them, as it make Philabieldia feel like one connected world that's gone through numerous significant changes.
The character art has a lot of personality too. Elliot’s distinct hat, cloak, sword, and shield give him a classic adventurer look, while Faie is always onscreen during exploration, and her small reactions to everything Elliot does brings her character to life.
The soundtrack is lively and upbeat, fitting the fantasy tone nicely and I like how the soundtrack shifts to suit each age. English and Japanese voices are included, and I played through the game with the Japanese voice track and English subtitles. Faie’s chatter setting is also useful if you want to adjust how often she speaks and more quiet adventuring.
The PS5 version ran smoothly during my time, whether it was intense combat or world exploration. All considered, the presentation sells the adventure with detailed HD-2D visuals, strong character art, fitting audio, and rock-solid PS5 performance.
Final Score: 9/10 - Amazing
Developer: Square Enix, Claytechworks
Publisher: Square Enix
Genre: Action Role-Playing
Modes: Single-player
By Paul Hunter
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales takes Square Enix’s HD-2D art style and for the first time ever puts it into an action RPG formula reiminscent of The Legend of Zelda and The Secret of Mana. But make no mistake, The Advenures of Elliot stands tall on its own with its unique mixture of weapons, fairy magic, dungeons, and an epic time travel story.
It is a bold shift for this style of RPG, and it pays off. Let's dive in and found out more!
Story and Narrative
The Adventures of Elliot begins in the Kingdom of Huther, a protected corner of the continent Philabieldia. Princess Heuria maintains the Spell of Safekeeping, which keeps the beast tribes away and lets the kingdom survive in a dangerous world.You play as the titular Elliot who is a famed adventurer that helps townspeople, and spends most of his time supporting the orphanage that raised him. Early into the adventure, Elliot meets Faie, a fairy that guides his journey and only he can see and hear. She becomes his companion after he discovers the Doorway of Time, used to visit different periods in time. Her missing memories give the story a second mystery, while her frequent reactions make Elliot’s journey feel less lonely as he travels through Philabieldia’s past.
Through the Doorway of Time, Elliot and Faie will visit four distinct periods of Philabieldia’s history, including The Age of Safekeeping showing Elliot’s present, the Age of Reconstruction showing a darker struggle for survival, the Age of Magic showing humanity at its magical peak, and the Age of Budding showing the start of civilization.
I really enjoyed how the story uses these eras to build the larger world and develop Elliot and Faie’s personal connection. All considered, the narrative is strong and gives you a compelling reason to keep moving through time.
Gameplay and Mechanics
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales nails the gameplay with its responsive controls, weapons that all have purpose, the weapon wheel that lets you swap between two equipped weapons without breaking the pace, and the powerful fairy magic that adds to the mix.As Elliot, you'll begin the adventure with a sword and shield. The sword is good close-range combat, although it does have a charge attack with greater range. Your shield blocks frontal attacks and rewards good timing through perfect guards by sometimes staggering your opponent.
Throughout the adventure you'll acquire new weapons that all have their own unique purpose. Spears help you attack from safer melee range, bows are great for hitting distant targets, and bombs work in fights while also breaking cracked walls. The boomerang is useful as it also dolls out a returning hit, while hammers give you heavy swings and peg-pounding utility.
The game also features Magicite, which you'll collect fragments and form them at shops, and then equip pieces to give weapons stat increases or passive abilities. Upgrading the magicite box raises your Magicite equip limit, which gives your setup room to grow.
Faie supports Elliot with fairy magic that affects movement, combat, puzzles, and item collection. Sprint makes Elliot move faster, Warp sends him to Faie’s location, Ignite lights objects and detonates explosives, Vacuum pulls in items, and Copy mirrors Elliot’s actions. She's extremely useful in many different situations, whether that's combat, item collection and more.
Exploration is a huge part of this game, and your curiosity can lead to valuable rewards. Shrines of Life give you health upgrades, Faie’s Magic Lessons add minigames tied to her abilities, side quests offer useful accessories, and the Temple of Trials gives you combat challenges when you want a tougher test.
Presentation and Audio
The Adventures of Elliot has a beautiful HD-2D look with its mix of pixel art, 3D backgrounds, layered environments, and detailed sprite work that gives Philabieldia the look of a classic fantasy RPG with modern polish.The changing periods make the world visually interesting throughout the adventure, whether that's the towns, ruined spaces, architecture, and older settlements all give the journey a strong sense of history. I loved recognizing places after time had changed them, as it make Philabieldia feel like one connected world that's gone through numerous significant changes.
The character art has a lot of personality too. Elliot’s distinct hat, cloak, sword, and shield give him a classic adventurer look, while Faie is always onscreen during exploration, and her small reactions to everything Elliot does brings her character to life.
The soundtrack is lively and upbeat, fitting the fantasy tone nicely and I like how the soundtrack shifts to suit each age. English and Japanese voices are included, and I played through the game with the Japanese voice track and English subtitles. Faie’s chatter setting is also useful if you want to adjust how often she speaks and more quiet adventuring.
The PS5 version ran smoothly during my time, whether it was intense combat or world exploration. All considered, the presentation sells the adventure with detailed HD-2D visuals, strong character art, fitting audio, and rock-solid PS5 performance.
The Verdict
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is an excellent PS5 action RPG that gives Team Asano’s HD-2D style a fresh real-time direction. I loved the heartfelt adventure, Elliot and Faie’s bond, the many different types of weapons, and the magicite build system. The world is full of reasons to explore, the presentation gives Philabieldia real personality, and the whole journey has the classic RPG energy I wanted. For gamers who enjoy action, fantasy, storytelling, and discovery, Elliot delivers in a big way.Final Score: 9/10 - Amazing
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales details
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 2Developer: Square Enix, Claytechworks
Publisher: Square Enix
Genre: Action Role-Playing
Modes: Single-player