The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, developed by Team Asano, presents itself as an action-adventure RPG aiming to capture the spirit of classic top-down adventures with its own HD-2D visual style. While it succeeds in delivering engaging combat and robust customization options, its narrative and world-building fall short of its ambitious time-traveling hook.
The game's story spans four ages of Philabieldia's history, with protagonist Elliot traveling through time to save the kingdom of Huther. Despite the potential of its time-travel narrative, the game struggles to make each era feel distinct. While towns and characters change, enemies and overworld environments often remain too similar across different time periods. Elliot's actions in the past rarely have a discernible impact on the future, with his appearances often feeling like predetermined historical events rather than catalysts for change. The true payoff for the time-travel element arrives only in the game's final hours, with a sequence that adds eight hours to the playthrough and finally demonstrates the causal relationship between eras. This conclusion is essential for understanding Elliot's story, but its late arrival may cause some players to miss it.
A major strength of The Adventures of Elliot lies in its diverse arsenal of weapons, which are unlocked early in the game. These seven main weapons can be enhanced and customized with Magicite, enchanted gems that alter attack power, add elemental status effects, or introduce unique weapon traits. Players can experiment with builds, such as augmenting a boomerang to act like a buzzsaw or enhancing a hammer to send enemies flying. The combat system is further enhanced by Elliot's ability to block and parry with a shield, and a jump function that aids in traversal and offense. Despite a limited variety of enemy types, combat remains engaging, particularly with the bonus drops feature that rewards players for defeating foes without taking damage, encouraging mastery of existing enemy archetypes.
Elliot is accompanied by Faie, a fairy companion whose abilities are crucial for puzzle-solving and add interesting mechanics to combat. Players can even engage in challenges focused on Faie's powers to earn high scores and unlock music tracks. However, Faie's constant, high-pitched chatter and over-explanation of basic concepts can become grating, despite an in-game option to reduce her dialogue.
The game's dungeons are well-crafted and often serve as homages to classic adventure titles, incorporating mechanics like light reflection and water level manipulation. Faie's abilities offer opportunities for creative problem-solving within these environments. The Magicite system provides deep customization, allowing players to optimize builds for attack power, passive bonuses, or altered weapon properties. Fragments found in the world can be turned in for random Magicite, and a quick-command option lets Faie create a balanced build automatically. Accessories offer further customization, providing perks that can significantly alter gameplay, such as hovering effects or shockwaves upon landing from a jump.
Convenience features also contribute to a modern feel, with clearly marked sidequests and ample warning if story progression will affect active side content. Fast travel between eras is facilitated by guideposts, and the consistent map layout across different time periods aids navigation. The game's narrative structure, however, has drawn comparisons to the trope of the silent protagonist. While classics like The Legend of Zelda often feature quiet heroes, Elliot is given a verbose personality that, at times, feels earnest to a fault. The extensive dialogue from Elliot, Faie, and quest-givers can slow the pacing, unlike the more economical storytelling found in some older titles.
While The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales draws inspiration from games like Chrono Trigger with its time-spanning premise, its historical periods lack the distinctiveness and clearly defined time gaps that made earlier titles so impactful. The map remaining largely the same across eras diminishes the sense of significant change. Despite these shortcomings, occasional story beats and side quests demonstrate the potential for player actions to echo through time, reminding players of the impact seen in games like Chrono Trigger, though The Adventures of Elliot does not reach those same heights.
Ultimately, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is a solid first attempt at a genre for Team Asano. Its snappy combat, deep customization, and well-designed dungeons are notable strengths. However, a less compelling story, underdeveloped characters, and an underutilized time-travel concept prevent it from reaching its full potential, though it lays a foundation for future endeavors.