Two of my favorite video games rising up had been The Legend of Zelda: A Hyperlink to the Previous and Secret of Mana. Lush inexperienced worlds, curious — and typically cute — enemies, and fluid motion fight for the time; as somebody who had largely solely performed turn-based RPGs for the primary eight years of their life, the SNES period of motion RPGs confirmed me a glimpse of what video video games had been able to. These video games particularly made me really feel daring and adventurous, and each time I revisit them as an grownup, they fill me with a childlike sense of marvel.
So I’m very a lot the audience for the upcoming motion RPG, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. I am keen on HD-2D, and Octopath Traveler II is considered one of my favorite Swap video games and RPGs of all time. However on the identical time, I needed Crew Asano and Sq. Enix to do one thing a bit of totally different with this stunning artwork type; I used to be a bit of fearful in regards to the route it appeared to be taking.
Nonetheless, I wasted no time downloading the demo after the July Accomplice Showcase, and even after spending two hours with it, and recognising just a few kinks that should be ironed out, The Adventures of Elliot seems like a shot within the arm for this aesthetic type, and I am itching for extra.
Like Octopath earlier than it, The Adventures of Elliot is aiming to recapture a few of that SNES magic, however within the motion division reasonably than the turn-based. Suppose Phantasm of Gaia, Terranigma, and III, Past Oasis; all of that ilk feed into top-down Japanese-developed motion RPG historical past, and it is on present right here. However the Zelda love is overwhelming — in spite of everything, the eponymous hero is carrying pink as an alternative of inexperienced, he has a fairy companion, you possibly can throw pots… it is all right here, simply with just a few distinctive wrinkles.
One of the best a part of the Debut Demo is the world itself. Exploring this small nook of Philabieldia (not a typo) is extraordinarily moreish for me, and provides us a bit of perception into what’s to return. After all, the very first thing I did was minimize some grass, however whereas mowing the garden, I ignored my quest marker and headed south in direction of a desert space, the place I discovered cracked partitions to bomb and shrubs to take away. I discovered a problem tomb which gave me a well being enhance alongside the way in which, too. Finally, I stumbled right into a cave, which acted like a miniature dungeon.
There are fight rooms to clear and some puzzle-platforming sections which compelled me to contemplate the dungeon’s structure; dropping down sure sand dunes took me to decrease flooring, however sure areas had been solely accessible by dropping down sure holes. The final dungeon of the demo does one thing related with lily pads and switches. All commonplace stuff, however made extra enjoyable because of your fairy companion.
No, Faie is not Navi; she may communicate a bit of an excessive amount of, however Faie is a mandatory a part of Elliot’s journey as a result of she comes with the flexibility to combat enemies, collect objects. She spends more often than not following you round, however you too can transfer her by utilizing the correct stick. Alternatively, you possibly can command her to fly forward, cease, disappear, or come again to you. Or, in order for you a bit of Secret of Mana magic, a buddy can be a part of you for some sofa co-op and take management of her.
Faie’s greatest belongings come from her expertise, nevertheless. One among these is a touch that means that you can run at a particularly quick pace for a restricted time, essential for getting round quick or for traversing crumbling flooring. The opposite is a warp which is extraordinarily helpful for getting throughout bigger gaps. It makes dungeon exploration genuinely attention-grabbing, going past simply strolling by means of caves and corridors and combating enemies.
It is a related story with fight, which has just a few little touches to make Elliot’s journey really feel a bit distinctive. The fundamentals are acquainted — you’ve got commonplace and charged assaults, however selection is available in from weapons and upgrades you possibly can equip and purchase. Together with a sword and defend, you begin with some bombs and a bow (see the Hyperlink right here?), although my noodling across the map and an non-compulsory boss led me to a model new weapon: a series and sickle.
The chain and sickle guidelines and was instantly extra highly effective than my sword. A faucet of the ‘X’ button and the sickle would swing round me in a large radius. Maintain it down, and it spins round Elliot a brief distance, successfully appearing as a defend. Cost the sickle up, and you may pull enemies in direction of you. It is so satisfying to tug off. Besides whenever you handle to tug an enormous enemy with a membership in direction of you simply because it’s about to bonk you on the top.
There’s really lots of risk-reward stuff happening right here, which made the in any other case easy fight that little bit extra participating. Earlier than I even left the opening city, I purchased an adjunct that elevated my motion pace barely, but in addition meant I took some additional harm from enemies. Couple that with diving into the thick of it with the sickle, and it meant I needed to be a bit of extra cautious on how I took out large teams of enemies.
Magicite, equippable gems that present stat will increase and weapon buffs, additionally include varied help-and-hinder results. One piece of sword magicite elevated my base assault energy, however at the price of slowing down my defend restoration time. One other allowed arrows to pierce by means of enemies, however decreased the harm they did. It meant I needed to weigh up my gear choices extra fastidiously and — like badges in Paper Mario — I additionally had a set quantity I might equip.
I am not a lot of a blocker in video video games, which most likely explains my rusty fighting-game expertise, however in The Adventures of Elliot, blocking is fairly necessary. There isn’t any dodge, which took me a minute to regulate to, however a perfectly-timed block stuns an enemy and provides you just a few free hits. For an motion RPG, it pays to be affected person and suppose issues by means of, particularly within the boss fights, that are successfully like little puzzles. Similar to many, many Zelda bosses, there are semi-obvious weak factors that you must exploit with all of your instruments after which strike away to win. The 2 I fought weren’t difficult, however they did make me smile.
There are some things that Sq. Enix and Claytechworks must iron out, however that is what this demo is for; the body charge is a bit of inconsistent, out within the open world, issues are a bit of blurry, and the short menu is not precisely zippy. However, as an appetizer for issues to return, it is the proper begin to whet my urge for food. Even with a brand new Octopath announcement throughout the Direct, The Adventures of Elliot was the standout reveal for me, and taking part in it has solely cemented it as considered one of my most-anticipated video games for Swap 2 in 2026.
Have you ever tried The Adventures of Elliot: The Millenium Tales demo but? Shock us within the feedback along with your ideas.
