If there is a single feeling that dominated my time with The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, it is that I am left wanting. Regardless of having fun with a lot of what Sq. Enix’s new action-RPG has to supply, I could not assist shake the sensation that there was real untapped potential right here.
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It is a sport with an extremely robust basis that merely struggles to succeed in the heights it may have achieved. A big a part of that comes right down to how repetitive Elliot’s construction is, and the way a lot the sport forces you to backtrack and tread by means of nigh-identical environments repeatedly. Whereas Elliot’s narrative and motion do ultimately come collectively within the latter half, there’s merely an excessive amount of fluff to chop by means of on the best way there.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is Sq. Enix’s very first action-RPG performed within the HD-2D engine, beforehand used for Octopath Traveler, Triangle Technique, Dragon Quest remakes, and extra. Seems, the HD-2D type works extremely effectively for an action-RPG, and the general presentation is maybe Elliot’s most standout component.
HD-2D offers an actual sense of depth to the world, with way more emphasis placed on lush environments and foliage than previous video games within the type, which have largely centered on medieval settings. What outcomes is an expertise that persistently supplies vibrant environments or beautiful vistas that pop off the display screen, accompanied by a genuinely phenomenal orchestral soundtrack that treads the road between epic and kooky. On the identical time, I am fairly a fan of the fantastically detailed and lavishly animated character art work, instilling even minor characters with an actual sense of persona.
Elliot takes place in a fantasy world known as Philabieldia, the place people have been relegated to the Kingdom of Huther, protected in its partitions from the beastmen that roam the land. When a mysterious set of ruins is found simply exterior the wall, the king recruits an adventurer named Elliot to research — leading to a discovery that sends you thru time. Alongside the best way, Elliot meets a fairy named Faie that acts as his companion, aiding him with distinctive powers to deal with exploration, fight, and puzzles.
Whereas many comparisons will doubtless be drawn between Elliot and The Legend of Zelda, this sport really feels way more consistent with the early Mana, or Closing Fantasy Journey video games, each aesthetically and mechanically. The gist of Elliot is that you just’re exploring the world whereas following the primary story, tackling dungeons and executives, taking up facet quests, finishing non-compulsory dungeons, all that good things. The sport balances fight, exploration, and puzzle-solving by giving Elliot a wide range of weapons and talents that can be utilized in a number of methods.
Elliot has 4 melee weapons: a sword, spear, hammer, and sickle. Every of those has totally different makes use of in fight and usually has a puzzle mechanic, too, just like the hammer’s cost assault getting used to drive nails into the bottom that block your path. You even have bombs that may blow up cracked partitions and boulders, a boomerang that may hit enemies a number of instances, and arrows for lengthy vary. Whereas you do not have a dodge, you do have a protect that you just rapidly discover out is vitally necessary, particularly when you unlock an ideal guard capability that stuns enemies.
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On prime of this, Faie has her personal talents that open up a wide selection of latest choices, similar to giving Elliot a doppelganger that acts precisely as he does, a high-speed enhance, a hearth assault, a teleport, and extra. Faie could be managed independently utilizing the proper stick, and you’ll in all probability think about the puzzle choices this creates — navigating Faie to a far-off platform to teleport, or by means of a bit maze to gentle a torch.
The place the sport actually begins to allow you to customise your “construct” is with the Magicite system, that are primarily talents you may equip on every weapon to grant drastically totally different results. For instance, one Magicite would possibly make your boomerang greater, however transfer way more slowly. One other would possibly enhance your sword assault when your protect gauge is full. Even additional, one other makes your bombs bounce as soon as everytime you throw them.
Magicite fragments are gathered as you journey, and could be became a service provider to create new Magicite — whereas it’s also possible to discover new ones in chests. Equally, you will collect cash known as Tul as you journey, used to purchase equipment from retailers, therapeutic potions, improve your Magicite instances to carry extra, and many others.
Whereas the fight of Elliot begins gradual and initially feels constrained, the additional you progress into the sport and the extra choices you unlock, it begins to really feel extra dynamic. Within the final third of the sport, fight actually felt prefer it was clicking for me, and I genuinely loved testing out a wide range of Magicite builds.
And whereas this all doubtless sounds fairly good thus far, sadly, Elliot is considerably dragged down by its predominant gimmick — the time journey. The sport takes place throughout 4 totally different time durations known as “Ages,” every of which is the Kingdom of Huther at a unique level in its historical past. The story twists and weaves by means of these totally different ages, however the massive drawback is that the sport fairly actually makes use of the identical map 4 instances over.
Every age is virtually the very same world map, sprinkled with solely minor variations. The format of the world by no means adjustments — dungeons are in the identical place, shortcut tunnels connecting the assorted locales are in the identical place, and even the identical enemies usually populate all ages, for probably the most half. The intent behind that is seemingly to attempt to painting how time adjustments a kingdom and its individuals, however in apply, it rapidly turns into monotonous as you repeat the identical steps again and again.
This additionally results in some unlucky frustrations with dungeons, due to how issues are overgrown or ruined in numerous time durations. For instance, I do know the place a dungeon is and head into it when arriving in a brand new age, solely to search out out I can solely entry a single room, and there are just about no rewards to be discovered. It is an unlucky component that, sometimes, makes you are feeling such as you’re losing your time. Equally, the sport has a penchant for reusing enemy varieties all through, and executives are not any exception. Even early within the sport, I discovered myself dealing with a number of variations of the identical boss — disappointing for a fight system that I genuinely get pleasure from, and would have most popular to make use of that towards new challenges.
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I additionally discovered the design of the dungeons themselves to be lackluster at instances, too simplistic of their puzzle fixing, with rote mechanics that depend on solely considered one of your talents as an alternative of constructing full use of the suite of abilities Elliot has. That’s, after all, once more compounded by the very fact you are largely revisiting the identical locations as much as 4 instances all through your playthrough.
And that brings me again to my first level, unrealized potential. Elliot is a persistently irritating sport, in the best way that you just need to see it do extra, be extra formidable. That point-travelling gimmick is a superb thought on paper (Chrono Set off maybe being the very best instance), nevertheless it simply feels underbaked and underutilized right here. Equally, the story spends far an excessive amount of time meandering by means of mundane developments earlier than actually kicking into excessive gear simply close to the tip, together with a number of endings.
Even the fight system, which I general get pleasure from, introduces most of your weapons and choices fairly early on — which means the latter parts of the sport rely closely on the Magicite system, as an alternative of getting new toys to play with.
Nothing about Elliot feels outright poor, however there’s an air of slight disappointment that the sport cannot shake. There are even components that I actually love: the genuinely vibrant and kooky type and soundtrack, fight choices, and ludicrous ending, nevertheless it looks like the entire package deal has bother clicking collectively. And truthfully, possibly a part of that’s merely how good practically all of Sq.’s HD-2D efforts have been up till now.
By itself, The Adventures of Elliot is simply high-quality; a stable motion RPG to fill your time. There is a robust basis to construct on for the longer term, if one other HD-2D action-RPG can really discover that untapped potential that Elliot does not handle to succeed in.
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