The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales

Genre: Top-Down Action-RPG

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

The Adventures of Elliot is a Top-Down Action-RPG released in 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2. The premise here is a strong one: take the “HD-2D” visual style of games like Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy and use it in a game with gameplay similar to a traditional Top-Down Zelda game like Link’s Awakening. Add in a time-traveling plot with some similarities to JRPG classic Chrono Trigger, and you have all the ingredients for a killer recipe.

The titular Elliot is a self-proclaimed adventurer who gets hired by the king to investigate some nearby ruins, which uncovers a doorway through time. Soon enough, the king’s evil advisor (this isn’t a spoiler – he might as well be twirling his mustache from the moment we first see him) defies the King’s command and heads to the doorway looking to rewrite history and become the supreme ruler and… you get the idea. Well, clearly that can’t be allowed to pass, so Elliot is sent after him, heading into a time-traveling adventure that will explore multiple eras to reveal the kingdom’s past and save its future.

As has been the case for pretty much all of the HD-2D games, the writing is superb, the characters excellent, and the voice acting is outstanding. Elliot himself is a really likeable fellow, the princess who acts as mission control in the early part of the game is an adorable shut-in enthusiastic to get a glimpse of the outside world, and then a short time later Elliot will be joined by a different companion, a cutesy fairy who toes the line between “likably cute” and “saccharine and annoying”.

That said, I do need to address one issue I’ve seen others make about this game, and probably the most consistent complaint – your companion is extremely chatty. Irritatingly so, in fact. They will comment on everything, and their comments get repetitive too quickly to hear them so frequently. In addition, you’ll soon find that the instant you encounter a new puzzle, they will pretty much immediately tell you how to solve it. Thankfully in the game’s menus there’s an option to tone down your companions’ chattiness, but even at reduced frequency, they still talk far too much – and I say this after telling you I liked these companion characters. Alas, you can absolutely get too much of a good thing.

Otherwise the presentation here is quite good, on par with what we’ve come to expect from HD-2D games. Great detail, good lighting and shadow, good atmospheric effects, even some other nice effects like refraction effects for ice. But compared to other past HD-2D games, I think the main difference you’ll see here is that due to the game running on Nintendo Switch 2, the game is mostly at a 60FPS framerate. This can briefly dip in spots, and oddly sometimes during cinematics you’ll be seeing things in 30FPS, including the title screen footage. Overall, the game looks great, but I wouldn’t call this a massive jump over past HD-2D games.

I also have to make note of this game’s wonderful orchestral soundtrack, which does a magnificent job giving this game a magic and grandeur throughout, with examples including the Main Theme, Hucarea (Age of Safekeeping), Neverwither (Age of Safekeeping), Whiterea (Age of Safekeeping), Outlands (Age of Safekeeping), The Intersection of Future and Past, Where the Mire Swallows Footsteps, Where the Sands Weathered All, and Beyond the Gloom, to name a few.

When it comes to the gameplay, things start out being a little too close to classic Zelda for my taste, feeling lacking in originality. Sword, boomerang, bow and arrow, bombs, hammer, and something that strongly resembles a hookshot (though thankfully is used quite differently). Only after you get some more time into the game will you start seeing some of the more creative gameplay elements The Adventures of Elliott has to offer.

One of these, the magicite mechanic (not to be confused with magicite from Final Fantasy VI, which works very differently) can be used to upgrade weapons in ways that players can mix and match to their liking, with two weapons equippable at any given time (similar to how Link’s Awakening works). In theory this makes for a lot of flexibility in how players can outfit their character, though in practice it makes for a lot of grinding, and you’ll see diminishing returns if you’re wanting to scale up your power over the course of the game.

Another mechanic here comes up about 4 hours or so into the game when you meet your fairy companion, who you can independently control to collect loot or attack enemies from a distance using the right analog stick, or you can turn over control of this character to a second player who can assist you in asymmetrical co-op play.

Overall, the Action-RPG gameplay is quite good, doing a good job building on the Zelda formula while adding unique elements to the mix, with some decent puzzles and boss fights too. However, the time traveling mechanic could have used a bit more workshopping. The issue isn’t just that you’re running across the same map on multiple eras, that makes sense given the plot. The issue is that you’re often fighting the exact same enemies in each era, making these different eras seem far too similar and too repetitive.

Between the missed potential in the time travel, the grinding for magicite, and the annoying chatty helper characters, The Adventures of Elliot definitely has some very specific areas that could stand to be improved. However, despite these flaws, this is overall a magnificent Zelda-like with a great presentation, solid gameplay, an interesting world to explore, a great cast of characters, and as I was playing the game I kept finding myself drawn back to it well after the point where I felt ready to review it. As such, even with its flaws I think this is a fantastic Action-RPG, and one that fans of the genre should absolutely add to their collection on Nintendo Switch 2.

tl;dr – The Adventures of Elliot is a Top-Down Action-RPG where players take the role of an adventurer traveling through time to save his kingdom. The HD-2D presentation, world, characters, and overall gameplay here are excellent, though there are some frustrations and annoyances due to chatty companion characters, repetitive environments, and tedious grinding. Despite these flaws, this is a wonderful Action-RPG that fans of the genre should consider a must-have on Nintendo Switch 2.

Grade: A-

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