Two of my favorite video games rising up have 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 have been able to. These video games particularly made me really feel daring and adventurous, and at any time when I revisit them as an grownup, they fill me with a childlike sense of marvel.
So I’m very a lot the target market for the upcoming motion RPG, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. I am keen on HD-2D, and Octopath Traveler II is one in every of my favorite Change video games and RPGs of all time. However on the similar time, I wished Crew Asano and Sq. Enix to do one thing a bit of completely different with this stunning artwork type; I used to be a bit of fearful concerning the path it gave the impression to be taking.
Nonetheless, I wasted no time downloading the demo after the July Companion Showcase, and even after spending two hours with it, and recognising just a few kinks that must 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 quite than the turn-based. Suppose Phantasm of Gaia, Terranigma, Ys 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 sporting purple as an alternative of inexperienced, he has a fairy companion, you’ll be able to throw pots… it is all right here, simply with just a few distinctive wrinkles.
The very 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 pressured me to contemplate the dungeon’s structure; dropping down sure sand dunes took me to decrease flooring, however sure areas have been solely accessible by dropping down sure holes. The final dungeon of the demo does one thing related with lily pads and switches. All customary stuff, however made extra enjoyable due to your fairy companion.
No, Faie is not Navi; she would possibly 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 struggle enemies, collect objects. She spends more often than not following you round, however you may as well transfer her through the use of the precise stick. Alternatively, you’ll be able to command her to fly forward, cease, disappear, or come again to you. Or, if you would like a bit of Secret of Mana magic, a good friend can be a part of you for some sofa co-op and take management of her.
Faie’s greatest belongings come from her abilities, nonetheless. One in all these is a splash that permits you to run at an especially quick velocity 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 fascinating, going past simply strolling by way of caves and corridors and preventing 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 may have customary and charged assaults, however selection is available in from weapons and upgrades you’ll be able to 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 elective boss led me to a model new weapon: a sequence 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 performing as a defend. Cost the sickle up, and you may pull enemies in direction of you. It is so satisfying to tug off. Besides once you handle to tug a giant enemy with a membership in direction of you simply because it’s about to bonk you on the pinnacle.
There’s really quite a lot of risk-reward stuff happening right here, which made the in any other case easy fight that little bit extra partaking. Earlier than I even left the opening city, I purchased an adjunct that elevated my motion velocity barely, but additionally meant I took some additional injury 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 massive 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 way of enemies, however lowered the injury they did. It meant I needed to weigh up my tools choices extra rigorously 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 abilities, however in The Adventures of Elliot, blocking is fairly essential. 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 way 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 it’s important to 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 have to iron out, however that is what this demo is for; the body price 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 right begin to whet my urge for food. Even with a brand new Octopath announcement through the Direct, The Adventures of Elliot was the standout reveal for me, and taking part in it has solely cemented it as one in every of my most-anticipated video games for Change 2 in 2026.
Have you ever tried The Adventures of Elliot: The Millenium Tales demo but? Shock us within the feedback together with your ideas.
