Elliot of All Trades
Square Enix have been on an upward trajectory with the release of HD-2D games over recent years with more on the horizon, they have now released their latest project – The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales.
The Adventures of Elliot follows a self aware adventurer by the name Elliot who makes a living day to day doing jobs. Elliot has somewhat of a history after having been found under a tree in the arms of an unknown man, after having been up by a local orphanage he makes ends meet with the children that grow up at the orphanage he was brought up in. Before long a friend recommends Elliot to the king in order to take care of some local beastmen who prey locally to the town, the adventure then takes him far across unknown lands where Elliot’s adventuring potential is ultimately realised.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is an action-RPG which is a first for Square in it’s HD-2D graphics style. This style of the game however is much like the previous Octopath Traveller games and the Dragon Quest I, II & 3 Remakes so if you have played them you know what to expect here and it doesn’t default on quality in that regard. Elliot himself dons a red feather cap and a red cape, very much like a Red Mage from the Final Fantasy series, although this is not a Final Fantasy game it still resembles some elements of it such as the gems you find throughout your adventure such as Magicite. Much like a Red Mage also Elliot can utilize many different abilities and is therefore capable in using different weapons, Elliot can use four different melee weapons: a sword, spear, hammer, and sickle. Each weapon has its own strengths in battle and is also used to solve environmental puzzles. For example, the hammer’s charged attack can drive nails into the ground to clear obstacles or create new paths. Elliot also carries bombs for destroying cracked walls and boulders, a boomerang that can strike enemies multiple times, and a bow for attacking from a distance. While it is an element I would like to have seen implemented Elliot cannot dodge although his shield allows him to block attacks, this is especially useful after unlocking the perfect guard ability, which lets him stun enemies by blocking at the right moment.
The world of Philabieldia in which the game takes place is a vibrant land full of different biomes, the game can be compared to Zelda, the Mana series and Alundra in many ways. You can smash pots and cut grass to get currency which will let you buy items, there are puzzles although far less obscure to something like Zelda and especially Alundra. There is no level progression system in place here, instead Elliot grows more powerful by the Magicite found in the game. Magicite can be equipped to customize a weapon’s strengths, letting players boost damage, enhance critical hits, and take advantage of other unique weapon-specific effects. Magicite even comes with its own rarity indicators meaning higher star Magicite are typically more powerful and offer greater bonuses, making them valuable for maximizing a weapon’s effectiveness. Elliot’s companion Faie who when isn’t talking can boost Elliot’s abilities by healing or teleporting and can be controlled separately which becomes more useful during certain puzzle segments. Accessories provide additional perks to Elliot with one my favourite being the one that turns every object into a living bomb that explodes when you throw it.
The issue I found with The Adventures of Elliot is that the aforementioned magicite upgrades take some time well into the game before they start to feel like an integral part of the games mechanics meaning anything from a gameplay perspective until that point is pretty bare bones. The game being quite on the short side is not a minus however as the game does have a multitude of side content such as secrets and different endings to the game entirely and while games similar in this nature can feel pretty linear, the way The Adventures of Elliot approaches this however is that it is pretty open in how you want to tackle the game.
The 2D-HD graphics are works really well with The Adventures of Elliot and it is a first for the team however while it is far from perfect it most likely could be expanded on potential future sequels. The game has really great voice acting where even side quests are fully voiced, even character frames will show on screen giving a larger perspective on emotion, however some character moments can feel rather weak and flat. The music is fantastic and the game is responsive in all situations, the dungeon design is fantastic and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the creative ways in which to overcome certain obstacles, however as a first for the team it is not without a few negatives albeit a bit on the minor side. I did not like the overall interface on screen, it wasn’t the worst in terms of positioning as it shows clearly everything but it does look like the interface of a phone game and the faie that shows on screen always could be a bit smaller as it takes up a larger portion of the screen than it needs to, health I would have liked to see indicated as hearts than blood drops but again this a nitty gritty preference. The time travel mechanic which comes later into the game is a cool concept but kind of wasted in that enemies and the positioning of the land is also the same, overall it is a solid foundation of an action HD-2D RPG with the possibility to build on it’s foundations if we were to see another in the series in the future.
A PlayStation 5 Review was provided by Square Enix. This article is featured on OpenCritic
