After many remakes of classics, gaming has recently seen a trend of new games that call back to classic titles. From Resident Evil Requiem, which calls back to the first games in the horror series, to Animal Well, which evokes SNES-era Metroidvanias, there have been a few games that move forward while looking back. The Adventures of Elliot, an action role-playing game by Square Enix, wears its 90s JRPG influences proudly on its sleeve. It’s shaping up to be a must-play for fans of classic RPGs, while also inviting newcomers into the fold.
Recently, I had the opportunity to go hands-on with this upcoming title. Going in, I didn’t really know what to expect. The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is the latest HD-2D venture by Team Asano, makers of Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy. But while it shares their pixelated DNA, the game isn’t turn-based. In fact, I ultimately found it more similar to titles like Chrono Trigger, The Legend of Zelda, and even Secret of Mana.
Putting a Spin on Familiarity
You could say The Adventures of Elliot is a bit like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past dressed up as Octopath Traveler. But this would be a tad reductive. There are obvious parallels—Elliot can destroy pots, grass, and other objects while accompanied by a talkative fairy. And the game shares the HD-2D art style of Octopath Traveler. But it also throws a few things into the mix, like Magicite that can alter weapons, varied locales to visit, and your fairy companion controlled independently by yourself—or by a friend.
Square Enix shared a demo last year, which you can check out on Nintendo Switch 2, so the section I played came later. The game’s plot revolves around Elliot breaking a curse that has befallen Princess Heuria. A Square Enix representative informed me that this section, roughly 3 or 4 hours into the game, would be light on story. Instead, I had a choice on what to see.
Starting the preview off in a dungeon, I was informed that I could complete the dungeon or go out and explore the world of Philadelphia Philabieldia. I initially figured I’d do a little of either. I’d explore for a bit, then check out the dungeon. How much exploration could there be this early? Turns out, a lot.
In fact, I did so much exploring that I never even made it back to the dungeon. And I still had a few more points of interest to investigate after I wrapped up my roughly hour-long preview of the game.
The Adventures of Elliot Exploring the World
Leaving the dungeon, I went to a shrine where I acquired a new ability for Faie, my fairy friend. In case you’re wondering, yes, Faie does talk a lot. Yes, it may get on your nerves. But you can actually alter how chatty she is in the settings. There’s a lot of flexibility, with a few different difficulty options to adjust as well.
At the shrine, I got the ability to warp. Controlling Elliot with the left thumbstick, I used the right thumbstick to move Faie over sheer drops and other impediments. I could then warp Elliot right to her location. The shrines have these challenge rooms, which both give you a new ability while making sure you know how to use it.
With a new ability in tow, I ventured out into the open world. I found a cat. I acquired said cat? Later I learned that there’s an NPC who rewards you for finding cats. What did I get for finding five cats? Why, a compass-like needle to help me locate more cats! This started to sound like a pyramid scheme, but when the reward is cats, I couldn’t complain. And eventually, you get other prizes that don’t just revolve around cats.
Taking Elliot into Battle
Between acquiring feline friends, I also fought non-feline enemies. My default weapon was a sword and shield. And I found these intuitive. The sword is fast, ideal for taking out enemies before they can even hit you.
That said, I made it a point to try out each weapon. The bomb may be placed to explode for massive damage. The bow attacks from afar. The spear stabs enemies . The hammer squashes them. And the scythe chain swings around in a circle, hitting enemies in a 360. After trying these all out, I still found the sword to be my favorite.
One drawback of the HD-2D art style is that you are a 2D sprite fighting other 2D sprites in a 3D environment. This is perfectly fine for turn-based titles where precision is not important. But I did find the dimensions of The Adventures of Elliot getting a little wonky. As weapons that demand precision, the spear, bow, and hammer would sometimes miss enemies due to depth perception. But thankfully, slashing weapons like the sword and scythe avoided this issue completely, since they hit wide areas.
Still, there are reasons to mix up weapon use. In checking out a cave, I found a treasure chest hidden behind a cracked wall. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the bomb made that crack into a wide crevice that I could slip through. I appreciated how the game rewarded my curiosity.
Opening the chest rewarded a new box. The Adventures of Elliot has a neat feature in which better weapons get automatically equipped. While the bow isn’t as accurate as the sword, I found myself happily using the upgraded version to pick off enemies from afar, and finishing them off with the sword if they got too close.
Firing Up Elliot’s Fairy Friend (Literally)
Just as Elliot has weapons with a wide range of abilities and upgrades, the same is true for Faie and her powers. Aside from the warp ability, I could switch her ability to a couple of others. The full game will contain even more. By “igniting” Faie, I could light the little fairy on fire (no fairies were harmed in the making of this game) and send her over to scorch an enemy. I found this useful for those who were out of reach yet mobile, especially since the bow holds a finite number of arrows. I also had access to a sprint, but I didn’t need these in the sections I played.
And while the shrine unlocked the warp ability for Faie, a mausoleum later upgraded it. The mausoleum worked similarly, except instead of giving me an ability from the get-go, it had me complete a slightly tougher challenge room with the warp ability. This then unlocked the upgrade for the warp, granting Elliot invisibility for a short while following a warp. I appreciated the way this scaled the puzzle difficulty based on what I had already done, and I look forward to seeing what these rooms look like for other Faie abilities.
Chronicles and Characters
While I didn’t get too much of the story, I did get to meet a few characters and do some side quests. In addition to fast-travel, I could also travel between different time periods. The Age of Reconstruction, where I spent most of my time, lives up to its name with a run-down world of swamps and desolate landscapes.
This era has a tiny settlement, the town of Littlehope. This place also lives up to its name. I learned this upon encountering the “depressed picture book author,” who wants to create more books but is blind. I helped him out, with the game giving me the option of showing the question destinations on the map or not.
Later on, I traveled to the Era of Safekeeping, in which the map suddenly becomes lush and green. I talked to various NPCs in the Kingdom of Huther, who told me about the Spell of Safekeeping, which Princess Heuria enacted to preserve this pristine place. As an example of how the game updates classic formulas, talking to any NPC puts a checkmark by their speech bubble, so you know who you’ve already chatted up.
What has changed since the demo?
If you played the Switch 2 demo last year, you may have noticed a request for feedback at the end. And Team Asano takes feedback seriously. In case you’re wondering what has changed in The Adventures of Elliot since the demo, I have answers. Since the demo, the developers increased the base movement speed, added a weapon selection shortcut, created a new difficulty level, and tweaked the Magicite system.
The Adventures of Elliot Impressions
I have to say, as someone who loves RPGs but can get a bit picky with which I play, I’m now really excited by The Adventures of Elliot. I really like 90s RPGs, but they can sometimes feel a bit obtuse in requiring players to learn their intricate systems. The Adventures of Elliot seems to gleefully have its cake and eat it too. There’s a lot going on, from the various weapons, abilities, upgrades, and more. But the game compromises by letting the player tweak many of its settings. It’s a surprisingly user-friendly experience.
As such, I see The Adventures of Elliot appealing most to kids, adults nostalgic for the SNES era who maybe don’t have as much time for demanding titles, and RPG newbies who want to get a taste of a game that references various classics in a more friendly action-based title. This isn’t to say that The Adventures of Elliot is an easy game. It’s just highly customizable, and seems to reward curiosity over adherence to a main path.
In short, I’d describe The Adventures of Elliot as “playful.” The soundtrack is especially whimsical. The enemies are mostly beast-like critters, like oversized frogs, bats, and other colorful characters. The voice acting reminded me of a Saturday morning cartoon, feeling heightened yet earnest. Oh, and you can feed the cats, too. What’s more playful than that?
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales arrives for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on June 18th, 2026. In the meantime, you can check out the Switch 2 demo here.
