'The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales' Review: Classic 'Legend of Zelda,' For Better or Worse

Author's Note: The author was provided a Nintendo Switch 2 code by the publisher for the purpose of this review.

At the top of this review, I think I need to make this clear--The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is a good, even an excellent game, when all the multi-genre puzzle pieces come together. However, the number of times those puzzle pieces fit together is grossly outnumbered by the number of times that they don't. The game frequently gives-and-takes with its own mechanics, story, and game design that it feels like one of the most wildly inconsistent games I have played in recent memory.

There is a "but" throughout almost every element of this beautiful 2D-HD action RPG from Square Enix. The game's surprisingly deep yet accessible combat system is undercut by awkward attack angles and low enemy variety. The game's unique take on RPG "leveling" is half-baked and turns acquiring those abilities into a bit of a chore. The game's outstanding dungeons and boss fights eventually wear out their welcome with repeated designs and repeated fights. The game's story has a good setup, but it is wasted on paper-thin characters and a shallow time-travel mechanic, dry dialogue, and two of the most annoying companion characters I have experienced in a long, long time.

Yet, despite all of that, I (somehow) overall enjoyed my time with The Adventures of Elliot. This will not be a game for everyone. It is a classic-style Zelda game in all but name with a gorgeous art style, stellar soundtrack, and fun combat and puzzles. If you are craving an old-school experience with little hand-holding and surprisingly challenging and engaging boss fights, then Adventures of Elliot may be the game you have been waiting for. If you are expecting this to be Square Enix's best HD-2D game or expecting a grand story, then you will likely be disappointed.

A Journey Through Time... Kinda

The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales follows the titular Elliot, an adventurer (and don't worry if you forget that, he will remind you every time you meet a new character), as he embarks on a quest to save the Kingdom of Huther from falling to ruin, after an early game betrayal puts the humans in this world in danger. Huther is protected from beastmen tribes by Princess Heuria's spell of safekeeping, so she and her father, the king, ask Elliot to investigate new ruins, which leads him to discover time travel gates. Using the gates, he follows the threat through time to put a stop to it and save humanity.

It's a fairly generic setup, and from what I can tell, that seems to be the intention. Despite the frequent cutscenes, which feature gorgeous art of all the major characters for each main dialogue encounter, this is not a story-heavy game in the slightest.

Elliot has virtually no characterization other than the fact that he's a good-hearted adventurer, and his dialogue reflects that. What's frustrating, though, is that there are several little glimpses and hints at Elliot's past that would have been interesting to explore in a game centered around time travel. That does not happen. In fact, there is essentially only one notable interaction throughout all four of the game's visitable time periods that ties into the main narrative in any meaningful way. There is no character growth for him or any of the other characters throughout the roughly 20-hour runtime of the game.

It feels like the story was put on the back burner in favor of gameplay, and that is actually fine for the most part, but that may not be what Square Enix fans may expect, especially after other HD-2D RPGs like Octopath Traveler.

What's more is that this game is only loosely an adventure through time. Typically, Elliot will have to return to the Age of Safekeeping (the main setting of the game) after solving a crisis, finding an item, or defeating a boss. So the Age of Safekeeping becomes a sort of "base" for all of the adventuring in the game's relatively small but varied world, which is made up of several distinct regions.

Elliot is joined by two different companions, the biggest one being Faie. Faie also lacks any characterization other than being a frightened fairy that only Elliot can hear. The two of them do not have any conflict or noteworthy moments together. They exist in perfect harmony, which creates a woefully uninteresting generic relationship between the two of them. Faie also talks way too much, but thankfully, Square Enix included a setting in the options menu to tune down her chattiness.

I was disappointed to see how little the time travel elements of this game impacted the plot and characters. There is no Terminator moment that allows Elliot to change the future. Nothing Elliot does in the past affects the present day, so the time travel mechanics fall flat and feel, at times, more like a game design shortcut to pad out the length of the game while keeping virtually the same level designs across all four ages so they can be reused throughout the runtime without it being cut-and-dry backtracking (of which there is still plenty of).

Overall, the narrative is uninteresting and uninspired, and the characters are wooden, which is a little shocking given that, again, there are hints towards bigger story roles for both Elliot and Faie, but the game does not commit to them. The other side characters are just there; they exist to provide conflict or to solve a problem for Elliot, and that's it.

The world and worldbuilding are equally generic. Besides the typical video game exposition writing from major characters and NPCs, most of the information you get about each area and age comes from short journal entries that can be found in the world or dungeons, and that's it, which is unfortunate, because players will have to do quite a bit of exploring in order to reach the game's True Ending.

A Lot of 'Zelda,' A little of 'Castlevania'

Something that Elliot gets right, though, is the core gameplay. Despite the game only having two attack buttons, which correspond to any two of Elliot's equipable weapons, the game has a surprising amount of depth to its combat, and new powers for Faie and new weapon types are gained at a consistent pace.

There are six major weapon types: sword, spear, hammer, boomerang, bow, and sickle and chain, all of which have unique strengths and weaknesses, and all of which can be changed slightly and drastically with the game's Magicite system. You can find new weapons for each type in the game's world, in shops, or in dungeons, but those function as straight damage upgrades for the weapons and fully replace the previous weapon once acquired.

The sword is the easiest weapon to use, providing quick forward slashes, but it lacks significant damage. The chain and sickle are great for crowd control, but can whiff if Elliot is too close to enemies. The pros and cons of each weapon are balanced, and they can be customized further with the Magicite system to allow players to create unique builds for each weapon. All the weapons have a normal attack and a charged attack, which can change properties.

The Magicite system, at first glance, may look like a Gatcha system from several recent mobile games. Magicite serves as the only way to upgrade Elliot's abilities, as there is no traditional RPG leveling system in the game at all. New Magicite is obtained by spending shards at a merchant, and the players are awarded random Magicites. If you draw a Magicite you already have, the game will break it down and give it back to you as another shard. The amount of Magicites in the game is staggering, and while most of them provide passive effects, like more damage or turning bombs into ice, some of them offer more.

For example, I received a Magicite that allowed me to create fireballs as I spun the sickle and chain. Pairing that with another Magicite that allowed me to move faster and another one that increased the charge damage of the sickle and chain had me raining down fire of death in a wide circle and still moving at a decent speed.

Magicites are a per-weapon basis, so a lot of Magicites can be equipped at once, and you can increase the amount of Magicites you can equip at once with the other currency in the game: tul (basically gold). After obtaining Magicite, you level up the Magicite draw system and eventually can draw abilities for specific weapons instead of it being at random, as well as get a higher chance for better Magicites.

Faie also gets new abilities throughout the game by visiting magic shrines (more on those in a minute). She starts with just an Ignite ability to create fire, but by the end of the game, she can copy Elliot, create a vaccum of space, and zip Elliot through the maps at lightning speed.

Combining all of those elements together creates a simple but layered combat system in which you are still learning new things about the system hours in, like using Faie's Ignite ability to immediately blow up enemies that wield bombs or using it to detonate bombs you have placed yourself. Faie can be controlled manually with the right stick, too, so there's no need to worry about companion AI quality as well.

I found the combat to be quite fun, especially in the game's dungeons and boss fights, both of which are also clearly inspired by Zelda and classic Castlevania. None of the dungeons are that long, but they do (mostly) provide engaging puzzles, enemy ambushes, and creative platforming challenges. After collecting a blue key and then a red key, players can then go to the final part of each dungeon and face the boss.

The boss battles are extremely fun and quite challenging. Actually, the whole game is relatively challenging, even on Normal difficulty. I died more times than I could count. Though sometimes death can feel pointless, as Faie has an ability to immediately revive Elliot at full health for the cost of some tul, with her cost gradually increasing the more times you die. That ability is completely optional, though, so if players want to just power through and not rely on it, they can.

Back to the boss battles, most of them have a certain puzzle to be figured out, to then exploit for massive damage, much like Zelda bosses. Some of them don't, though, and you are forced to rely on your own combat knowledge to get through it. Parrying (yes, you do eventually get a shield parry ability), jumping over AoE attacks, and weaving in and out of areas to avoid attacks, all at a brisk pace, keep the boss fights fun, engaging, and demanding throughout.

Though there is a drawback to the dungeon and boss designs in Elliot. Several of the dungeon level designs and boss battles are reused multiple times throughout the game. It is not uncommon for the game to ask you to complete a dungeon, go to a different time period, and then explore that same area again. The boss at the time gates before you unlock a new time period are also reused over and over, just with one additional enemy each time.

Not a huge deal, as I found the combat and dungeons to be the strongest part of the game, but it is worth noting. It's also worth pointing out that the enemy variety of the game isn't particularly strong. It's the same seven-ish enemies over and over, with just a couple new ones being added for some of the new Ages you explore throughout the game.

A World to Explore

When you're not in dungeons or talking to NPCs, you are exploring the four different Ages in Elliot in an overworld map. The map is littered with secrets to find, hidden chests, collectible cats, and shrines to conquer. The shrines are very similar to Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom shrines, giving players a puzzle to solve, a combat challenge to overcome, or a platforming challenge. They are brief, but they typically reward Elliot with a Heart Shard. Collect four of those, and Elliot gains an additional heart for his life. Sound familiar?

The core overworld concept itself is great; however, there is yet another "but" for this part of the game. Across the four Ages, the layout of the world is virtually identical to the layout of the starting Age. Meaning that you have to explore what is basically the same area over and over again. The most egregious of which happens when you complete a snow area and dungeon, go to a different time, and then you immediately have to go right back there again. Because you haven't visited that area in this new Age, you cannot fast travel to it, and you have to run through the exact same area again.

The four Ages are not unique worlds. They are, essentially, the same world over and over, just lightly tweaked aesthetically. Same level layout. That creates a huge sense of repetition, and I really wish the four Ages had offered something more distinctive, because the world itself really is not that large to begin with.

Because this is a classic-style Zelda game in all but name, it is very easy to overlook upgrades, weapons, accessories, and other items. The game does not do much handholding at all, so if you are craving a classic experience, this may be the game for you. For others, it may come across as archaic. For me, I appreciated the old-school vibes, but I also wish the world were just more interesting, especially given how often the game forces you to repeat areas.

Final Score: 7.5/10

The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is by no means a bad game. The combat is excellent, the game is gorgeous, the music is stellar, and the difficulty creates a new style of HD-2D for Square Enix. However, it is undercut by some odd design choices, repetition, and a wholly uninteresting story that is full of generic writing and characters.

Fans of classic Zelda will likely be able to forgive these drawbacks and have a good time with the game. Fans of modern Square Enix titles might take issue with the game's shortcomings.

Honestly, I hope the game does well financially for Square Enix, because I can see glimmers of greatness with this new IP. There is a great foundation in Elliot, but it needs refinement. So, I really hope there is a sequel and Square Enix can bask in the glory of having both turn-based and action combat HD-2D games.

For now, though, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is a game that feels stuck in the past while desperately trying to move towards the future.

The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales will be released on June 18, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. A free demo is also available now on all platforms, with progress carrying over to the full game.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

2026 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.

This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 8:00 AM.