The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales Reviews
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales feels like it gets about three-quarters of the way toward being a fantastic game, but its final stretch drags it down. When it's firing on all cylinders, it's a great deal of fun and comes very close to capturing the energy and spirit of a classic Zelda title. When it isn't, it feels slow, meandering, and unfocused. A strong soundtrack and beautiful visuals help elevate the experience, but ultimately, Adventures of Elliot lands as a good game that could have been great with a bit more polish and focus.
However, with Elliot, the gorgeous production values and entertainingly breezy action roped me in anyway.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is a treat for fans of action RPGs such as The Legend of Zelda and Alundra, with plenty of exploration to be done, dungeons to conquer, and weapons and spells to acquire. Some may find it a little simplistic in ways, but those who get engrossed in the adventure it provides will undoubtedly love it.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is an excellent action RPG that clearly demonstrates its influences, but uses them to deliver a unique game. It shines in its combat, exploration, and a good story that makes every hour worthwhile.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The inspirations are clear, but so too is the understanding of what makes for enjoyable minute-to-minute gameplay. The longer you play, the more the cracks begin to show, but the story manages to push you forward and the hidden plots beneath it make going out of your way an oft fulfilling detour. The red mage-looking Elliot has made a fan out of me, and if Link ever wants to take a break from stopping Ganon, Square Enix has a capable backup waiting in the wings.
Make no mistake, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is a beautiful game top to bottom. Combat is phenomenally varied, fluid and rewarding, alongside customisable perks and buffs for Elliot’s extensive arsenal of weapons. The world map is impressive to an extent, but there is a bit too much repetition across the various time periods, including having the same enemies. Nonetheless, puzzles, exploration and the wealth of combat options make this a must play for action RPG fans, and should certainly scratch the itch for those looking for a combination of HD-2D and old-school top-down Zelda games.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales draws inspiration from the classic Zelda games and reimagines their formula in a compelling way. Dungeons, exploration, and combat are the game's strongest points. It's a shame, though, that the game reuses settings and enemies, which prevents it from fully realizing its potential.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millenium Tales stumbles at times on the journey it sets out to take, but following Elliot and Faie on their adventure through the ages is still a great idea for any fan of classic RPGs.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
I had great deal of fun playing through The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales with its rewarding gameplay and delightful presentation. ⏳
On paper, it had the potential to be a great title, but in my opinion, it fails to rise above mediocrity thanks to an endless array of structural defects.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Adventures of Elliot is a very expensive gem of a game. It has a simple, almost predictable story that’s actually part of its charm, beautiful audiovisuals, and a polished, if repetitive gameplay, sure. But it’s also being sold for a lot more money than games in this genre with this amount of content usually demand. Beyond that financial hurdle, though, it remains one of the most thoroughly enjoyable JRPGs to have come out recently if you’re looking for a beautifully focused, classic experience.
Team Asano proves it has a genuine gift for real-time combat and world-building, even when its four ages start to blur together.
Review in German | Read full review
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales took me back to a simpler time. A time when I would sit cross-legged in front of my Super Nintendo, controller in hand, ready to lose myself in a world filled with secrets, dungeons, and wonder. It captures that same childhood sense of curiosity, where every path begs to be explored and every new discovery feels exciting.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is a thoroughly enjoyable romp that succeeds in bringing a refreshing, real-time pace to the gorgeous world of HD-2D. It is a game packed with earnest charm and visual splendour, though it occasionally trips over its own feet. By throwing an oversized weapon arsenal, deep magicite customisation, and a five-tier fairy puzzle system into a relatively easy action loop, the experience ends up feeling bogged down by one too many mechanics that the core gameplay simply doesn’t require you to master.
Ultimately, I was left with the impression that *The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales* is a game that constantly wavers between what it is and what it could have been. The foundation is solid, the combat remains fun from start to finish, and the art direction once again demonstrates why HD-2D has become one of Square Enix's greatest strengths. Its limitations lie in the narrative—which explores time travel less than the premise suggested—as well as in exploration, which loses some impact due to frequent asset reuse, and a progression system that settles into a comfort zone too early. None of these issues truly ruin the experience, but together, they prevent it from reaching the next level. When the credits rolled, the prevailing feeling wasn't exactly disappointment, but rather a sense of missed opportunity. I enjoyed myself throughout, and it is easy to recommend this adventure to anyone looking for an accessible, visually stunning action RPG. There is a lingering sense that the team had all the ingredients to create something special but ultimately played it too safe. Perhaps that is precisely what holds it back from making the leap from a good adventure to a truly memorable experience.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
So if a Zelda-like game from Team Asano interests you, I'd absolutely recommend The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. I'd also advise that going the extra mile and sweating out the repetition for that true final ending is absolutely worth your time, and I think you're doing a disservice to yourself if you stop at any of the initial two endings.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales looks like a classic, sounds like a classic, and has all the ingredients to become one - it just seems to have decided to save that final step for the eventual sequel.
Review in Unknown | Read full review
I had a great time with The Adventures of Elliot, and it’s another strong showing from Square Enix. It may not completely reinvent the action RPG genre, but it doesn’t need to. Instead, it focuses on delivering a polished, consistently entertaining adventure that reminded me why these kinds of games remain some of my favourites.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is a confident, good-looking swing at something quite different for Square Enix's HD-2D lineup. The combat is satisfying, the visuals are some of the best pixel-inspired work I've seen on PS5, and the performance never got in the way of any of it.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is the classic Zelda alternative that players have wanted for years. It captures everything that made traditional top-down action-adventure games so special, including rewarding exploration, memorable dungeons, clever puzzles, satisfying progression, and an endless stream of secrets to discover.