Two of my favorite video games rising up had been The Legend of Zelda: A Hyperlink to the Previous and Secret of Mana. Lush inexperienced worlds, curious — and infrequently lovable — enemies, and fluid motion fight for the time; as anyone who had in large part best performed turn-based RPGs for the primary 8 years in their existence, the SNES technology of motion RPGs confirmed me a glimpse of what video video games had been in a position to. Those video games particularly made me really feel daring and adventurous, and on every occasion I revisit them as an grownup, they fill me with a childlike sense of surprise.
So I’m very a lot the objective target audience for the impending motion RPG, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Stories. I like HD-2D, and Octopath Traveler II is certainly one of my favorite Transfer video games and RPGs of all time. However on the similar time, I sought after Workforce Asano and Sq. Enix to do one thing a bit of other with this pretty artwork taste; I used to be a bit of fearful in regards to the course it gave the impression to be taking.
Nonetheless, I wasted no time downloading the demo after the July Spouse Show off, or even after spending two hours with it, and recognising a couple of kinks that want to be ironed out, The Adventures of Elliot looks like a shot within the arm for this aesthetic taste, and I am itching for extra.
Like Octopath sooner than it, The Adventures of Elliot is aiming to recapture a few of that SNES magic, however within the motion division slightly than the turn-based. Assume Phantasm of Gaia, Terranigma, Ys III, Past Oasis; all of that ilk feed into top-down Jap-developed motion RPG historical past, and it is on display right here. However the Zelda love is overwhelming — in any case, the eponymous hero is dressed in crimson as an alternative of inexperienced, he has a fairy better half, you’ll be able to throw pots… it is all right here, simply with a couple of distinctive wrinkles.
The most efficient a part of the Debut Demo is the sector itself. Exploring this small nook of Philabieldia (no longer a typo) is very moreish for me, and provides us a bit of perception into what is to return. In fact, the very first thing I did used to be reduce some grass, however whilst mowing the garden, I disregarded my quest marker and headed south in opposition to a desolate tract house, the place I discovered cracked partitions to bomb and shrubs to take away. I discovered a problem tomb which gave me a well being build up alongside the best way, too. Sooner or later, I stumbled right into a cave, which acted like a miniature dungeon.
There are fight rooms to transparent and a couple of puzzle-platforming sections which compelled me to believe the dungeon’s structure; shedding down sure sand dunes took me to decrease flooring, however sure spaces had been best obtainable via shedding down sure holes. The remaining dungeon of the demo does one thing identical with lily pads and switches. All usual stuff, however made extra a laugh thank you in your fairy better half.
No, Faie is not Navi; she would possibly talk a bit of an excessive amount of, however Faie is a vital a part of Elliot’s journey as a result of she comes having the ability to battle enemies, acquire pieces. She spends more often than not following you round, however you’ll be able to additionally transfer her via the use of the best stick. On the other hand, you’ll be able to command her to fly forward, prevent, disappear, or come again to you. Or, if you wish to have a bit of Secret of Mana magic, a pal can sign up for you for some sofa co-op and take keep an eye on of her.
Faie’s perfect property come from her abilities, on the other hand. This type of is a touch that lets you run at an especially rapid velocity for a restricted time, an important for purchasing round rapid or for traversing crumbling flooring. The opposite is a warp which is very helpful for purchasing throughout greater gaps. It makes dungeon exploration truly attention-grabbing, going past simply strolling thru caves and corridors and battling enemies.
It is a identical tale with fight, which has a couple of little touches to make Elliot’s journey really feel a bit of distinctive. The fundamentals are acquainted — you’ve usual and charged assaults, however selection is available in from guns and upgrades you’ll be able to equip and procure. Along side a sword and defend, you get started with some bombs and a bow (see the Hyperlink right here?), although my noodling across the map and an not obligatory boss led me to a brand spanking new weapon: a series and sickle.
The chain and sickle laws and used to be in an instant extra robust than my sword. A faucet of the ‘X’ button and the sickle would swing round me in a large radius. Dangle it down, and it spins round Elliot a brief distance, successfully performing as a defend. Price the sickle up, and you’ll be able to pull enemies in opposition to you. It is so enjoyable to drag off. Except for while you set up to drag a large enemy with a membership in opposition to you simply as it is about to bonk you at the head.
There is in truth a large number of risk-reward stuff happening right here, which made the differently easy fight that little bit extra attractive. Earlier than I even left the hole the town, I purchased an adjunct that higher my motion velocity fairly, but additionally supposed I took some additional injury from enemies. Couple that with diving into the thick of it with the sickle, and it supposed I needed to be a bit of extra wary on how I took out large teams of enemies.
Magicite, equippable gemstones that supply stat will increase and weapon buffs, additionally include quite a lot of help-and-hinder results. One piece of sword magicite higher my base assault energy, however at the price of slowing down my defend restoration time. Some other allowed arrows to pierce thru enemies, however diminished the wear and tear they did. It supposed I needed to weigh up my apparatus choices extra in moderation and — like badges in Paper Mario — I additionally had a suite quantity I may just equip.
I am not a lot of a blocker in video video games, which most probably explains my rusty fighting-game abilities, however in The Adventures of Elliot, blockading is lovely essential. There is not any dodge, which took me a minute to regulate to, however a perfectly-timed block stuns an enemy and offers you a couple of unfastened hits. For an motion RPG, it will pay to be affected person and assume issues thru, particularly within the boss fights, that are successfully like little puzzles. Similar to many, many Zelda bosses, there are semi-obvious vulnerable issues that it’s a must to exploit with all of your equipment after which strike away to win. The 2 I fought were not difficult, however they did make me smile.
There are some things that Sq. Enix and Claytechworks want to iron out, however that is what this demo is for; the body charge is a bit of inconsistent, out within the open international, 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 easiest begin to whet my urge for food. Even with a brand new Octopath announcement all over the Direct, The Adventures of Elliot used to be the standout divulge for me, and enjoying it has best cemented it as certainly one of my most-anticipated video games for Transfer 2 in 2026.
Have you ever attempted The Adventures of Elliot: The Millenium Stories demo but? Marvel us within the feedback together with your ideas.
