I really like pixel artwork. I discover that, even many years later, the best-looking video games of the ‘90s – Chrono Set off, Ultimate Fantasy 6, The Legend of Zelda: A Hyperlink to the Previous – can nonetheless be breathtaking in a method older 3D video games often aren’t. That’s why I take discover every time Sq. Enix makes use of its signature HD-2D artwork type, and why it’s so thrilling to see that aesthetic increase previous its turn-based roots with The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, the primary action-adventure sport to get this modern-retro therapy. Though its titular hero could also be carrying pink as an alternative of inexperienced, it primarily asks the query, “What if Sq. made A Hyperlink to the Previous?” The reply is an journey I by no means knew I needed – one with a compelling story, spectacular construct customization, and a world I hope we see extra of.
Elliot is an adventurer – a reality he makes positive everyone seems to be conscious of – who helps anybody which may be in hassle or has an issue to unravel. After a summons by the king, your seemingly routine quest turns right into a mission to avoid wasting each the princess and the dominion itself, touring by means of time to take action. Elliot is is simple to root for, charismatic with out ever crossing over into tacky. Touring alongside our hero-in-red is Faie, a small and barely amnesiatic fairy who helps Elliot navigate and faces down foes along with her magical talents. She is a bit chatty (how chatty might be adjusted however by no means turned off fully) and infrequently falls into the “accomplice who provides you the puzzle reply too quickly” trope, which is unlucky, however remains to be a nice companion to have. Over the span of the 20-ish hours I spent with Elliot, Faie, and the remainder of the supporting forged, I grew to like this world and was invested within the lives of these characters – even when essentially the most emotionally impactful moments don’t arrive till fairly late, typically not till the post-game parts.
One of the core parts of The Adventures of Elliot is its time journey, which could be a robust factor to get proper in a sport, and it by no means fairly lives as much as its promise right here. You’ll bounce from age to age, and whereas that’s mirrored in some methods as sure places or routes change relying on the time interval, these variations are moderately underwhelming. It’s neat to search out the ruins of a as soon as nice constructing from the Age of Magic through the Age of Reconstruction, however enterprise a brief distance outdoors the town partitions, and you will note the identical bushes and shrubs regardless of when you end up. Stranger nonetheless is the shortage of any kind of evolution or improvement within the settlements of the beastmen tribes you incessantly go to. You’re telling me that the wolfish Ulfur, even in a thousand years, by no means discovered tips on how to arrange a number of extra tents?
On the subject of these pesky beastmen, the enemies of the varied ages don’t change, both. Whether or not I used to be exploring darkish caves within the current day or the traditional sands of the Age of Budding, I used to be swinging my sword on the similar slugs, rat individuals, and bizarre flying issues. You’ll be able to no less than skirt round them fairly simply for those who simply need to get someplace in a rush (with the exception of the occasional room that requires you to filter all of the enemies earlier than transferring on), however the lack of selection does imply that after the primary few hours, you should have seen a majority of the foes you’ll face in your adventures. The finest Elliot affords in phrases of age-exclusive enemies is a palette swap for the robotic automata models, with their once-shining chassis turning into caked with an aged patina within the years that observe their invention through the Age of Magic.
However whereas the time journey won’t alter them a lot, the world itself and the designs of the characters and enemies inside it nonetheless make this one other lovely instance of Sq. Enix’s HD-2D aesthetic in motion. There have been occasional encounters the place a monster can be hidden behind a wall or different piece of surroundings, however that was solely a minor inconvenience and was brushed apart every time I stumbled throughout the following gorgeous landmark. The drooping indigo leaves of Grandree, the crown of the Mount Phoenix volcano, and the glistening buildings of the grand metropolis of Weyzn are just some such locations. To not point out the artistic boss sprites, such because the laser-shooting lava lizard Salathmadra, or my private favourite, a frog don that rides a turtle round. All of this and extra shines on Nintendo Swap 2 the place I did my full playthrough, almost as properly it did throughout my checks on the PC construct, with solely slight slowdown and longer load occasions being the principle noticeable variations with the previous.
Crystal Fight
A lot of what The Adventures of Elliot does feels very acquainted, however equipable Magicite buffs and the “crafting” system you should utilize to make extra of them is one of essentially the most attention-grabbing twists it introduces. You’d be forgiven for those who assumed Elliot to be an RPG upon listening to it was developed by Sq. Enix and Staff Asano, nevertheless it really has little or no in frequent with the style these groups are finest recognized for. As a substitute of gaining ranges to turn into stronger, your development is tied extra to Magicite that you just slot into your weapons, granting totally different modifiers and enhancements.
These crystals might be present in chests or crafted at a particular store utilizing shards which are dropped by enemies. Coming in progressively rarer and stronger tiers, every of the seven attainable weapons has a whopping 15 distinctive Magicite choices that may be swapped in or out at any time, even throughout fight. Maybe enemies are transferring round a bit an excessive amount of, so that you desire a stun impact that may allow you to land hits extra simply – simply hop into the pause menu, equip the Magicite that does that, and get proper again into the combat. That flexibility is empowering.
There are additionally some superior combos of crystals that flip Elliot from an adventurer right into a weapon of mass destruction. For instance, the bow’s Hearth Shot Magicite will give its arrows an opportunity to gentle a goal on hearth, whereas the Explosion Magicite causes, properly… an explosion whenever you hit a burning goal. It’s thrilling to experiment and discover a highly effective combo like this, which might soften a boss’ well being bar very quickly flat. Between having the ability to have two weapons geared up at a time (every assigned to a selected button) and the flexibility to swap their Magicite rapidly, in addition to a range of useful magical spells from Faie, I at all times felt prepared for no matter encounter awaited me subsequent.
Staff Asano actually knocked it out of the park relating to simply how seamless and simple all this swapping might be, too. A handy radial menu might be popped up at any time to swap weapons, and comparable screens are used to your potion vials and Faie’s magic as properly. All three are accessible from the others with a easy button press, and opening these menus freezes the motion round you. Throughout difficult fights the place I wanted to plan and put together, or simply cease and analyze the scenario, all of it labored splendidly. On the similar time, although, hot-swapping weapons and guzzling potions principally grew to become muscle reminiscence by the top of the marketing campaign, so I by no means felt like these menus slowed issues down or took me out of the motion except I particularly needed them to.
Fight itself is a nostalgic journey to less complicated days when all that was concerned was taking a look at an enemy and urgent a button to swing. It feels good to simply stroll up and spam my sword assaults to take out enemies, however there are nonetheless methods to cite “get good” for many who need to actually excel. Elliot can parry along with his defend, leaving a foe dazed and open for essential hits; you may trigger some enemies to blow up and, within the course of, injury their allies; or you may simply hurl some pots at their heads for outdated occasions’ sake.
If you happen to do end up having hassle on a boss or one other annoying mob, The Adventures of Elliot is moderately gracious with its revives, permitting you to pay to have Faie heal you again to full. The worth doubles every time, however resets whenever you go to sure checkpoints (except you might be enjoying on the Very Arduous problem). The better part is that that is fully non-obligatory, as an alternative supplying you with the choice to easily respawn on the final save level. This revive proved to be a welcome choice towards some of the bosses the place I wanted only a bit extra life to return out victorious. So long as you might have the cash, you may simply brute-force your method by means of something, nevertheless it by no means feels such as you want to do this.
Nevertheless, Elliot rewards you for enjoying properly and avoiding injury, too. Each enemy you strike down will add to a sequence rely, and enemies drop extra goodies after they’re defeated for those who attain a excessive sufficient quantity, making this an effective way to grind for assets – however the second you are taking the slightest bit of injury, the combo breaks, and you must begin throughout. I had excessive combos break extra occasions than I care to confess attributable to turning into overconfident and overlooking the risks round me.
For these battle masters that need to actually take a look at their mettle, Elliot affords a particular Temple of Trials. This pits you towards not solely earlier bosses but in addition more and more tough mobs of enemies. The rewards are price it, and it is a fantastic place to check out these weapon combo concepts, however they don’t seem to be for the faint of coronary heart!
Watch Out for Pit Falls
Outdoors of fight, Elliot has a shocking quantity of platforming. Leaping throughout gaps, diving underwater, and determining tips on how to rise up to some close by plateau all play a far greater function on this journey than I had anticipated. Dungeons are inclined to characteristic no less than a number of sections that may take a look at your dexterity, requiring you to maneuver round pits or over lava. Due to how tight Elliot’s controls are, I typically had fun with these sections. There are some helpful equipment that may assist you out too, corresponding to one that allows you to briefly hover or one other that forestalls you from taking injury for those who drop into these pesky holes. Since many areas of the map might be explored in no matter order you need, you could even encounter locations with talents like Faie’s Warp spell that allow you to bypass components altogether.
The various terrain top additionally permits for some enjoyable experimentation throughout fight. When enemies have been close by, ledges stopped being easy hills and as an alternative grew to become excessive grounds, ripe for the taking. My go-to technique often concerned chucking bombs down on the enemies under or sending Faie out to beat on them for a bit. Although setting them on hearth or exploding close by bomb slugs along with her magic additionally proved devilishly efficient.
Touring by means of time is simply as handy as touring throughout the map itself. Particular guideposts are positioned all over the world that, as soon as activated manually the primary time, might be fast-traveled to out of your map display screen at any level. It doesn’t matter what age you or your required location are in, you may get there in a flash. The maps are additionally lined with numerous markers pointing in direction of treasure chests, shrines to improve each Faie and Elliot, collectible cats, and much extra. That’s fairly useful for secret searching, nevertheless it’s really a lot data that I want I may filter the icons and even flip them off fully for the occasions I merely need to uncover issues alone.
The maps inside dungeons have all of the identical useful options, with icons declaring all of the chests or cats and guideposts positioned at each the entrance entrance and proper earlier than the boss. You received’t be capable of teleport right into a dungeon from the world map, or to the surface from inside one, however most of the beefier dungeons have a handy guidepost close by. It was at all times only a brief detour to heal up or restock at a village if I discovered my assets missing earlier than a boss combat, which I appreciated quite a bit.
Hyperlink? No, I’m Elliot
Okay, it’s time to deal with the moblin within the room: The Adventures of Elliot shares a lot of DNA with A Hyperlink to the Previous, and the Zelda sequence typically. It will frankly take longer to record out all of the issues it has in frequent with that SNES basic than these it doesn’t. Calling this “The Legend of Elliot: A Hyperlink to the Pasts” actually wouldn’t be too off base. A lone swordsman on a top-down quest to avoid wasting a blonde-haired princess, wielding the likes of bows, bombs, boomerangs, and even a touch you should utilize to bonk into issues. You could have your hearth dungeon, water dungeon, and forest dungeon all checked off the record, and also you get a neat glowing magic sword, too. Being so reminiscent of one of the best video video games of all time is hardly a foul factor, and discovering all of the little nods and callbacks nearly grew to become a sport of its personal for an enormous Zelda fan like myself. Elliot even manages to tug off a convincing “hyah!” when he swings his sword that might make Hyperlink proud.
I’m all for extra Zelda-style video games like this, and Elliot does a fantastic job of recreating that formulation whereas additionally introducing a number of twists that assist it stand out. However whenever you observe the general blueprint so carefully like this, it unavoidably places you into direct comparability with what got here earlier than, and Elliot’s high quality doesn’t fairly attain the identical lofty heights as its inspirations. The dungeons are inclined to lean on the less complicated, extra easy facet, and I by no means discovered the “puzzles” to be a lot of a mind buster. (Although, additionally in typical Zelda style, Elliot’s equal to the Water Temple did characteristic water stage shenanigans that made me grumble a bit.) I can solely recall a handful of occasions the place attempting to determine tips on how to attain a selected space on the map left me scratching my head, and individuals who grew up with or incessantly performed 2D Zeldas might not discover a lot of a problem right here typically, however I can see how The Adventures of Elliot could possibly be an on-ramp to the style.
In fact, Elliot differentiates itself considerably by having a number of endings to uncover, the perfect of which require a deeper dive into the varied ages. There’s a good quantity of stuff to do and uncover right here; enjoying by means of on Arduous, which felt just like an ordinary 2D Zelda stage of problem for me, it took just below 14 hours to get my first ending, and I discovered the remainder of the endings inside one other 10. That was the right dimension I needed from a sport like this, and a few of these endings have been so good they could have had me holding again tears.