The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales

Quite good zelda-like arpg meets chrono-trigger story through time. With the boomerang it's hard to not relate to zelda but obviously more advanced in this combat setup. I think if there's stats for preferred weapon that was my go to through most of the game. Maps are similar across times making it less expansive in terms of overall world area but also somewhat easier to navigate because of the familiarity after time travel and already needing to keep bearing on following a quest or finding treasure. Great use of puzzles across times and progression unlocking abilities and weapons throughout most of the game. I really enjoyed most of the story as well, especially in later game. I missed a couple quests since I wasn't paying much attention but was actually able to complete most of the rest without looking anything up or consulting a guide, save a couple quick things that made sense once I knew the answers. Would buy again for same fair full price for this AAA quality game with 0 bugs and a ~50+ hour playtime.

Kurz noch zu den nicht so guten Dingen, bevor ich das Spiel in den Himmel loben werde. -) Vier Mal die nahezu identische Map zu erkunden ist ANSTRENGEND. Beim dritten Mal ging es noch, aber dann nochmal alles war zu viel. -) Die Gegner-, Boss- und Dungeonvielfalt ist auch eher mangelhaft. Durch die ganzen Zeitepochen zu reisen wäre schon nochmal spaßiger gewesen, wenn jede Zeit seine eigenen Gegner gehabt hätte. Bis auf die Stadt ändert sich über die Jahrhunderte fast nichts in der Welt. Die Dungeons bieten zumindest teilweise andere Wege, da manche zerstört wurden über die Jahre. Lassen uns aber oft ins Leere laufen, da nur in einer von vier Zeiten eine Kiste an diesem Ort vorhanden ist. -) Rein optisch sieht die Welt auch nicht so besonders aus. Die Stadt ist immer schön anzusehen wie sie sich verändert. Der Rest erfüllt seinen Zweck als Fantasywelt,... ABER -) Das Spiel generell hat so viele Quality of Life Features und Kleinigkeiten die zum Spielerlebnis beitragen, dass es unmöglich ist alle aufzuzählen. Das fängt schon alleine damit an, dass die Charaktere eigene gezeichnete Bilder bekommen, wenn sie miteinander reden. Die Mundbewegungen passen perfekt auf die Synchro und sie blinzeln sogar mit den Augen. Noch dazu gibt es je nach Situation und Stimmungslage ein unterschiedliches Charaktermodell. -) Das Kampfsystem ist Spaß pur. Durch die Gegner zu mähen wie ein Rasenmäher durch Gras macht halt einfach Spaß. Es macht Spaß im Laufe der Geschichte immer und immer mächtiger zu werden. Die Waffen unterscheiden sich alle sehr. Eigentlich wollte ich das ganze Spiel nur mit dem Schwert spielen, aber nachdem ich einmal die Sichel ausprobiert habe konnte ich sie nichtmehr austauschen. -) Die Soundtracks hören sich alle fantastisch an. -) Der Großteil der Nebenquests hätte eigentlich in der Hauptstory seinen Platz verdient. Die Geschichten sind alle so extrem gut geschrieben. Auch die Belohnungen die man davon bekommt sind alle gut und ich hab mich jedesmal aufs Neue gefreut was ich bekomme. Spielerisch sind diese Quests zwar nicht besonders, aber für die Geschichten die dahinter stecken hat es sich allemal gelohnt. -) Ich liebe es wie sich die Geschichten über die Zeitepochen ziehen. Oft erkennt man welcher Charakter dann von wem abstammt, ein Haus das zuvor zerstört war is plötzlich ganz und jemand Wichtiges wohnt darin. Ich hätte mir aber gewünscht das die Taten in der Vergangenheit, die Zukunft mehr beeinflussen. -) Die Hauptgeschichte hat mich echt umgehauen. Ich war oft wütend und traurig zugleich. Ich hatte zwar nahezu jeden Plot Twist zuvor schon erraten, aber selbst mit dem Wissen haben mich manche Szenen dann doch zum Weinen gebracht da sie so gut rübergebracht wurden. Die Charaktere sind alle mit so viel Liebe geschrieben und bringen Emotionen rüber. Der finale Endboss war pures Kino und hat extrem viel Spaß gemacht. Wenn Elliot mal für 5min. gründlich nachdenken würde, hätte er vieles schon zuvor verhindern können. Oft hat es keinen Sinn gemacht, dass er gewisse Informationen nicht versteht welche die Handlung nach vorne bringen würden. Auch hätte man einiges verhindern können, wenn die Charaktere mal miteinander reden würden.

Its very intrieguing the blend of 3d and 2d is amazing must try game

8.5/10

A+

Its a good game when it comes to gameplay. It has great 2D box style graphics. Where it fell short for me is the story and the character development. The story was a straight forward story i have heard over and over and over again. Not gonna spoil it for anyone but as soon as the story begins you see immediatly who the antagonist is and their characteristic just bleeds bad guy. In other words, there is nothing original about the story or the characters. Cookie cutter.

I don’t usually feel compelled to write reviews for the games I finish, but [i]The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales[/i] resonated with me more than I expected. At its core, the game is about hope: the idea that even when things seem lost, there is always a reason to keep moving forward. Elliot embodies that message well. He begins as a seemingly ordinary adventurer with a simple desire to help others, but that selflessness gradually pulls him into a much larger journey involving ancient mysteries, different eras, and revelations about his own past. What I especially liked is that the game rarely treats hope as empty optimism; instead, it repeatedly contrasts it with despair and shows how both can shape the choices people make. The cast is another major strength. The characters are likeable, distinctive, and generally given enough personality that I genuinely wanted to learn more about them. Some characters spend less time accompanying Elliot than I initially expected, but their absence is noticeable precisely because the game does a good job making you care about them. Faie, who becomes Elliot’s constant companion, adds a lot of charm as well (although perhaps a little too much commentary at times). The villains also benefit from being more complex than simply evil for evil’s sake. Most of them have understandable motivations, misunderstandings, or emotional weaknesses behind their actions, which fits well with the broader themes of the story. Gameplay-wise, the easiest comparison is to older top-down [i]The Legend of Zelda[/i] games, particularly [i]A Link to the Past[/i]. You explore a large world across multiple time periods, enter dungeons, solve environmental puzzles, find new abilities, and fight enemies and bosses along the way. Combat is fairly simple, but the variety of weapons and Faie’s abilities gives you room to experiment. The game does not always give you a strong incentive to switch weapons outside of specific enemies or exploration requirements, so sticking to only a few options can make combat repetitive. Still, deliberately changing weapons and abilities made the game much more enjoyable for me. The bosses are especially fun: some can be challenging at first, but learning their attack patterns, timing your guards correctly, and finding openings to counterattack feels very satisfying. Visually, the game is gorgeous. I already have a soft spot for HD-2D aesthetics, but Square Enix and Claytechworks did an excellent job here. Imagine a classic Zelda-style adventure presented with something close to the visual style of the [i]Octopath Traveler[/i] series: expressive pixel-art characters and animations placed inside detailed 3D environments. The soundtrack is equally strong, with plenty of memorable music for exploration, battles, dungeons, and the different eras. I also loved the small details created by the time-travel premise. Helping someone or contributing to something in an earlier era can occasionally leave traces that still exist much later, whether through books, inventions, or other little callbacks. These moments are rarely essential, but they make the world feel much more connected. My biggest criticism is that the game does not take full advantage of its different time periods mechanically. Despite traveling across very different eras, you continue fighting many of the same broad enemy types throughout the game: slugs, elementals, beast-like tribesmen, robots, and so on. There are variations, but I would have loved to see those enemies visibly and mechanically evolve over time. Machines could have deteriorated or been modified, while other enemies might have developed new weapons or tactics. The environments can suffer from a similar feeling of repetition. Faie can also be excessively chatty, commenting on menus, missed guards, successful guards, damage taken, and many other routine actions. An update added an option to reduce her dialogue frequency, which I strongly appreciated because the constant commentary could otherwise become distracting. I also have mixed feelings about how much of the story’s full context is tied to reaching the game’s “true” ending. I found the story compelling enough that, after seeing one of the earlier endings, I immediately wanted to continue and uncover everything. In that sense, it worked perfectly for me. However, some important character and lore details only become fully clear if you pursue that final route, and I can understand why some players might dislike feeling that the most complete version of the story is found behind additional requirements. Difficulty, meanwhile, felt fairly well balanced on normal: regular enemies were usually manageable, while several bosses provided a decent challenge without feeling unfair. Overall, I’d give [i]The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales[/i] a solid [b]8.5/10[/b]. It has a lot of personality, a genuinely engaging story, an endearing cast, beautiful presentation, enjoyable exploration, and some very satisfying boss fights. The combat and enemy variety can become repetitive, Faie occasionally talks far more than necessary, and some of the game’s strongest story material being tied to the true ending will not appeal to everyone. None of those issues seriously hurt my experience, though. By the end, I cared enough about the characters and the world that I wanted to see everything the game had to offer, and for me that is probably the best compliment I can give it. I would absolutely recommend it.