Square Enix’s HD-2D art style has done wonders for its games. From creating new IPs like Triangle Strategy and Octopath Traveler, to tasteful remakes like the Dragon Quest Erdrick trilogy and Live a Live, the charming presentation has been able to deliver modern gameplay while still invoking a retro feeling.

So far, the HD-2D style has been used for only turn-based games, until now. The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is the first HD-2D game with real-time action combat. It works surprisingly well, feeling like a mix between Zelda: A Link to the Past and Ys Origins. Fortunately, The Adventures of Elliot manages to establish an identity for itself thanks to its time-spanning story and incredible visuals.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)

You play as the titular Elliot, an orphan with a knack for adventuring. Beast tribes overrun the land of Philabieldia, and the Kingdom of Huther is protected from them by a magical spell cast by the Princess of Heuria. After discovering the Doorway of Time, he meets a fairy named Faie, and they go on a journey that spans a millennium in order to save Huther from falling.

While the story is your typical 'save the world' plot, it manages to stand out thanks to how Elliot’s actions in the past snowball throughout the different time periods he visits, eventually accumulating in his present time, the Age of Safekeeping. It gives a more personable angle to the story. There are multiple endings, but the true ending is particularly memorable, as you experience Elliot’s impact in a well-earned and emotional conclusion.

The gameplay is straightforward, with the hack-and-slash action feeling similar to Square Enix’s Mana series. You have access to seven different weapons to swap between at any time. Where combat lacks in complexity, it’s made up with variety. The sword feels like your standard jack-of-all-trades weapon, while the spear gives you more range. The hammer is slow but powerful, and the scythe chain rewards precision and timing by hitting multiple enemies simultaneously.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)

Elliot has an impressive arsenal of ranged weapons, too, including a boomerang, bow and arrow, and bombs. You’ll surely find your own preferences between the options, but what I found enjoyable was that each weapon was a viable choice.

Instead of dodging, you’re encouraged to block and parry. I found the parrying window surprisingly forgiving, but not so much so that I still felt satisfaction whenever I pulled it off. Successfully parrying reflects damage back onto enemies, and sometimes stuns them so you can put on even more hurt. It’s important to master your defensive options, too, as enemies hit hard, even on normal difficulty.

Instead of earning experience and levelling up, Elliot’s main form of combat progression is equipping magicite, magical gems that augment and add effects to his weapons. For example, the Shield Repair gem restores his shield stamina by a bit when he lands attacks with his sword, while Immovable Stance strengthens bow shots by 45%, but prevents him from moving while charging attacks. There’s quite an assortment of effects that let you build out Elliot’s kit to your liking. It’s a simple equipment system that’s equally compelling.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)

Faie can help out, too. While she’s usually autonomous, floating alongside you, she has her own powers, like being able to light herself on fire and cloaking Elliot’s feet with wind so he can sprint. Not only are they useful for traversal, but battle as well. Fire deals extra damage to enemies who touch her, and the sprint lets you quickly run away from incoming attacks.

Because of the game’s fixed camera angle, you’re able to directly control Faie with the right joystick if needed. I really liked that this gives her a sense of agency, as she’s actively helping the hero instead of just meandering around.

The open world is also notably small, but that’s to its benefit. Instead of a lifeless and empty desert like in Metroid Prime 4, each inch of Philabieldia is densely packed with dungeons and caves to explore. They have puzzles to solve, like moving mirrors to reflect beams of light, or changing water levels to get to higher elevation. At the end of each of these dungeons, you’ll often find a prize for reaching the end, such as a max health upgrade or sometimes a new ability for Faie. So you’re always encouraged to explore as much as you can.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)

Some dungeons require light platforming, as there’s also a dedicated jump button. Whereas in Mina the Hollower, where the jumping and platforming felt smooth, I found them to be quite annoying here. They don’t feel particularly accurate, and it’s frustrating to time jumps on moving platforms since falling into pits inflicts damage. Still, exploration was rewarding and fun.

Of course, the HD-2D art direction is absolutely stunning. The environments look exquisite and varied, filled with lava pools, icy tundras, and luscious forests. My personal favourite was the swamp areas, where the lighting refracts off the thick and oily surface, giving them a colourful rainbow sheen.

One of the standout parts of the HD-2D aesthetic is that across games like Octopath Traveler and Live A Live, boss sprites are greatly exaggerated and are much larger, providing them a threatening sense of scale and personality. The same is true for the bosses in The Adventures of Elliot. Each fight has unique mechanics to take them down, so not only are the battles a spectacle to behold, but they're also engaging.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)

While there’s a diverse array of environments and bosses, the enemy variety is surprisingly low. The same automatons, flying griffins, bugs, and bipedal beasts infest the same areas regardless of which era you're in. It gets tiring fighting palette swaps of identical enemies after more than 15 to 20 hours in.

There are also plenty of side missions to tackle. While many of them are simple fetch quests, they usually have some sort of backstory to them to build out Philabieldia’s lore. Eventually, these side missions span across different ages, for example, requiring Elliot to search for a missing item that can’t be found in the current time period but in a past one. It’s a clever way of using the time travel premise to create more involved quests.

They’re always worth spending time to complete, too, as they offer useful rewards like accessories to equip or weapon upgrades. Some examples include the Gather Ring, which makes it easier for Faie to pick up items like currency and magicite shards dropped by enemies, or an extra quiver, which increases the max capacity of arrows.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)

Unfortunately, performance is lacklustre on Switch 2. Load times are long. Even opening up the world map takes a while. From the time you press the minus button to do so, there’s about a two-second gap before the map pops up. Additionally, there’s noticeable lag when you’re trying to switch between different eras on the map menu, which is genuinely distracting. And that’s in docked mode. In handheld mode, these issues are exacerbated.

Even with performance problems, though, The Adventures of Elliot feels right at home on Switch 2. Gameplay is smooth in both docked and handheld modes. If you can ignore the loading times and lag hiccups, there’s plenty here to keep you immersed in Philabieldia across all its different ages.

Conclusion

The seamless change from turn-based to action combat proves how timeless the HD-2D art direction is. The Adventures of Elliot not only looks beautiful, but has a story to match. Elliot’s journey transcends time and space to deliver an emotional gut punch that’ll stick with me for a while.

Despite performance issues on Switch 2, there’s tons of gameplay variety and fun exploration, which makes it one adventure you’ll want to make time for.

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