Testing The Adventures of Elliot – the best non-Nintendo Zelda
17.6.2026
Translation: Katherine Martin
From an aggravating fairy to a princess in distress to puzzle-filled dungeons, The Adventures of Elliot has unashamedly borrowed from The Legend of Zelda. Even so, it’s worth giving this adventure a chance.
Where do you draw the line between a homage and a copycat? Most creatives face this question at some point. We all have role models: people we look up to and works we draw inspiration from, be it consciously or unconsciously.
That very same quandary surfaced at Team Asano, the studio behind the objectionably titled The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. Mind you, they probably could’ve put the question in blunter terms. Something along the lines of: «How much can we rip off from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past before Nintendo sues us into oblivion?»
Square Enix’s action-adventure game is the most patently derivative game since The Great Giana Sisters. It’s shockingly brazen – and I’m here for it.
A hero with a heart of gold…
The Adventures of Elliot begins in the lush green fields of Philabieldia. It’s a continent home to countless anthropomorphic creatures, aggressive machines from a bygone era and the small kingdom of Huther, which has dedicated itself to protecting humanity.
Elliot, who looks like Sean Connery in Highlander, is an adventurer (duh!) who’s always in a good mood. In fact, I’m pretty sure he has a «live, laugh, love» sign hanging on his wall. The endearing but one-dimensional hero takes on the problems of everyone he meets.
His reputation as a trusty troubleshooter brings him to the court of King Hichard. If you’re thinking, «Surely we must be done with the dumb names by now?», I’ve got news for you. We’re not. No, the studio that blessed us with Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy – the silliest titles since 2 Fast 2 Furious – has remained true to form.
King Hichard has a problem, a daughter and a minister so obviously evil that he makes Sauron look like a deeply nuanced individual. The lineup is later rounded off by Faie, an incessantly talkative fairy who uses magic to help Elliot, as well as a handful of other anime stereotypes.
The ensemble is the linchpin of the story, which unfolds across four eras.
… on a journey through time
Elliot can switch between eras at will, making Philabieldia change accordingly. Go back a few hundred years, and the proud Kingdom of Huther is still an unremarkable settlement. Later, all that remains of a once-charming cabin is a ruin. The map and the layout itself, however, stay roughly the same. Every era features forest, ice, lava and desert biomes.
All of these worlds play host to countless enemies you take on in real time. You have seven weapons at your disposal: a sword, a boomerang, a bow, a spear, a hammer, bombs and a scythe chain.
The Adventures of Elliot gives you access to the entire arsenal within the first few hours of gameplay, which feels unsatisfying. The original does it better; in The Legend of Zelda, you have to earn your weapons. Consequently, getting your hands on a new one feels like a milestone. That sense of accomplishment is lacking in Adventures of Elliot.
The battles, on the other hand, are one of the game’s highlights. Two weapons can be equipped at the same time and strategically combined. What’s more, there’s a veritable smorgasbord of enemies. You’ll come across standard cannon fodder, projectile-throwers, element-manipulators with the power to temporarily freeze you, AoE attackers and even support units that cast a protective shield on your nearby comrades.
The combo system gives you an extra incentive: the longer you can land hits without taking any in return, the greater the reward.
Each victory earns you some Rupees Tul and, with a little luck, Magicite Fragments. As Philabieldia’s currency, Tul can be used in shops to buy healing potions, ammunition and other items. Meanwhile, Fragments can be exchanged for Magicite at vendors. These, in turn, equip upgrades for your weapons, such as increasing critical damage or allowing your bow to fire additional projectiles.
Depending on the combination of enemies you’re facing, the battles stay nice and challenging, even if you’ve equipped upgrades. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the dungeons.
Little dungeons, big bosses
Each era features several multi-level dungeons. This is where Faie’s magic powers come into play. Your sidekick can start fires, retrieve out-of-reach objects or trigger pressure switches using a hologram-style copy of Elliot. She essentially fulfils the same purpose as the weapons in The Legend of Zelda. Faie is controlled using the right analogue stick, or by another player. The co-op mode comes as a surprise and is a nice extra. But that’s all it is.
You really won’t need much help with the puzzles, given none of them come close to the brilliance of Hyrulean brain teasers. This is partly down to the temples being a reasonable size, meaning they never take more than 20 minutes to cover. However, it’s mostly a result of how the puzzles are designed – they’re lacking in creativity and variety.
The boss battles make up for this to some extent. Not only do they all look impressive, but they’ve humbled me more times than I care to admit. No sooner had I deftly dodged a blow from a massive owl, than it changed its attack pattern and wiped out my entire stamina bar in a matter of seconds.
In The Adventures of Elliot, death costs you more than just your life. Provided you can’t be bothered reloading, that is. For a small fee, Faie can resurrect your adventurer on the spot. However, the amount she charges doubles with each subsequent attempt. By the fourth time, the costs really start to add up.
Plenty to do in Philabieldia
If you don’t feel like advancing the story, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to kill time in other ways. The maps reward your wanderlust, rarely requiring more than a few minutes to present you with a new cave or treasure chest to stumble upon.
These contain Tul, Magicite Fragments or Shards of Life, the Elliot equivalent of Link’s heart pieces. Naturally, you need four of them to make one whole health tear. But that’s not the only example of brazen intellectual property theft. Outside the dungeons, there are optional mini-temples, each of which tests a single ability or mechanic, much like the shrines in Breath of the Wild.
NPCs assign you extra side quests. Philabieldia’s inhabitants are a bird-brained bunch. Not a single one of them has their s*** together, so they’re constantly sending Elliot off to find lost hats, hairbrushes and other odds and ends. You fetch things, drop them off and take out a few enemies along the way – hardly a thrilling experience. That said, I like how organically the little stories are woven into the main narrative. If you listen carefully, you can fill in the gaps in your knowledge of a history that the main plot deliberately leaves open.
There are also 50 cats to find in the game. These can then be released onto the streets of Huther and fed. Feeding the felines is mind-numbingly boring, but hearing the crappiest «meow» samples of all time during the process livens things up a little.
My sidekick, on the other hand, is more of a drag than a delight.
Please Faie, just shut up for once
No matter what you’re doing, Faie will have something to say about it, repeating every comment until you’re ready to blow a gasket. The fairy also spoils the already way-too-easy puzzles, not even leaving you alone during battles.
«Have you tried blocking?»
«Dunno. Have you tried not being a blethering, condescending cow?»
Although there’s an option to reduce the frequency of your sidekick’s bouts of verbal diarrhoea, you can’t mute her completely. Maybe it’s my karma for writing a listicle about the most annoying game sidekicks of all time. As it turns out, Faie isn’t the only one who’d benefit from shutting their cakehole now and again.
Who needs original ideas anyway?
According to an interview with producer Naofumi Matsushita, Square Enix’s Mana series was the main inspiration for The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. Far be it from me to throw accusations around here, but Matsushita is a liar.
I can’t stress enough just how much The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales rips off from The Legend of Zelda. The DNA of Link’s old adventures is present in every sword swing, every blade of grass mown and every heart container ahem shard tear. Elliot is a mere colour change away from Link. In fact, the game is closer to a real A Link to the Past sequel than Nintendo’s own, which was released for the 3DS in 2013.
And yet, I still have a soft spot for the game.
Despite being a huge Zelda fan, I’m not particularly enthused by the new direction the game has taken. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are indisputably great, but they’re just not for me. I prefer the style of the older titles.
The fact that The Adventures of Elliot has now taken up the baton and produced a game that so skilfully fills the void left by Nintendo has me dancing like Link in this 30-year-old ad.
Who needs original ideas anyway?
In a nutshell
An Elliot to the Past
Where do you draw the line between a homage and a copycat? As far as The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is concerned, I don’t care. Because Square Enix has delivered the best Zelda-like game of this generation. The puzzles could use some improvement, and the game largely lacks its own distinct identity. Seen through my rose-coloured fan glasses, however, these weaknesses fade into the background.
When I’m roaming the vast expanses of Philabieldias, taking down enemies with skilful attack combos and descending the stairs to the next dungeon, it feels a bit like coming home.
And we all know there’s no place like home.
Pro
- Multifaceted combat system
- Classically cool HD-2D visuals
- Really nice payoff with the story’s true ending
- Perfect length: 30 hour of gameplay
- Impressive bosses
Contra
- The fairy
- That friggin’ fairy
- Not many original ideas
- Repetitive side quests
- JFC, that despicable fairy
Header image: Square Enix
Rainer Etzweiler
Freelance Editor
rainer@rockstar.chIn the early 90s, my older brother gave me his NES with The Legend of Zelda on it. It was the start of an obsession that continues to this day.
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