The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales

This is like the best 7/10 game I've ever played. It is fantastic in most areas, completely drops the ball in others, but fails to do a single "mind-blowing" thing. I feel most people will enjoy it but very few will actively think about it a week after finishing it. To get the negatives out of the way, the technical side of this game is awful. On most systems it severely underperforms. Faie tanks the framerate. A 2026 game requires you to change resolutions via a .txt file because the menus are so busted. The story is pretty weak, save for the last 5 hours or so ([spoiler] although it honestly should've ended after saving Mao [/spoiler]). It's strange that the game doesn't set up many interesting narrative threads or unanswered questions earlier, as the resolutions to the ones it finally does create are very compelling. It's rare that I become convinced that a games story only serves as a vehicle for gameplay, only to be suddenly hooked after 30 hours. Make of that what you will. The design of the protagonist is pretty bland and one-note. He is extremely generic, and his only real personality trait is the desire to help everyone and persevere through adversity. Elliot never makes the story interesting. The story is interesting because of those around him. The dungeons are also pretty boring. Not a lot to comment on here. No grand dungeon concepts like you would come to expect from Zelda games. However, the bosses are very fun and really creative. Everything else about this game is very enjoyable. The soundtrack is killer, the visuals are gorgeous, and the gameplay is genuinely great. For a Zelda/Mana style adventure game, there are actually a lot of really cool ways to spec into different combat styles. The ability to mix and match weapon upgrades, as well as being able to hot swap between them (and use two at a time!) makes experimenting with synergies a lot of fun. The enemy design is varied as well, so it rarely feels like you can just win by mashing the attack button (even though the game is definitely on the easier side). Exploration is mostly excellent, but with a big asterisk. It really does instill a childlike sense of discovery in you. It makes you curious about what's behind every corner, it pushes you to go down detours to see if you'll find anything interesting, and you almost always do. This is a rare feat for a game like this, one that only Zelda seems to be able to consistently pull off. However, because the protagonist time travels between 4 eras, you are forced to explore the same map 4 times. There is a disappointing lack of variation between these eras, and while the game tries to keep them unique visually and switch around the pathing a bit, it is far too little to keep you engaged in the later stages of the game. TLDR: This game is a great time but is very forgettable. If you're into action rpgs like Zelda, Mana, Ys, etc, buy it on sale.