Developed by Claytechworks and produced by prominent Square Enix producer Tomoya Asano, The Adventures of Elliot: the Millenium Tales is a Zelda/Ys clone made by Claytechworks, who also developed Bravely Default 2. Utilizing Asano's trademark (and still gaudy and distracting) HD-2D style, the game takes place largely from a top-down perspective, having the player battle enemies, avoid obstacles, do a bit of platforming, uncover hidden secrets and of course take on the occasional boss fight. It plays competently and solidly enough, but isn't very unique save for a few elements; some good, some bad. ZL and ZR are map and inventory, respectively, which isn't very intuitive to me as a long-time Zelda player. One can also parry attacks via a well-timed press of the R button, which can occasionally stun enemies or reflect attacks; I didn't find this very intuitive or useful, though, and just found it more economical to dodge them. You can find objects called Magicite that can be equipped to boost your stats or abilities, such as letting your arrows hit multiple times per shot. You also have a fairy sidekick who can be maneuvered around to pick up items or, more usefully, to teleport to her current position by pressing the L button, letting you skip over gaps. She also affords you a dash power, which seems pretty useless since the environments aren't very wide open and hitting anything brings you to a dead stop. (She also cuts in constantly with obvious tips and other banter, which is all fully voiced and pretty grating.). If you die at any point you can either choose to continue right from where you are for a small money cost, or reset to the last checkpoint. Continuing is dirt cheap and even lets you pick up mid-fight during boss battles, so I see little reason to pick the latter. The game is overall competently made and plays decently but from the demo I see little reason to play it over a good Ys or Zelda title. Maybe the full version will have a some more unique elements to offer, but from what I've seen here, I'd say wait for a discount. Or just buy Echoes of Wisdom if you haven't already, which looks and plays great on the Switch 2.
Publisher: Square Enix
Released: 2025
Platform: Switch 2