The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales review roundup — HD-2D gets its first action RPG

Square Enix and Claytechworks released The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales on June 18, 2026, across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Switch 2 at $60 / £50. It's the first HD-2D game to swap turn-based combat for real-time action, and the critical consensus is that the experiment lands.

The main campaign runs around 25 hours, but Game Informer notes a true ending that adds another eight — and calls it mandatory, since it's the only point where the time-travel mechanics carry real narrative weight. Elliot wields seven weapons — sword, bow, boomerang, chain sickle, lance, hammer, and bombs — each customizable with Magicite gems that add elemental effects, stat boosts, or weapon-specific traits like an oversized boomerang that acts as a buzzsaw. Kotaku praises the Magicite system for pushing players to actually rotate their arsenal rather than defaulting to two favorites. Polygon highlights the boss variety and puzzle design as consistent strengths. Faie, a blue fairy controlled via the right stick or a second player in co-op, brings her own toolkit: speed boosts, a warp ability, a body-double that mimics Elliot's attacks, and a vacuum that pulls enemies into a pile. PC Gamer warns she's chatty to the point of irritation by default, but a buried menu option dials her back to something charming.

The whole adventure plays out across a single map visited in four time periods via Doorways of Time. Both Polygon and Game Informer draw the obvious Chrono Trigger comparison, then note the letdown: Elliot's actions rarely alter the timeline, and the overworld barely changes between eras. Enemies don't vary much across time periods either, which Game Informer flags as a recurring frustration. On the other hand, the fast-travel system covers both geography and time periods, and multiple reviewers credit it with keeping the repetition manageable. Visually, the HD-2D presentation is described by several outlets as the best the style has looked yet.

The overall critical tone is positive but measured. Game Informer spent 25 hours entertained without ever feeling fully satisfied, arguing Link still does this better. Polygon and Nintendo Life are more enthusiastic, placing it among the best mid-sized releases of 2026. The game is already being mentioned alongside the upcoming Final Fantasy Resonance as evidence that there's a real appetite for HD-2D action RPGs — a format Square Enix has only just started to explore.