The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales has a new "Prologue Demo" as of May 18, 2026. It's been significantly updated from the "Debut Demo" back in July 2025, as there have been several gameplay improvements that accommodate player feedback.
If this is your first time seeing the game, allow me to explain in just a few words... It's A Link to the Past, with Octopath Traveler visuals.
Elliot shares the familiar flow of Zelda gameplay where you explore dungeons, fight enemies, and even level-up with "heart containers". You'll time travel across different eras, allowing you to jump between parallel worlds and solve various puzzles.
It's everything we could expect and more, as the systems we've come to know have been expanded upon with modern customization (more on that later). This is truly a love letter to the genre.
Release Details
Release Date: June 18, 2026
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2
Developers: Square Enix, Team Asano, Claytechworks
If you're a fan of the HD-2D aesthetic you'll feel right at home with Elliot. The visuals are absolutely stunning, and the maps are commonly designed with multiple layers, allowing you to explore the various heights and depths to their fullest.
While we've only experienced the Prologue, the music has been excellent thus far. Its lively theme within the city really brings life to the world, and it only continues to impress throughout our exploration. Only a few hours worth of playing, and the songs are already stuck in my head.
Cutscenes appear to be fully voiced, and they display a full-body semi-animated portrait alongside their sprites and the environment. It's a nice touch that really elevates the characters and makes the story feel more alive.
The only critique I could give here would be its lack of visual originality. While I personally enjoy HD-2D, it's understandable that others may overlook it for that very reason. After all, it's one of many games that now share the same art style. So this could be a pro or a con, depending on your preferences.
However, as someone who's spent a ton of hours in Octopath Traveler, I will say that the world of Elliot feels distinct despite the obvious similarities. And with its obviously different UI elements and gameplay, I expect it'll stay that way in the full game.
Exploration
Exploration is a key part of any RPG, and The Adventures of Elliot strikes a nice balance between immersion and convenience. Throughout the world exists many waypoints, making it easy to traverse the map without worrying about straying too far off the path.
Additionally, the map contains pretty much everything you need to know at a moment's glance. At the press of a button you can view nearby treasure chests, along with any notable places of interest.
Of course, it won't give you all of the specifics, so you'll still need to investigate and uncover the right path. However, it's a great quality of life feature that helps prevent you from wasting time.
Combat
The combat mechanics definitely show their inspiration from the classic age of Zelda, while still offering the depth that we can expect from modern titles. On the surface when you first start, it does feel quite rudimentary. However, I expect it'll pick up after progressing past the Prologue.
You begin the game with a basic longsword, but will eventually acquire a number of different weapons. This includes additional melee weapons such as a spear, along with ranged weapons and explosives. Pretty much everything you could expect, and I imagine there'll be a lot more.
I can't speak too much at this time, as combat was rather simple within those few hours. While fighting off early enemies, it was more or less button mashing between the occasional shield. We do also have the ability to do charge attacks, but that's essentially it.
That said, things did start to get interesting during the boss fights, as you actually have to pay attention and watch their attack patterns. Plus, the regular enemies in the later zones did start to introduce more variety, so I'm pretty confident the button mashing won't last.
Customization
Customization is another important factor for many of us, and I'm happy to report that it's available very early on through their Magicite system.
Magicite is an important currency that can be found throughout the game, often by killing enemies (especially bosses). It's used in a gacha-like fashion to create various gems, which when equipped, grant unique perks to your weapons.
Several types of effects exist, such as improving your guard, reducing charge time, or simply increasing your damage. Each one has an equip cost associated with it, allowing you to select as many as you like until you reach your combined limit. You can also change them at any time, so feel free to experiment!
This limit is expandable by spending resources, and you also have the ability to get upgraded versions of each perk (we were able to see a toggle between 1-5 stars). At higher tiers the numbers improve, and in some cases the cost may be lowered, meaning new combinations become available.
Perhaps best of all is that there are unique Magicite gems for each type of weapon. Not only does this increase the variety, but it allows for more tailored effects that wouldn't apply to everything.
Quests
Quests are a staple part of many games whether we like them or not, but how they are handled and designed can drastically vary. It wasn't long before Elliot received his first couple of quests, and it became quite apparent as to what we can expect. In some ways they're great, in others not so much.
I have to compliment the presentation again, as even these ordinary quests are fully voiced. This also includes scenes with generic/no-named characters, and it's clear they put a lot of effort into it.
Extremely minor spoilers below, skip if you want to experience the quest for yourself.
There's a wholesome scene with a gardener who lost her hat in the wind. She tells Elliot the story about when the princess kindly gifted it to her on a hot day of work. During this, we actually see a flashback of the event, followed by the princess commenting on the memory.
The actual objective of the quest, if you couldn't already tell, was to simply find the hat. A basic fetch quest that requires no real effort, nor has any real meaning. But despite this, it was still very charming.
If anything, these quests give a better look into the world and its characters. It's essentially exploring the lore with a few extra steps and a functional reward at the end.
As for the rewards, so far, they've actually been very useful. There's been weapons, accessories, and ample amounts of currency. It definitely makes them feel worth doing, especially for the minimal time.
At the end of the day, I think this will also come down to player preference. For those who really enjoy the world and its characters, these quests build on that further. However, there's no denying the fact that the tasks themselves are menial. Collect this, slay that, etc.
Overall, I've very much enjoyed my time with the demo, and look forward to truly diving in once the game is fully released. If you're a fan of the genre, it's definitely worth taking a look for yourself!
