Gaming Guide

The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales – HD-2D Action RPG Explained

Square Enix's time-travel HD-2D adventure is out now across consoles and PC, with real-time combat, puzzles, and a fairy companion.

Square Enix’s time-travel HD-2D adventure is out now across consoles and PC, with real-time combat, puzzles, and a fairy companion.

The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is an action role-playing game built in Square Enix’s HD-2D style, following the adventurer Elliot as he travels through time to protect his kingdom. It swaps the turn-based combat of earlier HD-2D titles for real-time fights, pairs Elliot with a fairy named Faie, and mixes dungeon exploration, puzzle solving, and boss battles across several eras.

Quick answer: The game is out now on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows, starting at $59.99, with single-player and two-player co-op.


Where to play, editions, and release date

The game released on June 18, 2026 and is available across current-generation consoles and PC. It is developed by Square Enix and Claytechworks under Square Enix’s Creative Studio 5, running on Unreal Engine 5, with a Teen rating from the ESRB for fantasy violence, mild language, and use of alcohol.

  • Nintendo Switch 2
  • PlayStation 5
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Windows (Steam and Xbox on PC)

Pricing starts at $59.99, with Standard, Collector’s, and Digital Deluxe editions available depending on the platform. On PlayStation, a separate Digital Deluxe Edition and a $10.00 Digital Deluxe Upgrade are listed alongside the standard game. A free Prologue Demo was offered ahead of launch, and save data from the demo carries over into the full game, including collected currency, quest progress, and formed Magicite.

Cross-platform save files are not supported. A demo save started on one system cannot be moved to a different platform.


Combat, weapons, and the Magicite system

Fights play out in real time rather than in turns, and there is no party system. Elliot uses seven different weapon types, including swords, bows, chains, and sickles, each with its own abilities and effects. You can equip two weapons at once and switch between them freely during battle, which lets you adapt to different enemies without opening a menu.

IGN Quote & Winter Monster Skirmish00:39IGN Quote & Winter Monster Skirmish
Real-time combat against wolf-like beasts in a snow region, one of several biomes Elliot fights through. Shown at 00:39 in GameTrailers’s video. Image: Square Enix

Elliot’s shield handles defense. You can block and parry incoming attacks, and you can detonate bombs to break open hidden doorways in walls. A dash helps with movement, and a warp instantly teleports Elliot to Faie’s position, which matters both in combat and while crossing puzzle rooms.

Weapon upgrades run on Magicite. Treasure chests inside dungeons and puzzle shrines hold magicite fragments, and you spend those fragments to add effects to your gear. The Sword Magicite menu, for example, shows a point budget against effects like Critical Rate Up, Guard Counter, Critical Damage Up, and Charge Time Down, so you build toward the bonuses that suit your play style.

Cat in Flask & Magicite Menu00:33Cat in Flask & Magicite Menu
The Sword Magicite menu, where fragments are spent within a point budget to add combat effects. Shown at 00:33 in GameTrailers’s video. Image: Square Enix

Puzzles, dungeons, and co-op play

Exploration leans on shrines, caves, and dungeons. Completing a shrine with your fairy companion raises your maximum health, and dungeons combine combat rooms with block-pushing puzzles where you slide stone blocks into marked positions to open the way forward.

Block Puzzle & GamesRadar+ Quote00:19Block Puzzle & GamesRadar+ Quote
A block-pushing puzzle, one of the recurring challenges inside dungeons and shrines. Shown at 00:19 in GameTrailers’s video. Image: Square Enix

A second player can join in co-op and control Faie. She aids in battle with her own abilities, retrieves items, and helps navigate puzzles and platforming sections. The game supports one to two players, and PlayStation versions list offline play, Remote Play, and 21 accessibility features.


The world and story setup

The game is set on Philabieldia, a continent overrun by beast tribes. Human civilization survives inside the Kingdom of Huther, the last bastion of humanity, kept safe by a protective magic barrier that Princess Heuria maintains. The continent’s history is split into distinct Ages, from the ancient Age of Myth through the Age of Magic to the current Age of Safekeeping.

Elliot is an adventurer sent to explore newly discovered ruins. Inside, he finds a door that leads to the past, and his journey across time begins from there. Faie, a fairy with no memory of her past, revives Elliot after an early defeat and becomes his traveling companion. Together they cross four ages to complete a thousand-year mission and uncover the world’s history.

Doorway of Time & Bleacher Report Quote00:29Doorway of Time & Bleacher Report Quote
A "doorway of time" sequence, tied to the game's core time-travel mechanic. Shown at 00:29 in GameTrailers’s video. Image: Square Enix

Critical reception and review scores

Reviews land in generally favorable territory. On Metacritic the game holds a Metascore of 78 based on 50 critic reviews, with a user score of 8.1. Platform-specific critic averages run close together, with Switch 2 at 79, and PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X in the high 70s. On the PlayStation Store, the game shows an average player rating of 4.53 out of five from more than 3,000 ratings.

First Review Scores & Boss Chamber00:04First Review Scores & Boss Chamber
Elliot in a dark chamber as critical review scores appear on screen. Shown at 00:04 in GameTrailers’s video. Image: Square Enix

Several outlets highlighted the combat, dungeon design, and presentation, while some flagged repetitive maps and a familiar narrative. The scores featured in the accolades trailer are below.

OutletScore
Noisy Pixel10/10
Final Weapon9/10
GamesRadar+4.5/5
IGN8/10
Shacknews8/10
Video Chums8/10
Second Accolades Screen & Confrontation00:10Second Accolades Screen & Confrontation
An accolades overlay stacking review scores over gameplay footage. Shown at 00:10 in GameTrailers’s video. Image: Square Enix

Reviewers frequently compared the game to 2D Legend of Zelda titles for its shrines, health upgrades, and fairy companion, and to Square Enix’s own Mana series for its colorful action combat.

Taken together, the game is a straightforward HD-2D action RPG that trades the turn-based systems of its studio’s earlier work for direct combat, weapon customization through Magicite, and a time-travel structure that carries you across four ages. It is out now on every listed platform, and the demo save transfer means progress from the trial carries directly into the full release.