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The Lead The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is a 2D-HD game that pays homage to classic Zelda adventures. Developed by Team Asano, the game features a customizable combat system and a rich fantasy world to explore. A Playable Love Letter to Zelda You can’t help but wonder if developer Team Asano is in a private competition with itself to come up with the most ridiculous name for a video game. Following Project Triangle Strategy and Bravely Default: Flying Fairy we have this mouthful: The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. It’s a playable love letter to the Zelda adventures of yesteryear rendered in the studio’s trademark glorious 2D-HD art style, melding evocative pixel sprites with modern visual effects. Gameplay and Story From west Philabieldia, born and raised, our hero is adventurer Elliot. The antagonist making trouble in the neighbourhood is a king’s dastardly aide intent on summoning an ancient evil. The story is pure after-school-TV schlock, fully voice-acted but still unafraid to make you sit through reams and reams of text, and the action comprises treasure-hunting, temple-roaming and dispatching monsters. It’s part Chrono Trigger, part Oracle of Seasons as our almost obnoxiously upbeat hero journeys through the ages in order to solve puzzles, tip his fedora and of course, save a princess. Combat System and Gameplay Mechanics Luckily, it’s a blast to play. What starts off as a straightforward exercise in Zelda worship later possesses a surprisingly deep and customisable combat system. Equippable gems allow you to modify your weapons and mix up your gameplay, boosting a sword’s critical hit ratio or adding flames to your arrows; combining these different fun effects can result in total grin-inducing carnage on screen later in the game. Even the weapons themselves are fairly inspired. Alongside your quintessential classics such as a shield, sword, bow and boomerang, there is a wildly swinging scythe and utterly devastating hammer. Conclusion The Adventures of Elliot is not especially ambitious. It is a comforting balm during turbulent times. If you can stomach its occasionally nauseating earnestness, this rich fantasy world is a cosy one to retreat to. And despite my instinctive reaction to the off-puttingly cheesy dialogue, this charming world eventually began to warm even my cold, cynical English heart, thanks to some inspired dungeons and rewarding, customisable combat.