The head behind Square Enix's Team Asano says its new HD-2D JRPG being more The Legend of Zelda than vintage Final Fantasy is a "good direction" for the team that he hopes will "reach out to a new audience of gamers."
At last week's Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, Square Enix unveiled The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales – you know, the game we thought was the rumoured Octopath Traveler game before we got the actual new Octopath Traveler game. It's an HD-2D RPG from the internal Square Enix studio behind the likes of Octopath Traveler, Triangle Strategy, and more – if the signature art style didn't give it away.
What sets this one apart, though, is that it's an action RPG that ditches the turn-based stylings of Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy. While that may seem quite the leap, Tomoya Asano – in charge of concept and planning – says the move is quite natural.
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"As the HD-2D series has expanded and evolved, we’ve gradually shifted genres," he says. "We started with a classic RPG with Octopath Traveler and went on to do a strategy game with Triangle Strategy. When we thought about where to go next, we felt that challenging ourselves to an action RPG would be a good direction.
"It goes without saying that we want to deliver this game to all the people who enjoyed the games that we have made previously (Bravely Default, Octopath Traveler, Triangle Strategy, etc.), but I would be delighted if it could reach out to a new audience of gamers as well!"
Initially hearing that the developer behind some of my favorite turn-based JRPGs was going the action route with its new game did get an initial 'oh no' from me, but in fairness to The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, it's just as enamoured with the past as the rest of Team Asano's work.
I'd nudge you towards the demo currently available on the OG Switch and Switch 2, but it very much hits the vibe of older Mana and Zelda games. There's no turn-based combat, of course, but you can run around swinging a good ol' sword and firing off some arrows. In fact, if you really want to get your Link on, you can lay waste to the pots of the world as if your life depends on it.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales launches next year for Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC through Steam and Microsoft Store.
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