Although The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales features the iconic HD-2D style of other Square Enix gems like Octopath Traveler – it is led by those studio veterans, after all – it has not managed to escape comparisons to The Legend of Zelda series.
That doesn't mean developers drew inspiration from Nintendo's beloved franchise, however – in fact, Square Enix looked to its own games while working on The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales.
Producer Naofumi Matsushita reveals as much during a new interview with Polygon, explaining that the team actually expected comparisons to Zelda, nonetheless. Honestly, it's not hard to see why, but Zelda didn't play a role in the JRPG's conception.
"We anticipated that some players might be reminded of The Legend of Zelda series when playing this title, so we're truly honored to receive comparisons like that," admits Matsushita. "However, throughout development, we were consistently inspired by Square Enix's own action RPG heritage, such as the Mana series – particularly the Game Boy version of Final Fantasy Adventure."
For anyone unaware, that's the original Mana entry.
It's dubbed "Final Fantasy Adventure" as it was meant to be a Final Fantasy spin-off. Obviously, Mana became its own big name – and, apparently, the inspiration behind The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales.
As the producer recalls, "The Mana series was groundbreaking in how it blended RPG elements with real-time action combat, striking a balance between the thrill of action gameplay and the memorable storytelling of an RPG."
He continues: "That balance closely aligns with the core concept we set out to achieve with this title. Building on that foundation, we added unique elements such as the visual beauty of the HD-2D style, which is a specialty of our team, along with a controllable fairy companion and a story centered on time travel. The result is a game that offers a distinctive experience built around a balance of simplicity and challenge."
It's certainly something, all right – and Matsushita's words here especially make sense when you consider the comparisons between the Mana series itself and The Legend of Zelda folks have communicated over the years.
It does sound as though The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales carries its own identity, regardless, which is quite enticing. I am a fan of the HD-2D aesthetic, and the story sounds right up my alley.
If you're also interested in checking the new JRPG out yourself, there's a demo available to play over on Steam – plus, the full launch is only a month away now, with The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales releasing on June 18.
Searching for some new games to wishlist? Be sure to browse through our roundup of the best JRPGs around for more to play.
