The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is Square Enix’s and Tomoya Asano’s latest HD-2D adventure game, and while it pulls inspiration from games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, it’s definitely its own thing with its own quirks. If you like real-time combat, using various weapon types to create interesting fighting styles, and spelunking through dungeons, this is the game for you.
Most of the dungeons in The Adventures of Elliot are fairly linear. If you venture down the “wrong” path, you just need to U-turn and head back until you activate the switch or find the key that you need to progress. That being said, the game is still rich with side quests and optional dungeons and challenges that will keep you busy.
Here’s nine The Adventures of Elliot beginner’s tips we wish we knew before starting the game.
Turn down your partner’s chattiness early
If you notice the princess or Faie is talking just a little too much, know that you can turn down your partner’s “chattiness” level in the settings. Doing this reduces how much they talk significantly.
Don’t forget to refill your potions
Every time you leave a town, you should make sure your glass vials are filled up with medicine. There’s no other way to refill these without buying potions from the shop, so don’t expect to find a spring or anything to fill up your bottles on your journey. While you can find extra HP from breaking pots and barrels, potions are more valuable as they can be used freely and they restore multiple health points at once.
Grab the Flutterer’s Cape if you hate platforming
In Huther, you can purchase the Flutterer’s Cape accessory for 1,000 tul. This will let you bypass most of the platforming in the game, as you’ll be able to float in the air for a short time every time you jump. This will also allow you to bypass some puzzles, as you’ll be able to cross gaps that may need an activated switch or similar mechanic in order to cross normally.
That being said, the game’s dungeons are fairly linear. Bypassing some of the puzzles using the Flutterer’s Cape may make some of the dungeons rather disorienting, since you’re skipping some portions of it by floating around. Keep that in mind as you use the cape to cross gaps.
Take your time focusing on chaining
You may be tempted to spam your attack buttons to take down enemies quickly, but you should really focus on dodging, shielding, and parrying, too. By taking out enemies, you’ll start a chain, and the higher your chain, the more rewards you’ll get for taking these baddies down. Getting hit will break your chain, so you should take your time dodging to make the most of your rewards.
Magicite upgrades start getting pretty expensive, so you’ll want to hoard all the tul you can.
Fight strategically based on what you’re up against
For smaller enemies, you can often stun-lock them long enough to kill them just by repeatedly attacking. Every time the enemy gets hit, they’ll freeze up for a little bit, allowing you to get another hit in, and then another… and then another. There are harder enemies down the line that won’t let you do this (and bosses will never let you do this), but definitely take advantage of the small stun.
Additionally, you’ll want to keep in mind that during opportunities to strike back against tougher enemies, you might not want to waste your time charging your attacks and instead opt to spam the regular attack button more. Charged attacks can be great in certain situations, but you’ll often lose out on damage-per-second when you’re attacking in a short vulnerability window if you use them.
Explore the map thoroughly
There are a ton of caves, dungeons, and areas that the story won’t take you to, so you should check out new areas as you find them. Worst case scenario, you’ll be blocked off by a door or mechanic signaling that you will come back here later in the story. However, if the area is open for exploration, you may find weapon upgrades or Shards of Life, which unlocks more HP for Elliot. Pretty worth it!
Pick up those cats!
A bit into the story, you’ll unlock a mysterious man who wants to collect cats. At this point, you’ll have seen cats around the map, but you won’t be able to pick them up until you hit this point in the game. Make sure to pick up those kitties and bring them back to the cat collector to get some sweet rewards, including a bigger bomb pouch and bigger quiver.
Complete your side quests for worthwhile rewards
If you hate fetch quests and side content in games, you may be tempted to skip the side missions that show up periodically throughout the story. However, The Adventures of Elliot‘s side quests have pretty good rewards, ranging from glass vials to powerful accessories to expansions for your bombs and arrows.
Don’t put these side quests off, either. There are times when the game will warn you that some side quests are about to become unavailable, so you don’t want to miss out on anything important!
Revive yourself wisely to avoid sunken costs
If you die, Faie can revive you in exchange for some tul, allowing you to pick up the battle where you left off at full HP. Each revival gets more and more expensive (and it’ll reset when you visit an adventuring guidepost, so long as you’re not playing on very hard difficulty). It may be tempting to keep reviving yourself, but as things get more and more expensive, it may be wiser to restart and take your time to learn boss attack patterns properly.
If you die at the beginning of a boss fight, just restart. That being said, I won’t fault you if the boss is a sliver of HP away from death and you revive at that point.