Adventures Of Elliot Shows How Flexible HD-2D Can Be

“The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales,” coming June 18, 2026 to Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, represents a significant expansion for Square Enix’s signature HD-2D art style. Developed by Team Asano—the studio behind the Octopath Traveler series, Triangle Strategy, and the 2022 Live A Live remake—the game marks the team’s first action RPG and demonstrates that the retro-cool aesthetic originally designed for classic SNES-era role-playing games can successfully translate to other genres.

The game presents itself as a modern homage to classic top-down Zelda titles, drawing inspiration from beloved franchises like Chrono Trigger, the Mana series, and old-school The Legend of Zelda. This comes at an opportune moment, as the traditional Zelda formula has largely been absent since 2013’s A Link Between Worlds, with recent entries moving away from the classic dungeon-crawling structure.

What sets The Adventures of Elliot apart is its design philosophy around “bite-sized thrills.” Rather than sprawling multi-hour dungeons, the game offers compact 20-to-30-minute expeditions that still deliver compelling exploration and puzzle-solving experiences. This approach makes the game accessible for players with limited time while maintaining depth and satisfaction.

The HD-2D art style continues to showcase its versatility, combining nostalgic pixel-art aesthetics reminiscent of the 16- and 32-bit eras with modern visual flourishes and detail.

Sources

• Adventures Of Elliot Shows How Flexible HD-2D Can Be
• Adventures Of Elliot Shows How Flexible HD-2D Can Be
• Hands On: The Classic Zelda Formula Is In Safe Hands With ‘The Adventures Of Elliot’
• Adventures of Elliot devs wanted the action RPG to feel ‘somewhat gacha-like’
• Adventures of Elliot preview: Square Enix’s nostalgic Zelda-like is full of bite-size thrills