The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales - Weapons, Items and Tips Guide

The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is here, and fans of classic action-adventure games in the style of A Link to the Past, Chrono Trigger, or Secret of Mana are in for a treat, as Elliot offers an adventure heavily inspired by these titles, as well as smooth and comfortable gameplay spanning a thousand years of history.

We've already shared our thoughts on the game in our review, but now we can tell you in detail what you need to bear in mind when starting the game from scratch or loading your save data from the demo. Be that as it may, this guide to tips, weapon usage, items and spells offers the most enjoyable way to progress, without giving too much away. At times, it will be impossible to skip ahead to certain locations in specific eras to find certain items, so bear this in mind before reading this guide. Let the adventure begin!

1. Don't mute your companion Faie, but you can turn her volume down if you like

If you've been following our coverage of The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales over the last few weeks, you'll know that one of the main complaints about the demo was that the little fairy accompanying us on our adventure, Faie, is a bit of a chatterbox. She's very reminiscent of another fairy from a faraway land called Hyrule who—well, you can probably guess where this is going.

The fact is, Square Enix has decided to play it safe and add a menu option to tone down her enthusiasm and volume, although I'd recommend against doing so. Firstly, because the voice acting by Brenna Larsen (English) and Rua Miyauchi (Japanese) is really good. Secondly, and far more importantly: many of the clues you need to get out of a dead end are provided by your little companion. Perhaps you're exploring a dungeon and haven't found what you were looking for... so she might suggest continuing the quest, but at a different time. She'll also let you know when there's a chest nearby, even if you haven't spotted it, or even one of the 50 cats scattered around Philabieldia that act as collectables (and a bit more besides).

2. Your little friend has magic - be creative with it

Faie doesn't just give good advice and drive you mad with her incessant comments (just kidding); she's also a magical being, and throughout the adventure you'll find magic shrines where you can unlock different powers for her. These powers aren't just essential for opening up new paths to follow, but can also be used in combat. There's no definitive guide on which uses are best for each situation, but here are a few interesting ones:

Ignite: Bomb snails die and drop their lit explosives, forcing you to flee their area of effect. But if you send Faie in with the fire power activated, the enemies will explode instantly. Take the opportunity to gather several enemies together in the same area and blow them sky-high. You can also use Ignite against mechanical enemies, as they're vulnerable to fire.

Copy: Faie transforms into an exact copy of Elliot, complete with his weapons, thrown items and abilities. In puzzles and exploration, this is useful for pressing two switches at the same time, for example, but in combat you can make the most of that brief activation period to deal double damage to bosses or wipe out large groups of enemies.

Sprint: Running is arguably the best ability in the whole game. A large proportion of the routes you'll have to take with Elliot will be along paths you've already travelled quite a few times throughout all the Eras, and that can make the loop feel repetitive. If you run, you'll get there in no time. If you crash, your pride will take a knock, but you won't lose any health. Just remember to press L to stop, or you'll end up at the bottom of a cliff more than once...

Warp: You can literally appear and reappear wherever Faie is on screen. It's not exactly the best option in combat, especially once you've learnt to block perfectly with your shield, but there are certain bosses from whom it's difficult to escape. Warp can get you out of more than one tight spot there.

Vacuum: Faie's deadliest power, with which she creates a whirlwind that drags objects and monsters towards its centre. You can move orbs to activate switches, but if you cast the spell near a cliff edge and there are enemies on the ground... well, you can sweep them away in one fell swoop with no effort at all.

What's more, all these spells can be upgraded throughout the adventure, giving Elliot an extra offensive edge. It's well worth bearing in mind!

3. There's a weapon for every occasion, but some are more useful than others

There are seven types of weapons in The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, and each is used in a radically different way, although some are clearly better than others for certain situations. A sword delivers rapid slashes at close range, and its charged attack fires bursts of energy in a straight line from a distance. It's the most basic weapon, and also the most reliable throughout the adventure. Always keep it equipped for use with the Y button.

For the X button (secondary weapon), you'll need to switch between different options. Bows and bombs are always a handy choice, but their use is limited by the number of arrows or bombs you're carrying, and they don't drop as often as you'd like on normal difficulty and above. In my case, I ended up dedicating my secondary weapon to an option that's brilliant for both group combat and long-range fighting: Chains and sickles, also known as kusarigama, are my favourite type of weapon. The basic attack is a 360-degree circular arc with you at the centre, and it will damage any creatures it hits. The charged attack delivers a powerful forward strike and will also pull the struck enemy towards you, leaving them at your mercy to finish them off with your sword.

All weapons also have upgraded and 'legendary' versions scattered across the continent and throughout the ages, so it's worth putting your quests aside to get hold of them.

4. If you see a building with coloured flames burning at the door, always try to go inside: it'll be worth it

As I've explained before, the fairy Faie gains various magical powers throughout the adventure that are essential for exploring the game, but that's not the only thing hidden in The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales: the Shrines of Life are small, usually simple trials where the reward is always a vital fragment. Collect four of these and you'll have a complete heart... hang on, that's from another game! But the system is the same. There are plenty of them scattered everywhere, but to reach them you'll sometimes have to find a way through the caves. Time to explore!

There's another sanctuary, found only in the Age of Safekeeping. The Temple of Trials is a combat arena where you'll have to face waves of enemies one after the other, equipped only with the consumables you're carrying and without being able to rest or regain health between waves. To make matters worse, Faie's resurrection power doesn't work within its walls, so if you're killed, you'll have to start the whole process over again. There are four Trial levels, and the first two are the most important, as they allow you to unlock slots to equip accessories, so as soon as the game alerts you that a new challenge is available, steel yourself and make it a priority to complete it.

5. Vials and accessories - never leave home without them

Empty vials allow you to carry healing potions, as well as other types of defence and attack boosts. There are also some less common ones, for fully recharging Faie's magical power, or some even say there's a special type that lets you go unnoticed by enemies... In practice, try to collect as many vials as you can. The shop in each Era's settlement sells a new vial the first time you arrive, and you can get the rest by completing some side quests in the game. Again, it's worth picking up a few vials and remembering to return to the merchants to have them refilled with healing potions, as this is the only way to restock them.

Accessories are somewhat harder to come by, and they represent the most important passive powers in the game. There are a total of 20 accessories, and almost all of them are genuinely useful, although there is one in particular that you absolutely must get early on: the Flutterer's Cape, which can be found in the main shop in the Kingdom of Huther, in the Age of Protection (the first shop in the game). Its price of 1,000 gules might put you off at first, but I promise you the game is completely different once you've got it and equipped it. In fact, it's likely to be the one you always have equipped. The cape allows you to float in the air for a couple of seconds whilst jumping, making it the best tool for exploring dungeons right from the start of the game.

Although it isn't essential until near the end of the adventure, the Diving Manual is another one that Elliot will need to learn on his travels. It's found in the Water Ruins in the Age of Reconstruction, and thanks to it, you'll be able to pass through floating logs in rivers and swim through flooded doorways. If you want to keep the map as open as possible right from the start, this is what you need.

6. Cats and Magicite Gems: An adventurer's best friends

Early on in the game, you'll meet a character in the village who considers himself the world's biggest cat fan. If you help him win over the kitties and send him a certain number of them, he'll give you great rewards. There are 50 cats in total scattered throughout the game. The funny thing is that this bloke is always available, no matter which Era you're in... Hmm, interesting.

There's another character who always reappears in every era of The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales: the Magicite merchant. This mysterious merchant barely speaks throughout the game, and spends his time crafting Magicite gems (which grant stats and passives to Elliot's weapons and shield). The more gem fragments you bring him, the better he'll get at crafting gems, and the rarer they'll be. And the rarer they are, the better the passives and stats. Simple.

What won't be quite so easy is upgrading the slot for the crystals equipped on each weapon. These Magicite upgrades are very expensive, and this is actually where you'll spend the lion's share of the money you gather during the adventure, apart from healing potions. It's not as if you can buy much else anyway...

To equip gems on each weapon, you can choose them yourself, but I recommend letting Faie take care of selecting the best ones whenever you've gathered a few. Just press a button, and she'll take care of the rest.