I love Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, but there's a part of me that really misses the old-school Zelda games. Link's Awakening and Link to the Past were some of my favorite games ever, and I miss that sense of old-school adventuring. That's why The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales has me so excited. It's a modern take on that kind of adventuring formula from Team Asano, the studio behind some of Square Enix's coolest niche titles. Our hands-on time with the demo, which contains the first hour or two of the game, emphasized that it's exactly what I was hoping for.

Adventures of Elliot follows the titular Elliot, an adventurer from the land of Philabieldia (not to be mistaken for a certain Pennsylvanian city). His homeland is kept safe from danger by the magical power of its princess, who safeguards it from the dangerous Beast Tribes. Unfortunately, the discovery of an ancient ruin that contains the secret to time travel promptly throws everything into disaster. A scheming vizier rushes into the past, eager to rewrite history in his own favor, and it's up to Elliot to travel through past, present and future to stop him from ruining history.

Adventures of Elliot has a lot of DNA in common with the pre-N64 Zelda titles. Picking up and playing the game was instantly like hopping into a familiar and comfortable version of Hyrule, though with enough of its own flavor that I couldn't call it a direct clone. Elliot's basic controls are nice and simple. You have a jump button, a shield button, and two slots to equip the various weapons you find in the game, which can be hot-swapped very easily, so you can change between tools at a moment's notice.

I tried out many of the game's weapons, and they all felt comfortably familiar. The default sword is a solid and effective weapon for any given situation, and it can be charged up for a wider-range slash. The spear has better range and a powerful charge attack but requires more accuracy. The boomerang isn't as great at dealing damage but can be thrown quickly, while the bow is more of a damage-dealing range option but has limited arrows. Bombs are big and explosive and can be used to open doors and walls as much as in combat. There are even more weapons available as the game progresses, allowing for both puzzle-solving and combat utility.

Adding to that was the Magicite system. Collecting unrefined Magicite allows you to trade it in, loot-box style, for a random selection of equippable Magicite that can go on any of your weapons. You do this by putting it in a weapon-specific box that offers new combat functions. You can improve your spear's charge by giving it invincibility frames or give yourself the ability to throw out two weaker boomerangs instead of one stronger one. While exploring, you can even find new Magicite in chests.

Combat also strongly rewards you for approaching combat carefully instead of button-mashing. When you defeat consecutive enemies without taking damage, that increases the drop rate and value of items. Likewise, the bosses we faced in the demo had vulnerable moments, so attacking them at exactly the right moment could either parry their attacks or stun them to allow you to pile on the damage. Since this is a demo of the early part of the game, nothing was too punishing, but there seemed to be room for more complex combat down the line.

Continuing the Zelda parallels, Elliot is joined on his adventures by a magical fairy companion named Faie, who can be controlled independently using the right joystick. Not only does this allow you to solve puzzles by using both at once, but Faie also gains magical powers, such as the ability to ignite herself or warp Elliot to another location. Faie is extremely talkative, but thankfully, the game includes the option to reduce her optional dialogue if you aren't looking for a chatty companion.

There's seemingly plenty of room for exploration. There are special shrines that contain puzzles which, when completed, can reward you with new Magicite, accessories, or life shards. If you collect multiple life shards, they will eventually give you an additional life container for Elliot. This all felt very nice and standard for an RPG, but it also felt very effective, and I wanted to explore to help people find their missing hats or lost cats.

The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales wears its inspiration on its sleeve, but it's certainly not bad to combine Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana and Zelda. There's a ridiculous amount of potential for Adventures of Elliot to be a new classic. The demo put a strong foot forward, and I am excited and eager to play more of the game once the final version releases on June 18 for all consoles and PC.