This week sees the release of The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, a brand-new action RPG with stunning HD-2D graphics, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC (via Steam and Xbox), and Nintendo Switch 2. I’ve been thoroughly testing the game across all platforms – including the standard and Pro versions of PS5, Steam Deck, and ROG Ally – to assess performance and identify any platform-specific issues. My goal is to help you choose the best way to play! I tested the complete game, not just the demo, and compared it to the demo version to check for technical differences.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is the first game of its kind to be released in HD-2D for current-generation consoles, having also been available on older Switch and PlayStation 4 systems. I wanted to test how far the HD-2D graphics were taken, how well the game performed on handheld devices, and what the experience was like on a 4K television. These observations are based on playing the complete game across all available platforms, including impressions from the initial hours of gameplay.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales feature differences across platforms
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales offers a consistent experience across all platforms, with the only real difference being potential variations in save data bonuses due to game availability. Each version includes standard features for its console, but the PC port feels somewhat underdeveloped. It’s also a shame that Square Enix didn’t create a dynamic title screen rendered within the game engine – instead, they used the same low-quality video on every platform.
As a fan, I’ve noticed that The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales lets you adjust the graphics settings with three options – low, medium, and high – on all platforms. These change things like how blurry the background is, the dark corners around the screen, and how detailed the shadows are. Honestly, it seems a little unnecessary to have those lower settings on the PS5 and Xbox Series X since the game already runs pretty well at max quality! But on the Switch 2 (I’ll talk about that later), these presets actually help improve performance quite a bit.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales PS5 features
The PC version of the game is pretty basic. It doesn’t offer much beyond the graphics settings you’d find on consoles, plus a few options to adjust how it looks on your screen. You can change the frame rate (to 30, 60, or 120 frames per second), turn v-sync on or off, adjust the rendering resolution, and choose a display mode. Some players experienced the demo being limited to 1080p or 720p, and unfortunately, the full game still has this problem. To play in your monitor’s native resolution, you’ll need to use borderless windowed mode. Hopefully, a future update will fix this, but it’s currently happening in the version I have.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is available on Xbox Series consoles and PC with Xbox’s Play Anywhere feature, letting you play seamlessly across devices. It also utilizes Quick Resume for fast switching. On PlayStation 5, the game includes Activity Cards to show your progress, a power-saving mode, and some haptic feedback through the DualSense controller – though it’s not quite as immersive as in other games with this visual style. All versions of the game, including the Xbox one, feature responsive rumble effects.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales visuals and performance differences across PS5, Xbox, Switch 2, PC, and PS5 Pro
Let’s talk performance: The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is quite demanding. It requires more powerful hardware than previous HD-2D games on PC, and even on the Switch 2, the graphics appear blurry compared to other consoles, especially when aiming for a stable 60 frames per second. Achieving a consistent 60fps in handheld mode seems unlikely without accepting a noticeably softer image, similar to what’s seen on the Switch 2 during action.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is an action RPG that really shines when played at a smooth 60 frames per second. However, the game’s visual style causes shimmering effects on certain platforms or when played at a lower resolution than your screen, which can be distracting. While this is hard to fix on consoles, PC players have options to address the issue and improve the visual experience.
Just so you know, all the game footage used for these comparisons was recorded in 4K. Then, I zoomed in on sections – like the floor textures – to clearly show the visual differences between them.
I started exploring how to optimize the game for PC handhelds. I decided to cap the frame rate at 40 or 45 frames per second to maintain better graphics, as trying to reach 60fps required too many visual compromises. This brings me to my concerns with the Switch 2 version. It’s noticeably blurrier than the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions, and it struggles to consistently hit its target frame rate, while those other versions run smoothly.
When Square Enix said this would be their first HD-2D game designed specifically for current consoles, I expected it to run smoothly at 60 frames per second on the Switch 2 and have higher resolution options. As it stands, it seems like a game originally made for more powerful hardware and then adapted to fit the Switch 2’s capabilities. It reminds me of how Monster Hunter Stories 3 played – noticeably scaled down.
The PC version of The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales experiences stuttering issues despite compiling shaders when first launched. I tested the game on the ROG Ally and found the performance unsatisfactory, even with the lowest graphics settings. Adam also played the full game on Windows and observed similar stuttering, comparable to what was seen in the PC version of Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake.
Just so you know how I made those comparisons, I grabbed screenshots directly from my Switch 2. On Steam Deck and ROG Ally, I used their built-in screenshot tools. I had to do a little editing – cropping the images and resizing the Steam Deck one – just to make sure we could clearly see the differences between all three handhelds. Also, the Switch 2 version looks a little darker because of the clouds in the game!
After testing each platform for several hours, it seems the only way to consistently achieve a smooth 60 frames per second is on the higher-end consoles or the Windows version when running through Linux. I haven’t been able to confirm this yet, but I plan to test it soon. Interestingly, I’ve also seen that some newer HD-2D games actually run more reliably on Linux than on Windows, likely due to Proton.
The game looks fantastic at higher resolutions. Unlike the first Octopath Traveler, which I played extensively on Switch, this game avoids the distracting shimmering effect you sometimes see with lower-resolution graphics, especially in details like plants and scenery. While neither the PS5 nor Xbox Series X versions run at a true 4K, they dynamically aim for that quality. I found the Xbox Series X looked slightly sharper, but the PS5, when using its ‘Pro Boost’ mode (which improves games not specifically optimized for the system), produced the clearest picture overall.
Playing this game portably on the Switch 2 isn’t great – it feels visually blurry and the performance is unstable. I would have actually preferred if it ran at a locked 30 frames per second with nicer graphics instead of trying for an unlimited frame rate that doesn’t quite work. As someone who enjoyed all the HD-2D games on the original Switch, including Octopath Traveler II, I found the visuals in The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales noticeably off-putting on the new hardware.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales full game Steam Deck recommended settings
Playing The Adventures of Elliot on Steam Deck works best at 720p resolution with the ‘high’ graphics preset, limiting the frame rate to either 30fps or 45fps (by slightly reducing the resolution scale to around 60-70%). Trying to achieve 60fps would significantly lower the visual quality. This limitation highlights why a future Switch 2 could benefit from offering a ‘quality’ mode for improved graphics.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales Switch 2 recommended settings for the full game
Currently, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium on the Nintendo Switch 2 offers similar graphics settings to other platforms and PC. You can adjust these settings—specifically lowering post-processing effects—to improve how smoothly the game runs. I recommend turning off depth of field as it often appears overly strong in games with an HD-2D style. For the best performance, use the low graphics preset while playing in handheld mode. Ideally, any future sequel should be designed specifically for the Switch 2 instead of being a scaled-down version of other versions.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales load times across Switch 2, PS5, Steam, Xbox, Xbox on PC, and PS5 Pro
I checked how quickly the game loaded by timing how long it took to start from the main menu and to load a game that was already saved. I tested on several platforms – Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Pro, ROG Ally, Xbox Series X, and Steam Deck – using the internal storage of each. The times below are in seconds, and the Xbox version on PC might vary due to syncing. I ran each test three times over a week to get an accurate range of load times.
| Platform | Dashboard to title | Loading save |
| Switch 2 | 9-10 | 11-13 |
| PS5 | 8 | 5-6 |
| PS5 Pro | 6-8 | 5-6 |
| Xbox Series X | 12 | 8 |
| Xbox PC ROG Ally | 35-50* | 8-9 |
| Steam ROG Ally | 8 | 9 |
| Steam Deck | 14-15 | 9 |
The PS5 continues to offer the quickest performance, followed by the Xbox Series X and the Steam version. The Switch 2 version performs well, but takes a bit longer to complete than on other consoles.
Which version of The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is the best?
If you want the best experience playing The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium on your TV, a PS5 Pro or a powerful PC is the way to go – just be sure to check for any performance issues. The standard PS5 version is decent, but might look a little blurry on 4K screens. I suggest downloading the demo first to see how well it runs on your setup before buying the PC version.
Currently, the Steam Deck provides the most reliable portable gaming experience. While the Switch 2 has potential as a hybrid console, it needs improvements. Specifically, adding an optional 30fps cap and increasing the rendering resolution would make it more competitive. Right now, the Switch 2 suffers from noticeable visual shimmering and inconsistent performance, even with graphical settings reduced.
Which version of The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales should you buy today?
Before finishing up, just a quick note about any benefits related to your saved game progress – in case that’s important to you. Now, with that covered…
- The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales on Xbox: The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales on Xbox is a Play Anywhere title with Quick Resume support. If you have access to a PC handheld or play on Xbox Series consoles and PC, this is the one to buy. While the load times aren’t as fast as the PS5 version, it makes up for it in resolution based on the parts I tested. Keep in mind that the Xbox on PC version has the same hitching issues as the Steam version though.
- The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales on PS5: If you want to play on your TV, care about trophy support, and don’t care about portable play (unless you stream to a PlayStation Portal or phone), this is the version to get since it loads fastest and the PS5 version on PS5 Pro delivers the best image quality.
- The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales on Switch 2: If you value the hybrid nature of the Switch 2 more than anything else and can tolerate cutbacks to visuals, shimmering, and performance issues more than Octopath Traveler 0 to some degree, this is the one to buy. Hopefully Square Enix can add a quality mode and optimize the game more on Switch 2. It deserves better.
- The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales on Steam: .The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales on Steam is solid, but not perfect on Deck, but the PC port itself needs to be improved. I shouldn’t have to change display mode to adjust resolution with it being locked based on what looks to be screen DPI. I also hope the shader issues can be sorted for Windows handhelds. If you are ok tolerating hitching like in Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, this is the one to get since you can play it on your PC and Steam Deck with cloud saves.
What I want fixed in The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales patches
As the first completely new HD-2D game available on all current platforms simultaneously, I’m hoping Square Enix will improve the PC version by fixing stuttering and adding options to disable screen shake and hit stop – I experienced motion sickness at times. More visual settings on the Switch 2 would also be great. Hopefully, this helps you choose the best way to play The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, whether at home or on the go. I plan to revisit this game if significant updates introduce new visual options or address existing issues.
You can play The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC through Steam. A free demo is out now, and you’ll be able to carry your progress from the demo over to the full game when it releases.
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2026-06-17 15:31