Since its big reveal during the July 2025 Nintendo Direct, The Adventures of Eliot: The Millennium Tales is constantly compared with The Legend of Zelda. Of course, there are worse things to compare it to, and seeing Square Enix and Team Asano's iconic HD-2D rendition move beyond the turn-based RPG format has been concerning since its release. Octopath Traveler 2018 is a much needed breath of fresh air. That helps too The Adventures of Eliot Producer Naofumi Matsushita has previously been open about the team's anticipation of those comparisons, saying they were “really honored by those parallels” in a May 2026 interview with RPGFan.
However, as painful as it is to admit, The Legend of Zelda Not always perfect in its 40-year lifespan. Sure, it's considered one of the most beloved video game franchises of all time, and Nintendo obviously owes a lot of its own success to it. But for every ten great things one can find The Legend of ZeldaThere are almost always one or two not-so-great things, and now The Adventures of Eliot: The Millennium Tales It found a way to sidestep one of the franchise's most frustrating habits before it could define Adventure for the Wrong Reasons.
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The Legend of Zelda had a companion problem
The Legend of ZeldaRelationships with fellow characters have been uneasy over the decades. While not every entry in the series has given Link a companion, the character is meant to solve puzzles and help players remember—or what to do the first time—with tasks like what to do next. in Zelda Games where one important detail is missing can turn precious gameplay time into aimless wandering, they can actually be a good thing.
Who is that character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
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Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5 seconds) Medium (5.0 seconds) Hard (2.5 seconds) Permadeath (2.5 seconds)
Navi's Ocarina of Time is the most problematic
The problem, though, is when those characters start to feel more like a tutorial system with faces than actual friends. Ocarina of Time's Navi is easily one of the most recognizable examples, largely because the “Hey! Listen!” Video game dudes quickly became the poster child for how not to design. Navi's purpose came to fruition in 1998 — and it was quite understandable at the time, as many players simply didn't know any better — but he will still be long remembered for his domineering, disruptive guidance.
Skyward Sword had something worse than Fi Navi
Skyward Sword's Fi takes that issue even further with a new take on what it means to be a friend Zelda the universe. Navi may be notorious for interrupting players at every turn, but Fi was like a glorified babysitter who told players how to solve puzzles, where to go and how to get there, how items work, and then any basic reminder imaginable. When a Zelda With Friends essentially telling players what to do before they're given enough space to think through the problem, the satisfaction that normally comes from figuring things out is naturally greatly diminished.
luckily, Skyward Sword HD Took player feedback seriously and made Fi's help less obtrusive. Nintendo's listed quality-of-life changes for the game included “optional help from Fi”, making Fi only available in cutscenes or when needed, otherwise manually summoned for advice or guidance. The remaster also added faster dialogue, skippable cutscenes, streamlined item explanations, and less intrusive tutorial dialogue, all of which softened the original game's hand-holding issues.
Twilight Princess' Midna was a Zelda companion turned out right
from Midna Twilight Princess Can be thrown in there too, though his role eventually gets complicated ZeldaCharacteristic patterns of highly supportive peers. She still guides Link through the world and the story, and she still fits the companion role, but her primary purpose is character-driven. He has his own character arc, a distinct personality, and a real place in the story, so instead of being an automated hint machine, he's actually more like a person traveling with Link.
It's worth pointing out something different, though, because it shows what it is that effectively replaces a Zelda Friends—and any video game friends, for that matter—are in trouble. For the most part, players are willing to accept direction from a character when it feels like that character has an important place in the story rather than being a sidekick. That companion often interrupts the adventure, explains things the player already understands, or spoils the quest's reward to the point that it becomes hopelessly annoying.
other Zelda Friends include from Tatl Majora's MaskFrom King of the Red Lions The Wind WakerFrom Ezlo Minish capFrom Ciela The Phantom HourFrom Linebeck The Phantom Hourand from Tri An echo of wisdom.
And this is no problem Zelda– Like the game The Adventures of Eliot Inheritance is at risk when it gives the hero a talking guide. A companion can add a lot to the adventure and can also be used as a means of development for the main character, but they can also quickly become the most intrusive part of the game if their guidance is too prominent. ZeldaThe best of friends show how much a sidekick can add to the overall experience, while its most infamous show how hand-holding can easily be unhelpful.
Elliot's Adventure solved Zelda's companion problem before this one happened
When its demo was released and players started getting their hands on it The Adventures of Eliot: The Millennium Tales For the first time, the Zelda The comparisons increased tenfold as they noticed that Elliot's angel friend Fi was almost as talkative as Navi or Fi. Naturally, it didn't take long for this to become a bit of a problem and Square Enix and Team Asano received waves of negative feedback regarding the frequency of friend dialogue. For an already standing game Zeldaof Shadow, a fairy friend who talks a lot but was destined to invite one of the least flattering comparisons possible.
Guess the games from emojis.
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Guess the games from emojis.
Easy (120 seconds) Medium (90 seconds) Hard (60 seconds)
but, The Adventures of Eliot What classics have already done Zelda Eventually had to learn to do the latter. After players found Faie talking too much, Team Asano added an option in the game's settings menu to decrease her dialogue frequency from “Talkative” to “Reticent”, giving her direct control over how often she speaks. fun enough, The Adventures of Eliot Not the first Square Enix game to implement a muzzle for a talking friend, eg spokeCuffe found himself in a similar situation in 2023.
It is possible that some players who have already spent time with the game are still not aware of the fix Team Asano has implemented, because some reviews The Adventures of Eliot: The Millennium Tales Still Faie is described as being very talkative. Fortunately, though, there is a solution, if one finds Elliot's angel friend to be a bit much. At least, if The Adventures of Eliot Will keep inviting Zelda Comparisons, then solve one ZeldaThe most frustrating friend problems are the best place to start before they really become their own.
- issued
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June 18, 2026
- ESRB
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Juvenile/fantasy violence, mild language, alcohol use
