Zefyr: A Thief's Melody Preview

The great thing about Steam Stealth Fest is that you’re sure to find a game that meets all your sneaky, tactical needs. Just browsing the top sellers gives me a pick of enough survival horror, war, and detective games to keep me busy in the shadows for hours on end. You’ll find a similar trend amongst the free demos section, too, as many (but not all) of the upcoming titles also lean into gritty and dark atmospheres, which is probably why Zefyr: A Thief's Melody stood out to me immediately with its colourful key art and its whimsical, light-hearted trailer. After watching the main character crouch behind a pirate and smack him with a bo staff — followed by a big ol’ cartoonish WHACK! sound effect — I thought, “Yeah, I’m in the mood for a cute stealthy game where I can become a thief, ruin the day of a few unsuspecting pirates, and sail the glimmering ocean waves on a turtle.” I mean, who wouldn’t?

Zefyr: A Thief’s Melody is a vibrant 3D adventure game currently in development by solo dev Mathias Fontmarty, founder of Oneiric Worlds — an indie studio committed to crafting feel-good titles. Inspired by Ubisoft’s Beyond Good & Evil and Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, the demo has an old-school charm and captures that wide-eyed sense of adventure Zelda games do so well. If you had a GameCube back in the day, playing Zefyr will likely feel very nostalgic!

At the start of the demo, you’ll arrive on an island home to the Thief Guild, greeting a mysterious hooded fellow named Master Josh. Of course, you’re fashionably late, so you’re the last to be airlifted by an enormous eagle (that’s right, say hello to Boris) onto a floating land mass where your peers are waiting for you. Then begins your first lesson on thievery: how to move like a thief. To practise, Master Josh sends you to chase Boris, introducing you to running, jumping, crouching, and climbing. Each of these was fluid and a joy to use; the player’s speed hits a nice sweet spot, and overall, it’s already shaping into a fun platforming experience. Like Breath of the Wild, you can climb almost any surface thanks to your Magnetic Gauntlet, which gives you magical magnetic claws. Not only that, but you can also jump from high surfaces without taking any fall damage. It’s nice that the game saves the distance of your longest jumps, and, as a result, I spent much of my time trying to find the tallest peaks I could dive from to break my record.

This brings me to Zefyr’s world and exploration! The setting is a colourful open-world archipelago with quite a whimsical atmosphere. I was able to run around a few different areas, including the Thief Guild, Eagle Island, and Zefyr Island. Curiosity was in my bones, so I explored as much as possible, which the game rewarded me for. There’s always something to find, whether it be Magnetite (the game’s gemstone currency), flowers to sell to a local NPC or paintings (though I didn’t figure out what those are for).

Some combat is teased, as you can learn to fight with a Bo, a non-lethal wooden fighting stick. There are two types of attacks; Chained Attacks are swift but require the right timing, whereas a Charged Attack takes longer but offers more power. You can also sneak up behind your enemy to knock them out with one quick smack, or you can use the environment to stealth your way past your foes and avoid combat altogether. Your toolkit seems like it’ll be extra versatile come launch with the addition of Fins, Bombs, and Magnetic Grapple, as well as a Slingshot and Bow — all of which were locked for this demo. Master Josh has a penchant for making a profit, as you’ll have to pay to learn those other weapon/tool proficiencies. It’s not Tom Nook levels of payment, though, so don’t worry about having empty pockets! Plus, it seems like Magnetite is easily found just by exploring, and you also get paid for completing quests. Towards the end of the demo, I discovered something called Blue Magnetite, a variation of the gem that’s worth more on the market. So I imagine the 500 Magnetite price tag on the Magnetic Grapple ability shouldn’t be hard to get, but that could also change from now until release.

When it comes to being a thief, there wasn’t a whole lot of “thievery” as I expected. The demo’s quests were actually very wholesome, such as helping the Zoological Institute to save an abandoned eagle egg and finding the right fabric for the cosplay dress your sister is making. I do enjoy the idea of having thief skills and using them for good deeds, though. The kindhearted spin fits better with the game’s tone, too. However, without an epic quest, it wouldn’t be a Zelda-esque adventure game. The demo ends with a cliffhanger where pirates show up and ruin your good time, but we’ll have to wait until the game’s full release to save the day.

You can try the demo for Zefyr: A Thief’s Melody on PC via Steam! An official release date is still to be announced, but in the meantime, you can add it to your wishlist.