Nostalgic gaming is still going strong in 2025. Whether it be the aptly-named Merchant 64 coming straight from a time capsule, or Ruffy and the Riverside capturing Paper Mario of all things, players almost beckon for these new iterations to wear their inspirations on their sleeves to relive some of their fondest gaming memories after all this time. Enter Zefyr: A Thief’s Melody, a solo-developed labor of love that was in development for a whopping eleven years. Does this passion project encapsulate Gamecube 3D platformer goodness in the end?

If it isn’t immediately apparent, Zefyr: A Thief’s Melody is a big proponent of the Nintendo Gamecube classic The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. This cel-shaded, open-world jaunt holds a special place in nostalgic gamers’ hearts as a bold, unforgettable whirlwind adventure that silenced its doubters, who held their only merit on its art style departure.

Emulating the style of the time, Zefyr looks and plays like it had that mini disc you’d slot into Nintendo’s purple cube and get lost in for hours and hours as a kid. Turns out, translating this experience still works like a charm with the platformer resurgence in the 2020’s.

As an aspiring thief, Zefyr: A Thief’s Melody‘s title character will spend the game learning new thief tricks, like sneak attacks and fighting combos, to be able to survive the numerous dungeons. Standard with 3D platformers across the board, there’s the usual puzzle-solving, Zelda song-playing, and collect-a-thon elements, too, as your journey to save your little slice of island also has you learning how to heal the afflicted animals and earn a metric ton of flowers for further upgrades when you can spare them. It’s an affair that’s more than just hopping from level to level mindlessly.

All the basics in Zefyr: A Thief’s Melody are nailed, from a compelling premise to a fully functional gameplay experience. Where the game misses perfection is in some tutorialization within its dungeons, as I found myself getting stuck on more than one occasion due to a lack of hand-holding here and there. Some visual bugs and sound cues not playing may detract from the immersion, but I found these to be patched out in recent Steam announcements shortly after release, showing the dev paid close attention to the feedback given from players right after launch.

A week after Zefyr: A Thief’s Melody‘s release, Oneiric Worlds mentioned in an announcement that “the game is still not that visible”. This was a bummer to read, as the decade-plus project has a rock-solid result worth diving into. Sitting at 72 Steam reviews with a 98% approval rating, fans are loving it, but it’s sitting at “hidden gem” stature at this point. All I know is that anyone who tapped into Wind Waker or can’t get enough of 3D platformer gaming will want to check out Zefyr: A Thief’s Melody for a ~10 hour expedition of nostalgia.

A PC review copy of Zefyr: A Thief’s Melody was provided by Oneiric Worlds for this review.

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Zefyr: A Thief's Melody

$19.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Immense charm
• Excellent performance
• Strong solo dev effort

Cons

• Bugs here and there
• Some confusing quests/dungeons