New Steam Game Like Zelda: The Wind Waker Is the Perfect Warm-Up for Ocarina of Time

This seems to be happening more and more lately, but I’ve once again stumbled on an incredibly gorgeous and compelling indie game demo on Steam, and this one comes at the perfect time for myself and many others. Demi and the Fractured Dream by Yarn Owl Studios takes the presentation, atmosphere, and puzzle-driven discovery of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and many other games from the franchise and grants the formula an emphasis on light buildcrafting and combat. But one of the main reasons this is such a great find is due to the timing, as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is just around the corner, arriving on November 5, 2026, and game demos like this are getting me nice and hyped for it. The Steam demo itself is only around 30 minutes long, and the game doesn’t launch until February 2027, so you can play it now, too, if you want, and you won’t have to worry about another game competing with Ocarina of Time.

Despite only being about 30 minutes long, the Steam demo for Demi and the Fractured Dream showed me everything I need to know about what the full game is going to be like. In fact, if you’re already a dedicated Zelda fan like myself, this is one of those demos you’re going to breeze right through, though the ability to do so doesn’t mean the game lacks quality or fun and compelling gameplay. But the reason I bring that up is because if you’ve ever played a Zelda game before, you’ll know what look for, how to progress, and what to expect once you take the next step forward. In other words, you’ll feel right at home. At the same time, there is a stronger emphasis on crafting your build in Demi and the Fractured Dream, with a few different systems to manage there, and the game’s combat is more involved than your standard Zelda game.

Demi and the Fractured Dream Is the Perfect Warm-Up for Ocarina of Time

Check Out Demi and the Fractured Dream’s Demo on Steam

For starters, Demi and the Fractured Dream looks and feels like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker—which is a major positive in my book. The art style, the atmosphere, and even some of the characters and enemies remind me of stuff you’d see in a classic Zelda game, but particularly The Wind Waker. The main difference here is that it doesn’t revolve around sea exploration—from what I played in the demo, anyway—and movement and combat are much closer to a modern action-adventure game, complete with double jumps, various combat skills, and, again, some light buildcrafting. But even Demi and the Fractured Dream‘s premise is about as Zelda as it gets.

In Demi and the Fractured Dream, you play as Demi, a character known as a Voidsent who has been cursed by the void. However, while the curse is slowly eating away at Demi, it also grants them some pretty powerful abilities that come in handy throughout the adventure. After hearing a mysterious voice calling out to them, Demi sets off across the world of Somnus to hunt down three legendary creatures known as the Accursed Beasts and prevent an awakening that threatens to destroy the world. Of course, getting to these beasts means you’ll have to make your way through dungeons, solve environmental puzzles, and defeat plenty of enemies along the way. There’s also a much bigger mystery surrounding Demi’s role in everything, but that’s something we’ll have to wait until the full game launches to uncover. Really, I couldn’t think of anything that screams Zelda more than “hunt down three cursed beasts and destroy them because they’re corrupting the land.”

But the premise is just part of Demi and the Fractured Dream‘s Zelda-likeness, as that aspect of its identity extends into its exploration-based gameplay as well. While Demi‘s combat is a somewhat different story, many of its puzzles are almost straight out of Zelda: The Wind Waker. For example, one of the more prominent world puzzles in the Demi demo had me waving a feather at wind turbines to open up gates. Sound familiar? If you’ve played The Wind Waker, it should, because in that wonderful game, you would wave a giant Deku Leaf to blow a gust of wind at pinwheel/turbine switches to power mechanisms like moving platforms, doors, and windmills throughout dungeons. When I saw these mechanisms in the Demi and the Fractured Dream demo, I almost immediately knew what to do with them—though I tried using my sword to move them, just in case.

But exploration in general is rewarding because of what you can find, which largely comes down to rupees…I mean, whatever Demi‘s currency is called…Void Rites, Relics, and Umbracite, each of which contributes toward how formidable you are in combat. And I actually like that there’s a reason to go out of your way to find these things, because rather than just collecting them for the sake of collecting them, you can use what you’ve gathered to improve Demi’s abilities. There are obelisks scattered throughout the game that serve as checkpoints and places to purchase upgrades, so even if you already know where you need to go next, it’s still worth taking a little extra time to see what you can find. Of course, the demo doesn’t give you much time to really explore everything, but what I did see has me looking forward to seeing how much the full game rewards players for going off the beaten path.

And those upgrades are actually pretty important because, while Demi and the Fractured Dream might look a lot like Zelda, its combat is quite a bit different. You’ve still got your standard sword attacks, but you can also pull off combos, use different combat skills, and dodge enemy attacks, with perfectly timed dodges rewarding you with Void energy that temporarily empowers your next attacks. That last part is especially interesting to me because it gives you a reason to actually learn enemy attack patterns. As for the buildcrafting, you can improve and customize different aspects of Demi’s playstyle with various base stat upgrades, passive buffs, and even unique skills. I wouldn’t necessarily call it an RPG, at least not from what I played, but there’s clearly more going on here than what you’d find in a traditional Zelda game, and I’m all for that.

Demi and the Fractured Dream Has Earned a Spot on My 2027 Wishlist

I went into Demi and the Fractured Dream hoping to get a little Zelda fix before Ocarina of Time arrives, and that’s exactly what I got. But I also came away wishing the demo had been a bit longer, because I was genuinely enjoying myself. Sure, there are plenty of games out there that take inspiration from Zelda, but I think Demi and the Fractured Dream does a great job of capturing what makes those older games so special without completely copying everything they do. And if the full game can maintain what I experienced in the demo, I think we’re in for a treat when it finally launches.

For now, though, I’ve got The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to look forward to, and I’m actually glad Demi and the Fractured Dream isn’t releasing until February 2027 because of that. As much as I enjoyed my time with it, I certainly don’t need anything distracting me from Ocarina of Time once November 5 rolls around. But if you’re like me and can hardly stand waiting for Link’s next adventure, I’d highly recommend giving Demi and the Fractured Dream‘s Steam demo a shot. It’s free, it only takes about half an hour to finish, and you might just walk away with another game to look forward to next year.

Demi and the Fractured Dream launches on Steam in February 2027.