As a lifelong fan of The Legend of Zelda, it’s almost impossible to keep me away from anything that resembles it. After all, the formula works, so even if a game looks different and takes place in a different world, if it still feels like Zelda in the way that it’s played, I’m probably going to immediately fall for it. Well, that turned out to be the case with Graytail, an upcoming adventure game by indie developer Concode, after I recently spent an hour with its free demo on Steam. To be quite honest, when I saw that it was deliberately designed to mimic Zelda in its gameplay and Octopath Traveler in its visual style, I was already sold on it, but actually playing it just convinced me all the more that I needed the full game in my life. Unfortunately, it isn’t slated to be released until Q4 2027.
Graytail follows a detective and the daughter of a missing pilot as they search for answers on a remote island in the Pacific. However, the island is crawling with dangerous mutants, and its residents seem to know more than they’re letting on. Making matters worse, the protagonist suffers from severe headaches that require him to take medication, leaving him to question whether everything he’s experiencing is even real. It’s a surprisingly sinister premise for a game that looks as charming as Graytail does, and while its free Steam demo only scratches the surface of that mystery, it was more than enough to make me want to see where the story goes.
Graytail Looks Like Octopath, Plays Like Zelda
Check Out Graytail’s Demo on Steam
What’s interesting about Graytail is that it doesn’t immediately throw you into the kind of adventure its inspirations would suggest. The demo actually opens in the detective’s office, where a mysterious phone call from a doctor raises more questions than it answers. Before long, a young woman named Sophie arrives looking for her missing mother, and the two eventually find themselves traveling to a remote island where things clearly aren’t quite right. It’s a fairly dialogue-heavy introduction, especially compared to how a traditional Zelda game might begin, but I didn’t mind it in the slightest.
Once you arrive on the island, though, Graytail really starts to show its Zelda roots. There’s a town to explore, complete with residents to talk to and little activities that make the world feel more alive. You can order drinks at a bar, change the music that’s playing, and even visit a bike shop. But there’s also something noticeably strange about the place, as the people living there don’t seem particularly concerned about the unusual things happening around them. Of course, being the curious person I am, I wanted to talk to everyone I encountered, especially because Graytail makes it pretty clear that even seemingly insignificant conversations might contain useful information.
Outside the town, the gameplay begins to feel much more like a traditional action-adventure game. There are enemies roaming around, including some rather bizarre creatures, and combat involves using whatever weapons and abilities you’ve acquired to deal with them. You’ll start with relatively simple equipment, including a cane that can be used to smack enemies around, but the game gradually introduces more opportunities to experiment. There’s even a cooking system that allows you to turn ingredients you’ve collected into meals, which is obviously reminiscent of Breath of the Wild.
Graytail Key Features
- MYSTERY NARRATIVE – Investigate a missing pilot and uncover the island’s disturbing secrets.
- PHYSICS PUZZLES – Manipulate environmental objects to solve intricate puzzles.
- ACTION COMBAT – Master combos, heavy attacks, parries, and tracking dodges.
- WEAPON VARIETY – Wield over eight weapons, including canes, umbrellas, and crossbows.
- BOSS BATTLES – Study enemy attack patterns to defeat challenging bosses.
- ISLAND EXPLORATION – Explore five distinct regions and travel by motorbike.
- HIDDEN CLUES – Uncover important story details through conversations with villagers.
Where Graytail especially succeeds in capturing the Zelda formula, however, is in its dungeon design. The demo features a waterlogged temple filled with environmental puzzles that require you to make use of the tools you’ve collected, including a torch that can burn through certain obstacles. You can even set patches of grass on fire, which is one of those little details that makes interacting with the environment more enjoyable than it otherwise would be. The dungeon ultimately revolves around activating switches to manipulate the water level, and there’s a satisfying sense of progression as you gradually open the way forward.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be a proper Zelda-inspired dungeon without a boss waiting somewhere near the end. Graytail delivers on that front with a giant octopus encounter that makes use of the mechanics introduced throughout the demo. Rather than simply asking players to attack until the creature falls over, the battle incorporates the same emphasis on using your equipment and paying attention to what’s happening around you. I especially appreciate that approach to boss design, because some of my favorite Zelda encounters have always been the ones that feel like puzzles themselves.
Graytail’s Beautiful World Is Hiding Something Much Darker
I have to say, though, that one of the things that impressed me most about Graytail was its visual design. The Octopath Traveler comparison I’m drawing from here is certainly appropriate, as the game blends detailed pixel art with three-dimensional environments to create a world that is surpsingly easy on the eyes. However, it also has its own identity, particularly in the way the camera presents its environments and the attention given to smaller details. Even the town feels like somewhere I would happily spend time wandering around without necessarily accomplishing anything. And considering that Graytail is being developed by a two-person team, I find that especially impressive.
What’s even more interesting, though, is how dramatically the game’s atmosphere contrasts with its appearance. On the surface, Graytail looks like a charming little adventure that wouldn’t feel terribly out of place alongside something like Link’s Awakening. But the deeper you get into its story, the more obvious it becomes that Concode is going for something considerably darker. Between the protagonist’s recurring headaches, the strange behavior of the island’s residents, and the increasingly unsettling questions surrounding his medication, there’s a constant feeling that something terrible is going on behind the scenes.
In fact, I would argue that the mystery itself is just as important to Graytail as its gameplay. After all, the island isn’t merely somewhere to explore and collect new equipment. It’s also a place where conversations can reveal important details and where the protagonist’s questionable perception of reality makes it difficult to know what to believe. I won’t get into everything the demo reveals, especially because I think experiencing its more bizarre moments without knowing what’s coming is part of the appeal. But I’ll just say that the story certainly doesn’t seem interested in giving players an ordinary adventure, and I’m all for that.
Of course, the demo only offers a small glimpse of what the full game is supposed to include. Concode is planning five distinct regions to explore, more than eight weapons, and additional bosses that will presumably continue building on the mechanics introduced here. There’s even a motorbike intended to help players navigate the island, which sounds like an excellent addition to an adventure game with such a strong emphasis on exploration. Whether all those features come together as well as they should remains to be seen, but after spending an hour with Graytail, I’m already convinced there’s something special here. If the full game manages to maintain the quality of its dungeon design while delivering on the mystery teased in the demo, I think Zelda fans are going to have a lot to look forward to.
Graytail launches in Q4 2027. A free demo is currently available on Steam.
