Zelda Meets Resident Evil In New Survival Horror Adventure

Published Nov 14, 2026, 2:00 PM EST Bruno Yonezawa is a Gaming Senior Writer for Screen Rant. He's been practicing professional journalism for over 10 years, and is also a communications specialist. He's played games all his life and turned that passionate hobby into a passionate career, in an industry where he's worked as a writer, editor, analyst, and more. The Legend of Zelda is colliding with Resident Evil in a brand-new survival horror adventure that you can already play, partially, for free. There’s a wide variety of survival horror games out there, and they come in all shapes and sizes. There are titles that have you face the undead, while others leave you absolutely helpless, looking for a way to escape. Others will instead play with your very idea of fear and have you face your character’s broken mind as the many villains that pursue you on your quest. Now, a new game is gearing up for release. The new title in question is called Noctheria, and it’s currently listed, even if not available, on Steam. Noctheria is a new third-person survival horror game developed and published by zombiebytegames. The game features a retro-inspired art style, reminiscent of the low-poly visuals from the Nintendo 64, though it is a lot darker and grittier than most games of that time. The title does not have a release date or window yet, but there is a free demo for Noctheria on Steam that you can download right now; no membership required, no strings attached. The game is immediately reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda thanks to the fact that you control a blonde elf warrior in a green tunic. However, beyond the obvious visual similarities with Nintendo’s iconic franchise, there are also several gameplay elements that are similar to The Legend of Zelda. For example, this is an action-adventure game without deep RPG mechanics, so you’ll equip your sword and start swinging it against enemies along the way, all while you explore the dungeon-like map and try to uncover secrets and new passages – expect puzzles and even platforming sequences too. However, on top of all that, there are also touches of classic survival horror games, such as Resident Evil, applied to Noctheria. In this game, you’ll explore a gritty and tight dungeon, while encountering some creepy enemies that will stalk and try to claim your life. Solving puzzles will also open up the aforementioned passages, much like they do in Capcom’s popular series. This new indie survival horror game seems to be taking inspiration from the right sources and applying it in a way that feels familiar, even if the blend makes it stand apart as something unique. So far, players who played the Noctheria demo on Steam seem to have enjoyed the experience. At the moment of writing, this survival horror game’s demo has a 93% Positive review status on the platform, showing that the majority of those who tried it out really liked it. The demo, of course, is just a small portion of what the much larger game will be once it is released, but it does give you a sense of what to expect from gameplay, visuals, and much more. The demo was released for free on Steam in late October. It’s still unclear exactly when the full version of Noctheria will arrive, as it is still in active development, but given the demo’s release, it seems like zombiebytegames is progressing. If you enjoyed this mix between The Legend of Zelda and Resident Evil, be sure to wishlist this horror game on Steam. Brand Valve Original Release Date September 12, 2003