Zahalia

Zahalia is an extremely badly made ripoff of The Legend of Zelda (copyright Nintendo, 1986). To date, it's unclear whether Nintendo have taken any legal action against the "developer" to preserve their intellectual property rights. It's a very buggy (to the point of being unplayable) 2D retro pixel top down brawler slapped together with GameMaker Studio, so the developer chose pretty much every way one could fail at game development and ran into them headfirst. It gets worse. From a technical perspective, the game doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard. A choice was made to use obsolete, decades old retro pixel "art" as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics. It's unclear if this is due to lack of budget or talent, regardless, the overall visual quality of the game is extremely low as a result. While there are options to change the resolution for the game, all this does is scale up the simplistic 2D art assets used to make the game, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality. Without any other substantial graphics tweaks, it's not possible for gamers to improve the lacklustre 2D visuals. Compounding this problem, …

Saw a Mixed overall review, decided to give it a chance anyway. Finished it in a few hours and proceeded to add it to my list of favorite games on Steam. It's not a perfect game, but it's exactly what I wanted it to be.

The game is very easy but still fun I might get the sequel. After reading the comments I'd like to mention. The game is no longer full of glitches. Use an Xbox controller as I never got the keyboard to work. I also did I find a keybindings menu.

Zahalia is an action-adventure role-playing game developed and published by LunarCore Games that draws inspiration from classic fantasy adventures built during earlier generations of gaming. Instead of pursuing cinematic storytelling or expansive modern design philosophies, the game embraces simplicity and nostalgia, delivering an experience centered on exploration, discovery, and steady progression. Built around retro-inspired mechanics and old-school adventure structure, Zahalia feels like a deliberate tribute to an era where curiosity and persistence shaped the entire experience. The story follows a familiar fantasy framework that intentionally recalls older adventure titles. A once peaceful kingdom has fallen into danger after a powerful Dark Wizard steals sacred crystals that helped maintain balance throughout the land. Players step into the role of a hero tasked with recovering these crystals and confronting the growing darkness threatening Zahalia. The narrative remains straightforward throughout much of the experience, focusing less on dramatic storytelling twists and more on creating motivation for exploration and progression. Rather than overwhelming players with lengthy…

Not for me, but the game works fine.

In homage to the classic top-down adventure games of the 1980s, Zahalia adheres to the conventions of that period. Each screen represents a distinct room, many of which contain hidden secrets. Explore the expansive overworld, discover concealed caves, and acquire new abilities to enhance your character. Zahalia effectively captures the charm of titles such as the original Legend of Zelda. The secrets are not only beneficial but also attainable, the dungeons require a degree of effort to navigate, there is a diverse array of enemies to enrich the combat experience, and the puzzles are engaging.