New Game Offers a Peaceful Yet Unsettling Zelda-Like Adventure

Okay, so there’s this game coming out, or rather, maybe coming out, called Ancestral Harvest. Heard of it? Probably not because it’s an indie game by this one guy, Fred—though he likes to go by 1011, which sounds more like a robot than a person, honestly. Anyway, it’s supposed to be like Zelda, but not really. Imagine Zelda got mixed up with some dystopian universe and decided violence just ain’t it anymore. Or something like that.

So, Fred—I mean, 1011—put it up on Steam way back in March 2025. It’s about a kid shaman (yeah, that’s a thing) who’s trying to fix this world that humans messed up. Honestly, sounds intense. And there’s a demo! But it might vanish soon. Or maybe not? Who can say? The dude’s plan is to follow up with a real demo later, like next month maybe. You know how these things go, always changing.

Oh right, the combat. Except—plot twist—it’s all about healing. You don’t whack enemies; you just, like, drum at them until they feel better. Sounds therapeutic, doesn’t it? But then I saw this clip where a boulder crushes someone. So, maybe it’s peacefully lethal? Got a laugh out of that contradiction.

The game’s got this whole nature vibe. Remember that poster with the tagline “Connect with the land”? Yeah, very earth-friendly. The kid shaman’s goal is to heal the planet’s wounds. Like, literally heal the Earth… while playing music. And besides healing plants or whatever, you get to fight bosses too. But without the whole violence angle. Boss battles without fighting seems weird, right? Just… you do you, Fred.

Aside from the quirky combat, there’s more! Mystical visions help you solve puzzles or get backstory. Fred didn’t want to use fancy 2D graphics. Said it’s because he’s not great at it. Honesty points there.

When’s it coming out? No one knows. Price? Nope, still a mystery. And, will it be on anything other than PC? Who knows! It’s all up in the air.

Anyway, might be worth a look if you dig unusual indie stuff. Or just wait and see if it blows up.