Draco and the Seven Scales is a love letter to Link's Awakening with parrots and pirate ships

Between the original Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, its color-fied DX version, and the full-blown remake on Switch, the original Gameboy adventure of Link are beloved by fans around the world. One of my favorite times at conventions like PAX West is when I can just take a breather and explore for a bit. This year, on the penultimate day of the show, I randomly stumbled on a little game from studio Ice Goat Games, Draco and the Seven Scales, and it looks to be a brilliant love letter to the classic adventure game. 

With its majority green color palette and square aspect ratio, in Draco, you will be playing as the Captain, a pirate who has made a deal with the legendary Kraken to save the life of his child in exchange for finding the titular Seven Scales of the sea. The demo that was on the show floor showcased the very beginning of the game, serving as a tutorial on how the various systems work, getting your sword and blackpowder pistol, and rescuing your crew before culminating in a boss fight. But what would a pirate captain be without a trusty vessel to sail around in? In no time, with crew in tow, we had reclaimed our vessel and off we went.

The dungeon I played through was a mix of both land and sea combat, with land exploration feeling like it had been ripped straight out of Link's Awakening, down to even the menus. The swishing of my cutlass mirroring the same arc as Link's blade, items being able to be assigned to both an A and B button, and even how it appears from the bottom of the screen, all felt instantly familiar and recognizable. In no time, I was lifting and throwing pots, pushing rocks to reveal keys, and taking out enemies. It felt good.  Then I hopped on my boat and continued my adventure!

Perspective and controls felt identical, though the tools at your disposal were different. The A and B buttons now fire a cannon from both sides, with different cannons having different properties. The trailer that the team had showing on repeat highlighted armaments like flamethrowers and cannons firing out chains, but in the demo,I only had access to big cannons and a bigger cannon, each tied to a cooldown. These could be used to blow up things like large rocks that were impassable while walking on land, but once destroyed, they allowed me to continue, and this interaction between the two reminded me a bit of things you could do in Minish Cap, but simpler. Granted, it was also the very beginning of the game, so who knows how complex it will get the further you go. 

Other aspects and mechanics that the trailer revealed included being able to collect and raise different parrots that would each have different abilities, which, unfortunately, weren't present in the demo. It also appears that the first parrot you get is picked from three possible choices in a room very reminiscent of Professor Oak's lab in Pokémon Red/Blue/Green, with your rival captain even picking one after you. I did tell the developers that I hope you can name your parrots, name your ship, or design your ship's little insignia that appears on its sails, so fingers crossed!

Perhaps it's because of nostalgia and the world being a rather stupid place these days, making me long for the simpler days of curling up on the couch with my Gameboy, but there was just an innocent fun in Draco and the Seven Scales that really grabbed me. There isn't a release date yet for Draco, but a demo is currently up on Steam, and the team is aiming to release it later in 2026, so fingers crossed they can hit the mark!  For 2D Zelda fans, keep Draco on your seamaps for next year and give the demo a try.