In July, a video game was announced that came out of nowhere. Titled Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, the adventure is inspired by the terrible Zelda games that were released on the Philips CD-i, down to the smudgy pixels and janky cinematics. I had the honor of previewing Arzette at PAX West 2023 and was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had.
Granted, I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore. The demo only lasted 10-15 minutes. What I did play, however, made it abundantly clear the game is only inspired by the Zelda CD-i titles’ aesthetic, not their gameplay. Controls are smooth instead of clunky, with combat and platforming working and feeling responsive. The difficulty seemed fair and not overly punishing. This is a far cry from the CD-i games’ lack of invincibility frames when taking damage. There was a shopkeeper who sold bombs that were a great long-range alternative to my sword slash. I even found a secret room that held a challenge based on the Hotel Mario game. Now THAT’S brilliant.
The demo ended with a boss battle against a talking, upright horse named Klive. He bantered with Arzette before the fight. There were so many horse-related puns that I was ready to call it Game of the Year whenever it comes out. All in all, a great slice of gameplay. My only complaint is that the background sometimes obscures what platforms can be jumped on and which are just scenery.
Luckily, I was able to chat with Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore‘s developer Seth Fulkerson. I asked him a series of questions and he graciously responded to each one with gusto.
What on Earth convinced you to make this?
So, I have a lot of love for like, under loves, kind of underdog sort of bad games, right? And you know, I was introduced to these games like a lot of other people were, which were the memes, video requests, and stuff. But once I looked into the game, the circumstances around it, and how everything was made, I saw a lot of genuine potential in the game. So I wanted to explore that, you know, the same kind of visual aesthetic and general gameplay.
This is clearly inspired by Zelda CD-i. Have you had any experience playing those games? Any easter eggs with those VAs providing lines?
Oh, yeah, no, absolutely. I have an extensive experience. I was actually involved in making a fan-made remaster of those a few years back. It’s just a project with me and my friends that I made, got really big. But so the next idea was because we had been rattling off the idea of doing this game like a spiritual successor. For quite a long time. So it just sort of felt like the time was right. It is me developing, programming, designing, and writing it. I got writing help from my producer. I got some design help from Digital Foundry’s John Linneman and just a whole bunch of artists and animators who are helping to bring it to life.
I definitely want to make sure that the game is approachable like everybody has been somebody who’s come by with no experience with previous games. But for those who are familiar? Yes, definitely have tried to keep it easy on references, but we do have a couple of the original voice actors and one of the background artists from the original games.
The CD-i titles are famously terrible. Are you setting out to try to fix them in a way by making Arzette good? And do you ever worry gamers will be put off by comparing the two?
No, I never set out to make a bad game on purpose. Like I said, I think there are a lot of really strong gameplay elements of all sorts. And they’re very linear action platformers that have nonlinear elements. It’s really fun stuff. But as far as people being put off, I mean, honestly, if you go in with sort of low expectations, and you’re just kind of expecting, ‘We’ll also have cutscenes like these.’ But then you get to the gameplay and you’re like, ‘Oh, no, it’s actually really good.’ It’s been a considerable celebration going towards the game. And hopefully, they’ll be pleasantly surprised.
How has it been working with Limited Run? What was the process of getting the collaboration going?
It’s been excellent. So originally, this game was more independent, it had been shopped with smaller publishers. I originally went to Limited Run just to get a physical edition, but when they saw the rough version of one of the shop cutscenes, they knew that was something they wanted to be involved in more deeply. They’ve been an excellent partner, and they’ve supported the game pretty much all the way. They let me make it the way that I wanted to make it, so I couldn’t ask for anything more.
With Limited Run getting involved with publishing, do you see a future where indies flourish and have less difficulty with funding and exposure? Enough to compete with AAA?
I would certainly hope so. Obviously, they are taking a risk. And I appreciate it, but I would certainly hope so because I think the industry is better. I feel like there are more ‘out there’ ideas and opportunities for us to give these kinds of games the exposure and attention that they deserve.
Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore is coming soon to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox Series X | S. According to Seth and anyone with common sense, the game will likely be receiving a fancy physical edition through Limited Run.
