Arzette: Jewel of Faramore gets a controller worthy of inspiration – for better or for worse. The upcoming gameThe spiritual successor to the popular 1993 Zelda titles for the Philips CD will launch with a limited-edition controller that looks like one of the original remotes for the oft-forgotten system.
Developer Seedy Eye Software (a homophone for “CD-i software”) says that using the controller in “Classic Controls” mode will allow you to “play Arzette as it might have been played in 1993.” When the title was inspired – Link: Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelo — Philips’ (briefly) game-changing home entertainment system is here to hit. (The third title in the series, Zelda’s AdventureIt was introduced in 1994 with top-down viewing, and Philips discontinued the system four years later.)
One might wonder why a developer would want to honor a pair of historical duds better known for memed cutscenes and masochistic gameplay than fun. Earlier this month, creator Seth “Dopply” Fulkerson he said Game Developer he saw “untapped potential” in notorious titles.
“The limitations that games face due to hardware, budget and time constraints have become painfully clear,” he said. “Seeing how much there is has inspired me a lot [director Dale DeSharone] and his team made it by very little. Games have a handcrafted charm. They’re hand-animated, hand-drawn, brilliantly musical, designed in a surprisingly non-linear way that makes you want to explore them.” He continued, “Although they have many flaws, I truly believe that games have an innate potential. It was an irresistible idea to create a new game in the same style as an improvement on the base game.”
The game brings back several artists from the Zelda CD games. These include artist Rob Dunlavey and voice actors Jeffrey Rath (Link) and Bonniejean Wilbur (Zelda).
The “retro-inspired” controller will only work with Switch and PC. (The game will also support PS5 / PS4 and Xbox.) The remote is almost identical to Philips’ paddle controller, except for a few extra buttons. Given how the original remote played, fair warning that the new version won’t make Arzette (or any other games) any more playable or fun – just more nostalgic.
Seedy Eye partnered with Limited Run Games to distribute the controllers (and physical copies of the game). The two companies say they have “joined hands to create exquisite physical beauties that pay homage to Arzette and this often-overlooked era in the game.”
There will be a supervisor pre-order is possible It starts on February 2nd at 10:00am ET. (Pre-orders close on March 17.) The remote costs $35, will ship in gray, and currently has an estimated shipping date of November. The pink variant will be exclusive to Arzette’s Collector’s Edition package. Arzette: Jewel of Faramore It arrives on February 14th. You can watch its trailer below.
