The Worst Legend of Zelda Game Ever Is Getting a Spiritual Successor

Forget trying to compare them to proper Zelda games made by Nintendo. That’s an entirely different discussion. Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon are bad enough on their own terms. They’re both fundamentally broken side-scrolling action-adventure titles that happen to feature some of the worst cutscenes in video game history. Though those cutscenes have become something of a guilty pleasure over the years, the games themselves remain significantly less enjoyable. A third Phillips Zelda title, Zelda’s Adventure, was eventually released, though that game featured slightly more traditional top-down Zelda gameplay and live-action cutscenes. Some will argue the game is technically better than the two that preceded it, though that’s a pretty sad debate.

So why would anyone develop a spiritual successor to some of the biggest failures in gaming history? Well, much like movies like Troll 2 and The Room, those Zelda games were so bad that they’ve kind of taken on a life of their own. They remain something of a dread fascination among gamers who just can’t fathom how terrible they are much less the fact that they exist in the first place. They’re true guilty pleasures despite the fact that they’re not actually all that fun to play.

Mind you, those titles do have genuine defenders. While many of their defenders are obviously being ironic, some critics and fans have heaped genuine praise upon those games’ truly unique visuals and the things they were at least trying to do. Some even go so far as to argue that those games were just a better budget and more development time away from being significantly better experiences.

That’s what makes Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore genuinely interesting. Its development is being led by Seth “Dopply” Fulkerson, who actually previously worked on very well-received fan remakes of the original Phillips Zelda titles. Jewel of Faramore will also feature the art of Rob Dunlavey, who actually previously worked on Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon. Hell, Jewel of Faramore even reunites some of the original actors that lent their voices to those games’ infamous cutscenes.

You could consider this title to be something of an apology then, though that’s probably not the best way to look at it. It actually feels closer to an attempt to realize the untapped potential of those original games as well as a way for the genuine supporters of those titles to show others why they believe there was more greatness in those games than they regularly receive credit for.

While the team behind this concept faces an uphill battle, I have to admit that there is something charming about the game itself as well as the motivation for this entire project. We’ll see if Arzette: The Jewel of Faramor can redeem the reputation of some infamously bad Zelda titles while carving its own legacy when the game is released later this year for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.