Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore is a new interactive animated adventure, where players must help Arzette save the Kingdom of Faramore from the evil demon king, Daimur. It is a spiritual successor to a pair of infamous fantasy adventure titles, being developed by Seedy Eye Software and both funded & published by Limited Run Games. The Kingdom of Faramore is beautifully realized by Rob Dunlavey, the artist behind the world map paintings from the games that inspired Arzette. Additionally, voiceover talent from the games that inspired Arzette will be featured in the game, including Jeffrey Rath and Bonniejean Wilbur.
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Well-polished, gorgeous, and with an atmospheric, energetic score. I wish it didn't constantly make you backtrack and replay levels constantly, but otherwise I had a good time and will be playing the sequel whenever it releases. Absolutely love the character animations and design a-la CD-I inspiration.
Note that I'll refraining from discussing the CDI zelda games too much just due to not having really experienced them beyond the cutscenes and ytp memes. With all that said:
While Arzette's initial appeal is its CDI Zelda aesthetic it seems to be (affectionately) parodying, it definitely ends up going beyond that to create its own identity (and just be a dang good time).
The gameplay is solid: Arzette immediately feels good to control and obtains several upgrades that, though nothing complex, add a little more flavour to the platforming and combat. If anything I kinda wish you got some of them earlier just to have more fun with a fully upgraded Arzette in the main game, but its no big deal.
Level progression isn't really linear (though I'm not sure if to call it a "metroidvania"); you'll often be backtracking between levels due to getting an upgrade or a sidequest that will only then allow you to fully progress through them. This initially sounded too tedious but the length of the levels as well speed of the gameplay feels just right enough that the backtracking never feels overbearing; you're also encouraged to find collectables so that added to some fun in trying to find any sort of secrets. Some levels do feel a bit too short compared to others, but it is what it is.
Having played on Normal Mode, the game is pretty easy. The main challenge more has to do with hitting some enemies with the correct coloured shots before being able to damage them at all, but through upgrades later on that process is also simplified. This does unfortunately mean the combat is probably the least interesting thing about the gameplay but its also part of the reason that allows you to play the game fast without any backtracking becoming a chore. I do wish bosses were a little more challenging though, they have really simple patterns (it's more of a shame cuz the boss music is so good honestly lol). I especially find the final boss disappointing in this regard but in fairness that might have been the intention. Not sure.
The 2d sprites all look great, I could eat those visuals up. They're very expressive and fun with pleasant colours. The music is just- mmmmm- I love it so much. It's so good. I'm listening to a track right now while writing this review. Even if you don't play this game please listen to the ost.
In its attempt to emulate the style of the CDI aesthetic, Arzette has really charming and humorous cutscenes. Every NPC was a delight to meet as I really enjoyed seeing the animation. I noticed they seem to have multiple people directing them due to the different artstyles at times, which I think is a plus. They don't necessarily feel as zany as the zelda cdi games' cutscenes, but I think what is there is still really pleasant and ends up feeling heartfelt.
The pacing of the story is pretty quick all things considered though that's also to do with the game being short as well. The ending especially bothers me a little as I felt it went by too fast, and one particular character's fate that concluded midway into the game also felt bizarrely placed I suppose.
Due to the cliffhanger as well as the intro cutscene I'm really hoping they're able to create another game, be it prequel or sequel. This game ended up being pretty fun but I think another installment would definitely be able to iron out any kinks this entry had. We'll see I suppose.
Overall I'd really recommend this game its a good short time. I ended up sounding like major yapping in this review LOL so I'll probably rewrite but also like cut me some slack I just finished the game and still feel pretty excited.
While Arzette's initial appeal is its CDI Zelda aesthetic it seems to be (affectionately) parodying, it definitely ends up going beyond that to create its own identity (and just be a dang good time).
The gameplay is solid: Arzette immediately feels good to control and obtains several upgrades that, though nothing complex, add a little more flavour to the platforming and combat. If anything I kinda wish you got some of them earlier just to have more fun with a fully upgraded Arzette in the main game, but its no big deal.
Level progression isn't really linear (though I'm not sure if to call it a "metroidvania"); you'll often be backtracking between levels due to getting an upgrade or a sidequest that will only then allow you to fully progress through them. This initially sounded too tedious but the length of the levels as well speed of the gameplay feels just right enough that the backtracking never feels overbearing; you're also encouraged to find collectables so that added to some fun in trying to find any sort of secrets. Some levels do feel a bit too short compared to others, but it is what it is.
Having played on Normal Mode, the game is pretty easy. The main challenge more has to do with hitting some enemies with the correct coloured shots before being able to damage them at all, but through upgrades later on that process is also simplified. This does unfortunately mean the combat is probably the least interesting thing about the gameplay but its also part of the reason that allows you to play the game fast without any backtracking becoming a chore. I do wish bosses were a little more challenging though, they have really simple patterns (it's more of a shame cuz the boss music is so good honestly lol). I especially find the final boss disappointing in this regard but in fairness that might have been the intention. Not sure.
The 2d sprites all look great, I could eat those visuals up. They're very expressive and fun with pleasant colours. The music is just- mmmmm- I love it so much. It's so good. I'm listening to a track right now while writing this review. Even if you don't play this game please listen to the ost.
In its attempt to emulate the style of the CDI aesthetic, Arzette has really charming and humorous cutscenes. Every NPC was a delight to meet as I really enjoyed seeing the animation. I noticed they seem to have multiple people directing them due to the different artstyles at times, which I think is a plus. They don't necessarily feel as zany as the zelda cdi games' cutscenes, but I think what is there is still really pleasant and ends up feeling heartfelt.
The pacing of the story is pretty quick all things considered though that's also to do with the game being short as well. The ending especially bothers me a little as I felt it went by too fast, and one particular character's fate that concluded midway into the game also felt bizarrely placed I suppose.
Due to the cliffhanger as well as the intro cutscene I'm really hoping they're able to create another game, be it prequel or sequel. This game ended up being pretty fun but I think another installment would definitely be able to iron out any kinks this entry had. We'll see I suppose.
Overall I'd really recommend this game its a good short time. I ended up sounding like major yapping in this review LOL so I'll probably rewrite but also like cut me some slack I just finished the game and still feel pretty excited.
They just couldn't capture the humor of the Zelda games.
To quote CD-i Link, "Great!"
It's kinda unfortunate that people seem to look at this as a shitty YouTube poop meme game, because there is genuine care put into this game. I haven't really played many Metroidvania's at all, but I think this game had a pretty fun progression system, with finding new equipment and going back to previous areas to find the Candles. I never played or even really looked at the Zelda CD-I games, I only really know it from the memes and the PeanutButterGamer video from 10 years ago. I was hooked with the animation of the cutscenes and how well of a replica they are from the CD-I games. There's also a fair amount of references, not just to the Zelda games, but one of the minigames is also a reference to Hotel Mario which is pretty funny. 100%ing this was also pretty fun, completing all the side quests and collecting all the upgrades. Overall, this game was a pretty enjoyable game to play. Short and fun.
Charming and did what it set out to do.