I went to PAX East 2024 this year and was able to get a physical copy of this, along side getting it signed by the creator and a artist/VAs from the Zelda CDI games. They also held a pannel where they talked about the history of the CDI games which was cool to hear about. The game itself is obviously asterisk wise very unique, and a game I am very happy was actually made. The gameplay itself though is kinda middling and not a whole ton of fun to play. It’s a pretty short game, which is fine, but I was very on and off with playing it over the corse of half a month. This was not a great way to play the game, as especially in the start of the game, I would often completely forget what I was doing and have no clue where to go. This lead to ALOT of pointless replays of levels, just because I didn’t remember if something I could now pass was in that level. This problem becomes less prevalent later in the game when you have so many abilities unlocked that your bound to stumble on something new. But yeah the mechanics of the game and the main loop could definitely be more interesting. I also feel like I completely cheesed the last few bosses with the bounce back shield? The final boss specifically I didn't have to do anything accept just hold forward and do some jumps while holding the shield down. Kinda felt like an oversight, or im not sure if it was intentional.

I think most people who are interested in getting this game are aware of what it's inspired by and thus in on the joke, though I'll explain it anyways. So there were two games based on The Legend of Zelda series that were released for the Phillips CD-i called Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon. The cutscenes in particular were known for being bizarre and strange so much that they spawned countless memes and YouTube poops. Then, in 2020, these games were remade unofficially by Dopply who went on to make his own company called Seedy Eye Software.

You can just tell that a lot of passionate people made this game. This game isn't just a joke or a meme. The fact that this game even exists is proof of the amount of passion on display.

The gameplay is fine overall. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's nothing mind blowing either. It's kinda like a metroidvania in that you unlock new abilities and have to go back to old areas to progress. Only wandered around a couple of times, otherwise it's very good about leading you in the right direction.

The music is surprisingly good.

This next bit isn't a criticism of the game, but I thought it was worth bringing up anyway. A few of the cutscenes are clearly 3D. Sometimes there's no cutscene at all and instead there's just a dialogue box, though I'm pretty sure all those quests are completely optional. These things didn't happen often enough to dampen my experience, though I do believe that they're in the game for a good reason. It's simple, animation and voice acting cost money. I highly doubt that a spiritual successor to the Zelda CD-I games is gonna make much money or be very popular.

If I had to highlight one aspect of this game, it would have to be the cutscenes. The animation and the voice acting serve as a nice treat for making progress. You could say that it's FINE DINING.

Also I played this game on the Nintendo Switch cause I thought it would be fitting.

The idea of making a CD-i inspired pseudo-parody game like this is the kind of thing that I could've seen being pretty insufferable in the wrong hands. The legacy of these games largely boils down to its cutscenes and its "so bad its good" nature, but basing an entire game around this not only would've made for something that was barely a game, but also something profoundly annoying and submerged in tedious ironic humour. Arzette being developed by the same person who made the PC remasters of those games puts the game in a much more favourable position however, with a very clear understanding on the intricacies of the game as a whole being put on display, as well as coming across as a far more earnest tribute as opposed to pointing and laughing.

Arzette understands the incongruencies of its inspirations well, but also digs further down to see the good that game had as well, expanding upon them to create versions of these concepts that are more palatable, rather than getting rid of them. In this regard, saying that this game is just "CD-i but good" misses out on analysing the way that the positive qualities here are largely lifted from them, with the positive aspects simply highlighted and some of the elements obscuring these qualities being lessened, wanting to craft a similar sense of identity. One of the biggest ways I see this working is how boss fights are handled in this, with all of them functioning in very similar ways to the CD-i titles, but tweaked to still feel more like actual boss fights. The strategies for all of these is extremely simple, with them all either being countered either by being in certain locations where they cannot reach you, or countering all of their attacks with a single item, but these fights still go on for a bit, requiring multiple hits and the like, even though it's always entirely trivial. This riffs nicely off of the idea of "the bosses in these games get hit with an item once and go poof", by keeping the spirit of this alive while making it feel just a tad less anticlimactic, still feeling like an actual confrontation to some degree.

The other enjoyable aspects of the original games are also here in full force, with the gorgeous backgrounds and awesome, energetic music making the game an absolute treat presentation wise. It's also interesting to note that despite the backgrounds going for such a similar style, that there aren't any instances of it being hard to tell what is a platform and what isn't outside of a couple of instances that very clearly felt intentionally funny to me. The platforms themselves aren't highlighted or made overly visible or anything like that, it's just that the scenery is composed in such a way to make it feel immediately intuitive, making you feel fully immersed in traversing these painted landscapes.

The cutscenes are also delightful as well of course, as while they're not quite as wild with the constant character distortions and expressiveness of the smallest of details, the vibe is close enough and falls quite comfortably into its own style that runs very closely parallel, rather than entirely mimicking everything. The writing contains a bit of meta-humour but also largely feels like a nice bit of camp that's elevated by the cutscene style rather than focusing solely on making everything seem intentionally awkward and "bad". Even the animation itself tends to go for slightly different quirks to focus on, the biggest of which being that Arzette herself never seems to look quite the same in any 2 cutscenes, always shifting between a variety of incredibly similar, yet nonetheless different styles.

Really, really love what this game sets out to do and I think that it culminates in something that feels special in how earnest it is. I can't see many cases where this idea would've come to life in a satisfying way to me if basically anyone else had handled this project, but here it is, and it's an absolute blast :)

Gameplay is just a feature and nothing else. If it aspires to be something more meaningful, we'll see. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing more of this. In fact it looks like there'll be more, so then any improvement over any aspect could get interesting.

Edit.: About the "Gameplay is just a feature" line, well, what have I payed for exactly? And if Arzette continues, what'll I pay for if I pay for it? A game, or a product that features gameplay? But I don't say that in a bad sense. In fact, due to Arzette's origins and identity, I think it could improve itself if there were access to all the scenes and even a ytp editor (which seems unlikely).
The thing is, the "identity" still has a way to go. Arzette has what it needs, but the gameplay where it comes from still feels inefficient. Personally I think it'll be better with less questing and more characterisation. Fewer cutscenes about Arzette's gimmicks and more use of said cutscenes to try to make branching paths or dialogue choices (for example; those are just two possible features).

For now this is all. Due to how it is, this is not your typical game.

Cleared on March 2nd, 2024

When I saw the character on the thumbnail of the Youtube trailer on the day it was announced, I thought she looked really cool, so I had a look. Without any warning, I was hit with CDi-styled cutscenes with a gameplay that seemed similar to a very particular set of games from that era. For a brief moment, I was like "What the fuck?!", but after regaining my composure, I was all for it.

To give a bit of history. The CDi was a system that a company named Philips developed and released in 1990. It was known as a system that was designed as more of a system for edutainment, but it ended up being well known for its video games with the most infamous being Link: The Faces of Evil, and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon. It was an... interesting attempt at the time to make animated cutscenes merge with video games, but as far as I'm aware, it wasn't really all that popular since most people at the time were focused more on the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, and when the Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, and the newcomer Playstation came into play... that was that.

That was until the 2000s when an unknown entity with a bizarre sense of humor got a hold of the cutscenes from the games and some editing software, and started remixing the scenes for comedic effect, and they became notorious to the point where if you've been on the internet long enough, you have already seen clips from the games without even realizing it.

Upon further investigation, you would find that the games these cutscenes came from are actually terrible. I've never played them, so I wouldn't know the full extent of it, but between the scuffed gameplay and abysmal controls, I already know it's a 3/10 game that is only saved by the legacy that it left behind, and that legacy somehow triggered a chain of events that led to the creation of Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore.

Much like the games it was based on, it is a 2D action adventure game where you traverse through the lands of the kingdom on a quest to take down the villain that threatens its people. It's a "metroidvania" style game where you venture into sectioned areas in the game to collect items and upgrades while slashing foes along the way. The game is fun and it actually functions quite well too. You start out with a sword that you swing at your foes, and later down the line you get access to new tools which are used as a means to solve puzzles and whatnot. Most notably, you get a lantern which actually lasts a good length, a ring barrier, and even a gun... a magic gun!

While the game is rather entertaining, don't expect anything to really challenge you. Once you get the barrier, the gun and plenty of rubies, the game becomes really easy since you can just shoot foes from a distance and block their projectiles when necessary. And it only gets even easier the more upgrades you collect such as double jump, sword waves, and increased movement speed. Side note, since it feels like a recurring theme for me to complain about slow movement speed in games, I will go ahead and say that the base movement speed in Arzette is actually appropriate and I would say fair, but the boost you get did feel really good.

Unfortunately, the lack of difficulty extends to the bosses which are quite possibly the weakest part of the game.
All you have to do to beat Klive is just stay in one vine, set off acorns to fall on his head and you win.
Cornrad would have been reasonable enough since he teleports and uses corn projectiles, but I think the issue is that, if I'm not mistaken, you can get the shield barrier before you get to him, making the fight that much easier. Oh and shout-out to getting literally the worst ability in the game after defeating him which is the "Crow-walk". I've only ever have to use it once to collect a coin.
Apatu is the only character that I thought provided some actual challenge although not much. She does teleport around and uses melee attacks, and she does have a projectile, but gives little indication or time to reflect, so you would have to guess and hope on that one. On top of that, at 50% health, rocks spawn to make the fight a little more difficult.
Beeves is a joke. Literally before the fight, you can get access to the reflect upgrade which sends projectiles right back at the foe and since he doesn't teleport until he's hit with an attack, you can just go in the middle platform and just hold LB until he dies.
Nodelki actually does move around, but once again suffers the "reflect" problem.
And unfortunately, the big bad Daimur himself is quite possibly the lamest of them all since it's just a very short chase sequence and that's it. The worst part is that he's the final boss. I get this game is supposed to emphasize comedy, but it felt really anti-climatic.

If this is all I had to say about the game, I would've given it a 3.5 stars or just 3, but what really highlights the game is the presentation which is a hard selling point and what truly defines it. The game looks really good with hand-drawn backgrounds that capture a variety of scenery such as forests, rivers, beaches, crypts, and castles which creates the feeling of a fantasy adventure. The music that accompanies the levels are nothing short of incredible, and I would actually go out of my way to listen to them regularly.

The cutscenes, however, is something special in a bizarre but charming way that takes the unintentionally bizarre style of the CDi games and just embraces the chaos and their ability to play the whole thing straight just adds to the comedy.

Surprisingly, the writing itself is not bad. Other than the colorful cast of one-note characters, Arzette herself feels like a natural fit in the world around her. She isn't as over-the-top and yet is able to show sincerity in the face of all the chaos, and at times, she can have her own quirks that make her just as funny as the rest of the characters. I just really like her a lot.

If you're into Youtube Poops or just surreal humor in general, this game is an easy recommendation. It is a short game, so if you don't feel like you'll get your money's worth, you could just easily watch the cutscenes or wait for a sale on the game.

One last thing. If you have installed the game, all of the cutscenes in Arzette are in the game's files in MP4 format. Do with this information what you will.

Who would've thought that a tribute game for those crappy Zelda CDI games would not only be an actual functioning product unlike those games, but would just be a fun game in and of itself.

I don't know if it fully captures the original aesthetic the CDI games had since I could kinda tell that most of the cutscenes were done by different animators and some tried adapting the style in various different ways; one even used 3D models for some reason. But if that is the case I'm more or less ok with that since I think it gives off more of a group effort project feel like those reanimated projects where individual animators reanimate a whole movie in their own style. (my favorite character is the Vinny vinesauce frog)

As 2D platformer goes it sure does play, some would say very well. It's properly tightened responsive and the levels don't overstay their welcome and flow really well which is something I feel most 2D platformers seem to have a problem with especially older ones. My only gripe with the level and game progression would be how cryptic it can feel sometimes. They did add in a side mission or progression indicator where once you found said item in a level it'll tell you which level you need to take it to, but sometimes I got stumped on progression not knowing where to go or where to look next which forced me to have to go back to older levels and replay them over and over again until I found out what I needed to do, and I think that's probably the worst part of the game tbh. Even if you know where you need to go or what you need from a level at that point you'll still need to replay through the whole level in order to either deliver an item or to unlock a new item, sometimes more then once. This result in times where I had to replay the first level of the game somewhere around 5 to 6 times just to make basic progression thought the game and it's side missions and the levels never change, it's just the same level over and over again with the same enemy placements and everything but this time you'll need to get one specific item. I feel like having midlevel fast travel points to NPC's would've imitated it entirely and would've made progression feel less like a slog but it probably also would've made the game like 3 hours shorter, a lot of the time going through the levels over and over again felt like extreme levels of padding for a game that's already pretty short (I finished the game in 5 hours). Again I don't hate the core gameplay, it just pisses me off that the game feels this need to pad itself out with replay the same levels over and over again just for the sake of basic progression.

For what it is; that being a tribute game made for bad games people like as a joke it's pretty fun and not much else. I played this like all the way back in February and never logged it since once I stopped playing it and moved on to something else it just seeped out of my mind. It's what it is and it does a good job making these bad games fun, but it's really padded out by the end and besides it's point and laugh nature it left me with almost no lasting feeling other then it randomly popping back in my head while I’m at work and think "oh yeah I did play that, that was fun I guess.".
It seems very fitting that Limited Run Games published this, I mean that in both a good and bad way.

Cute! This is precisely the type of revival I want to see more often - take something niche or traditionally considered "bad", iron out the wrinkles, and make it something presentable while still preserving its original essence. Better yet, do so without requiring previous familiarity without the source material. You could theoretically play this without prior knowledge of Faces of Evil/Wand of Gamelon and come away thinking of it as a weirdly eccentric but perfectly fine Metroidvania.

I love as well that the game doesn't have much in the way of winks at the camera. There are of course references for people familiar with YTP/Animation Magic to get - don't think I didn't catch that the mayor rocks back and forth on the balls of his feet like I.M. Meen, or that a couple cutscenes are clearly just rotoscoped 3D models, or that Arzette's proportions vary wildly based on the cutscene. But it would have been so easy for Arzette to wink at the camera and say something like, "Boy, what are with these camera angles, amirite?" No, the work contains its integrity, just being a very strange little adventure.

Which isn't to say there isn't acknowledgement of oddness if you look for it! Keep an eye on Arzette's facial expression during that one cutscene where she gets the Smart Gun - 100% my reaction to the explanation she was given. There are a ton of great takes here, even beyond referencing moments from Faces of Evil/Wand of Gamelon. But the game retains its fourth wall integrity, which is probably necessary for the couple times the game reaches for something beside absurdist comedy. Even so, while I thought the part in the middle worked well enough, I don't really get where the part at the end came from (but maybe that's its own joke?).

Ah, the gameplay itself is fine. Sort of a means to an end, but that's certainly an improvement over the source material. By the end of the game, once you get all upgrades, Arzette's kinda fun to run around as. Though I also think a lot of the mid-to-late game upgrades don't really accomplish much. Like, that crow step is cool and all, but I don't think does anything practical. Unless that's a reference I'm missing?

I was content just getting 100% in Normal Mode. I appreciate that the higher difficulties exist - especially that one that brings back the CD-i gameplay jank, that's a great touch - but I'm happy with my one-and-done for this playthrough.

Best incidental character? Univor. Could not tell you why, just something about how bubbly and eager she is to help out. Love the guy in the library, too.

Though it does get a little too fetch questy at times, having to do multiple runs of the same stages depending on how inefficient your backtracking is... Arzette is nonetheless a charming love letter to the CD-i Zelda titles, with lots of cool level backgrounds and silly cutscene animations to watch. I was pleased by the fact that Arzette's writing does not heavily rely on its influences for memetic value. Just about all of it is going about and doing its own thing, with only the occasional nudge and wink, naturally interwoven to work even without knowing the reference.

The game feel is an obvious step-up from the CD-i titles. Everything runs smooth, feels right, and remains simple to play. The simplicity in itself, lends to its cozyness. It'll only take you about 4-5 hours to 100%, and it'll be hard to get lost, as quest items have helpful descriptions to indicate what you should be giving to who, alongside levels being marked with exclamation points if there's something important you can go back for. There may be some optional collectibles that might trip you up without a guide, but even those I felt a little silly for not noticing myself. There are visual clues for every secret as long as you're paying attention towards anything suspicious looking.

I do kinda wish it was a little harder, especially because initially it begins as such. The three hearts you start with incentivize you to stay careful as you move throughout the level. But eventually, as you obtain heart containers, and the shield, you can easily tank your way through most of the whole thing. The upgrade to the shield that lets you reflect bullets is especially broken, turning every boss into a game of "hold down the shield button and wait." And the final boss is just straight up taking cues from Spyro 1, "the evil threatening villain that spends 90% of his fight running away from you." I suppose the game compensates for this however, by letting you play a harder mode upon completing the game once.

With all that said, if you've got 20 dollars to spare and are looking to take a break from some of the more complex games out there, Arzette is a highly accessible experience for everyone. I've enjoyed exploring every nook 'n cranny to find the next cutscene, or special Metroidvania-like move. I've laughed, I went "oooo", I vibed with the music (the river theme is stuck in my head aaa), and overall felt very relaxed throughout the whole thing. The developer deserves every bit of support he can get for creating a game that is so unabashedly sincere, loving, and catered for such an overly specific niche of fans. "Arzette will return..." I sure damn hope so. But even if not, I look forward to anything this developer does next.