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By Manuel  Players: 1 Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC We've all seen the memes, we've all been so hungry that we could eat an octorok, and we all lived through the endless YouTube poops. Well, maybe you didn't, but I'm sure you're at least a little bit familiar with the CD-i Zelda games. Two games that graced the failed console way back in 1993, Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon. They're as famous as they are infamous and someone has done the unthinkable and created a modern spiritual successor to these classically bad games! Seth "Dopply" Fulkerson, Seedy Eye Software, and Limited Run Games have come together to bring us all Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore! Is this game going to crash and burn spectacularly like the originals? Or will it rise above and prove that the concepts behind those two games weren't inherently bad? We're going to be taking a look at the game right now to find out. So, without further ado, let's all duckwalk our way into the Kingdom of Faramore!
As you'd probably imagine, Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore (Hereafter mostly referred to as simply "Arzette".) places you into the shoes of the titular Princess Arzette. It's been ten years since she defeated the evil Daimur with the help of the now-lazy bard Dail, and it seems like the Jewel that kept Daimur imprisoned has been shattered. The years of peace may have been a great time for the people of the Kingdom, but they have also left the kingdom's defenses in a state of disrepair. Following some discussion with both Dail and her father, Arzette sets off to stop Daimur once and for all. This is easier said than done, and her first task is to light the five beacons that will allow her to take the battle directly to the evil one's lair. Along the way she'll also hopefully recover the scattered shards of the Jewel of Faramore, which are currently in the possession of five of Daimur's strongest minions. Her quest will take her all over Faramore, and even though she's solo on this adventure, her determination will forever change the Kingdom and its people. There's more to the story to tell, but seeing as Arzette is a rather short game, I think I'll leave most of the plot to be discovered by those who opt to play it themselves. Players can rest assured that the story is quite well-written, even though its inspiration isn't exactly known for the same thing. It's silly fun most of the time, introduces a wide and diverse cast, and even has a few surprisingly touching moments scattered throughout. While I won't cover the plot much more beyond this, it's definitely one of the strongest aspects of the game.
It's rather hard in writing to see how much this game is clearly inspired by the CD-i Zelda games, but it really runs throughout the entire experience. Most of this review will see me referencing them to the point where I'll praise Arzette for perfectly emulating games that most people consider among the worst of all time. While an argument can be made that the Zelda CD-i games are perhaps judged too harshly, and mainly by people who have never played them, I think it's worth remembering that games can serve as inspiration while still being greatly improved upon. It's never that Arzette is trying to complete remake a notoriously bad game, but it instead takes what worked, or what could've worked, from those games and delivers a product that goes far beyond them. Anyhow, one can look at Arzette in particular as a sort of reimagining of the Wand of Gamelon, which is still the only Zelda game with a female protagonist. While Dail is mostly in the background in this game, I can't help but wonder if he'll eventually get his time to shine in a future sequel that references The Faces of Evil. That's probably getting far ahead of this review, but I kept waiting for Dail to DO something, only to be repeatedly disappointed. Before we move on to discuss gameplay, I want to point out that the Zelda CD-i games got a remaster not too long ago that makes them fully playable on PC without the use of a clunky emulator. These new versions were actually brought to us all by a certain Dopply. Dopply as in Seth Fulkerson, who is the main person behind this game! I didn't even realize that connection until I was researching the games for this review, even though I had played them myself a few months ago. It's clear that he's a fan of the original games, and that knowledge will probably help us understand how this game came together in the first place.
Even though this is a Zelda-inspired Action RPG, it plays more like an action platformer, or even a Metroidvania at times. Think something akin to Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, but with even more emphasis placed on the action. You're very limited in where you can go at first, but the more quests you complete, and more items you find, will see more of the world open up to you. You'll be facing enemies of all sorts in levels that go from left-to-right, up-to-down, or any combination therein. I say levels, but these are just the regions on the overworld map. For reasons we'll discuss in a bit, they're all broken up into several areas or rooms, and most are filled with enemies, treasures, and hidden secrets. Most enemies can be taken out by your sword, but you'll quickly encounter enemies protected by a blue or red magic barrier. These enemies can be killed by a magic gun you acquire, which also destroys barriers of the same colors. You'll rarely get lost in the game, but each are has markers that show what you have yet to pick up within them. These can be key plot items like beacons that need to be lit, shards of the Jewel of Faramore that have to be recovered, minigames left unplayed, Arzette coins not picked up, and so on. Exclamation points will also mark areas of interest, usually places you can go to continue or complete a quest. Arzette will gain quite the moveset over the course of the game, and will eventually gain the ability to double jump, use the aforementioned magic gun, play a flute that kills flying creatures and destroys certain barricades, and so on. She also has standard items like bombs, a lamp that consumes oil, and even a rope to get out of places quickly if you're not properly prepared. There's a lot of gameplay elements to learn and use throughout the adventure, but they're introduced in a way where nothing ever feels overwhelming. You're also able to complete the game far earlier if you so desire, but it's always best to look for all items in each area before moving on. Also, never forget about the duck walk. There are so many areas I missed early on in my first playthrough because I overlooked this very important skill. Duckwalk everywhere.
As a character Arzette is quite versatile, but she can't take a lot of damage before going down. Arzette begins the game with three hearts, and most enemies will reduce her life by a full heart when they hit her. Some enemies only do a half heart of damage, but they are rather rare. By default there are only a few places where Arzette can heal herself, but she thankfully has infinite lives. If you lose all your hearts, or fall into some sort of instant death trap, you restart in at the beginning of the current room/area almost immediately. While it can be a bit of a setback to have to constantly redo certain sections, there is no penalty for dying besides having to give the room's enemies another shot. You can also eventually power-up Arzette by picking up extra heart containers, or by finding magic armor that reduces the damage received from attacks. Arzette can be a rather challenging game, but the option to quickly restart keeps things from ever feeling frustrating. Though if you're looking for frustration, you'll probably find it once you realize that enemies that take more than one hit to kill have invicibility frames. If you don't like the idea of having to clear rooms in near perfect fashion on a single try, you can selct Casual Mode when starting the game. This mode adds in heart-refilling items into the rotation of things dropped when enemies are defeated. This makes the game significantly easier, and is actually the way I suggest the game be played. For the purposes of this review I played it on the Normal difficulty, but health pick-ups feel so essential in modern games that playing without them feels like a mistake. You can also unlock a harder Hero Mode after beating the game once, as well as a Boss Rush if you're still looking for additional challenges. My advice is to simply go with whatever gameplay options work best for you. No matter what you pick, you're getting the full Arzette experience.
Arzette is an interesting case as it somehow makes the early CD-ROM FMV game work. I guess that could mostly be due to better technology, more time working on the game, and simply the benefits of hindsight, but it's still an impressive feat nonetheless. That said, the classic CD-i experience is all here. You'll still occasionally be confused as to what parts of the background are actual platforms, enemies will still get in a cheap hit or two from time to time, there's lots of instant death traps and leaps of faith, and boss fights are still rather uneven encounters, with some being cleared in a matter of seconds. Everything in Arzette just works though. If you ever played the original Zelda CD-i games and thought to yourself: "Well, it would work better if..." or "Maybe they should've done this instead...", then this game basically serves as that best case scenario. Simple touches like keeping NPCs away from enemies so you don't accidentally go in and out of conversations in the heat of battle, moving item usage to its own dedicated button, tightening up the jumping mechanics, and just generally making it easier to know where to go and what to do next are just some of the improvements made to this style of game. It honestly is a great game on its own merits, but it's made all the more amazing when you remember that it's built on a foundation that simply shouldn't work. There's a charm to this game that is hard to explain. I guess it could be nostalgia, but it's odd to feel nostalgia for a game you never properly experienced yourself. Maybe it's nostalgia for things like the memes, the out of context clips, or even that old AVGN video. Either way, it's hard to not like Arzette after playing it for even just a few minutes, and you'll most likely leave the game wanting for more, but in the best way possible. If there was a running theme throughout this review, it would have to be that I love Arzette and think that it's a near perfect game. I don't want to seem like I'm just blindly fawning over it though, so I'll discuss some of the things I didn't like about it now. First off is the fact that this game almost feels incomplete towards the end. Hear me out for a minute since I'll repeatedly say later on that I think it offers up a perfectly succinct experience. I'm not sure if the game was finished and then the developers realized it was a little on the thin side, but all the later missions and sidequests are done in silence. By this I mean that there is no animation or voice acting to go along with them and the game just randomly switches to only using text boxes for some reason. Then there's the final boss fight that just feels like it was an afterthought. I know someone will tell me that this was the case in the CD-i games too, but surely that's the one thing they could've left in the past. Also, there are a lot of items and power-ups that feel rather useless. Sure the shield that blocks projectiles is neat, but does anyone ever bust out the other protection items? I accidentally used the lightning magic in the final dungeon and totally forgot that it was a thing until that very moment. That's not all either, as I realized on my second playthrough that I never once used my sword beams after testing them out when I first acquired them. Now I'm not saying that there might not be an application for all these additional skills in things like the Hero Mode or Boss Rush, but they just don't feel as integrated into the game as the core items do. Also, why are there so many extra Spirit Candles in the game? I kept thinking I was missing some extra items, but the game just gives you way more candles than needed. Lastly, there's the fact that the game is rather short. Much of your time in Arzette will see you repeatedly revisiting the same rather small areas. None of these points are deal-breakers, but it would be unfair if I didn't mention them. With that out of the way, let's switch back to what makes Arzette awesome!
Graphics in Arzette are really hard to describe as they are definitely not what one would call great, but that's not really the point here, right? Right off the bat I have to talk about the animation that is as stilted and oddly proportioned as can be. Normally this would be written off as badly done, but I think it's very impressive that Seedy Eye Software managed to create scenes that would look right at home in those original CD-i games. I actually wondered if they used the same studio to do them, but then I realized that a very small Russian studio worked on the original games, and I'd be surprised if they'd somehow managed to remain in business to this day. No matter how they did it, they perfected the animation style and all you'll be hard pressed to find a more endearing cast of characters. Elsewhere the graphics are mostly sprite-based, and feature relatively smooth animation, albeit with a bit of intentional jank thrown in for good measure. The nicest touch visually would probably have to be the hand-painted backgrounds that bring the whole package together. They have a look that just screams 90s aesthetics, and I'm here for it. Even the colorful swirls in the background in the minigames reminded me of something you'd see in older CD-based games. Oh, and speaking of which, there is even a minigame that is clearly inspired by Hotel Mario, the other infamous Nintendo license that saw life on the CD-i. Judging the visuals is rather difficult as I've already said that they're not the best by any stretch of the word, but in terms of what the game is going for, they're spot on. While I might be moving towards blind praise at this point, it's best to see the game in action before casting judgement. I have done exactly that and must say that I have nothing negative to say about the visuals. Well, I guess I could ask for more, but that's just being greedy!
I really don't know how they did it, but the developers managed to mimic the music one would typically find in a CD-i game too. Old disc-based games often had CD-quality soundtracks that felt like something you'd attach to an educational game or maybe put in the background of a photo gallery. This impossible to describe soundtrack aesthetic usually featured genres like jazz, easy listening, or something similar, and it always had a slightly out-of-place feeling when used in a game. Arzette has a soundtrack like this on paper, but somehow makes it work within context of the game. The jazz and smooth background muzak vibes are all here, but there's something in the compositions that make these great tracks as opposed to filler music. It really is hard to describe when you're not listening to it yourself, but it feels like they picked out only the best tracks from a few dozen early 90s FMV games or public access animation shows. Arzette could've easily been filled with chiptune songs, or something resembling a standard Zelda game, but it takes real dedication and skill to so perfectly emulate, and once again perfect, a very esoteric style. Much like the graphics and gameplay, the music could've easily fallen flat, but it now has me looking around online to see if I can pick up the soundtrack somewhere on its own. It really is a standout aspect of the game, and helps round out an already near-perfect package. Sound is more than just music though, so let's talk voice acting a bit. Arzette is fully voiced throughout for the most part, though said voice acting also drops off somewhat disappointingly by the end of the game. I mention that right off the bat because I want to get the only negative I have to say about it out of the way first. It feels a little weird to say that the voice acting is perfectly spot on when some of the performances are completely wacky and over the top. Once again though it is capturing that early CD-ROM FMV acting feel, and even features some notable cast members from the CD-i Zelda cast like Bonnie Jean Wilbur. Purposely chewing up the scenery or not, there are some scenes that are legitimately well-acted and I don't want to make it sound like everyone is doing that slightly annoying thing where they're all in on an overdone joke. We're here for the humor of course, but I wouldn't be praising this if everyone wasn't also giving amazing performances as well. The acting in general made me almost want to see this game released as a full live action game where the actors are also doing the visual performances as well, though perhaps I'll have to settle for looking around for any behind the scenes materials instead. Also, past Zelda names aside, I was rather surprised to not see any familiar dub actors in the cast. Most games go for the anime/video game regulars, and there is something to be said about hearing performances this unique from voices that are also not heard in every dubbed release out there.
Coming in at a cool $19.99, Arzette is an absolute steal. It's not only a great homage to a pair of notoriously bad games, but it's also on my short list of favorite games of 2024. It's a bit early to decide that of course, but I'll definitely be keeping this one in mind. I managed to clear it 100% my first time through in just under five hours, but others playing at a more chill pace will probably get more time out of it. While it isn't the lengthiest experience out there, there is definitely an argument made for the quality of the time spent. Not a single minute felt like it was padded out in the least, and I played through the game in a couple intense sessions that stayed consistently fun throughout. I learned after beating it that there are different endings to the game, and while I saw the "best" ending because of my 100% completion rate, I'm curious what the others are like. Seeing as you unlock a Hero Mode and Boss Rush after beating the game, I'll probably be giving it a challenge run of sorts soon. Arzette is highly replayable, and it offers something for gamers of all skill levels and it also proves once and for all that the CD-i Zelda games could've been great if only the right people were working on them.
I honestly can't recommend Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore enough. Not just for fans of the original Zelda CD-i games, but for anyone looking for great games in general. This is an amazing title in its own right, and its mix of genres is sure to have something for everyone. Seeing as it's available on just about every current platform, there's no excuse to not pick this up immediately, maybe even via a limited edition physical release from Limited Run Games. I really can't wait to see what comes out of Seedy Eye Software next, but I'm definitely hoping it's a direct follow-up to this game. I mean there were two Zelda CD-i games after all... I'll definitely see everyone back here if and when that happens! Check Out Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore on Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/arzette-the-jewel-of-faramore-switch/ Story: A Gameplay: A Graphics: A+ Music/Sound: A+ Value: A+ Overall: A+ Pros: + A practically perfect homage to two games whose existence has become notorious. + Great visuals that come complete with awesome sprite-based graphics, amazing hand-painted backgrounds, and plenty of nostalgic animation. + Features a soundtrack that also uniquely fits the overall aesthetic and a voice cast that includes actors from the original CD-i Zelda games. + Offers challenges for those looking for such, as well as a more casual mode for those simply along for the ride. + Lots of secrets to uncover, sidequests to complete, and multiple endings to see. + More than just a love letter to a pair of games, it's also one of the best releases of 2024 so far. + Proves that the Zelda CD-i games could have worked under different circumstances. +/- Seeing as the Zelda CD-i games have themselves received updated remastered fan versions, this game feels a bit late to the party.... That's what I WOULD say if those remastered games weren't worked on by the same person who created this! (Here's a link to those though!) Cons: - Though mostly intentional, there are some clunky game design choices that may be hard to look past. - The entire plot set-up of Daimur's first defeat, and especially Dail's involvement, feel like pointless additions to the plot. - Seeing as just about every bit of character dialogue is voiced and animated, it can feel jarring when that pretty much drops off at the end of the game. - Despite it being a very great experience overall, Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore is a pretty short game. A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.  See you in the next one! #Arzette
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