Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore (All Modern Platforms)

[Glen-i]

Don't think there's a thread on this, so...

This game came out on all modern platforms a few weeks ago. What is it? Well, it's the answer to the question "What if the Zelda CD-i games had actual good gameplay?"

Developed by "Seedy Eye Software" (Snrk...). It's effectively a spiritual sequel to the Zelda CD-i games. So much so, that the intro cutscene is basically the story of those two games with the characters changed.

I laughed so hard at this!

So yes, the aesthetic aims to be as crummy as the CD-i games. Dodgy animations and weird contorting faces abound! But it doesn't feel mean-spirited, there's a real earnest quality here. The developers absolutely have a fondness for the unique quirks of this console, and it shows.
I mean, they got the original voice actors for Link and Zelda from the CD-i games back to voice some narration here. As well as some of the orignal animators to help with the cutscenes. It aims to be as authentic as possible there.

It's not all the same, thankfully, the key difference is the gameplay. It's a similar structure to the CD-i Zeldas, but the gameplay isn't completely awful. It's actually really fun!
@Dcubed has said that the Zelda CD-i games could be decent if they weren't such janky, frustrating messes, and yeah, this game proves it. It's 18 quid, and I highly recommend it.

Spoiler

Appreciate the image of Arzette in the background being CD-i Link's "I won!" face.

Still gotta go for 100%.

[Dcubed]

2 hours ago, Glen-i said:

@Dcubed has said that the Zelda CD-i games could be decent if they weren't such janky, frustrating messes, and yeah, this game proves it. It's 18 quid, and I highly recommend it.

  My first playthrough stats (Hide contents)

It’s true, I did say that.

And I stand by it.  The Zelda CDI games had some genuinely good gameplay ideas, just held back by the shit console they were made for and all the janky controls, broken hit detection and busted programming that comes with making a game designed for a console engineered to run PowerPoint presentations masquerading as interactive software.

I’m looking forward to getting stuck into Arzette myself.  It looks to take all the good ideas and good concepts from the CDI Zeldas (including their funky fresh music!) and put them into an actual well made game