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.
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.