I've never actually played the old CD-I Zelda games, or even seen a Phillips CD-I in the real world, but I get why they were bad. Terrible unresponsive controls thanks to a horrible controller and obtuse progression paired with laughably awful cutscenes and a nonsensical story. I did watch Let's Plays of them, from the same channel you probably did too before that channel became total garbage. Yeah, I said it. Anyway, I've seen enough of those old games to make a decent comparison here.
Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore borrows the good parts of those old Zelda games and polishes up the terrible parts to create something truly special. The good parts were that those laughably awful cutscenes were ridiculously charming in all of their "made in MS Paint by a 10-year old" glory, and Arzette re-creates them absolutely perfectly. It's all super simple artwork with completely over the top animations and transitions telling a goofy story and I love it. It's truly amazing.
The story here is about a fantasy kingdom that definitely isn't Hyrule where an evil villain that definitely isn't Gannon somehow escapes his imprisonment and a princess that definitely isn't Zelda (actually, she looks more like Shantae) has to find the shards of the Jewel of Faramore to seal the bad guy away again. Along the way you meet tons of characters out in the world and they're all totally nuts. Some of the characters are just absolutely incredible here. You really have to see them.
The gameplay is what sets Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore apart from it's terribad Zelda CD-I inspiration - It's actually good. This is a genuinely fine 2D platformer with totally normal controls that plays really well. There is a "classic" control option where you press up to jump instead of having a dedicated jump button, but I don't know why you would do that to yourself.
The game world is set up like a Metroidvania in that you find items and abilities that allow you to explore previously inaccessible areas. The levels are all really small and short, which is a good thing because you have to go back to them over and over and over again. It's basically the same way most of the Shantae games work, just for an example.
Arzette doesn't always spell out exactly what you're supposed to do next, so you have to remember - or take notes if you're one of those people - where various different colored bricks were or where you needed a double jump or where a particular NPC was. There are tons of items and upgrades to find, but you don't actually need all of them to beat the story, which can make for some decent replay value as you figure out different routes through the game.
Another nice touch is that there are difficulty options that range from a true ball-busting oldschool experience down to an easy mode where enemies pretty much constantly drop health pickups for you. I played on easy, because f-it. The game was still fun to play, even on easy, because exploration was still more than satisfying and the overall progression through the game was compelling.
All in all, I had an absolutely fantastic time playing Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore. It only costs $20 and I bought it on Xbox for that and feel like it was totally worth the money. If you've ever been curious about the CD-I Zelda games, this hits all of the highs without any of the lows. Or if you just want a fun new Shantae-esque 2D Metroidvania to play through with awesome presentation, this game scratches that itch as well. Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore is awesome and I highly, highly recommend it.
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