YMMV / Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore

• Anti-Climax Boss: Daimur. If you use the Shield Ring, he can't even hurt you. The only issue is slight platforming problems, but that’s hardly a challenge at this point. Of course, since the CD-I games didn’t have hard bosses either, this was most likely intentional.
• Awesome Music: Button Masher's soundtrack nails the synth-heavy style of the CD-based video games that inspired this one, with an array of vibrant tunes that enhance the mood of each area.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The game has a good few anachronisms that get played off for laughs, such as Cypress and Beeves' modern outfits. But those aren't quite as egregious as the submarine in Ryha River, an honest-to-god piece of 20th-century technology in the middle of a completely ordinary level. Its purpose is never explained, it's just there.
• Fan Nickname: The manic, wide-eyed fairy from Anju Desert who gives Arzette "Fairy Dust" officially has no name, so some have given her the name Fenty.^note As in Fentanyl.
• Fridge Brilliance: The term "interactive multimedia system" isn't just Insistent Terminology for a video game system, it's an accurate term for the Philips CD-i. The CD-i was developed as a multimedia system rather than a video game (or video game-focused) system and was (obviously) the original console for The Legend Of Zelda C Di Games.
• Game-Breaker: The Reflecting Ring (an upgrade to the Shield Ring that reflects projectiles) can trivialize Beeves and Duke Nodelki's boss fights as they seem to only attack you with projectiles. Though it is a slow strategy, it allows you to win by practically staying still if you keep holding the Shield button. Not to mention, you can obtain the Reflecting Ring just before fighting Beeves.
• Goddamned Bats: Some levels have mosquito-like enemies that do little damage and can be killed in one hit, but they have small hitboxes and after reaching you they can position themselves just above your sprite making it hard to hit with your sword or gun. They also keep spawning until their nest is destroyed and, unlike Poultures, they can start chasing you offscreen and can spawn two at a time. The saving grace is that when the nest is destroyed, which can be done with one bomb, it doesn't respawn after your death like other enemies, so prioritizing their destruction is a recommended strategy if you have trouble dealing with them.
• Les Yay: It is quite common to see people ship Arzette with a few female NPCs, especially due to how she acts when interacting with them including blushing while talking to Ciclena or how she agrees to go out with Maki.
• Narm Charm: Between the jerky animation, Stylistic Suck voice acting, and anemic responses to threats, your laughing is the Intended Audience Reaction.
• Nightmare Fuel: He deserved it for releasing Daimur and for mocking the death of Arzette's father, but the image of the princess chopping Duke Nodelki's petrified body, in tandem with the sheer rage on her face, is a shocking moment in an otherwise goofy game.
• Spiritual Successor: While it's upfront about its intention to homage the The Legend Of Zelda C Di Games games, many fans believe it to be one for the Shantae franchise due to both having similar styles of Metroidvania-esque gameplay, combat, and platforming, as well as Arzette's design sharing elements with Shantae's.
• Tainted by the Preview:
  • Though reception to its reveal was generally positive, the very idea of a Spiritual Successor to two of the most infamously bad games of all time was met with concern; some were afraid that it would turn out to be an Audience-Alienating Premise, and others were worried that it was being done just to cash in on the Memetic Mutation. These points were usually countered by citing the developer's previous work on The Legend of Zelda CD-i Remasters, which are usually seen as legitimately good, as well as many of the game's developers stating that it was done out of genuine love for the CD-i titles rather than mockery of them. After the game came out, many were relieved to find that the game lived up to its promise, being a genuinely solid Metroidvania platformer that smooths out the rough edges of the CD-i titles while retaining their janky charm.
  • On another note, it was also a common worry that the cutscenes wouldn't be able to adequately recreate the So Bad, It's Good charm of the CD-i games, since it's trying to intentionally accomplish what was largely achieved by accident. Post-launch, this fear seems alleviated, as the game has been well-received by fans of the old YouTube Poops with the animations retaining the Deranged Animation nature while also frequently referencing said shorts.
• Tear Jerker:
  • After unlocking the second beacon, Arzette finds out her father is deathly ill and doesn't have much time left in the world. Arzette is understandably not happy with this news.
  • Following the third beacon, Arzette returns to find her father dying. He gives his last word to her, Wogram, and Dail to show how much he appreciates them (though all he can say for Dail is how he was there). As he closes his eyes, Arzette is left crying in grievance before swearing to end Daimur's terror for good.
  • Zazie is touched by Arzette bringing her some oil to drink, to which she says that she wishes the princess was more like her before asking Arzette's name. Arzette doesn't have the heart to tell her that she is the princess and simply tells her that she has a date with Daimur. Kinda hard telling somebody who trusts you that you are the person who is out to kill their idol after all.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: While Mortar writes music in his spare time and sells music scrolls in his shop, their main purpose is to act like a Money Sink that will eventually lead to a discount on his regular items. Buying all three scrolls sadly does not unlock a Sound Test.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Dail, to an extent. His opting to stay retired and out of harm's way is treated as cowardice in-game, and his bombastic delivery of it didn't help. Ironically, it may have been the best thing he could do to help the heroes. Between the two of them, Arzette was the only one who continued to train in the decade of peace that followed Daimur's defeat. Joining Arzette as an out-of-shape and untrained bard would have slowed her progress considerably. Not to mention that while he did help to beat Daimur in the past, the flashbacks that the player gets to see in the opening narration show that he barely survived the battle — can't blame him for deciding that one adventure was enough.

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