The Artful Escape

The Artful Escape is a story about legacies, finding yourself, change and transition that presents itself in such an ingenious way that all can absolutely enjoy it. Gliding across the cosmos, playing electric guitar in unknown lands, and eventually vanquishing a divine complication with intricate audio design and superb music to accompany – it’s perplexing how captivating this interstellar adventure is. Inviting players on a musical journey through cosmic realms and challenging introspection, The Artful Escape is a masterpiece.

By the time the final credits roll on The Artful Escape, it’s a challenge to succinctly summarise what you’ve just experienced. It’s a game without a genre, one composed of familiar elements blended in an unfamiliar way, creating something that is uniquely its own. It’s been a long time coming since The Artful Escape was given its initial glimpse of what was in store, but when it’s all said and done, it leaves the audience satisfied but still wanting just a little more. Like any good concert.

The Artful Escape definitely belongs to one of these games that appear almost out of nowhere, just to make us happy and blessed to try out. While not a title for platformer aficionados and those who crave for something challenging, The Artful Escape ends up being a pleasant surprise, and one that will stay within for long.

The Artful Escape tells a heartfelt story of artistic self-discovery through a filter of color, light, sound, and joy. Combining gonzo sci-fi imagery with blaring space-rock guitar chords, The Artful Escape is a playable concept album – or at least a grand trip through that album’s cover art. Never difficult but always fun, The Artful Escape is highly recommended as both a great narrative and a fun exploration into Bowie-style space rock imagery.

After almost 2 years without being able to attend a concert normally, those who claim to be music lovers have the opportunity with The Artful Escape to participate in what comes closest to it : a rock and roll narrative experience. Ready to battle with Psychonauts 2 for the title of the most colorful artistic direction of the year, puffing up with color and good humor, with a fantastic soundtrack, the first project of Beethoven & Dinosaur does not disappoint. His neat writing, his crazy ans so well interpreted characters and his themes largely allow him to forget that it has not a lot to offer gameplaywise. One of the sunrays of 2021, unmissable if you have always dreamed of becoming a rockstar and dazzling an audience in delirium with your most melodious riffs.

In the end, its expert cast, beautiful worlds, and clever writing together tell a very stimulating story of discovery, despite its otherwise quirky exterior.

The Artful Escape is a short but oh-so-sweet platformer that will have you bopping to its impossibly catch beats and transfixed by its beauty.

The Artful Escape is a hypnotic journey about legacy and self-discovery. The developers have managed to tell an inspiring story about being yourself no matter what. The journey is the perfect length and often surprised me with its tenderness and soul. Stunning visuals and a catchy soundtrack helped elevate the experience into something I don't think I will forget anytime soon.

A fantastic musical adventure with its unique, wacky style that clashes (in a good way) with a cosmic setting and emotional themes.

The Artful Escape is a powerful and aesthetically wonderful generational hymn, which sounds great and uses gameplay as a subtle way to give rhythm to a short, but intense, experience.

The Artful Escape might seem easy to some players, but its flawless and engaging music and art direction make it worth your time.

The Artful Escape is an exquisite experience in every aspect. The psychedelic nature of the story keeps things interesting, plus a visually appealing presentation and a great soundtrack.

The Artful Escape may lack depth of interactivity, but in the end, the game is more of a trippy coming-of-age story than it is a career mode in Rock Band.

Challenging as that may be, The Artful Escape is nevertheless a thrilling adventure that commits fully to showcasing its gorgeous art in soaring set pieces. Though some of the dialogue doesn’t work, the game is largely successful at stripping out anything that would distract from its masterful presentation. Unlike Francis Vendetti at the beginning of his journey, The Artful Escape knows exactly what it is.

The Artful Escape is an awesome musical experience but you need to accept this is something very similar to a walking simulator.

There hasn’t been a guitar-based adventure as excellent as The Artful Escape since Bill met Ted.

The Artful Escape provides a strong narrative adventure focused on self-discovery, identity, and expression that musicians, artists, and just about anyone can find something to relate to.

The Artful Escape focuses the attention on the narrative through a powerful audiovisual staging, reducing the platforms and the challenge to the minimum expression to provide the player with an authentic festival of rock, psychedelia and surrealism.

An eye-popping musical adventure that will leave you with a serious case of galaxy brain.

The Artful Escape is a visual and audio masterpiece that creates a sincere narrative that gives hope to any struggling would-be artist that they will find their own voice at the end of a tough journey. As good as that message might be, the gameplay mechanics don’t nearly live up to the hype the rest of the game creates.

Highly contemplative, utterly eccentric and absolutely magnificent, The Artful Escape offers a visual and sound experience that is as puzzling as it is thrilling. But the beauty of the abstract can reach its limits when the nonsense ends up losing us. And the journey sometimes runs out of steam when the gameplay remains on its way. However, the journey remains relatively captivating up and down, both for its beauty and its uniqueness. But there is no doubt that it will be divisive.

The Artful Escape perfectly encapsulates the feeling of being transported away by a David Bowie track to a far-out world filled with colorful characters and wildlife and great music, but its gameplay falls flat, offering little depth past its first tutorial. While the game is short enough for its systems to never feel too egregious, it never reaches its full potential through its story or its mechanics. Fans of zen games, nice visuals, and quippy dialogue may want to pick this up, but do not expect a deep experience in playing The Artful Escape.

The Artful Escape is a rockin' Space Opera but it doesn't have much going for it besides its pretty visuals and incredible music. The platforming is basic and the plot is serviceable, but it's nothing that audiences haven't seen before. I'd recommend this game only if you're a fan of rock music from the '70s and '80s.

The Artful Escape has a stellar narrative with actual good humour enhanced by the voice acting talent and beautiful landscapes, but the gameplay is stale and those who dislike electric guitar are in for a long haul.

I wanted to come away from The Artful Escape feeling inspired and changed, with a story to really mull over. I came into this four-to-five-hour experience with expectations set by early gameplay, and while some of them were met, I don't know that it does enough to really justify its choice of medium. It has got more than enough in terms of eye candy and audio bliss, but I can't confidently say that any of the other pieces manage to come together in this space oddity.

While The Artful Escape does a strong job with its presentation and sense of style, it still suffers the same drawbacks as most adventure games, particularly with the boring-at-best game mechanics. The celebrity voice cast does well enough, though I only recognized Weathers during my time in the game. The trip here isn’t long, though it does manage to be memorable thanks to its relentless desire to look like a Liz Frank-emblazoned Trapper Keeper. Depending on the drugs you keep handy, this could be the ticket.