The game release schedule for 2022 is jam packed. Fortunately, the month of January is a nice reprieve from the busy holiday season. This gives me a nice break to catch up on missed games, and my unending backlog.
And this brings me to a short 2D/3D platform rhythm game called The Artful Escape. I was perusing through Game Pass and this game caught my attention. The trailer showcased bright colors, beautiful music, and wild, abstract images one could only dream about. An amazing voice cast, highlighted by Lena Headey and Carl Weathers, was just the cherry on top. The trailer hooked me immediately and I completed the four hour game. And I’m here to say I’m very happy I did. I really enjoyed myself.
Story
The Artful Escape revolves around Francis Vendetti. The town of Calypso, Colorado is planning a twenty year celebration of Folk music legend, Johnson Vendetti, the deceased uncle of Francis. Everyone expects Francis to play his uncle’s music, but Francis wants to play his own. He doesn’t want to live underneath his Uncle’s shadow as a folk musician. Before the concert, Francis meets Violetta, who tells him to look for a man named Lightman. He finds Lightman afterwards, who leads Francis on a musical journey across the cosmos to find who he really wants to be.
The story of overcoming a family shadow to do your own thing is a story told a bunch of times. The Artful Escape does do a good job of making it feel fresh. Everyone tends to speak in strange metaphors that we’re occasionally over the top, but most of the time hit for me.
Also, when I say that the story is out there…it’s out there. It’s a wild time that really baffled me at some points, but the overall theme truly struck a chord with me.
Voice Cast
The strong story was bolstered by a likewise voice cast. Michael Johnston and Caroline Kinley were great as lead characters Francis and Violetta, but a supporting cast of Carl Weathers, Mark Strong, Jason Schwartzman, and Lena Headey provided a great performance all around. I’m going to play any video game with Chubbs in the main cast!
Gameplay
Unfortunately, the gameplay of The Artful Escape was the weak point. The core gameplay was a 2D platformer with a 3D background world, but also blended rhythm sections with a Simon Says type of gameplay. The player controls Francis by following the buttons on screen of each boss. I say ‘Boss’ loosely because nothing about these sections were difficult. They were musical, gorgeous, and sounded fantastic coming out of my sound system, but really wasn’t much ‘game’ to the gameplay. If you don’t like story based games, I wouldn’t recommend this one.
Even saying that, nothing about the lack of gameplay detracted me from enjoying the Artful Escape. It was the perfect palate cleanser to start the year. So many games have long stories and huge open worlds, sometimes it’s nice to experience a short and contained story.
Visuals
And finally, the best part about the game were the visuals. If you couldn’t tell from all of these game captures…the game is GORGEOUS. There were all kinds of different worlds and backgrounds that are experienced. and they’re all beautiful. They even managed to make a dreary desert world nice to look at. Numerous times I was mesmerized and just stopped to admire the artist’s work.
In conclusion, The Artful Escape is a wonderful way to spend four hours. A beautiful game with a relatable story and unbelievable visuals. It baffles me that this is the debut game of indie developers “Beethoven & Dinosaur.” Hilarious name aside, I can’t wait to see what they do next!
Verdict: 3.5/5 (Good!)