The Artful Escape Reviews
Beethoven & Dinosaur's debut game has good inspiration and a lot of personality to be observed from some of the tracks, psychedelic environments and the tone that balances sensibility and good humor in Francis' mad space odyssey. On the other hand, the rhythm and platformer mechanics' development is too simple and unappealing. Character and plot developments do have a few highlights, but it's still too basic, weak and predictable, and even its sound and visual aspects have a few issues. The Artful Escape is recommended for peopel looking for a platform-adventure with unique science fantasy art direction in a musical context. However, it's not recommended if the person would like a platformer with deep mechanics, and even less so for someone looking for a focus on rhythm mechanics.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The Artful Escape is unique and plays like a little shiny gem.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Francis's story is memorable and powerful, and the environments he shreds through are truly a sight to behold. People who enjoy the aesthetics of artists like the late David Bowie should absolutely give this game a look, especially if they also happen to be musicians themselves. You might learn a bit about what you actually want for yourself in life and become inspired to visit a Cosmic Extraordinary of your own.
Combining different gameplay mechanics such as platforming, rhythm game, and a personalized dialogue choice mechanic, it is a title that needs to be experienced firsthand. While the story is told from Francis’ perspective, much of what personalizes this game is your individual choices that create his superstar persona.
Much like a Pink Floyd laser light show at your local planetarium, The Artful Escape can razzle and dazzle, but you probably won’t remember it too long after the fact.
The Artful Escape is a thrill. It's true that the most joyous bits of action are underused – in terms of both playtime and what they could give the story – and some scarce but present graphical issues on Switch are a shame. Overall, though, the strengths are major, the niggles minor, and it will strike a chord with any pipe-dreaming rock star.
The Artful Escape isn't a challenging game but a playable piece of art. You shouldn't miss this concert!
Review in German | Read full review
The Artful Escape wowed me with its wonderful sights and sounds, with the wacky musical adventure of Francis Vendetti sure to keep a smile on players’ faces. Sure, it might not offer a deep gameplay experience, but there’s enough on offer between exploring the bizarre yet beautiful world, uncovering the surprisingly heartfelt narrative, and simply sculpting your own unique Francis to ensure the adventure remains a memorable one.
One opportunity that the smaller teams and budgets behind typical indie games have is to take bigger risks, either blending together or warping genres to create experiences that are difficult to categorize...
The Artful Escape takes you on a trip with Francis into the cosmos, marrying music and visuals into a beautiful gameplay experience. Small things pop up a time or two, but absolutely nothing keeps The Artful Escape from being entertainment brilliance. Place this among the top indie titles on the PlayStation platform.
The adventure does ultimately end up being a worthwhile one, with interesting characters, an incredible art style, and great music. But if there were more to the gameplay, the game – and its world – could have offered so much more.
A lurid and generous trip through the iconography of seventies rock.
The Artful Escape is a great visual-novel and a rock and roll dream. It is one of the best looking games I've played with an equally interesting narrative. However, the severe lack of interactiveness really drags down the game.
You play a young guitarist exploring your prog-rock ambitions to the full in this richly enjoyable psychedelic journey
The Artful Escape is an enigmatic coming of age story, wrapped in reverb-laden riffs and space opera shenanigans. It is quite unique, and absolutely unmissable.
The Artful Escape is a wonderful audiovisual experience with a lot of great moments and a intense story. If you like this types of games, you should try it.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The Artful Escape is a unique experience of exotic and out-of-the-ordinary experiences, although the gameplay experience is weak, the interesting story and the visual and audio fun that is presented make it one of those experiences that deserves to be experienced for lovers of different experiences.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
The Artful Escape is a fantastic musical experience with an incredible presentation. It tells a very personal story, full of memorable characters, and performances. The actual gameplay is a bit lacking, but the game makes up for it with its spectacle.
The Artful Escape is a wonderful four-hour musical performance with some epic guitar solos and an incredible visuals.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Putting the gamepad down, I want to turn on Van Halen, grab an air guitar and dash for the stars.
Review in Russian | Read full review