The Artful Escape Reviews

The Artful Escape is ranked in the 79th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
9 / 10.0
Jan 25, 2022

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.

Read full review

7 / 10
Jan 25, 2022

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.

Read full review

GameMAG
Top Critic
7 / 10
Sep 19, 2021

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

8.3 / 10.0
Sep 10, 2021

The Artful Escape is a hard to define game. Light platform and rhytm'n'game elements are diluted inside a narrative driven gameplay that tasks the player with life and artistic choices. While the gameplay is bent to the main thematic of the game, visual and music take the mind of the player through an epic, psychedelic journey in a rock, sci-fi, over the top space opera.

Review in Italian | Read full review

88 / 100
Sep 8, 2021

The Artful Escape is by turns psychedelic, moving, exultant, and lovely. The central metaphor of a young performer bringing fantastic new worlds into existence through the art of music is a powerful one, and while the theme of a struggling musician finding his authentic voice while paying homage to the past might not be a new one, it’s certainly new to videogames. The Artful Escape only missteps when it tries too hard to be a game, ironic given the story’s premise of search for authenticity. Aside from that, The Artful Escape is a surprising and joyous exploration of the power of collaboration, the struggle for identity, and the mind-blowing, life-altering sound of the very loud galactic symphony.

Read full review

Sep 8, 2021

For such a visually boisterous experience, The Artful Escape feels more like a chilly museum after closing hours.

Read full review

Wccftech
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Sep 8, 2021

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.

Read full review

9 / 10.0
Sep 15, 2021

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.

Read full review

80 / 100
Sep 24, 2021

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

Gameblog
Plume
Top Critic
9 / 10
Sep 10, 2021

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 completely barred rock narrative experience.

Review in French | Read full review

8.6 / 10.0
Sep 9, 2021

‎The Artful Escape is a game expected by many, including myself. We are facing a different title and that is not for all ‎‎audiences, but if you really like music you must try it, since I do not remember trying anything similar.‎‎ It reminds me a lot of the 70s and 80s where rock groups like Pink Floyd and others dominated the music scene of the time. Above all I think we should see this title as a set of experiences, since the union of everything shows us an incredible and unforgettable experience where we will live a musical made video game.‎

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Sep 8, 2021

Unmissable for Xbox Game Pass subscribers, and absolutely recommended for everyone else, The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti tells with irony and intelligence the path of artistic and inner growth of a talented teenage musician. Through the celestial bodies of Stupefacosmo, the protagonist and the player learn together to follow only the rhythm of their electric guitar, among extraordinarily inspired landscapes.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Lee Mehr
Top Critic
7.5 / 10.0
Sep 8, 2021

Beethoven & Dinosaur's musical odyssey across the universe isn't as adventurous with its gameplay as its venues, but that doesn't stop The Artful Escape from being a fun ride.

Read full review

70 / 100
Sep 8, 2021

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.

Read full review

Unscored
Sep 8, 2021
The Artful Escape | Review in 3 Minutes video thumbnail
7.5 / 10.0
Dec 11, 2019

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.

Read full review

10 / 10
Sep 9, 2021

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.

Read full review

GamingBolt
Pramath
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Sep 8, 2021

The Artful Escape is an incredible odyssey of self discovery, and its few shortcomings don't hold it back from being an excursion patently worth making.

Read full review

7 / 10.0
Sep 8, 2021

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.

Read full review

10 / 10.0
Sep 9, 2021

Ultimately, The Artful Escape is so stellar in terms of both character building and narrative

Read full review