The Artful Escape Reviews
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. While the experience stumbles a bit due to some dull platforming areas, the groovy universe Beethoven & Dinosaur have crafted is one that players should take the time to fully explore.
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.
Rock opera and space opera meet for some artful escapism.
There hasn't been a guitar-based adventure as excellent as The Artful Escape since Bill met Ted.
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.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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
The Artful Escape is a narratively daring game, original and unique in its artistic section, and with a sound treatment both in the soundtrack and in the casting of stellar voices. Although it has flaws that may detract from its attractiveness for many users, it is a highly recommended title and that, in one way or another, will be recorded on your retina.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The Artful Escape is unique and plays like a little shiny gem.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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
Overall, The Artful Escape isn't a long journey, nor is it a short one. It’s the “just right” sort of journey that you really want to see with a game like this, and I very much enjoyed my time with it.
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
Are you ready to shred on your guitar and discover how groovy the universe really is? In The Artful Escape, you will become Francis Vendetti, a young musical prodigy trying to find his place in this world. After spending most of his life in the shadow of a famous relative, it's time for Francis to look to the stars and discover his true potential.
As a guitar-shredding odyssey throughout a stunning cosmos, The Artful Escape delivers on its name tenfold. It is a short tale and I'm in no hurry to book a return trip to the Cosmic Extraordinary, but it remains an unforgettable journey thanks to superb art direction, an uplifting story, and stirring guitar solos by cliffside.
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
It won't challenge your platforming skills, and the action boils down to galactic Simon Says, but The Artful Escape is a gorgeous experience that makes you feel utterly cool
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
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.
Here we have a game that I can say should be played at least once by everyone who loves their games relaxing and that will bring a smile to your face with every twist and turn. The only downside is that anyone who hates music will struggle here but I suspect that may be a mere few. Annapurna Interactive has delivered a delightful game, a fabulous game, a psychedelic adventure that simply is an experience to behold and then some. Psychedelic supremacy has arrived. Now, where’s my Fender?!
I would absolutely score it a “Bill & Ted air guitar riff out of ten” if I could.