The Artful Escape

[DANGERMAN]

I'm enjoying this but as a game it's very basic. The plot is that you're the nephew of a world famous folk singer, the small town you live in is obsessed with him and expects you to follow in his footsteps. You're a good guitarist, but you're not a folk guitarist, so you set off on a metaphysical journey of self discovery

 

It looks amazing, not so much the animations which are terrible, but everything else. Loads of colour and use of lights and reflections, it's as nice a looking game as I've played in ages.

 

Gameplay wise though, it's very simple floaty platforming, then games of Simon where you match prompts using the face buttons to play guitar riffs. Despite that I'm really enjoying it, it's definitely style over substance, and it's hardly the most relatable tale ever told, but it's interesting at least, and doesn't look like much else

[Maryokutai]

Same here, started this yesterday evening. Wasn't quite what I expected, as I thought it'd be a bit like the Rayman Legends music stages, but this is pretty much just holding the stick towards one direction and very ocasionally jumping and using X to light up the scenery. I enjoyed what I played (dialogue and voice acting is pretty good thankfully because there's lots of talking) but I think I would have preferred if there was more gaming substance here. Right now it feels a bit like how I imagine these "story" difficulty settings must feel in an RPG, but I think this could have worked with a bit more rhythm-based stuff as an optional game mode. 

 

But as a visual experience it's really fantastic and from what I can tell it's not going to overstay its welcome because after 90 minutes I'm close to the halfway point already.

[mfnick]

Well, that was a surprise. Everything I heard sounded like I wouldn’t like it.
But at the same time enough said it was amazing and even the odd person said it was a GoTY contender that my curiosity peaked. Add to that it’s less than 5 hours long and on Game Pass had nothing to lose really. So glad I tried it. I’m not even sure why, but this game has hit me in a pretty special way. Completed it in 2 sittings. I just couldn’t put it down. Probably would have done it in 1 if I didn’t have to get up for work. 

 

Im not really going to go into it since I went it completely fresh & 100% that is the way to go into this. It’s basically a 2D walking sim. Dangerman has described the gameplay, you walk right and tap jump sometimes inbetween talking to characters with the odd game of Simon Says button pressing. But please do not let that put you off. Just give it a go, get past a certain moment (you’ll know it when you reach it, trust me, it’s not far in) it still might not click for you but it if it does, you’ll be thankful. Like I said, I really didn’t think it would for me but it definitely did. 
 

It is genuinely one of the best looking games/experiences I’ve ever played. I had to stop myself just taking screenshots constantly. The voice acting is fantastic. I actually let out a laugh at times. Loved the characters. Had some great touching moments and sliding, jumping and pressing the X button mid air just felt so satisfying for some reason to me too even though really there’s nothing to it. 
 

I need a bit of space from completing it before I say for sure since it’s a bit too fresh and really got under my skin but it’s probably going to be there fighting at the top for my goty. 
 

Some screens but please don’t look unless you’ve given up on it or played it. Honestly you want to see this stuff fresh for yourself. I had no idea this type of thing was in the game. Mostly from early in the game as I stopped myself taking screens to just enjoy the experience later. 
 

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[DisturbedSwan]

Finished this last night in just under 5 hours.

 

It's alright. It's pretty much an Adventure game with occasional very light platforming elements with a virtual version of Bop-It required for the jamming parts. You talk to quite a few people and explore a town right at the beginning then things get a lot crazier and the light platforming and jamming sessions come into play. You pretty much just walk to the left and right with the occasional jump required through some really wacky, trippy, psychedelic environments teeming with colour and a plethora of outer worldly sights and sounds. It's incredibly brainless and not taxing in the slightest, most levels I just slid through whilst holding X down so that the environment came to life behind me. Then you go back to the base, talk to a few people before travelling to another strange psychedelic place. 

 

As others have said, the voice acting is superb (I noted Lena Headey, Carl Weathers, Jason Schwartzman and others in the credits), the sense of humour and writing is generally excellent too. It often feels like you're taking a rollercoaster ride through some really strange, vibrant, weird and wonderful worlds, jamming with a strange creature or two along your way. 

 

I enjoyed it but the way it play was just so uninvolved and unsatisfying that it only rose slightly above average for me in the end. I recommend it if you've got Game Pass as it's a nice palette cleanser kinda game, but if I'd of spent £15+ on it I'd of been a bit annoyed. 

 

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