Who are you, when everyone around you says that you’re somebody else? That’s the question that The Artful Escape explores. A beautiful cacophony of movie-like visuals, it’s not so much a game, but rather an interactive story with game-like moments. You would be in for a disappointment if you expect challenging, exciting gameplay. If you look at it from the perspective of an interactive story, that’s when The Artful Escape truly shines. Coming-of-age stories have never looked so spectacular.
The Artful Escape puts you into the shoes of Francis Vendetti, nephew of the famous (and dead) folk music star, Johnson Vendetti. His town is hosting a carnival to celebrate Johnson’s legacy, and Francis is expected to perform. Can he ever live up to everyone’s expectations of what he should be?
The story started off slow, and kind of boring. It felt extremely linear, and there wasn’t much I could do, besides interacting with some townspeople and objects. At this point, my frame of expectation was still that of a “Game”, instead of of an “Interactive Story”.
The story gives you a hint of what is to come through visions of rainbows, in which Francis gets a sense of what he could be, or perhaps who he truly is. This is echoed again when we finally enter his room, to find that he is no country-folk singer. His soul is that of an avant-garde, psychedelic, rock star!
Through the game, we see Francis slowly discover who he is as he journeys around the galaxy, riffing his way through alien planets and entertaining the creme-de-la-creme of tastemakers across the universe. He battles the expectations of his community, his traveling party, and hardest of all…the expectations he has of himself, all of this while looking spectacularly fabulous.
Deep-dive: Game-like elements in an interactive story
Nothing you do in the story has any impact on the final outcome. There is no actual agency in that sense. You can’t fail, as the story just brings you back to an arbitrary checkpoint.
I’m deliberately avoiding calling The Artful Escape a game. There could be a whole other article and a million arguments on why it is or is not a game, but I would prefer to dive into a topic I find more interesting: the game-like elements that are present within The Artful Escape.
While the narrative in this story is extremely linear, it does introduce some game-like elements, that aims to bring the player through Francis’ journey as he discovers himself
- Platform-like elements
- Memory challenges
- Character creation
1. Platform-like elements
The story uses platform-like elements that gradually increase in difficulty as the player progresses through the story. From basic running and jumping at the start of the game, to sliding, floating, and riffing through a laser beam at the end, the player explores new worlds in various new ways. As he discovers new places, he also discovers more about what he can do.
It’s a pretty straightforward metaphor, and it isn’t that difficult. You can’t even fail, as you just restart from a checkpoint if you fall off a cliff. Perhaps the objective of the platforming part of the story isn’t the game-like interaction itself, but rather what the player goes through as part of this part of the story. Sometimes you just have the stop and smell the (alien) flowers!
While running through alien planets, Francis is able to play a riff on his guitar, that would result in a wide variety of delightful visual explosions of colour and motion! Animals start dancing, plants start moving, and lights start shining out of nowhere! The platform run is just a medium for us, the player, to enjoy the world around Francis, and the joy he brings to the world through his existence.
2. Memory challenges
Here again, it’s almost impossible to fail. There’s a “health” bar of sorts, but it’s huge. You could fail a memory challenge several times and still be nowhere near the end of the health bar. Some of the boss “battles” proved to be slightly tricky, but it was nothing that a few more tries couldn’t fix
What I found enjoyable was the ability to “remix” what I was expected to play. I don’t have to play the five notes like how the boss played it. I can hold a note longer, I can let the pause sit for a bit longer, and speed through the next four notes. I can play the music how I like.
3. Character creation
Fundamentally, the entire story is a long character creation mini-game. Although the choices you make don’t matter in terms of how the game storyline goes, they matter in the kind of character you are building for Francis. There are three ways you can build Francis’ character within the story.
Firstly, you are given the chance early in your space adventure to re-tell your story. You’re not Francis Vendetti from a small town in the middle of nowhere. You’re an intergalactic rockstar! I chose to rename Francis “The Whimsical Tempeh”, building the backstory of a rogue, born on the planet of Garmoth.
Does this in any way impact how the story goes? Not in the slightest. What it does impact, are some of the conversation choices that happen through the game, as references are made to your character's name and background. At the end of the game, Francis gleefully declares “I AM THE WHIMSICAL TEMPEH”. Whatever your name was, that was what would have been plastered in the middle of the screen. What’s important, however, is that you were the one who chose it.
Conversation choices are another way you build your character. This is despite none of your conversation choices having an impact on the game’s ending. While playing the story, I found it slightly disempowering, and frankly kind of annoying. What’s the point of offering different conversation options if they don’t mean anything in the end?
After mulling about it, maybe the choices do matter, in the sense that you made the choice. You made the choice to be snarky, witty, or insecure. And that’s the kind of character you are making as Francis.
Near the end of the story, when Francis is closer to embracing his true self, we are given the option of exploring an inter-dimensional closet/mall/portal where can pick and choose different wild outfits, for us to prepare for the final boss. From black lace garters (almost chose this) to neon rocker suits, Francis can truly be all he is meant to be, both inside and out.
Before this moment, we had no agency in how Francis looked. He starts off looking like a folk musician, as that is what is expected of him. When he starts space adventuring, he then transforms into this metallic space jumpsuit. Only near the end are we given a choice, and perhaps that is representative of Francis finally embracing who he is, that he can reflect that on the outside as well.
The Artful Escape is a story about discovering yourself
I still don’t think that The Artful Escape, as a work of art in its totality, can truly be considered a game. If it were to be viewed and critiqued through the lens of a game, it would be quite boring. Much of the beauty of the The Artful Escape comes from the reflection the player goes through, while interacting with the game-like elements in the story. This isn’t like a Fable or Skyrim, where acting snarky and funny can impact different storylines further on in the game. The actions you make in the game only impact you, in how you interpret the character you are creating. Viewing this purely through a game lens could be seen as boring, as one you expect some form of feedback/impact of your in-game actions.
What The Artful Escape does do well is use game-like elements effectively to explore and expose how beautiful one’s individuality is, and how much joy it can bring the world. By being yourself, the whole universe is a much brighter place for everyone around you. Francis found himself, after running through space, playing for alien lords, flying through inter-dimensional portals. What do you need to do to find yourself?
