Written by Games of DAYNE | Reviewed on Xbox Series X

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The Artful Escape lives up to the definition of artistic on every level. Francis Vendetti is the teenage nephew of a folk icon and on the eve of his debut performance, embarks on a psychedelic adventure through multiple dimensions as he grapples with the legacy of a dead folk legend. Inspired to develop his stage persona, Francis’ adventure of cosmic self-discovery will take him to alien world full of bright, brilliant, living sets with a kick-ass rock energy that never waivers.

Played from the perspective of a side-scroller, The Artful Escape is an expression of artistic brilliance that looks and sounds like a rock opera at every turn, never ceasing to deliver epic set pieces during its brief three-to-four hour runtime that encompasses platforming and rhythm elements.

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As soon as The Artful Escape begins, it’s difficult not to be instantly mesmerised by its stunning art direction. The story is as fast paced as it’s energetic soundtrack and quickly takes the player, as Francis, through different dimensions that are nothing short of a visual marvel. They are bright, flashy, and essentially living sets that come to life through the power of Francis’ music.

Whisked away through the very fabric of space by an alien named Zomm, who, might I add, cuts an amusing figure as a floating brain-in-a-jar-for-a-head. Giving Francis a guitar and a super-slick bodysuit to replace his not-so-rockstar pyjamas. Suited up and guitar in hand, what follows is nothing short of magical.

The characters that Francis meets on his space rock odyssey are so diverse, creative, and weird. Most of the aliens naturally speak English but there’s a handful that make weird noises, talk in saxophone sounds or even outright scream at him. Playfully quirky character design keeps things fun as more often than not Francis simply passes them by, striking chords of cosmic brilliance as he does. Dialogue options are available for most conversations and the lines to choose from are typically comedic or sarcastic, as are the responses they elicit. There is a fair amount of dialogue so it’s a pleasant surprise that it’s enjoyable and entertaining.

Where The Artful Escape gets its most vibrant and exciting visual juices flowing is with its jaw-droppingly stunning environments. Whether it’s a jungle, desert or sci-fi cityscape for instance, developer BEETHOVEN & DINOSAUR have taken these simple locales and brought them to life in every way possible. Plants and alien wildlife spring to life, typically releasing stunning flashes or beams of light and ships whizz by like a mobile strobe light unit. Every single location is like a musical stage and everything within it serves to put on an unforgettable light show.

As far as the gameplay goes, things couldn’t be simpler. Running through the worlds jumping, air-kicking, and sliding while able to continuously hold a dedicated shred button to play the guitar on the go, emphasising the performance aspect of The Artful Escape as the priority of the experience.

The platforming is extremely simple and fails to distract from the epic soundtrack playing in the background, added to as often or as little as the player wants with Francis’ guitar. Striking these chords illuminated essentially everything and everyone in the environment as he passes them by, literally turning every location into a continuous light show. Shredding on the guitar, regardless of stopping and starting, seems to always pick back up in tune with the underlying soundtrack which lends to a seamless audio experience that makes the experience so special.

If the gameplay sounds a little too simplistic, that’s because it is. Platforming in its most basic form, nearly continuous running from the second the game is started until its credits roll and limited character interactions throughout, the meat of the gameplay in terms of depth exists in the jam battles.

Not unlike Simon Says, these duels against ‘bosses’ for lack of a better term spice up the gameplay with its rhythm, call-and-response type approach. There are five buttons that can be pressed and these ‘bosses’ cleverly have that configuration incorporated into their designs. They will illuminate in a particular order that the player must then match exactly.

These are pretty straight forward, though as the game progresses, they do get faster and that’s where mistakes tend to get made. Luckily, there is no consequence for making a mistake and the sequence will be played again until the player nails it. The foresight to remove consequence from the gameplay has allowed the developers to provide a seamlessly immersive experience that avoids frustration from setting in. Overall, the gameplay does tend to feel a little repetitive towards the end but as the adventure will take four hours at most, it doesn’t have time to settle in and spur the experience.

Customisation becomes available towards the end of the game that opens up some fun and appropriate freedom as far as kitting out Francis in attire to resemble their desired persona. Some KISS inspired faceprint in particular is fun to play with but there are a wide variety of options to choose from that include pants, shirts, jackets, gloves, bodysuits, and face-paint.

The use of stunning lateral tracking shots pulls the camera back as Francis continues forward to the right, capturing the insanely beautiful environment and the light show triggered from the guitars thunderous chords. It’s mesmerising, awe-inspiring and pretty unforgettable. The camera tightens up and gets in close when passing through hub areas but it’s the moments where there is nothing but Francis and the open space-road, so to speak, that lets The Artful Escape tell a visual story worthy of its excellent audio counterpart.

The Artful Escape is a visual delight and an audio treat, period. Creativity bursts from every seam of the striking environments and transformative illumination in everything blessed by Francis’ every strum bring the world to life in a way that simply needs to be experienced to be believed. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience that won’t likely be forgotten by the player long after curtain’s been called. It may be short and it may be simple but there is absolutely no doubt that it is one of the most joyful experiences to be had in a video game.

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+ Jaw-dropping visuals

+ Epic, energetic score

+ Francis’ control over visual cues with his guitar

+ Clever alien design

+ Beautiful camera work

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– Gameplay is far too simple

– The story isn’t particularly interesting

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Developed by: BEETHOVEN & DINOSAUR

Published by: Annapurna Interactive

Release Date: September 9 2021

Platforms: Xbox One/Series X|S and PC

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– Additional Links –

For more of my reviews, click HERE.

To see this review and other multi-platform content from my associates at BG4G, click HERE.

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To see all the latest news and reviews from the team at Game News Aus, including this review, click HERE.

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All digital photography was captured in-game by Games of DAYNE on Xbox Series X

The post The Artful Escape Review first appeared on Games of DAYNE.

Twelve Minutes is an interactive thriller with a star-studded cast trapped in an intriguing time-loop mechanic. A husband finds himself trapped in a repeating twelve-minute time loop that restarts regardless if he lives or dies. Unable to escape it, the player must guide him to uncover new clues, conversations, and information regarding the background of his wife and himself, retaining this information with every ‘loop’.

A thrilling narrative throws twists at every turn and its most shocking revelation is kept until the end, one that is certain to have people talking about it for a long time. Whether you enjoy it or not, Twelve Minutes is an experience you will remember.

It’s important to note right off the bat that the gameplay in Twelve Minutes takes place in twelve-minute loops in real time. In that window players must interact with things within the living room/kitchen open area, bathroom, bedroom, and closet to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the happily married couple. These rooms never change. The objects and points of interest that can be interacted with never change. Everything the player will need is here already and not only does that make future playthroughs significantly faster, it also speeds up the progression with each loop that passes.

There were wild numbers of 6-8 hours thrown around in the media for a playthrough but my first at launch took less than two hours to complete the game and all but one of the missable endings. Having replayed the game dozens of times in search of one last missing ending, a player that knows what they’re doing can be done in just over an hour but first-time players that are logically minded and take note of the significance of the dialogue will likely sit around the two-hour mark.

The idea of each loop is to learn a pivotal piece of information that can be used in future loops to uncover additional vital clues. With a little over a dozen interactable objects and new dialogue opening when new things are discovered the search area, for lack of a better term, is very small. Failing to pay attention to dialogue however could send a player mad searching for things they don’t have the answer too. I cannot stress enough how important it is to take note of dialogue from the three core characters in Twelve Minutes – husband, the wife, and the cop. The story can start out in a familiar fashion but can take wild and unexpected turns based on things like dialogue had in previous loops that can change the characters’ moods and reactions for instance.

The puzzles the player must solve by connecting information or using objects on other things are clever but not overly complicated. For example, if something needs unscrewed, a knife, spoon or even a key are logical tools to try. Once a particular puzzle has been solved it’s likely to be used again in future loops. While this may sound repetitive, given the brief length of the thrilling story it is all over before that has a chance to settle in. As for repeated dialogue, that can be fast forwarded once heard for the first time. For a game focused on reliving the same twelve minutes over and over it does a fine job of evading the monotony of repetition.

Brought to life by James McAvoy, Daisy Ridley and Willem Dafoe, the unnamed husband, wife, and cop respectively deliver solid performances, as could be expected by performers of their calibre. Twelve Minutes throws these three characters in a wild combination of situations that allow incredible emotional range in their performances that encompass romance, fear, excitement, and shock. Without these top shelf performances, the nameless characters could easily have buckled under the weight of their narrative arcs and leave the player to witness forgettable characters in unforgettable situations.

A point and click title with this level of production quality is a first, with Twelve Minutes utilising an extremely simplistic set of gameplay mechanics in an almost claustrophobic explorable area that manages to stand out. For such a small game it tells a big story, with deep characters, clever twists and turns and a shocking revelation that stay with the player long after the credits have rolled. With multiple endings to experience that are influenced by the player’s decisions, interactions and dialogue at key moments, the replay value is incredible. And as additional playthroughs will only take an hour before being able to set up these new endings, it’s short enough to replay several times without tedium setting in.

Twelve Minutes is an incredible experience. A simple genre, a complex mystery and excellent production value all come together much like its layered narrative to provide an emotional impact on a level that I personally haven’t witnessed in a video game. As I’ve mentioned, love it or hate it, you will remember Twelve Minutes.

+ Top notch cast and voice acting

+ Incredibly layered mystery

+ Deep and ever-evolving narrative

+ Fun time loop mechanic

+ Beautiful score

+ Perfect length

– Controls a little clunky and unresponsive at times

+/- Shock value of the ending

Without spoiling the ending, the nature of it is without doubt intended for shock value. Regardless of whether the player picks up on clues along the way, seeing it unfold is memorable for the right or wrong reasons as per the player’s interpretation and feelings towards it.

Developed by: Luis Antonio

Published by: Annapurna Interactive

Release Date: August 19 2021

Platforms: Xbox One/Series X|S and PC

* Twelve Minutes is available in Xbox Game Pass *

 * Players looking to unlock all of the Achievements can find my 100% walkthrough made for Achievement Land HERE. This will get you all of the Achievements in less than 2 hours *

– Additional Links –

For more of my reviews, click HERE.

To see this review and other multi-platform content from my associates at BG4G, click HERE.

For this and additional reviews, latest news, trailers and more from the rest of the team at Xbox Gamer Dad and One More Game, click HERE.

To see all the latest news and reviews from the team at Game News Aus, including this review, click HERE.

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All digital photography was captured in-game on Xbox Series X by Games of DAYNE

The post Twelve Minutes Review first appeared on Games of DAYNE.

Morris Lupton was once the curator of Shelmerston Museum, passing away in 2019 at 62 years old. Despite being dead, Morris embarks on one last adventure in I am Dead to prevent a not-so-dormant volcano from destroying the island that is home to the museum, his past and its inhabitants.

Light puzzle solving is required to uncover the memories of other ghosts, find their mementos and complete optional riddles in this puzzle/treasure hunt adventure animated with charming visuals and a relaxing score.

Immediately, I am Dead paints two pictures, excuse the pun. One is that it features gorgeous painting-like visuals and the other is that its protagonist is, as mentioned, dead.

Discovering the afterlife in fact exists Morris is soon reunited with the spirit of his departed dog, Sparky. Guided by his spectral canine companion, Morris needs to convince a fellow ghost to take on the role of the island’s spirit to stop the eruption.

To do so Morris needs to learn what he can about the ghost that occupies each of the six levels by interacting with characters connected to their past. Each of the six levels are in unique locations and can be panned around, zoomed in and out of and feature a wealth of items and characters that can be interacted with. Unable to physically interact with the world however, Morris does so by ‘slicing’. Slicing allows Morris to hone in on an object with impeccable detail and even see inside them. Slicing can be done to objects but also aspects of the environment. For instance, a building or a tent can be sliced to see what or who resides inside and often this is where key characters or object interactions are.

Each level has five memories and five mementos to discover. Interacting with specific characters will uncover the memory and the memento will be in that same area that corresponds with the memory in the form of an object that may be visible or might need sliced to find it hidden within something else.

Memories are text-based monologues that accompany images that are distorted and must be solved by rotating them with the triggers until reaching the sweet spot which can be felt by controller vibration. Aligning the image perfectly will complete that portion of the memory and unlock a new piece of dialogue before a new image must be aligned. This repeats a few times until the memory is complete.

From here the nearby memento must be discovered which is visually identified in the top left of the screen after completing the memory. Simply searching in the immediate area, slicing objects of necessary to find and unlock it.

Only by completing all five memories and finding all five mementos is the level ready to be completed which, in line with the rest of the game, is quirky, unusual, and interesting. Morris can summon Sparky, who becomes controllable by the player, to float around the location and bark at grey spirit essence, turning yellow when collected and take them to the ghost to reanimate them and allow them to commune with Morris.

Aside from the primary objectives tied to memories and mementos, each level has a list of riddles that need to be completed. Somewhere on each level there is point that serves as the starting point where a riddle can be selected, an object that needs found is shown on screen and the player must race to its location as fast as possible to complete the challenge.

The other optional objective is to collect Grenkins, island spirits that are released when specific objects are found, sliced, and matched up to a pattern. Sparky notifies the player when these are nearby. These are completely optional and are a fun complimentary feature to flesh out the game a little more.

Stunning visual playgrounds that host the memory/memento treasure hunts of each level are so vibrant and lively, a fun contrast to the very dead yet playable Morris. Some of the animations are goofy in a fun way, particularly Sparky. For a title so static and focused on its imagery I am Dead manages to feel so animated. A relaxing score and charming sound design round out a rather soothing presentation that relieves the tension most puzzle-based titles tend to create.

I am Dead tells an intriguing story, on an interesting island full of quirky characters. The message it conveys is effectively told through its presentation, fun puzzles. clever memories and mementos. Coming in at around an hour and a half to two hours for players familiar with puzzle titles I am Dead feels like an appropriate length while causal players won’t be too far behind as the puzzles are basic and only minimal trouble should be encountered looking for mementos when considering they are always immediately nearby.

+ Beautiful art design

+ Soothing score

+ Cool memory/mementos concept

+ Interesting story

– Limited replayability

– Voiced characters would add to their depth

Developed by: Hollow Ponds

Published by: Annapurna Interactive

Release Date: August 9 2021

Platforms: Xbox One/Series X|S, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch and PC

* A digital code was kindly provided by the Publisher for the purpose of this review *

– Additional Links –

For more of my reviews, click HERE.

To see this review and other multi-platform content from my associates at BG4G, click HERE.

For this and additional reviews, latest news, trailers and more from the rest of the team at Xbox Gamer Dad and One More Game, click HERE.

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All digital photography was captured in-game on Xbox Series X by Games of DAYNE

The post I am Dead Review first appeared on Games of DAYNE.

Last Stop is a unique supernatural adventure from the playable perspective of three protagonists. Each character has their own story that spans seven chapters that gradually sees their lives overlap and interconnect, even though they don’t know it.

A charming art design, playful score and assortment of themes come together for a surprisingly good experience that doesn’t quite wrap things up as well as it sets them up.

The seven chapter story takes around five hours to play through and, with the exception of the last chapter, has a sub-chapter for each of the three characters. What immediately establishes Last Stop as a unique narrative is that each character’s story feels completely different thematically. The following is a brief breakdown of the three storylines and the characters they relate to;

“Paper Dolls” focuses on John as the playable character, a middle-aged solo parent to eight year old daughter Molly. John’s story unfolds as he and Jack, a neighbour half his age, find themselves switched into each other’s bodies. Not only do they have to learn to like each other they must learn to live as each other and raise Molly. John’s story is funny, the most heart-warming and overall entertaining.

“Domestic Affairs” stars Meena, a government agent embroiled in tension-laden situations at work and in her home life with her husband and son. Meena’s story is dramatic, serious and mysterious.

“Stranger Danger” features teenage Donna and her friends kidnapping a man and finding themselves in the middle of something seriously strange. This story arc features the least interesting cast of characters outside of the mysterious ‘handsome man’ but easily contains the most interesting in regards to the supernatural elements.

There is an uneven flow to the interweaving character arcs each chapter. While all three character’s stories must be played in order to progress, they can be played in any order. The contrasting themes of each arc limits the pacing overall while each have their own pros and cons as far as their individual progression.

John’s is light and constantly manages to draw a smile while remaining interesting. The serious nature of Meena’s feels the most out of place though it’s Donna’s that fails to be engaging on any level with the singular exception of the mysterious ‘handsome man’, who he is and what he wants. Donna, her friends and family fail to feel interesting at every turn which is a genuine shame considering the supernatural intrigue more prevalent in her arc than the others.

By making Last Stop an episodic-type affair, including a previous episode recap for each character, the constant cliff-hangers work effectively in making you want more. As the story approaches its end in the build-up to the final chapter, Last Stop takes a potentially wrong turn as the character driven story we had become accustomed to takes a backseat to a narrative direction that comes from nowhere.

The supernatural aspects of Last Stop are cleverly yet subtly interwoven into the story for six chapters before switching lanes to an admittedly interesting but unnecessary destination that undermines the character-driven story that preceded it. The ideas explored in the final chapter aren’t unwelcome but rather they’re just a little unexpected and would have worked a little better if this conclusion was built towards in a more gradual manner. It almost feels like two different games because of this one chapter, and while each are interesting in their own right the finale just feels out of place.

Played from the third person perspective Last Stop is essentially walking around, making dialogue choices and some basic interactions, activities and puzzles to solve. Fun mini-games such as throwing, repairing broken plates and bowls and investigating a house made for some cool gameplay moments.

The camera unfortunately is an absolute nightmare. Scene changes, particularly where the player goes from walking towards the screen to another direction, can cause some issues. Transitions from gameplay and cinematics and vise versa are also problematic in that it is not always clear when one has ended and the other has begun. For instance, a cinematic of characters walking suddenly changes to gameplay and you just stop. A minor inconvenience but a very regularly occurring one.

The score is cleverly tailored to each character’s story and reflects the tones and themes relevant to them. John’s is often light and upbeat, Meena’s is melodramatic and tense while Donna’s is often eerie. It is handled very well and makes each story feel unique and individual. A playfully soft art direction is reminiscent of later Telltale Games titles, it feels adventurous and charming.

Last Stop is great experience and one that clocks in just under five hours. This feels like the perfect length and each character feels as though they have enough time to shine in each of their arcs. While the ending takes away from the emotional narrative that was established it does still bring each character to a satisfying ending, with each character presented with one of two choices at the end that simply changes the ending montage. Last Stop is worth the time.

+ Each character’s arc feels distinctly different

+ John’s story arc

+ Interesting supernatural elements

+ Perfect length

 – Final chapter undermines emotional build-up and feels out of place

 – Camera issues

 – Cinematic-gameplay transition and vise versa is not clear

Developed by: Variable State

Published by: Annapurna Interactive

Release Date: July 22 2021

Platforms: Xbox One/Series X|S, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch and PC

– Additional Links –

For more of my reviews, click HERE.

To see this review and other multi-platform content from my associates at BG4G, click HERE.

For this and additional reviews, latest news, trailers and more from the rest of the team at Xbox Gamer Dad and One More Game, click HERE.

To see all the latest news and reviews from the team at Game News Aus, including this review, click HERE.

Don’t forget to also follow Games of DAYNE on: Twitter, Facebook and YouTube!

All digital photography was captured in-game on Xbox Series X by Games of DAYNE

The post Last Stop Review first appeared on Games of DAYNE.