After many years of development, rock opera adventure The Artful Escape has finally announced its release date.
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The Artful Escape kicked off Annapurna Interactive‘s debut showcase yesterday (July 29) with a new trailer confirming both a star-studded voice cast as well as release date for September 9 where it will launch on PC, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, as well as being available on Xbox Game Pass.
Players take the role of Francis Vendetti, struggling with living up to the legacy of his uncle Johnson Vendetti, a dead folk legend who’s like an alternate world’s Bob Dylan.
Through his own imagination, the teenager embarks on a psychedelic journey where the player can help create their own stage persona, backstory, and jam out in surreal, alien and cosmic environment.
The voice cast includes Michael Johnston in the lead role, Caroline Kinley, as well as Game Of Thrones‘ Lena Headey, Wes Anderson regular Jason Schwartzman, Kingman‘s Mark Strong, and The Mandalorian‘s Carl Weathers.
Outside of the showcase, an additional gameplay walkthrough video was also uploaded where The Artful Escape‘s creative director Johnny Galvatron was on hand to explain some of the game’s features, notably how shredding on Francis’ electric guitar will allow him to traverse environments such as hovering in the air of knee-sliding across the ground.
“We wanted the shredding of the game to feel powerful and effortless, the way that some games depict the mastery of combat,” says Galvatron in the video.
As a music-themed game, there appears to be rhythm-based mini-games too, but overall, there’s a diverse mix of styles that include choice-based narrative adventure, surreal platforming, and a number of ways to customise Francis’ persona to the player’s taste.
Other announcements during the Annapurna Interaction showcase included more details on first-person action game Neon White, a surprise expansion for Outer Wilds, and the formation of a new studio Ivy Road from the developers behind The Stanley Parable, Gone Home, and Minecraft.
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