[EXPlay] Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist | Nintendo Switch

Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, whilst also taking the time to include some lengthy gameplay, to give you the reader, the chance to shape your own impressions and views whilst watching and reading.

In this explanatory review, we’re covering Passportout 2: The Lost Artist by developer Flamebait Games:

Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist (The Explanation)

Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist paints its way onto the Nintendo Switch  as a point-and-click adventure with a painting and drawing twist. You play as an artist recently kicked out of their home later landing on the island of Phénix. The town is hub for small shops and unique townspeople all starving for artistic sensibilities in their every day lives.

 

Starting off in the game you find yourself ashore with a few townsfolk looking for help with some various work to be done. In the beginning hour of the game I had to paint for a few different characters to help showcase my skills, brighten up their bakery, and create a poster for propaganda which I later saw plastered on the walls and sides of buildings. I also got to design a car advertisement which I later saw driving in the streets around the center of town.

 

Passpartout 2 presents its world and inhabitants in a claymation diorama look and feel which I found unique and overall appealing to me. The characters you meet move and bounce about as they talk to you and walk along their set paths. As you talk with characters dialogue options pop down from above on ropes and chalkboard like a child preforming a homemade play.

 

The game world opens up as you progress with areas blocked that require you to have a set amount of tools in your artist backpack. Other areas open up as characters you interact with gain your trust and need your assistance. Talking with NPCs initiate tasks for them some of which require you to draw or paint something for them to fulfill their task, others might give you an item to give to another character in town.

 

When you get a chance to paint or draw in Passpartout 2 you have a select number of tools and canvas types which you can create your art on. Other tools and canvases can be purchased and found around the town as you explore trash cans and fulfill quests from NPCs. Since you are drawing with the control stick, your amount of creativity may be limited and as far as I can see there isn’t really a way to fail the drawing task. That means you can put as little or as much into the drawings to complete the objectives. I would recommend though, if you plan on playing the game, to give it your full level of creativity as your artwork is displayed around town in the gameworld.

 

Navigating the world of Passpartout 2 is pretty simple as you can walk around with the left stick, and interact with certain people and items you find in the town with the A button. Checking trash cans oftentimes netted me a new canvas type to create pieces to sell or give to townsfolk.

 

One area of the game that was slightly confusing is knowing where to go to help progress the story or gain access to certain areas of the gameworld. It wasn’t always clear to me who I needed to talk with or what I was supposed to do to gain passage into a new area or move the story along. I didn’t dig into all of the settings so there may be some help in the games menus to alleviate some of those issues.

 

Overall, Passpartout 2, is a very chill game without combat, but heavy on the creativity and interactions with townspeople. There is a lot of reading in the game and your objectives come from that dialogue with NPCs. There are a lot of tools to unlock like spray cans, different brush sizes and styles, sponges and more. The game has a lot to do and a heavy emphasis on being creative and building out the town to your liking. If you are looking for a game where your artistic creativity can soar, Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist, might just be the game you are looking for this holiday season.

Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist (The Gameplay)

Game Specifications:

Developer: Flamebait Games
Publisher: Flamebait
Platform: Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Category: Simulation, Adventure, Education
No. of Players: 1 (Single System)
Release Date: NA| EU: November 14, 2023
Price: $24.99
File Size: 1.7 GB
Nintendo.com Listing