Info about Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist:

Official game description:
  
Draw and sell art on the go using your handy foldable easel. Explore the endearing puppet town, get to know the residents and what makes them tick. Help them out with commissions, like drawing a new ad for Steve's restaurant! Or why not buy a studio so you can work from home, just like the good old days?  
Use your hard-earned cash to treat yourself in the art supplies store. Maybe one of the many new tools will tickle your fancy? The crayon they just got in stock looks pretty sweet! Or perhaps that heart-shaped canvas? You as an artist needs every edge you can get to stand out! The residents of Phénix may also carry some cool items they could give you, if you help them out of course.  
Revive your art career and take on the challenge of the Museum of the Masters in the art-starved town of Phénix! You are Passpartout, once a renowned artist whose glory was lost after a mysterious disappearance. But now, with your landlord putting you on the street, it's time to pick up your brush and show the world your true talent.  
*   Easy point & click gameplay, for a chill time exploring and interacting with the world.  
*   Literally drawing your own art, unlocking fancier tools along the way.  
*   Selling your art on the street, or in your studio.  
*   Doing commissions for the townsfolk of Phénix!

Release date: 4 Apr, 2023

Categories: Art Creation, Exploration, Resource Management, Single-player Story, Mission-based Gameplay, Point-and-click Adventure


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Vastly improved and enjoyable sequel (weight 0.99): Players overwhelmingly praise the game as a significant improvement over its predecessor, highlighting its expanded content, deeper story, and more engaging gameplay. The game is consistently described as fun, relaxing, and a delightful experience that exceeds expectations.
- Fosters creativity and artistic confidence (weight 0.42): The game is highly effective in fostering creativity and helping players overcome artistic blocks. Many reviewers noted that it inspired them to draw more, explore new art styles, and even boosted their confidence in their artistic abilities, making art creation feel accessible and meaningful.
- Expanded art tools and options (weight 0.35): The game offers a significantly expanded array of artistic tools, brushes, canvases, and color palettes compared to the first installment. This increased variety provides more creative freedom and depth, allowing players to experiment and develop their art with greater complexity.
- Satisfying painting and selling loop (weight 0.33): The core loop of painting and selling artwork is a major highlight. Players enjoy the freedom to create anything they want, the satisfaction of selling their pieces, and seeing their art displayed throughout the town, which adds a sense of accomplishment and impact.
- Charming aesthetics and art integration (weight 0.15): The game features a charming and unique visual aesthetic, with diorama-like environments and distinct character designs. Players appreciate how their art integrates into the town, with NPCs having varied preferences and using player creations to decorate the world.
- Excellent drawing tablet support (weight 0.13): The game offers excellent support for drawing tablets, enhancing the artistic experience with features like pressure sensitivity. Even without a tablet, the drawing interface is intuitive and provides precise control, making it accessible for all players.
- Engaging town exploration and quests (weight 0.13): The introduction of an explorable 3D town with quests and interactive characters is a welcome addition. This new gameplay loop provides more direction, keeps players engaged, and allows for deeper interaction with the game world and its inhabitants.
- Memorable characters and town integration (weight 0.09): The game includes memorable characters, such as Benjamin, who provide support and contribute to the narrative. Players also enjoy the ability to buy a house and feel like an essential part of the town's community.
- Forgiving art skill requirements (weight 0.05): The game is very forgiving regarding artistic skill, allowing players to succeed and earn money even with simple or 'messy' drawings. This inclusivity makes the game enjoyable for everyone, regardless of their drawing ability.
- Relaxing and immersive soundtrack (weight 0.05): The game's soundtrack is highly praised for being relaxing and contributing positively to the overall atmosphere. The drawing sounds are also noted as enjoyable and ASMR-like, enhancing the immersive experience.

Common complaints:
- Unclear Art Valuation & Economy (weight 0.45): The game's economy is demanding, and the art valuation system feels arbitrary, making it hard to understand customer preferences. Players miss the urgency and clear stakes of the first game, feeling less motivated to progress as an artist.
- Frustrating Drawing Mechanics (weight 0.45): The drawing mechanics are a major source of frustration, particularly the lack of an undo function, eraser, and zoom-in capability. Drawing with a mouse is difficult and causes physical discomfort, and there are significant compatibility issues with drawing tablets.
- Weak Story & Quest System (weight 0.45): The game's narrative is criticized for being short, unengaging, and lacking a clear objective or strong driving force. Players also find the quest system confusing due to the absence of a quest log or tracker, vague directions, and insufficient content after the main story.
- Technical Issues & Bugs (weight 0.44): Players report frequent crashes, significant lag, and slow load times, indicating poor optimization. There are also recurring issues with save file corruption and deletion, leading to loss of progress, and the mouse cursor often disappears, hindering gameplay.
- Minor Gameplay & UI Issues (weight 0.39): Players experience issues with brush functionality, slow NPC animations, and specific quests being tedious or poorly designed. The user interface is also described as abysmal, lacking essential options and failing to communicate effectively with the player.

Gameplay feedback:
- Art creation and sales core (weight 0.37): The core gameplay loop revolves around players creating and selling art to progress. This involves drawing on various surfaces, acquiring tools, and managing sales, evolving from the more linear and financially constrained first game.
- Town exploration and commissions (weight 0.14): Players explore the town of Phénix, interacting with NPCs to take on commissions and quests. These commissions can involve creating art for various objects beyond canvases, impacting the town and unlocking new areas.
- Client preferences and art valuation (weight 0.09): The game features an art valuation system where players must understand and cater to the specific preferences and tastes of different clientele and NPCs to maximize profits and progress.
- Economy for tools and upgrades (weight 0.07): Money earned from selling art and completing errands is crucial for acquiring new tools, canvases, and unlocking features like a studio and additional color palettes.
- Short story, multiple endings (weight 0.05): The main story of the game is relatively short, taking around 5-7 hours to complete, with two endings requiring multiple playthroughs for 100% completion.
- Varied quests and scenarios (weight 0.03): The game offers a variety of unique scenarios and quests, which helps keep the gameplay fresh and engaging for players.
- Museum entry as goal (weight 0.03): A primary long-term goal in the game is to create a magnum opus and gain entry into the prestigious Museum of the Masters.
- Diverse creative tools (weight 0.02): The game provides players with a good variety of tools, colors, and creative options for their artistic endeavors.
- Progress-blocking bug patched (weight 0.02): A progress-blocking bug was encountered by a player, but it has since been patched, and a temporary workaround involved changing the game language.
- Mouse controls challenging (weight 0.01): Playing the game with a mouse can be somewhat challenging, suggesting potential control difficulties for some players.
- Easy to learn, hard to master (weight 0.01): The game is described as easy to learn for new players but difficult to master, indicating a learning curve for advanced play.
- No grinding required (weight 0.01): Players do not need to engage in excessive grinding to progress through the game's content.
- Female character unlock conditions (weight 0.01): Some female characters are unlocked only after completing specific side quests that involve older male characters, which might be perceived as a design choice.
- Full Japanese language support (weight 0.01): The game offers full language support for Japanese, indicating localization efforts for that region.
- 3D object rotation in UI (weight 0.01): When drawing on 3D objects like cars or violins, players can rotate them using a stick in the user interface.
- Money duplication bug (weight 0.01): A money duplication bug has been reported in the game, which could impact game balance.
- Freedom for risque art (weight 0.01): One reviewer mentioned drawing risque pictures of old men, indicating the freedom of artistic expression within the game.

Performance notes:
- Performance and Loading Issues (weight 0.05): Players are experiencing significant performance issues, including frequent frame drops and excessively long loading times, particularly during initial game startup and saving. This suggests a lack of optimization that negatively impacts the overall player experience.
- Broad Hardware Compatibility (weight 0.03): Despite the performance issues, some players noted that the game is generally accessible and can run on a wide range of hardware, including older or less powerful PCs. This indicates good baseline compatibility.

Recommendations:
- Highly Recommended Game (weight 0.4): The game is widely recommended by players, especially for those who enjoy art, drawing, or creative expression. It's seen as a relaxing and engaging experience, suitable for both new players and fans of the predecessor.
- Optimal Play & Purchase (weight 0.33): Many players suggest that the game is best enjoyed with a graphics tablet for drawing, though it can still be played with a mouse. It's also frequently recommended to purchase the game during a sale.
- No Predecessor Required (weight 0.22): Players generally agree that it's not necessary to play the first game to enjoy the sequel. However, some suggest playing the original first to understand the core mechanics or if one prefers a simpler introduction.

Other player notes:
- Significant playtime required (weight 0.07): Players note that the game requires a significant time investment, with average playtimes ranging from 5 to 11 hours for completion. This suggests the game offers a substantial experience.
- Request for drawing tool features (weight 0.04): Players are requesting specific drawing tool enhancements, such as transparent layers, a light table for sketching, and zoom functionality for the canvas. These features would greatly improve the creative experience.
- Improved input method support (weight 0.04): There's a strong desire for improved input methods, specifically better support for drawing tablets and the addition of controller support. Current tablet functionality is reported to be problematic for some users.
- Desire for future content (weight 0.04): Players are interested in future content, expressing willingness to pay for suggested features as DLC and hoping for a mobile version. There's also a desire for future games tailored to digital artists.
- Emotional connection to character (weight 0.03): A specific character, Benjamin, resonated deeply with a player, who expressed sadness over his story and a desire for his return in a sequel. This indicates strong character development.
- Chinese translation needed (weight 0.01): A player hopes for the completion of the Chinese translation, indicating a need for better localization to reach a wider audience.
- Broad age appeal (weight 0.01): The game is perceived as suitable for a wide age range, from kids to adults, suggesting broad appeal and accessibility.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.26): Players felt satisfied by the game's rich content, improved features over its predecessor, and intuitive art creation mechanics, which allowed for creative expression and rewarding progression. The game's ability to foster a sense of purpose and impact within the game world, coupled with its relaxing atmosphere and positive influence on real-life habits, contributed significantly to this emotion.
- Frustration (weight 0.12): Frustration stemmed primarily from technical issues such as poor optimization, frequent crashes, and unresponsive drawing tablets. Players also experienced difficulty with the drawing system's limitations, including the lack of an undo function and challenges with mouse controls, alongside vague quest objectives and NPC demands that hindered creative freedom.
- Disappointment (weight 0.08): Disappointment arose from technical bugs, deleted save files, and a perceived lack of depth in the story and post-game content. Players also expressed disappointment with the absence of an undo function, the game's short length, and the feeling that the game lacked genuine artistic value assessment, leading to a less engaging experience than anticipated.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.08): Enjoyment was driven by the game's fun and addicting nature, particularly the combination of painting and puzzle-solving, and the creative freedom it offered. Players appreciated the new features, improved accessibility, and engaging interactions with villagers, which made the overall gameplay experience entertaining and immersive.
- Joy (weight 0.07): Joy was frequently associated with the freedom to create silly art and doodles, the game's ability to foster creativity, and the simple pleasure of drawing and selling paintings. The game's charming art style, calming music, and supportive in-game environment, where NPCs appreciated player art, also contributed to a sense of happiness and lightheartedness.
- Excitement (weight 0.06): Excitement was generated by the game's high quality as a sequel, its improved features, and the anticipation of new content. Players were thrilled by the diverse tools, brushes, and canvases available, as well as the engaging missions and upgrades that added depth to the gameplay experience.
- Amusement (weight 0.04): Amusement came from the game's humor, particularly the subjective and often inconsistent NPC reactions to art, and the freedom to draw anything, including inappropriate or poorly drawn content. Players found it funny when NPCs bought even their scribbles, and enjoyed the humorous outcomes of their artistic choices.
- Appreciation (weight 0.03): Players appreciated the game's deeper story, expanded features, and its ability to provide a true artist experience. The game's innovative mechanics, supportive NPCs, and overall immersive atmosphere were highly valued, especially its role in motivating painting and fostering creativity.
- Relaxation (weight 0.02): Relaxation was a common emotion, attributed to the game's calming atmosphere and its ability to help players unwind and clear their minds. The pleasant experience of creating art and waiting for buyers contributed to a peaceful and stress-free gaming session.
- Hope (weight 0.02): Hope was expressed for future improvements, new features, and the completion of translations. Players also found hope in the game's message about meaningful artistic efforts and its ability to provide comfort during difficult times, indicating a desire for continued development and positive impact.
- Inspiration (weight 0.02): The game inspired players to draw in real life, awakened their artistic creativity, and boosted their confidence in art. Its ability to encourage doodling and foster an artistic sense was a significant cause of this emotion.
- Love (weight 0.01): Love for the game stemmed from its cozy and chill atmosphere, its ability to make drawing and art fun, and the increasing enjoyment with each play. The enhanced movement and engaging storyline also contributed to a deep affection for the game.
- Desire (weight 0.01): Players expressed a desire for specific missing features, such as an undo button, eraser, controller support, and a mobile version. They also wished for more displayed paintings in town and continued content updates, indicating a longing for further enhancements and expansion.
- Relief (weight 0.01): Relief was felt by players who found the game accessible even without strong drawing skills, and by those who overcame art block. The game's ability to help players relax and let loose also contributed to this sense of relief.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Surprise arose from the game exceeding expectations, its unique timelapse saving feature, and the unexpected ability to paint on 3D objects. NPCs' inconsistent art valuation also provided moments of unexpected reactions.
- Caution (weight 0.01): Caution was advised regarding the game's specific focus on drawing and limited exploration, as well as the necessity of drawing well with a mouse. This emotion highlighted that the game might not appeal to all players, particularly those not interested in its core mechanics.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Boredom was reported due to the game's repetitive nature, particularly during long quests or on subsequent playthroughs. The constant running around for main quests also contributed to a feeling of monotony.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Admiration was directed towards the game's high quality, its uniqueness, and its positive impact on creativity. Players appreciated the game's refreshing feel and its ability to stand out.
- Gratitude (weight 0.01): Gratitude was expressed for the game's quality, its ability to improve art skills, and for receiving the game for free. This emotion highlighted appreciation for the game's value and its positive influence on personal development.
- Motivation (weight 0.01): Motivation was driven by unlockable elements, the game's effectiveness in helping with art block, and its ability to rekindle the joy of art. These factors encouraged players to continue engaging with the game and their artistic pursuits.}