Table of Contents
- giving life to concrete
- the colorful geniuses
- All shades and all colors
- The near-perfect beauty of Concrete Genie
Of all the in-house developers at Sonythe Pixelopus so far it hasn't had much to show the company and the gaming community. Your debut game Entwined, despite the proposal and interesting visuals, did not attract much attention. But now the team of young developers has taken a bigger leap with Concrete Genie, a much more ambitious title that more closely aligns with the style of titles from independent studios. But that doesn't mean the game is a masterpiece of PS4 - far from it. Even so, it is a beautiful and charismatic adventure that is worth living.
O Techlifers had access to a copy of Concrete Genie guidance on PlayStation 4 given by Sony and, after a few days of intense gaming, we bring you a complete analysis of this beautiful story that mixes art and emotion with an eye-popping presentation!
giving life to concrete
The history of Concrete Genie begins with the introduction of Ash, a young boy with an artistic talent. As he goes about his errands, some bullies arrive, steal his sketchbook and rip out all the pages before sending him to the supposedly haunted lighthouse just to torment his life.
For the game's plot, Ash's main enemies are not only the bullies who tease him almost all the time, but also the city of Denska, abandoned and overrun by delinquents after an accident that causes a mysterious black rot that spreads everywhere. As much as the bullies, the city oppresses our protagonist and makes him close himself more and more in the world of his drawings as an escape valve for this dark and colorless reality.
It is in this mysterious lighthouse that Ash's life takes a turn. The young man is given a magic brush and, after a decent tutorial that familiarizes the player with the basic mechanics of the instrument, you are tasked with reviving the city by painting living murals on its decrepit walls. Leaving his mind and the pages of his notebooks, Ash's creations can now come to life on the city walls and his dreams become colorful and bright realities all around him.
It is important to mention the tutorial, because the controls of the Concrete Genie are somewhat unorthodox. Our main character, Ash, can be controlled as you'd expect - he can even climb some buildings and do some more daring moves - but when you're in paint mode, the DualShock 4's gyro sensor takes over.
The good news is that painting is wonderfully tactile and intuitive. Once you've highlighted your chosen design, simply hold down the R2 trigger and move the cursor as if you were making a brushstroke. The motion controls don't sit well with all types of drawing, (you can swap them for the right setting for your profile if you prefer), but still they make the game very accessible and it's wonderful to have your actions transformed into brilliant images. and lively.
However, unfortunately you cannot use the magic brush with a freestyle. Painting is restricted to pages you've unlocked or found in the miniature open world, each offering new landscape items, genie decorations, or new genies to craft.
Despite not being able to paint anything, you do have a lot of freedom within the limits the game puts before you. What's more, it's nearly impossible to create something that doesn't look wonderful – even if you don't have a creative spirit in your mind. The fruits of your labor are almost always a spectacle – it's satisfying and sure to bring a smile to your face when you complete a painting.
the colorful geniuses
Even though Ash is the main protagonist of the game, it's the geniuses of the title who are the real stars of the show. Dotted throughout all areas of the map are opportunities to paint these monsters that inhabit your murals, and again, it's very much up to you what they look like. The genies are not only responsible for making this dark world more colorful, but also for making Ash's life and adventure less lonely.
They can interact with you and the other genies in a variety of ways, but most importantly, they will help you with some of the puzzles that the game world presents before you. However, it must be made clear that Concrete Genie is far from being a game focused on puzzles and challenges, so don't expect to be surprised by them.
Perhaps the most unusual element of the game is the combat and the way it is introduced in Concrete Genie. Without giving away too many spoilers, suffice it to say that combat makes an abrupt, short-lived appearance at the end of the game's story that can be completed in about eight hours. It's a very unusual addition to a mechanic that contrasts so much with the rest of the game's style.
After a relaxed, smooth-paced ride as you lighten up and bring life back to the city of Denska, you'll suddenly learn to fight and surf – the latter of which allows you to move much faster. It's a shocking change, and you'll need to quickly get used to this new style of gameplay.
The last hour is largely spent fighting paint monsters, as if the developers didn't have much faith in the paint mechanics and needed to add some last-minute element to strengthen the game's plot and capture the player's attention. It's kept in context by the story, of course, but it's an awkward final step.
But, despite its unusual arrival, is the combat handled properly? Yes, and it's a fun addition. Like his genies, Ash's attacks come in the form of fire, electricity, or wind, and you'll need to pair his offensive abilities with the corresponding shields.
It's a fast and frantic mechanic that, while hardly special at all, is quite fun while it lasts. And this is exactly because everything fits perfectly with the scenarios and contexts that the game creates to keep the mechanics of painting and combat units and working efficiently.
All shades and all colors
Meanwhile, the artistic style of Concrete Genie it's stunning and you can never get tired of the excellent quality of character movement similar to stop motion technique. Denska may initially seem like a cold and inhospitable environment, but that's intentional - it's literally a canvas that you can decorate to your heart's content.
Free Painting mode allows you to go to the various areas of the map and start your art sessions again without distractions, which is a good option for players looking for a simpler and more comfortable version of the game. Also, if you have the PlayStation VR, you can also enter a complementary mode that acts as a virtual extension of the game that provides a very interesting and immersive experience.
While the VR mode operates at a smooth frame rate – as is the requirement – the main game fails in this regard. Not a constant annoyance, but very strange for a title exclusive to the PS4 and that doesn't seem to utilize the console's hardware resources optimally. The animations can also look a little clunky, but then again, that shouldn't get in the way all that much.
The biggest problem of Concrete Genie is to be perceptible that the usual polish attributed to the games of Sony it's just not there. Fortunately, this is a title that ends up getting away with mistakes of this kind because of its charm. It's not perfect, but this is absolutely a step in the right direction for Pixelopus invest more in future works.
The near-perfect beauty of Concrete Genie
Concrete Genie it's a charming and joyful experience that embraces creativity in a unique way. Painting your way through Denska is fun and effortless, and the genies helping Ash on his adventure are a lot of fun. While this core element of the game is well-realized, combat feels like a late addition as it's hidden at the end. This and a few minor issues keep the game from being grandiose, but on the whole this is definitely worth playing and not just enjoyed from a distance like a painting in an art gallery.
