As a kid, growing up in a big city is like going on a daily adventure. You discover new secrets, your parents take you to new places, and everything looks fresh and inspiring. There’s nothing to worry about, the only thing you have on your mind is absorbing all those beautiful colors around you. But, things can quickly change when you grow up. Colors might fade away and beauty might transform into danger. Concrete Genie delves deeper into these emotions.
Fade into black
In Concrete Genie, you’ll follow the adventure of Ash, a bullied teenager trying to survive in Denska, his hometown. Denska was once his safe haven, a place filled with bright colors and happy memories. Ash loved the city as a kid but started to hate it as a teenager. He no longer feels safe in Denska, especially when the gang of young delinquents is bothering him again. He doesn’t belong to the gang and he wants to live his own life, preferably without crime and violence. He escapes his troubles by painting spectacular landscapes and mischievous Genies in his notebook. It’s in his notebook that he completely lets go, letting in the joyful emotions of the past, blocking out the sadness of today.
The opening scene of Concrete Genie really sets the tone for the adventure. Although it looks cartoony, the theme isn’t. This is a story about a bullied teenager who desperately holds on to something he loves but no matter how hard he tries, he can’t escape the darkness of the city, he can’t escape from his bullies. Just when he was about to hit rock bottom, things change when he gets his hands on a magical paintbrush, allowing him to draw live landscapes and genies on the corrupted walls of Denska. Armed with his magical paintbrush, Ash sets out on a thrilling adventure to save his hometown, and hopefully himself, from the darkness that’s corrupting it.
Paint your happiness
Once you found the magical paintbrush, Ash’s adventure really kicks off, and so does yours. It’s your job to bring back the colors to the city and you do so by following a certain pattern. First things first, you’ll need to bring back the light to the lightbulbs. These are spread over the city and it’s your job to find them. To make it a little easier, the map is divided into smaller zones where you need to light up a certain amount of lightbulbs in order to advance. Once you lighten them all up, a new zone will open. This makes it easier to navigate and results in an adventure that’s also enjoyable for the younger audience. Of course, Concrete Genie is far more than just lighting up some random lightbulbs, that’s only the beginning!
You light them up by painting on the wall. Your notebook pages got scattered over the city but you’ll need to collect those if you want to paint your live environment. Each page holds a new element and those are needed to complete your live painting. To light up the lights, it doesn’t really matter what you use, you can paint little stars or you can paint giant moons, both will do the job just fine. Genies, on the other hand, are a lot more picky about what they want to see. Genies are the true stars of this game and interacting with them will certainly bring a smile to your face. At certain places, you can paint a Fire, Electric, or Wind Genie and call its help to solve some puzzles. As said before, the Genies will help you out if you paint the correct scenery. They often dream about gorgeous paintings to live in and if you’re able to paint those, the Genies will grant you with love and some needed help.
Painting itself is extremely intuitive and easy to learn. By using the Motion Controls of your PlayStation 4 controller, you can really use it as a virtual paintbrush. Select the design you want to paint, swing your controller in the right direction et voila, your painting comes to live in front of you! It’s a simple yet magical moment. While painting, I forgot my troubles, I lost myself in the colorful world of the Genies and I forgot about the darkness that was surrounding me. Concrete Genie really manages to translate Ash’s feelings to the player and it’s simply amazing.
It’s more than just painting
Calling Concrete Genie an interactive painting would do the game wrong, it’s far more than just that. First of all, the story won’t leave you untouched. With flashbacks to the harsh youth of teenagers, it’s not hard to see where the pain and darkness came from. Getting to know the other characters and their own personal nightmares is your key motivator to keep going. You don’t want the city, and thus your emotions, to hang in Limbo, you want to fix it to your best possible abilities. During your quest to happiness, the game will throw a new mechanic after a new mechanic, always introducing a new way to play.
Where the first part of the story might feel a bit too repetitive at some points, interacting with different types of Genies immediately solve the issue. It’s easy to find the solution if there’s only one type of Genie but the game truly shines once you’re able to combine Fire Genies with Wind Genies and more. It’s fun to experiment with those and the best part about it is the fact that you draw the Genies! These aren’t just mindless computer-generated creatures, these are your little Genies, crafted with love, immediately creating a strong connection with yourself. You’ll do everything to keep them safe and happy. And just when you thought you’ve reached the pinnacle of your adventure, the game transforms into something completely different.
The last arc plays a lot more like an action/adventure game instead of a creative puzzler. I won’t spoil the experience for you but I really liked this shift in gameplay and general tone. Just like Ash and his emotions, the game continues to grow and evolve due to your actions. It feels like your actions really are meaningful so you’ll be motivated from start to finish. On top of that, the game also features tons of extra collectibles and two 3D worlds where you can paint everything in VR, which isn’t as thrilling as the main story but it’s a nice extra, to say the least. All things considered, Concrete Genie gives you a lot in return for its smaller price tag.
Conclusion:
Concrete Genie is a special game, it combines unique gameplay with a truly touching story about facing your problems. Seeing your world come to life on the dark concrete of Denska city is a magical feeling that will make you come back for more, over and over again. It’s not your typical PlayStation game but if you give it a chance, I promise it will conquer your heart in mere seconds.
