Concrete Genie | Review (PS4)

From the very first moment, Concrete Genie has attracted the attention of players and professionals thanks to its beautiful graphic style, although it cannot generate the same hype as others future esclusive Sony come The Last of Us: Part 2, Death Stranding e Ghost of Tsushima.

The Pixelopus video game, on the other hand, is placed in the middle between a large production and a product with a more indie soul, also due to a budget not comparable to that of the exclusives already mentioned and those already on the market, being more comfortable with defining Double A.

This does not mean that it cannot aspire to become one of the biggest surprises of 2019. Will it have succeeded? Find out by reading our review.

Concrete Genie | A brush against bullying

Ash is a teenager passionate about art who spends hours drawing on his album which he never leaves. When she wants to find maximum inspiration she goes to her hometown, Denska, despite his parents often intimidating him not to go there because it is dangerous. In fact, the place is now abandoned and in total decay, the lights are off and gray is the most present color. Also, a strange purple-colored slime substance, the Dark Mold, has enveloped buildings and streets.

Denska is fallen territory under the control of a group of bullies, bored kids who enjoy annoying Ash whenever they see him absorbed in his drawings. During the usual scuffle, the protagonist throws himself in search of the pages torn from his album and, arriving at the lighthouse, finds a magic brush able to give life to what is painted with it.

Ash takes the ball and gives life to the Geni, creatures that he has always enjoyed drawing and then talks to us as if they were his friends. Finally, with the power of the brush he can give them life and be followed on an adventure that will require the special abilities they are gifted with. The city is dying and missing just before the Mold infests every corner: Ash can restore Denska to its former glory thanks to his art.

 

The story of Concrete Genie touches on very delicate themes such as bullying and the isolation that can arise from it, and tries to do it delicately, placing it in a context that, yes, degraded, however, almost never presents images or scenes that could make stars. hurt or hurt the player's feeling. The acts of vandalism and oppression against Ash by the bullies leave a bitter smile on the mouth, because they are contextualized in a visually pleasing world to see, despite the Oliver Twist colors, and the choice not to tread too much on the hand.

The narrative of Concrete Genie cannot be defined as memorable, with clichés closer to a Bildungsroman's novel than to a work that has the intent of dealing with the subject at 360 degrees, without omitting every single distortion. In principle, it fits, because it is consistent with the graphic style and the general mood of the game that remains, at all times, carefree. We would have appreciated, however, a greater depth in telling the background of the bullies, also victims of the ugliness of society, who are relegated to static images of a few seconds.

A gameplay divided into two: urban art and boss fight

The initial gameplay (this definition we will explain later) involves having to draw on the now dull structures of Denska with the use of the magic brush that can be controlled, by default, through dualshock motion sensor 4, otherwise you can opt for the classic right analog stick. The city is divided into sectors that are unlocked only once an area is finished, by accessing shortcuts. The game map is not large and the only activities proposed, in addition to the drawings, are the finding of pages of the album, which unlock new predefined artwork and new sketches of Geni, and the unlocking of additional creatures in particular points of the story in we will need their specific skill to advance.

To progress and revive the city, you have to turn all lights back on, simply represented by light bulbs that will light up if we paint something on the wall on which they rest. These are also conveniently marked on the map, making our task intuitive and fast enough. From time to time, we will come across structures infested with Dark Mold, capable of repelling colors. So one comes into play updated and more powerful version of the brush, activated by holding down the two triggers, which eliminates the poisonous substance. It is not infinite, of course, and must be recharged by satisfying the requests of the Geni who will show us, in the form of a comic balloon, the figure they want us to draw.

 

The executable designs are positioned in a grid that is shown on the screen when we start a street art session. Selected one, we will not have to do is move the brush on the surface in order to reproduce the chosen shapes, with a difficulty of the action close to zero because it will not be necessary to be very precise. Concrete Genie, in fact, is not a title that challenges the player to create something unique, but simply gives him the tools. By the way, to turn on the lights, most of the time, we can also draw practically the same thing, without there being any type of malus or particular request. Here, however, the player's "attack of art" comes into play, his desire to experiment, because once we have unlocked a lot of sketches we will be able to draw real complex landscapes, as long as we want to. or we just want to go on in history.

There are also puzzles to solve during which it will be essential to use the skills of the Genes. These, customizable and modifiable at any time, can be of type fire, electro and wind. Is a barricade blocking our way? Calling up the fire genius will eliminate the problem. Does an electrical panel have no power? The electro genius will put it back into operation. The puzzles are easy to understand and very few times they will give a hard time. From time to time, we will also be disturbed by the presence of bullies, which are to be avoided in order not to end up with their heads in a dumpster. Draw at a safe distance, go through the roofs rather than on the main streets and distracting them with screams are actions that allow us not to have trouble.

As the story progressed, we found ourselves faced with a sudden gameplay change that has us a bit 'displaced. We talked about "initial" gameplay because about a third of the adventure Concrete Genie transforms, changes the mechanics and completely changes the approach. From adventure with some platforming and puzzle sections, the game it becomes a beat'em up complete with boss fight. The brush becomes a sort of ranged weapon with which to cast elemental spells, a skateboard to chase monsters and a light detector like a sword like Wander from Shadow of The Colossus.

 

This second gameplay is fun, also not very difficult, enjoyable, but we can't understand why not to insert these mechanics into the main gameplay, merging everything into a single game. We pass from one to the other as if the title had been divided into two distinct sections.

To get to the conclusion of Concrete Genie it takes about 6/7 hours, a low longevity that is not helped by almost no replayability.

Drawing within drawing

Concrete Genie is stylistically a jewel, thanks to an always pleasant visual compartment. The murals and animations of the Geniuses are a real feast for the eyes, while the city of Denska can offer great views to admire even if battered and melancholy.

The graphics of Concrete Genie tries, and succeeds, to recreate the hand made drawing feeling, with its, why not, imperfections. Walking around Denska is pleasant and going from an empty wall to a colored one in a few moments feels good.

The animations of the characters, on the other hand, are not of the highest level, especially the movement of the lips which is not always perfectly in line with the dubbing español, the latter instead of good workmanship.

It should also be noted that, apart from a few cases, there are no uploads that break the game action.

 

Conclusions

Concrete Genie is an enjoyable title, very pleasant and with excellent ideas behind it. There are many possibilities for customization of the Genes and the most imaginative players will be able to create works of good depth. If the storyline had gone deeper into the main theme, if the gameplay hadn't been split in two so abruptly, and if the longevity had been a little higher, Concrete Genie would have reached higher heights, but the overall experience remains satisfactory.