Concrete Genie Reviews
Concrete Genie's painting tech impresses at first and its heart is certainly in the right place, but the game ultimately proves too aimless to support its already brief running time. Adorning the city in landscapes of your own creation quickly loses its luster as you realize that what you create lacks meaningful interactivity. Even the jarring addition of combat midway through doesn't do much to counter the sense that Pixelopus couldn't find a way to build out a full game around a simple gameplay idea.
Pixelopus’ sophomore effort makes me constantly yearn for the painting that could’ve been instead of the painting that is.
If the sympathetic capital of the creatures of Concrete Genie is undeniable, for all the rest, the title developed by the Californian studio Pixelopus barely shine beyond its singular artistic direction. Without an original proposal of gameplay and a very limited interaction with the nice monsters, the progression is tasteless, remote-controlled and we will quickly choose to move from motion detection to the right stick, which says a lot about the success of the game initial concept.
Review in French | Read full review
A peculiarly underdeveloped riff on Jet Set Radio that never manages to find anything interesting to do with any of its many gameplay mechanics and story ideas.
It's clear that its creators feel the love for creation that the game tries to communicate, but the end result is too irregular.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Concrete Genie is visually striking and offers a chill artistic experience, but its rote combat and by-the-numbers narrative greatly bring it down as the game progresses.
A fine and beautiful adventure that's kinda difficult to love, because of how few original ideas it has and how rarely it offers something new.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Concrete Genie certainly has a vandal's heart, but this creatively-oriented PlayStation 4 exclusive struggles to tie its various mechanics together.
Concrete Genie could be called a cute and socially important game that touches on the theme of ecology, but in fact it is an example of dull game with a bright concept.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Concrete Genie is certainly easy on the eyes and ears, with brilliant colors popping out of the screen and a light, airy score to coaxe life out of your paintings. It even successfully switches around the perspective of a strained parent-child relationship compared to what we've seen in other games. Unfortunately the monotonous nature of everything in between creating Genies, from dodging bullies to dousing Denska with Super Paint, drags it down.
It is clear that PixelOpus believes a lot in his project and that it was born out of sacrifice, dedication and love for art. Unfortunately, Concrete Genie is far from reaching the heights that so much effort would deserve and seems to be destined to pass unoticed. With that said, it has the potential to touch the heart of those who love drawing more than anything else.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Concrete Genie is a simple game but it shines with animation technics. Painting something and seeing its becoming alive is really enjoying experience. But all of these things doesn't change that simplicity.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Despite its short playtime and lack of focus (in terms of combat being tacked onto the last hour of the game), I cannot deny that I had fun bringing my adorable Genie companions and paintings to life, which is what matters in the end.
Concrete Genie seems like an ordinary child game. And it is an ordinary child game. But deep inside you can find a story, which will touch your heart and mechanisms so original, you won't believe and action parts, that despite its really easy difficulty you will like. Still, Concrete Genie is not a game for everyone. If you don't mind recreating dark walls of Denska with your unique paintings over and over again, you'll fall for Concree Genie in any age. If you're looking in this indie game for its action potential, monotonous gameplay is simply something, you won't love in any way.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Concrete Genie is a game with a positive message that’s ultimately held back by its execution. While I appreciate Sony’s efforts to let its in-house studios experiment with smaller titles, I’m just not sure that this one will be remembered as fondly as the other PS4 indie exclusives.
All the imperfections and sorrows of the world... They fill human hearts with Darkness and seem to become an integral part of our selves. If only we could take a magic brush and cleanse it once and for all, make the world around us a better place to live. Well, Concrete Genie allows you to do just that. The game takes you on an emotional journey across abandoned town of Denska and your goal is to paint it back to life.
Concrete Genie is a gorgeous game that will fulfill your eyes, but it fell short in terms of gameplay mechanics.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Concrete Genie is a warm, joyful experience that embraces creativity in a unique way. Painting your way through Denska is effortlessly fun, and the genies that help Ash through his adventure are delightful. While this main thrust of the game is well realised, combat feels like an afterthought, as it's stashed away right at the end. This and a couple of smaller issues hold the game back from greatness, but taken as a whole, this is definitely worth playing -- and pretty as a picture, too.
Concrete Genie, much like its main character Ash, is good-natured and warm, but also a bit flat and one-note. The game, in spite of a late-game gameplay pivot, never truly manages to engage beyond its admittedly charming painting mechanic.
At times, Concrete Genie can be a little too pleasant, which makes the action-packed conclusion really jarring. Still, the contrast between Ash's fantasy and his reality is truly stunning.