On top of the colour they bring to Denska in their own right, these paintings will also light up any nearby lightbulbs that dangle from many of the town’s walls. She gives him a magical paintbrush that, when used on any of Denska’s many walls, will cause Ash’s landscape paintings to come alive-painted grass sways in the breeze, painted stars twinkle in the night sky, painted waterfalls roar down the wall. There is a spirit living in the lighthouse, but she’s not a malevolent one rather, she’s saddened at the state of Denska, and she sees in Ash the chance to bring some light back to the town. Sure enough, they manage to corner him and steal his book, before ripping out the pages, scattering them to the winds, and shoving Ash into a cable car destined for the town’s rumoured-to-be-haunted lighthouse.Īs it turns out, the rumours were only half right. However, Denska is also a known hangout for bullies, and a quiet, arty kid like Ash is a prime target. The game opens with our hero, Ash, sitting on a pier in Denska-the aforementioned abandoned village-scribbling away in his sketchbook. “Bullying is bad” isn’t exactly a new or profound idea, but it’s still such an important topic to discuss, and Concrete Genie approaches it with care and consideration. It’s an exploration of bullying, both how it impacts its victims and how cycles of bullying perpetuate themselves. That sort of premise demands something special from the game’s art direction, and the combination of pseudo-stop motion animation and sketchbook street-art aesthetic gives Concrete Genie a truly unique and utterly gorgeous look.īut more than just something beautiful to look at, Concrete Genie is a game with something to say. It ought to be-at its core, Concrete Genie is about bringing light and colour back to an abandoned, industrial fishing village by covering the walls with magical graffiti. In an industry that’s obsessed with content, it’s so refreshing to play a game that takes a simple idea and delivers on it beautifully, without trying to be more than what it needs to be.Īnd when I say “beautifully”, I’m not kidding. Concrete Genie might be one of my favourite games of the year so far.
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