One of the more creative PS4 exclusives coming later this year is Concrete Genie, a story about a young bullied boy. Ash can use a magic paintbrush to bring art to life, in order to restore his town from the darkness that has overwhelmed it. It’s a game that’s looked fascinating in demos, but I’ve been eagerly waiting to get my hands on it. At E3 this year, I finally had the opportunity to play it for myself, creating beautiful living art and avoiding the wrath of the town’s bullies.
Ash can paint on almost any building surface, and the interface is extremely easy to navigate. I was able to switch between a number of different environmental objects, such as trees, hills, flowers, and stars. Don’t worry, if you don’t have a creative hand, Concrete Genie’s art is quite dynamic. No matter how you paint, the picture ends up looking quite stunning. It’s fun to simply toy around with the different effects. My paintings brought the town back to life from its once grey and drab state.
The goal of the game is to light up all of the districts, or at least that’s what this demo had me doing. As I ventured farther into the town, things got a little more challenging. Eventually I wasn’t only painting landscapes. I was bringing monsters called genies to life with my brush. They would then wander across the wall, occasionally asking me to paint specific things, like a certain flower or tree. Genies are used to solve various puz...