PlayStation Magazine UK - 12.2019

075

REVIEW

the cast. However, its main

flaw is being entirely too neat,
implying that befriending your

bullies is always possible or for

the best. It’s cathartic to see
the group come together for

the sake of Denska but, due

in part to how thinly sketched
your adversaries are, it’s a

resolution that leaves us feeling

a little unconvinced.
After completing the main

story, there are still reasons
to revisit Denska. Beyond

collecting any sketchbook pages

you’ve missed, returning with a
full book of scene stamps and

being finally able to complete

genie requests you’d had to
skip over makes for a zen post-

game experience.

Free Painting mode gives
you the option of a clean

slate with four blank canvas
locations to choose from

and, if you’ve got the PS

VR headset and PS Move
controllers to play it, there’s

also a light VR Experience to

get stuck into. Taking all this

VERDICT

Above Alongside
platforming,
light puzzles
require the
collaboration of
your genies.

Right Your
genies often
have requests
for scenes
they’d like to
see you paint.

Above The bullies are bad, but Ash has plenty more piling up on his palette.

THE OPM BREAKDOWN

It’s hard not to be won over by

a game all about bringing out

the best in places and people

through creativity. Concrete

Genie impresses with flying

colours. Jess Kinghorn

into consideration makes the

standard edition’s £24.99 price

point extremely reasonable,

though for ten quid more

the deluxe edition includes a

digital artbook that presents

an in-depth look at the visual

evolution of the title over the

course of development that’ll

be of interest to the tiny or

teen creative gamers in your

life. But even without access

to the art book, it’s clear how

much love and attention has

gone into every line and stroke

of Concrete Genie’s visuals.

We’re in no rush to leave

Denska, eager to continue

mixing and matching every

stamp in our palette across the

fishing village’s walls for some

time to come.

17%Using the

aurora borealis

brush to paint

over the spooky

ever-creeping

darkness

infecting Denska.

11%

Appreciating the

varied character

designs but

wanting more

actual character.

20%Wishing

there was about

80% less dialogue

in this art game.

3%Misjudging

rooftop jumps

and wincing at

the result.

WHAT YOU DO IN... CONCRETE GENIE

33%

Grinning at

genies.

16% Wishing you

could paint-skate

much earlier... and

not just because

it’s fun to say.

The first genie you ever

draw to life, she’s a

supportive presence.

The ringleader of the

bullies, who sneers at

Ash’s love of art.

One of the bullies, he has

ideas for helping you out

in later chapters.

FRIENDS & ENEMIES

LUN

A

BE

AT

RICE

FR

OGG

Y

OD

?G

AC

?T

D

R

A

AA

AA

GON

?

TROPHY CABINET

EP

FR

CE

T

LY

RE

ST

ORE

D

EM

M

O

RI

ES

R

ES

TO

RED

BRONZE

Try drawing a genie’s

body from side to side.

Voilà! You’ve created

your first quadruped

and earned this trophy.

SILVER

A lot of old billboards

around town could do

with a lick of living

paint. Find them all

for this trophy.

GOLD

Chase down every loose

sheet of paper from

your torn-up

sketchbook and you’ll

earn this trophy.

THE FIRST FIVE HOURS...

1 It’s like walking around a stop-motion film! We love Denska! 2 Already,

Concrete Genie’s sketch book of designs gets our ‘stamp’ of approval.

3 Genies do a lot more than look cute – here the fiery red ones help out

by burning away obstacles. 4 We get caught by bullies... and deposited in a

dumpster. Better go and find our paintbrush and draw our feelings...

5 Luna’s lonely at the lighthouse. Let’s draw her some buddies!

1 2 3 4 5

ALSO ONPLAYSTATION VR

The VR Experience is relatively light but

charming as you get better acquainted

with your ragtag bag pal, Splotch. It’s

also worth doing if you want PS VR

functionality for Free Painting mode.

The only drawback is that you need

two PS Move controllers to paint in VR.