Sony first party games have become
synonymous with offering the best story-
telling interactive experiences around, and
the upcoming Concrete Genie is set to
maintain this Sony tradition. With developer
PixelOpus, a developer part of SIE Worldwide
Studios, at the helm of Concrete Genie, the
games intial reveal has created some exciting
buzz. The game was announced at Sony's
PlayStation Media Showcase at Paris Game
Week 2017 and during the event the games
creative director Dominic Robillard stated that
the game is heavily inspired by Sega's Jet Set
Radio.
The story takes place in a small town named
Denska, which has been mostly abandoned and
polluted. A young boy named Ash regularly
doodles in his notebook. A group of bullies
steals the book, rips out the pages and scatters
them throughout the city. Ash goes on a quest
to recover his pages. Along this quest, he
discovers a paint brush that can bring his
creations to life. In a nutshell Ash must
overcome the bullies and bring life back to his
hometown
The player takes control of Ash and uses the
DualShock 4's motion controls to create
landscapes in the town of Denska. These
landscapes turn into living, breathing portraits.
Interestingly, how you paint creatures and what
color you paint them will affect their
personalities. For example, red paint will grant a
creature fire-breathing abilities. In addition to
free-style drawing, there is a set of core puzzles
in the game that the player will have to solve
through their artwork.
The player will be able to gain more access
of Denska over time, but at the start of the
game, the player will only have access to a
single neighborhood. Throughout the game the
bullies will move through the town and cause
the artwork to die. They can also bully Ash, so
the player must avoid the bullies as Ash
traverses the town. The player can also fix the
ruined artwork.
Project manager Brent Gocke says the game
will be between five and six hours long.The
developer is also currently looking into a
multiplayer component to the game. Concrete
Genie elicits a unique gameplay perspective by
bridging puzzle based gameplay with
randomized situational interaction, all while
attempting to deliver a compelling narrative.
Coming exclusively to PlayStation 4, Sony is
looking at a Fall 2019 launch window.
Throughout the game the bullies will move
through the town and cause the artwork to die.
They can also bully Ash, so the player must avoid
the bullies as Ash traverses the town.