Concrete Genie is one of the best games of this generation—an experience that expands the parameters of what video games can be. By embracing values like artistry, empathy, and beauty, this is a title that will appeal to gamers that might be feeling a bit world-weary, bringing color to a world that has been feeling a bit gray lately. If you have ever wondered why video games have to be so violent and dehumanizing, then do the industry a favor and support this game. And lest I forget to mention: Concrete Genie is a lot of fun to play.

Concrete Genie could have simply been a game about painting and creating virtual pets that you can interact with and it still would have been a fantastic little game. But thanks to some fun action, nice puzzles and a beautiful world, it becomes something even more. The fun is in the creation, crafting a vivid world out of the pages you find and then letting your charming Genies play in it. It’s just one of those games that can be perfectly described as “feel-good.” You’ll walk away from it with a warm heart and a big smile on your face after the credits roll, yet end up diving back in so that you can find every secret. Concrete Genie is one of the PS4’s most notable highlights this year and PlayStation fans should be sure not to miss it.

With Concrete Genie, Pixelopus gives us a visually impressive body of work. It offers the player the opportunity to become a true artist, letting their imagination run free in a magnificent world. Ash becomes very endearing in a very short space of time, and sometimes even manages to move us — we come to have compassion for this little artist who seeks to make friends and be free. Thanks to the presence of the Geniuses, we never really feel alone in this chaos — these little beings are a real success. The only things we were disappointed with were the length of the game and its replay value.

Pretty visuals and a heart-warming story make this mix of exploration, graffiti- and ghost-puzzles a decent as well as relaxing experience – although one with weaknesses in terms of battle system as well as some technical issues.

An indie game aimed at the adolescent public that has a good finish and remarkable artistic section. It's short and it can be repetitive until its last quarter, but you can enjoy during its few 6-8 hours.

Concrete Genie is a gorgeous game that will fulfill your eyes, but it fell short in terms of gameplay mechanics.

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.