@Th3solutionAs I said elsewhere, the combat mechanic felt a bit tacked on and also was mostly button bashing. The skating type movement was neat for using post game to find collectibles though.
I've been reading all your thoughts on this game with great interest! I'm looking forward to cracking on with it tomorrow night now that I am finished with Borderlands (such a long game -_-). According to my list, Concrete Genie will be my 99th game played since the march lockdown last year!
For me, this game surpasses the sum of its parts and has a lot of wonderful parts to it. I loved the unique and beautiful music as well as the art style for the game. And the constant feeling of hope and positivity it manages to inspire, despite all the challenges and setbacks the protagonist endures.
A joyful experience, I'm really glad I got to play it.
It's a perfect game for PS+ as something that many people would probably have otherwise passed on but also something that you can easily sit down and finish.
I cant say I completely agree with you on how I perceived the narrative. When the largest bully assaults Ash, the rest of the group immediately challenge this behaviour as being unacceptable and make it very clear he'd crossed a line. Things moved very quickly from that point but it seemed several of them were realising they had contributed to this awful act and were obviously uncomfortable and upset about that.
Things are quickly flipped and suddenly they are the ones who desperately need help. Rather than leave them to their fate, Ash steps up and essentially saves their lives, putting his at risk in order to do that. The ultimate act of selflessness.
They then witness / assist him do this again and again. They were clearly very ashamed of their previous behaviour and were apologetic to him.
Afterwards he is given the choice to hang out with them if that's what he wants. The guy is given a lot of choices, no one forces him. But he also made it clear he won't change who he is.
I agree with you on some bullies will hardly notice their own role in that destructive sort of behaviour. Here, a light was shone on it for them, through certain events and they quickly decided to change.
I agree it's not realistic and certainly not the norm but personally feel it had a positive message which was well delivered.
Not made much progress, did my first masterpiece and decided to call it a night. I have a habit of painting every wall even when there are no lights to light up!
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
Managed to attain the platinum for this earlier, one of those rare occasions I enjoyed hunting down every last thing.
I found there is a deluxe bundle dlc on the store for $10 that has the full sound track and a dynamic theme. Was tempting as I did enjoy the game's music quite a bit.
@LieutenantFatman Cool find, cheers for sharing. I usually like to show my support for devs if I've not paid outright for the game by purchasing something like that.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@LieutenantFatman 😂 I love what that youtuber has named the last folder that has all of the apps that come with the PS4. Mines just called "Unused" but I might rename it now after that inspiration!
@RogerRoger Interesting perspective on the game and I’m happy that you found it as enjoyable and unique as you did.
As far as the end game combat is concerned, I can totally see your point. At the time I didn’t notice the shock of the abrupt change in style, pace, and theme, but in retrospect it seems an odd shift when the game spends the majority of the time focused on art. I think maybe it depends on the mindset of the player and I feel like when playing the game as a purely ‘video game experience’ then it fits right in to keep the entertainment going and fit into necessary tropes. When experiencing the game as an artistic piece then it just screams all sorts of discord. And the irony is that the game is obviously shooting for the latter experience, but as stated, it’s also targeting at a pretty wide age range and maybe they put the ‘hack ‘n splash’ (love the term btw) in there to keep engagement from a younger crowd who might not be as tolerant of an experience which was solely unique and whimsical.
And I completely agree on the subject of bullying. The change of heart and redemptive arc of the whole thing can be looked at through a couple different lenses. I see both sides and can appreciate each perspective. And again, I think the team decided to go toward a more approachable and ‘rainbows and butterflies’ happy ending for the more casual player, despite the message having gaps in accuracy to the real world consequences.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@RogerRoger I’m thrilled that everyone got a chance to play this game and that it has generated some great dialogue. Back when it was released it barely moved the needle of public discourse outside of the enthusiast communities like this one. As people might recall, the game released on the same day that Sony dropped their first big detailed reveal of the (at the time) forthcoming PS5 and it was largely overshadowed by the buzz of the next gen’s SSD, RT, and Teraflops. Whether the game could have gained a bigger audience without the PS5 looming, who knows. But I am elated that it has gained a second wind through PS Plus and hopefully the lackluster sales will be offset by some positive community feedback so PixelOpus can continue to explore their craft. They do seem to really be a studio that could grow into a nice complement to Sony’s other AAA developers.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Kidfried
Yes, that's a fair comment. I guess there is the additional consideration that my expectations are always pretty low going into almost all games when it comes to narrative and addressing complex issues, etc. Most games don't have a great track record in that area. But it definitely makes sense to give constructive criticism where it's due and hope to see further improvements in future endeavours.
Wow, the second half was a lot more fun gameplay-wise. Loved the surfing. What combat was there was also fun. It felt more like a game with goals and momentum to it, and less like a plotless art game where you run around randomly splashing designs on walls because the ghouls you create demand it.
This game feels completely disjointed, though. Why not integrate the art mechanic from the first half and the dynamic movement and combat from the second half into one more cohesive experience?
Also bothers me a little that there's so little incentive to find collectibles in this game beyond going for the trophies.
The art felt kind of pointless to me, IMO. There's no reason not to just random splash up designs as quickly as possible most of the time.
Performance isn't great on the base console when you get into the cutscenes, either.
And, erm, the story? This kid endures countless months or years of vicious bullying, but everything is fine once he sees how they're all abused and everybody becomes the bestest of friends immediately after Ash saves them? I'm not buying it. And why does nearly everyone need a tragic backstory? People can be mean without having bad home lives. There's no psychological insight into these characters at all.
And, to be clear, I'm totally fine with redemption/forgiveness stories. Totally. But this was just poorly done.
Also didn't feel any emotional connection to Luna at all. That relationship/dynamic wasn't built up properly, so the events of the game's second half didn't affect me at all.
Still, I didn't hate it. WAY more fun than other artsy/creative Playstation games I've played in recent years like Journey or any of Media Molecule's games. And the art-style is pretty phenomenal. I just think there's the potential for a great game hidden inside this rather average one.
@Ralizah great summary, hit a lot of the issues I had with the game. I wonder who the devs felt were the primary audience for this game? The story line/art style suggests a younger audience but there were moments of frustration in the gameplay, particularly when lighting walls and it was not clear exactly where you needed to be or moving genies between locations, that just don't fit with a younger group of players. I think the combat/movement mechanics could have been introduced earlier in the game as its a game that could lose a lot of people before the second half.
@RogerRoger
Quick tip on the trophies, not sure if you're already aware but you don't need PSVR to get the platinum for this. There are three VR trophies but they're on a separate list.
Still on Rayman Legends and halfway through 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Hopefully I can have it done by the end of next week and then catch up to you guys with Concrete Genie. The physics in Legends feel a tiny bit off to me and I don't like how characters cling to walls and ledges, or how it takes a while to build momentum. But it's gorgeous and full of creativity. It's worth getting through each world just to play the music levels.
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