Concrete Genie, A Whimsical Art Adventure

 I was interested in Concrete Genie because of seeing some of the art style. I got ready to check it out and was ready for a new adventure. Concrete Genie can be played in VR or without VR. I played the game without VR. Setting up the game options and seeing a lot of accessibility options made me happy. I was able to set the painting controls the way I wanted, adjusted the volume to a setting that worked for me, and was able to set the difficulty to the casual setting for me. Then, I was ready to dive into the game. Concrete Genie takes place in the fictional port town of Denska, once a thriving town that is now practically abandoned after an oil spill. The main character, a young teenage boy named Ash spends his time creating art in his sketchbook and finds himself targeted often by a group of kids who are his bullies, Zack, Beatrice, Froggie, Chuck, and Janie. The opening of the game shows the bullies taking Ash's sketchbook and ripping it, scattering the pages all over town. Then they shove Ash onto a cable car that takes him to an abandoned lighthouse on Denska island.

Ash starts his adventure.

Ash explores the island and sees one of his pages go into the lighthouse. He chases after it and when he catches the page, the creature he had drawn on the page and named Luna comes to life and gives Ash a magic paintbrush which brings to life anything he paints. This is a good introduction into how the painting controls work and they're pretty forgiving so you're not too frustrated with painting the pictures. This also introduces the Genies which are friendly magical creatures based on Ash's chalk drawings that he made as a small child. Luna shows Ash that there is a darkness covering Denska and asks for his help to remove the darkness by using the magic paintbrush.

Ash and Luna have a chat. 

The creative gameplay and artwork is where Concrete Genie truly shines. The first area shows that Ash can paint on walls, doors, and up high on rooftops. As he finds more pages, it unlocks a lot of different designs in his sketchbook. Choosing from the designs is simple and among the starting art, there's quite a variety to choose from. I was delighted to paint a starry sky and seeing the stars move and twinkle, paint butterflies and watch them flutter across, or paint a strand of colorful lights and see them sparkle and move. 

Painting a pretty picture with a variety of designs.

The genies are also there to help Ash on his journey. For example, each genie has a different element that can assist Ash with certain puzzles. A red genie has fire, a yellow genie has electricity, and a green genie has wind. Depending on what is needed, Ash can call a genie over and they can use their elemental abilities to help him whether it's burning a tarp so he can climb up on a crate or powering up an electrical box to start a generator. Sometimes the genies will ask for Ash to draw a specific thing and when he does they become very happy filling up a meter on the paintbrush icon called super paint. Super paint can be used to paint over the darkness in various areas in Denska and allows Ash to paint even more beautiful landscapes. 

Ash paints a pretty landscape for the fire genie.

One of the challenges is Ash avoiding his bullies. If he runs into them, he has to run away from them and climb up on things. The bullies are bad at climbing so Ash can go all the way to the rooftops if he needs to. He can also duck around corners and call out to them and when they come towards him, he can circle around behind them and avoid them that way. The bullies will sometimes ruin Ash's paintings, but when the coast is clear Ash can fix the paintings. The story is not overly complicated and as it progresses, Ash gets a glimpse into the background of each bully. The game does a good job of showing simply yet clearly why each kid is so angry or hurting that they lash out and take it out on Ash. It sends a clear message about the fact that it isn't about Ash and is more about the pain and anger they have inside due to circumstances beyond their control and you see Ash feeling sorry for them and understanding that it was never about him. 

Flowers and stars for an electric genie.

As the story continues, you get to see how Ash changes and grows as a person, as well as the kids who bully him and receive a wonderful message about how hope and friends are found in surprising ways. There is not a lot of challenging combat in the game which I'm fine with because it's about the story, art, and charming vibe of the game. The game is not very long. It's 6 chapters and takes about five or six hours to complete. However, it's beautiful. The story is clearly told in a way that people young and old can understand, while adding vibrant, whimsical art that brings a lot of joy. There's a photo mode so you can take screenshots of your creations and there is a free paint mode so you can go in any area in the game and paint to your heart's content. I loved running around in free paint mode, painting whatever I wanted. Concrete Genie is a lovely gem because of the visual style, story, and charming gameplay. It set a lovely tone about seeing the beauty around us, the importance of holding onto hope, and the power of friendship. It is absolutely worth your time and I am happy that I got to play it. Thanks for reading. See you at the next adventure! 

Free paint mode is great! See you at the next adventure!

*Concrete Genie is available to play on the following platforms: Playstation 4 

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and talk about mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

*For the entire month of June which is Pride month we are raising money for Trans Lifeline. If you would like to donate you can do so here: https://donate.tiltify.com/@mothergamer/trans-lifeline/

Mothergamer Finally Plays Animal Crossing New Horizons!

 Many know that I love Animal Crossing. I have been loving Animal Crossing since the original Gamecube version. In fact, I still have my Gamecube and copy of Animal Crossing and I still play it. I was ecstatic about Animal Crossing New Horizons when I first saw the reveal for it and that was the game that made me want to buy a Nintento Switch. Then, the pandemic happened and the hope for getting a Switch faded because frankly there were tons of scalpers that took advantage of the situation and there was no way I was paying outrageous amounts for a Switch. I lived vicariously through my friends who were streaming it and enjoyed seeing all the wonderful ways they designed their islands and watching all the fun events they could participate in. 

Fast forward a year later and thanks to the generosity of everyone in our community, I was able to buy a Switch and Animal Crossing New Horizons. The big thing was working with Tom Nook to choose my island. This was a little overwhelming because I had to really think about the shape and layout of the island, how much room I would have, and thinking about where the rivers and cliffs were. Special shoutout to my friends Jason and Ryan of Betweentwogays for helping me figure all of that out and making it a lot easier. Once I had that set up, I had to choose where I wanted to put my tent and find locations for my two starter villagers, Buck and Sylvia. Then it was time to name my island. Considering what our community is all about, it was quite easy to pick out the name and I think it suits my island perfectly. 

Welcome to Kindness!

I was ready to dive into island life and do everything on my island. As with previous Animal Crossing games, New Horizons is in real time so it's a slower pace kind of game. It gives you the freedom to pick and choose what you want to do, but also encourages stopping to savor the moments. You can time travel if you want, but be warned if you time travel too far it can mess with certain things like turnip prices. I do time travel, but only adjust the time to morning such as when it's 10PM at night, I switch it to 10AM because due to my busy schedule and my streaming schedule I miss things, so this is how I adjust it. I'm playing on my own mostly, so I don't think this affects things too much. I started getting familiar with my island. I learned how to craft tools, learned about how the Nook Miles system works, and I got started on making friends with the current villagers. 

Buck gives me exercise advice.

The big thing of course, is building your house. Tom Nook as usual builds your house and then you have to pay back the loan. His sons Timmy and Tommy are in on the action as you can sell things to them for bells which is the currency used in Animal Crossing. Seriously, Timmy and Tommy will buy anything. You can pick fruit off the trees, gather seashells on the beach, go fishing, and pull up weeds and sell it to them for a nice lump sum of bells. I was able to pay off the first version of my house from doing all this at the handy Nook Miles machine. The Nook Miles machine is also where I can get rewarded with miles for how many days I've logged in and I can buy specialty items, like the Princess Peach dress. It's an interesting variation from the usual Animal Crossing games. 

It's a lovely day!

Running all over the island gathering materials for crafting and for making improvements such as adding a new museum or upgrading the resident services building were not a chore for me because I was having fun and doing a variety of things. The museum is one of my favorite things in Animal Crossing. I love Blathers the owl the museum curator and his desire to share his knowledge and passion for learning with everyone. Digging up fossils, catching fish, catching bugs, and getting art pieces to donate to the museum is a hoot because it means getting to listen to Blathers chat excitedly about it even the bugs which scare him. 

Another thing I really love is the character customization. The fact that I can change my character's entire look is very cool. I can use Nook Miles and buy some new hairstyles and hair colors. Tired of that hair style and color? I can change it as long as I have a mirror. It was fun trying out new colors and styles. I just wish there were longer hair options, but I understand it's hard to code hair. My hair is actually pretty long, past my waist so I found something that was as close to that as I could. Purple is my favorite color, so of course I went with purple hair. 

New look is a go! 

One thing that I am not really enjoying is the durability of the tools. Tools like my shovel can break and then I have to gather the materials to craft another one. It's not a big deal, but it can be a little frustrating when I'm trying to landscape and plan out areas of my island to suddenly have the tool break in my hands. For me, it takes time away from the things I want to do and instead of doing that I'm having to craft more tools. As I said, it does not detract from the game for me, just that I wish tools didn't break at all. 

The thing that brought me the most joy was being able to visit my friends on their islands. It was amazing to see how different each island was and the variety of themes that everyone came up with. Special thanks to the following friends and fellow streamers for inviting me to their islands: Altogirl, TheFinnishCeasar, Lisathewhitewolf, RedLotusPrince, Lemmiecat, and QueenTubaMom. 

There were islands that were all about Pride, a fantastic homage to The Worst Witch books, fantastic museum tours, and moments of just vibing watching the ocean. Everyone was very kind, welcoming, and made my first dive into Animal Crossing with friends a fantastic experience. 

Dinosaurs, sharks, butterfly garden, and the ocean oh my!

Animal Crossing is definitely much more with friends. Being able to open our islands and visit each other is a wonderful time. The best time I had was just getting to explore everyone's islands and seeing all the incredible ways they made their island unique. What shined through was the love and support from everyone and a shared love of the game. I was nervous at first, but because of how kind people in our community were, I found myself smiling and delighted at the incredible creativity of everybody. 

Pride celebration courtesy of Altogirl. So much fun!

I never found myself bored in the game at all. I can play it in short bursts or for a few hours depending on my mood. I can putter around on my own or visit friends. Whatever I decide to do in the game, it's always a lovely time. The fact that there's no pressure and I can go at my own pace is great and allows me to not worry about how much I have to do. I can pick and choose a few things at a time or just chill out for a bit. 

Grand visits with Lemmiecat, Queentubamom, and FinnishCeasar.

I live with depression and anxiety and sometimes it feels like I have lived with it forever. There are days where things overwhelm me or I feel a lot of pressure to do enough, be enough, and it gets exhausting. Animal Crossing has been a happy place that gives me a pleasant escape from all that. It gives me a few minutes of peace and helps distract my brain a bit. On the really bad grey days, I'm absolutely grateful for Animal Crossing being that place full of sunshine and flowers for me. Whether I'm tending a garden, celebrating a new shop opening, or taking the time to sit on the beach watching a meteor shower, there is always something wonderful to do that allows me to appreciate those moments of joy. 

Life on Kindness is pretty good. 

Animal Crossing may not be everyone's cup of tea and that's okay. For me, it's great and I have been playing it fairly often enjoying all the things it has to offer. It's a happy place for me and I am grateful for how welcoming and sweet people in the Animal Crossing community have been offering helpful tips when I ask and gifting crafting materials when I run low. It has been so inclusive for many people in our community, and seeing that representation is amazing. Animal Crossing New Horizons is a terrific game and I'm over the moon that I finally got to play it for myself. I can't wait to keep playing more! Thank you to everyone who invited me to their islands, welcomed me to the community, and showed that even though we are far apart, we can come together and celebrate a love of gaming. Thank you for reading. See you at the next adventure!

Thank you! See you at the next adventure!

*Animal Crossing New Horizons is available on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch

Join us as we enjoy gaming and talk about mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

June is Pride month and this is an important time for those of us who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. For the entire month of Pride the Mothergamer community is raising money for Trans Lifeline. If you would like to donate you can do so here: https://donate.tiltify.com/@mothergamer/trans-lifeline/ Thank you for your donations and support.