I doubt many would argue that GENIE Reprise isn’t a conventional game. That’s in the sense that it’s something that couldn’t have existed before digital distribution opened the gates for smaller, more personal, experiences. Essentially, it’s an interactive poetry recital that takes place in fantasy environments created using Unreal Engine 5. If it wasn’t for the poetry aspect, it would likely fall into the realm of being a tech demo.
The story is spread across fifteen chapters lasting 8-10 minutes each, culminating in a runtime of around 2 hours. There are no puzzles, no interactive elements apart from a single gate that must be opened using switches, and no collectables to look out for. As you may have guessed from the premise, there’s also an absence of danger, ergo no potential ‘Game Over’ screen. You’re simply instructed to find a handful of crystal shards within each environment, which then generate beacons that initiate a poetry recital – read slowly by a softly spoken female. The beacons appear in different places across the small locations, visible by beams of light that stretch into the sky.
While it’s easy to focus on what elements aren’t present, GENIE Reprise does have something to offer anybody curious enough to take a glance. The fifteen chapters all take place in different fantasy themed locations, and each one is visually appealing, bearing soft lighting and detailed textures. These include a forest with oversized fungi, a medieval village during a brisk winter, an underground cavern with a large statue center piece, and a magical realm with floating islands. A gas-punk style city where inventors have let their imaginations run wild features dozens of sights to take in.
In fact, most of the locations have something to stop and stare at. It’s a shame that a lot of this is mere window dressing. In the rural coastal town, for instance, it’s impossible to enter the town itself, restricting access to the beach only. The blustery mountain range meanwhile has a view that stretches for miles, yet ends up being one of the smaller locations, with the path to the mountain itself blocked. Run across the bridge, turn back around, and that’s the end of that chapter. GENIE Reprise is but a tease.
The poetry itself is tied-in to the sights and sounds of each location – a mixture of ambient effects and piano-led musical scores. The coastal village tells a tale of a fisherman, while the snowy mountain range focuses on the flowers underneath the snow that emerge when it begins to melt. There’s the matter of the titular genie too – a mysterious figure mentioned throughout, often in passing.
If poetry doesn’t do much to rouse your soul, then GENIE Reprise simply offers snippets of game worlds to stroll around in; small locations that could have easily come from the next big-budget western RPG. It’s a pity there’s nothing to do in these worlds other than the barest minimum imaginable to progress the experience until its forgone conclusion. At the very least though, a handful of these locales will likely linger in your mind. Even though there isn’t much here to engage, and even less to challenge, part of me believes that was the developer’s intent all along.
Tonguc Bodur’s Genie Reprise is out Feb 15th on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series. Published by eastasiasoft.