I wake up one bright spring morning and can't open my eyes. I tumble my way to the shower to wash my eyes, and as I crash into different furniture my nose starts running and my skin starts itching. I have a pollen allergy - and Sony still wants me to play Flower.
Now, I know what you're saying. "ICE, why do you buy a game that is about flowers if you're so allergic to flowers that you hate even their digital form?". Well, let's just leave the questions for the end, or we'll never get through this.
I love the spring. The weather's getting warmer, I can wear expensive sunglasses and you can say "I like your expensive sunglasses". Unfortunately the sunglasses are there for a reason, because as pretty as the flowers are, my body can't stand them. So therefore one would think that Sony would take that into consideration when giving the green light to the excellent studio ThatGameCompany. Even if it is just polygons and pixels it reminds me of my allergy, and my allergy reminds me of bad times and the term bad times reminds me of the holocaust. Do you really wish for your products to be associated with the holocaust? (Think for a second about which side of the war the japanese were on).
Apart from that grossly inapropriate comparison, I guess Flower is a good game for non-allergy people. I quite like the soothing feeling of soaring through the grass and collecting - God forbid - flowers. I must also admit I've grown fond of the music and the pretty visuals, as well as I like the overall message of the game which seems to be "take care of the little things" or "take care of the environment". Now, I'm not an eco-freak like Jak from Jak 2 is. I like polluting little lakes and seeing the fish cadavers surface as much as the next guy, but I'm also aware that this message resonates with a lot of people. Like the fifteen people watching the Al Gore station.
The technicalities aren't really that important in this game. Because this isn't a game in the traditional sense of the word, it's... [cliché] an experience[/cliché]. The most important thing is that the technicalities don't get in the way of the experience, and they don't. Controllers work well, and motion control does add some fun to the game. There's no real challenge in completing the game, but again that's a given and if you really went "There's no challenge in the game!? Wow!" at this point you ought to be liquidated and have your assets sold to the highest bidder. There is some challenge in getting all the trophies, and discovering some of the easter eggs thatgamecompany have planted out there, and for you people who wake up every morning, bang your head in the wall and scream "LIFE IS A CHALLENGE, AND I'M GONNA WIN EVERYTHINGZ!" only to defenestrate three years later, then sure this isn't the game for you, but for the rest it ought to work just fine.
Except for us allergetics. Who have to be heavily sedated to play this game. For us that's a real pain, and the SCEA office will therefore in three days time receive an angry letter, from yours truly and a signed picture of me in profile, that is attached to a ticking time bomb. Because this country is founded on freedom of expression - and after all I'm just expressing myself - like the good people in thatgamecompany did with flower and like a lot more developers ought to do.
/ Shortened and edited version later uploaded on pixeledcourier.com
Nelia writes: "Spring is nearly here and to celebrate we've put together a list of some of the best Springtime video games for the upcoming season."
Ten years ago, the delicate indie game Flower was first released on PlayStation 3. Flower broke a lot of molds, turned a lot of heads, and spawned a lot of "is this even a game" soul-searching editorials, but a decade of hindsight shows that it's as much as 2019 game as it was a 2009 game.
First game I bought ‘n’ beat after my daughter was born. Late night, mom asleep. Lil’ girl in one arm while I six-axis’d with the other. Beat it on PS4 again years later on her birthday, just cuz. :)
I can relate. The last of us was the first game I played after my daughter died. At first it was hard but a semi healing experience as the game progressed. Flower is great though very relaxing game
Oh man I’m so sorry. Sincerely.
You know, they say music is the soundtrack of our lives. Goes to show how far games have come that they too can leave these little footprints.
I'm glad it helped you heal. I'm very sorry for your loss. My first born son is only months old and I can't even imagine losing him. Games can be very powerful experiences. Sometimes more powerful than almost any other artistic medium.
Sony still owns the ip though so that would be a big deal if they allowed that. I think they should allow it personally; thatgamecompany has created gem after gem that will be remembered as art pieces. They have made their money off the games and more and should free them to the rest of the cummunity...they would still make money off licensing for the ports anyway.
They are releasing Flower, Flow and Journey on the PC, but honestly the PC is more neutral ground. I agree that putting them on rival consoles would be highly unlikely. It would be great if more gamers could enjoy these awesome games though.
Well, yeah. The same with The Journey and Flow. They don't get old because graphics are stylized and gameplay is quite unique.
It's such a fun and relaxing game. Probably the best use of the sixaxis we got. A friend forced me out of my gaming comfort zone to buy this and Noby Noby Boy, didn't regret it what so ever. Ps3 had a lot of fun silly PSN titles that you really don't see this gen. Still waiting for my Shatter remaster and/or sequel.
I always play this game, every year, on a relaxing, warm spring evening. I also have the soundtrack.
I have a special connection to this game. It really resonated with me and to this day, there doesn't seem to be much reason beyond "Spring has always been my favorite season". Go figure.
This week Tracy Fullerton from @USCG ameLabs and TracyFullerton.com joins Mike (@AssaultSuit), Tiny (@Tiny415) and Aaron (@Ind1fference) to talk about: USCGameLabs, Game Innovation Lab, SAAM Arcade, Walden, Flow, Flower, Journey, What Remains of Edith Finch?, Threes, GameDesignWorkshop.com, TWINE, Unity Store, Jenova Chen, PS3, That Game Company, Saikoucon, Ready Player One, A Quiet Place, Rampage, Movie Pass, Bumblebee, The Happening, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Teen Titans Go to the Movies, Power Rangers, He-man, She-ra, Amazing Interiors, Arcade 1up, Sea of Thieves, Curse of the Moon, Mega Man X Collection, Spyro Collection, Money Puzzle Exchanger, Enter the Gungeon, Cursed Souls, Overcooked! 2, Flat Heroes, Pool Panic, Bomb Chicken, Slam Land, Pixel Ripped 1989, Radio Hammer Station, AirConsole, Shantae half-genie curse, Dead Cells, We Happy Few, Salt and Sanctuary, Sleep Tight and more.
What are you talking about? Theres online in journey.