SubCon

I downloaded Flower the other night ($10, playstation network) and played through it over two days. (You only need about an hour to play it all the way through). For anybody unfamiliar, the game is from thatgamecompany and is the spiritual successor to Flow. I actually thought it was significantly better. It’s not really a “game” in that there may be objectives for progression, but there’s no score, no “dying,” and absolutely no way to “lose.” Basically, you control the wind and start by blowing a single flower petal along. Any button on the controller causes the wind to blow (with analogue support for your trigger buttons), and movement is based entirely on pitch and roll of the sixaxis.

As you blow across other flowers, you pick up more petals, and when you collect certain groups o fflowers, a change in the environment occurs, from opening up a new area or painting color over a section. That’s about all there is to the game, all 6 levels of it.

This game is visually stunning. Absolutely gorgeous. The music is soothing and tranquil, and subtle musical chimes when you collect flowers flow with the music naturally. Still, while I can understand that this must be a relaxing game to play, I couldn’t understand all the hype. People online spoke of how it was “moving” and left them in contemplation long after they put the controller down. I thought that was a little over the top and likely just buying into the hype.

I believe now.

The progression of levels is masterful. A taste in level one, amazing imagery with color in level two, and a fun whirlwind in level three with the sun setting. Level four is a dark, lonely night that allows you to do absolutely stunning things with glowing light, but ends very jarringly. Level five is downright unpleasant, a little scary, and just made me feel uncomfortable and lost. All this emotion is generated just with environment. Level six is the triumphant return and reclamation of color and beauty and (this is going to sound corny) really made my heart soar. I felt an almost irrational rush of happiness and awe and wonder that almost made my eyes sting. Again, so much accomplished just with environment, imagery, and sound.

Sure enough, I turned off the game and sat there just thinking for a few minutes. I found myself thinking about the game a lot that evening. I guess you could say that playing it was like slipping into a quiet meditation. I’m certain lots of people didn’t feel the same way about the game, but there are certainly plenty of people who did get a tranquil, meditative experience out of the game. Some argued that 10 bucks is too much for an hour-long game. I think 10 bucks is cheap for a rather unique experience, and it really is more of an experience than a game. I strongly recommend it for anyone who has a PS3.