I played flOw two years ago when it first came out. It was a fun little title for the Playstation 3 that actually made decent use of the typically gimmicky six-axis tilt controller, but it was nothing groundbreaking. So, when I heard that Thatgamecompany was making a spiritual sequel called Flower, I thought it sounded interesting, but I admittedly didn’t take much notice because I expected it to be much like flOw but with a different skin.
Holy crap, was I wrong. I heard Lee talking positively about it on our own Megaphones Ahoy! Podcast so I decided to give it a shot, and downloaded it onto my friend’s PS3. I only planned to play the game for a few minutes and my friend decided to casually watch me try it out.
Just beautiful.
Three hours later, he and I had finished the game after an incredible arc of intense emotions. Flower is perhaps the most riveting game I have played since
Shadow of the Colossus (which came out four years ago). Its immersive and simple concept tells the story of the beautiful, varied, and powerful dreams six flowers conjure on a drab city windowsill.
Although it’s possible to plow through the game in the same amount of time it would take to watch a movie, Flower doesn’t impose any time limits on you, and you can (and will definitely want to) take your time to soak in the gorgeous environments.
I encourage anybody with access to a PS3 to play one of the best games in years all the way to the appropriate and incredibly satisfying ending. This is why games are made.
