PSN Review – Flower
Nearly two years ago thatgamecompany unleashed flOw upon the young PlayStation Network. Later that same year at the Tokyo Game Show they teased a new game similar in concept but taken into an additional dimension, Flower. Flower takes the full capabilities of the SIXAXIS and puts them to excellent use.
The first thing you will notice upon booting up Flower is the relaxing nature of the game… if you want to call it a game that is. The music and the bright colorful assets give you that relaxed feel before ever even starting play. Once you get into the game you’ll almost instantly get pulled in. The soft, fluid motions of the flower floating through the air is relaxing in its own right, but the simple gameplay with utterly no threat of failure makes the game relaxing even at the most tense of moments.
The controls for Flower are nearly nonexistent, nearly the whole game from the menu to the actual gameplay is controlled utilizing the SIXAXIS. The only time any sort of button press is utilized is when confirming level selection or to speed up the wind. As many problems as games have suffered throughout the years with forced SIXAXIS control, Flower pulls it off without a hitch. The controls themselves are very intuitive and responsive and show what SIXAXIS implementation is truly capable of.
There isn’t so much a story to Flower on the surface, but if you dig down a little you’ll find something. If you notice the game refers to gameplay as dreams, a flower’s dream if you will. The flowers sit on the windowsill of an apartment in the city, only dreaming of what it would be like to fly freely in the wind. All starts off fine but eventually things take a turn towards a dark and rainy day all until a flower comes and saves the day.
With Flower only having six levels (seven if you count the credits), one would not think that it would have much of a replayability factor. This isn’t the case however as you’ll still be amazed and entertained by the subtle nuances of the world. But the most important aspect will always remain, it’s relaxing. Every time you come back you’ll still feel that same sense of relaxation and peacefulness as the first time you started it up.
Those who are concerned about Trophies should be happy to know that the game does support Trophies. As unique as Flower is, its use of Trophies are almost as unique in their own right. A few are what you would expect but the truly unique ones involve just relaxing and taking a break, such as taking a ten minute break between dreams (gameplay) to taking a week off from the game. The Trophies are fun and entertaining and encourage taking you time and exploring and truly getting what it’s all about.
Calling Flower a game is almost an insult, it’s much more an experience and a truly amazing one at that. It isn’t for everyone though, some may consider it to be ‘boring’ or too ‘artsy’ for their liking. thatgamecompany did a wonderful job at providing another unique experience on the PlayStation Network.
PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score
Gorgeous nearly dreamlike graphics and sound. Gameplay is nearly mesmerizingly zen like, very hard to put this down. |  |
28 Responses to “PSN Review – Flower”
5/5 is a justified score for this little gem. Can we get them to port over CLOUD? I can’t wait for DLC for Flower, or something new from ThatGameCompany.
@TheMadGreek
I’m glad I’m not the only one that thinks so. I personally hate giving perfect scores, as it tend to make people think that it couldn’t be improved upon, but just because we give a game a perfect score doesn’t mean it can’t be improved upon… let alone how that score would change within the next year when compared to other titles.
WOW! man this game rocks, just the perfect game to hold me before killzone 2.
cant wait!
My bad double post.
I wholeheartedly agree with the perfect score. It might just be the best game the PSN has to offer. Even though it’s short, the amount of quality the game offers is beyond what I have come to expect.
I really am enjoying this game. Although I’ve gotten all the trophies (besides pure), I find myself replaying all the levels, not only for the fun factor but for the sheer relaxation this game offers. I really hope they release DLC for it in the future!
This was a nice break from the usual blood drenched FPS i play. By the fourth level i found myself just flying around the level aimlessly for half an hour before finishing the level.
yea it could be longer, it could be less linear, but i still feel the experiene was flawless and the perfect score is justified.
This game sucked me in better than a $1,000 prostitute.
I will be buying this game in couple hours and will tell you guys my experience. But Game does look very peaceful. calm before storm (KZ2)
Nice! I’m buying this game right now actually.
I just want to say that the best compliment we could get, is that you guys would buy games based of our reviews. That really makes me proud.
Thanks for that, we will continue to strive to bring you guys unbiased reviews from gamers.
Great review Phoenix, very well done unlike some of even the most high-profile gaming sites
This game sits nicely along side other elegant PSN titles, such as Flow, Echochrome and Cuboid.
Nice review – I agree with the score….we just need a trophy guide now ;D
http://playstationlifestyle.net/2009/02/16/trophy-guide-flower/
There ya go Glyn
my only problem with That Game Company is there games are meant to feel peaceful. Yet, they incorporate stress in the game.
Flow was slow and peaceful until you encounter things that can eat you, then it lost all it’s peacefulness and turned into stress
Flower is the same way, once you make it towards the city, it becomes bleak and dark, and you can actually electrocute yourself. After that level, I was thinking I did something wrong, I felt sad, almost.
Rictor nothing actually ‘eats’ you but I see what you mean. I really didn’t enyoy the darker levels but the brighter levels more than make up for it.
Best PSN Game available in my opinion and the Trophies are brilliant.
I agree with the score, great game. Definitely a hit or miss though. Some, like my wife, didn’t like it off the bat. Not much you can do to change that. I personally think it’s great and will use it to show off my TV as well!
@Rictor:
Yeah, I definitely agree with the dream to dreary tone of the game. I replayed a few of the levels (my favorite is the one with the stones erecting from the ground) but had no desire to play the electrical tower level again because it’s almost music-less and pretty hard. And instead of seeing the ground bloom with fresh, green blades of grass it turns brown steel into gray steel.
I’m also kind of confused by that level. Is it even possible to get that flower to perk up like the rest? After several tries to make the flower on the window sill bloom I just gave up. I’d love to see a video walkthrough of that level to find out what I’m doing wrong.
Otherwise, the game or “experience” is well worth the $10 and looks insanely awesome on a HDTV. Very impressive and yes, the best SIXAXIS controls EVER! The Factor 5 guys should be taking notes. THIS is how SIXAXIS controls should work.
Great review. Spot on.
The electrical level was the only level I got lost on – was not relaxing as I had to figure out where I was missing the little blue flowers. And maneuvering through those structures felt like OPERATION.
Meh… It’s okay…. maybe a 4.999 out of 5
Justin, very insightful review. I apologize, I’m not seeing a more appropriate way to get in touch with you – but would you care to review my music/puzzle/relaxation game called NANO for the iPhone? I imagine you write reviews for other platforms as well…I think NANO would be up your alley, or at the very least you would assess the game in the proper context.
Awesome review you covered everything. Personally though this isn’t my style.. I like for of a Killzone 2, but again great review.
Sweet review.
I really wish this game had DLC. I want more!
great graphics for it being a basic game.. its worth the time exploring and finding the hidden green petals.
[...] before.” If you haven’t picked up Flower from the PS Store yet, make sure to check out our review, as well as our interview with [...]
awesome game and the review was incredible.i do wish that the storyline was extended though.
@star.moon.kevin
i agree. awesome game and the story hopefully threw DLC will be extended.