Flower

Over the last few hours I've gone through every emotion and feeling I can think of. I've been confused, perplexed, intrigued, excited, disappointed, happy, sad, elated, depressed, scared, confident, upset, in love, but most of all, amazed.

Amazed at the beauty of Flower, the grace by which it takes us on a journey, a journey of a dream, and at the feelings and emotions it invokes, without saying a single word.

Flower is the 2nd PSN game from Thatgamecompany, the makers of FlOw. It's instructions couldn't be any more simpler "tilt the controller to soar, press any button to blow wind. Relax, enjoy".

Taking the journey of a petal, you direct the wind to blow it in any direction you like, discovering beautiful vistas of all colours, discovering other flowers, and taking their petals along with you.

And that's all the game mechanic there ever is, and all it will ever need. With such simple execution, the game manages to grip you by it's beautiful and gentle graphics, and by it's excellent, excellent music. Calming scores, little riffs as you find each flower, soar into a bunch of red flowers and listen as they all jingle together, all the time affecting the environment around you.

There's definitely a game in there, a simple game nonetheless, but any kind of complexity would take away from what the designers want - for you to witness, experience, and interpret Flower as you like.

Each level follows the dreams of a different flower, all of which share the same window sill in a grey, dull, and industrial city... as you play each level, you realise that there's a message here, a message of hope, of innocence, of destruction, of rejuvenation, of peace, of war, of love and hate. 

It's difficult to say more about this game without actually spoiling it's surprises. All I can say is that for the brief 2 or so hours it lasted, I felt like I was reading the best story ever told, watching the most beautiful play ever made, and listening to the best music man has created. All wrapped up in the medium so many of us favour, the power of game.

This is gaming at it's finest, innovation at it's best. Flower, I salute you.