Flower

There are few things in this world that are worse than going to bed frustrated over a video game, such as cancerAIDS. I’m sure many of you know what I am talking about. That one impossibly difficult boss who smites you one second after you spawn. That door that requires a key you searched everywhere for but still cannot find it for the life of you. Or maybe just getting humiliatingly reamed without mercy in a versus match of Left 4 Dead, Brawl, Counterstrike, Mario Kart, or what have you.

YOU'RE TEARING ME APART, BLUE SHELL!

You begin to obsess over these obstacles and how much of your precious time you have dedicated to everything that it just seems to be a complete waste. You’re a failure. You suck at life. You suck at taking care of your dog that just starved to death because you forgot to feed it. Well, hopefully not that last one. If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, you’re just too damn proud to admit it. Jerk.

These trials and tribulations are also what make a majority of video games so enjoyable. It can provide that feeling of relief like after finishing a ridiculously hard final exam; once it’s done you never have to deal with it ever again.

Knowing this, imagine a game developer talking to a big gaming executive as he tries to pitch a game that has little to no migraine inducing hardships, and which is not specifically geared towards kids. And it’s centered around botany:

Exec: “Lemme get this straight. You’re a flower petal…”

Guy: “Yes.”

Exec: “Okay. And your goal is to float around collecting other flower petals…”

Guy: “Right.”

Exec: “Is there a time limit or anything?”

Guy: “No, you go at your own pace.”

Exec: “Any characters? Story arcs? Boss fights?”

Guy: “Not really, kinda, and no. You just kind of float around collecting petals.”

Exec: “Float around collecting petals…”

Guy: “Yes.”

*Stony silence. Exec stares straight through guy.*

Guy: “You’re a flower petal.”

Exec: “No, I get it. Would you like some coffee?”

*Executive stands up and grabs coffee pot.*

Guy: “I’m actually not much of a coffee—“

*Exec unloads pot of boiling hot coffee on guy’s head. Guy’s face starts melting off.”

Guy: “OH MY GOD WHYYYYYYYY?????”

*Exec takes out cigar from his jacket’s inside pocket and starts smoking.*

Exec: “You people make me sick.”

That might be a somewhat exaggerated account of what happened, but the premise of the game discussed actually exists. It’s on PS3 from the indie game developers at thatgamecompany and it is named Flower and it deals with flowers! None of the traditional structure from typical challenge based games is to be found here. Exposition through dialogue or text is also nowhere to be seen. Instead, the game relies completely on telling its simple nature appreciation story through its serene images and soothing music. The result is one of the most relaxing, stress relieving, and simplest games ever made.

The game starts in the room of a decrepit city apartment where a wilted flower sits on a windowsill.

Once the flower is selected, it takes you to a valley that is riddled with various dead spots of grass. The goal is for the player to control the wind (all by tilting the controller) to blow the single flower petal through the environment to collect as many petals as possible. When the special flowers are collected, the dead patches in the valley come to life. This is the goal in every level, the main feature that changes being the environments explored. The levels lead the player eventually into a bleak, colorless industrial city overgrown with broken power lines and jagged metal clusters. After the six levels are complete, your apartment is now in filled with glorious color with a view of industry and nature living in perfect harmony. Yay!

The real world is a stressful place, so I found myself playing Flower for a good period of time, just letting it wash over me as I would decompress from another fruitless day of applying for jobs, even when my parents would glare at the television confused and worried about what I was doing (their expression pretty much asked “When are you going to kill something?”). The graphics look amazing, especially on a high definition television when every color on the spectrum is splashed on the screen. The soundtrack, which is synchronized with the pace the player plays the level, is also impressive and just full of that positive energy. In many ways this game is just like throwing in a tape of nature sounds, or better yet, being thrown into a roomful of puppies (or kittens, your choice)! I even felt compelled to complete all the PS3 trophy challenges, shamelessly giving myself another excuse to play the game.

If you are looking for a game that will not cause you any grief (because we are all such fragile beings *sniff*) and would like a wholly original gameplay experience then I could not recommend Flower more. If you want to blow $#%* up, decapitate zombies, or beat someone into a pulp, this game might offend you.

4/5 A Beautiful, Relaxing Game. Pretty Dope!