Flower, Sun, and Rain First Look

Flower, Sun, and Rain originally debuted on the PlayStation 2 seven years ago, and despite seeing a release in its home country of Japan (where it was known as Hana to Taiyou to Am), it never saw a US or European release. One of Japanese developer Suda51's first games, FSR is getting a new lease on life with a Nintendo DS version coming out in October, which is being developed by Hand and published by Rising Star Games in European markets.

FSR takes place on the island of Los Pass, a tropical paradise where not all is going according to plan. There's been some funny business happening lately, and it's up to "seeker" Sumio Mondo, a private detective, to get to the bottom of the mysterious happenings on the island. After a major plot incident that we won't reveal, he awakes to find himself in the day before in a Groundhog Day temporal loop. By exploring the Flower, Sun, and Rain hotel, as well as the rest of Los Pass, and interacting with the hotel's staff plus some island folk, you'll begin to piece together the puzzle.

The game combines elements of puzzle-solving, action, and strategy. There are also a number of side quests you'll be able to play at your own pace, in addition to the core quest missions. Completing the side quests will offer bonuses, such as a Travis Touchdown costume you can dress Mondo in, and we were told you'll be able to play as other characters at various points in Flower, Sun, and Rain. It seems quite a few of the challenges revolve around you finding numerical codes through various clues strewn about and by solving puzzles. These codes allow you to use your briefcase, called Catherine, to "jack in" to objects and even people to extract information with which to continue your mission. At the start, you'll meet Peter, who is described as an agent or broker. His exact role and motives are unclear--like the other characters we encountered on the island--other than being the person who recruited your services at the behest of the FSR hotel.

Soon into the game, you'll obtain a digital guide to the island and hotel, as you might expect at a hotel in everyday life. In addition to informing you of the hotel's services and notable locations on the island, the guide actually provides riddled clues to aid your quest. We were told by Rising Star that you'll also receive a hard copy of this guide, in addition to the game's manual, which may hold a few more hints.

The DS version retains the look and feel of the PS2 original, with Suda51 reportedly wanting to keep the original graphics. Despite debuting in 2001, Flower, Sun, and Rain's look holds up reasonably well on the DS, and the game takes a few swipes at itself, such as one of the characters declaring there have been a few improvements from the PS2 days "in our version of the game." The game's characters "speak" with a muffled digitised garble, and depending on whom you talk to, the sound will change. It has a slightly unsettling feeling to it but seems to work well with Mondo's discreet detective work. There's certainly a lot of dialogue to get through, but if you like a deep story, FSR shouldn't disappoint.

Flower, Sun, and Rain on Nintendo DS will finally give Westerners a chance to experience one of Suda51's earlier works when Rising Star Games launches it across Europe on November 14. A US release is planned for 2009.