One of the most relaxing and beautiful games in recent memory
Gameplay
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Explaining the gameplay of Flower is a bit hard. You control the wing or a flower. At the beginning of each level, a flower bloom and one single leaf goes up in the air, and you have to guide it around the level, you have to touch other flowers in order to restore the color back to the world. You have to fly over colored flowers in order to make the color come back to the world, or to get more colored flowers to appear. There's also times where you need to hit certain dark towers in order to get the colored flowers to show, and doing this also triggers certain events, though if only needed for you to get further into the level. In order not to get lost, there are small light-gray flowers you can follow, in order to find colored flowers.
You control the game with the Sixaxis, which means that you move the controller itself to the left or right, if you wanna turn, turn it up or down to gain or lower you altitude and you use the back buttons to accelerate. It takes some time to get used to, and it can be annoying, that you can't stop up and turn, because your always moving, even if you don't press anything, though your gonna move very slowly. Another little annoyance is that you can make go back a little, unless you turn around. Fortunately, there's no enemies, or time limits in the game, your objective stays the same, but you're never in a hurry to get there, so you have all the time in the world. It gives you just enough time to just relax, lean back, and make the darkness disappear.
The game takes an hour to complete, though every level has 3 hidden flowers to find, and trophies require you to do certain things on certain levels. Even through that, replay value is limited and it will probably take you 2-5 hours to get every trophy in the game.
8.5
Graphics:
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Flower is a game that is independent on it's presentation, and thankfully it delivers. The environments are very beautiful and it only get's more beautiful, as you restores the light back to the world. It's one of the most beautiful things to see this year.
10
Sound
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The background sounds are mostly of small breezes, and raindrops, which help contributing to the relaxing atmosphere, all helped even further by the relaxing music. It's more ambient orchestral and piano work, but it's very beautiful.
10
Overall
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Flower is not a game for everyone, the people who wants something actionary, will be disappointed in Flower. However, the idea of Flower is that you relax and have a good time. It's one of the few games in the world that manages to take you away from reality and into the game's peaceful world. It's very short and replay value is limited, but the game is actually only worth $10, so it's a game that thankfully isn't overpriced. It's relaxing and one of the best experiences you'll find this year.