Publisher: SCEI

Developer: thatgamecompany

Release Date: 11/12/2013

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thatgamecompany is a really talented bunch. With Journey and Flow under their belt, they are known for making artistically stunning games on Sony’s consoles. When Flower was released on PS3 amazed gamers around the world with its gorgeous visuals and music. It’s a very simple game, but that’s okay for what it does.

You control a single flower petal and ride the wind to help other flowers bloom and rid gloom and grayness from the world around you. You can control the speed of the petals and the novelty came from using the PS3’s SixAxis controller to move the petals around. On the Vita, you can use the gyroscope or hold the rear touchpad. I honestly don’t like the controls and feel it is very difficult to control at low or high speeds. I always missed a set of petals in a run and had to turn around and go back breaking the magic and flow of the game.

It was like this constantly through the entire game. Once I felt the game had jumped from petal set to petal set only to let me go and lose focus of the current run. As the game progressed this became more complicated as you avoided fallen electrical towers that would shock you and send you flying backward. It’s a beautiful game to behold, even on Vita, but the frustrating controls and mechanics bring it down quite a bit.

Flower also has some underlying environmental message that feels hypocritical. The game goes from green grasses to dark and dreary in a few levels only to have you restore color to the city (that clearly represents Los Angeles) so I don’t have any idea what the story is or the message is about.

There are about seven levels not including the credits level which was interesting. Flower is a PlayStation classic and should be played just for its beauty and unique gameplay that no other game can touch. The music is amazing and I really felt sucked into the game only to be ripped out again by bad controls.