![]() ![]() I've got more than a little of the tree-loving hippie in me, but I just wasn't excited about being subjected to another trope about technology's deflowering of poor, innocent nature, nor with the rest of the game being a struggle to overcome the evil monoliths of electricity and steel. At the climax of the fourth dream (what I consider the second act) this becomes very obvious and I was a bit put off by it. Though it doesn't really hit you over the head until the fifth dream there's a steadily building dread - literally an approaching storm - of technology encroaching upon the idyllic meadows and canyons of Flower. I'd like to stop here and think about this for a moment because in light of where the game goes I think the third and fourth dreams are the game's apex and best represent the symbiosis I mentioned at the outset. Once you've activated the windmills and enter the canyons it becomes nigh impossible to escape them and re-entering them to search for more petals is a might frustrating as the wind, seemingly generated by the windmills, constan tly tries to push you out. #I AM A LEAF ON THE WIND WATCH ME SOAR FREE#In the third dream you encounter for the first time some constraints on the hitherto free flowing game play. This isn't just a narrative tension either. But as elegant and appropriate as they may be they still represent the beginnings of a tension in the game between nature and technology. We've seen the windmills in pre-release videos of the game and, being that you control petals flowing on the wind, they seem like a perfectly reasonable and non threatening addition to the landscape. I probably wouldn't have felt any tension between the natural and artificial elements of the landscape in the third dream if it weren't that I have a friend with a unusual fear of windmills. The desaturated color palette - an idea that seems to be gaining more purchase lately - doesn't even negatively affect one's mood because it provides a wonderful canvas to paint on. While there are hints of human interference - the intentionally constructed stone circles - they are non threatening enough that one might not even notice them on the first play through, despite the obvious counterpoint they make with the randomly placed stones from the first dream. The second flower's dream might initially be seen as more of the same. The first dream is 100% natural, bright and airy, free and merry with some random rocks breaking up the landscape and a spectacular tree to capstone the experience. The stage progression is what really makes the game. It rather reminds me of Cloud, a game I was introduced to back in 2006 as an academic attempt to create non-violent and non-exclusively-goal-oriented play in video games. Before booting it up you expect to accept the simple grandeur of the landscape as a way of turning the game into an exercise in relaxation. The hyped up notion of zen-gaming actually works in the game's favor by swaying players' expectations. So after 2.33 playthroughs here's one PEEGers impressions:įlower is a game about symbiosis. Michael Abbot's initial shoot-from-the hip impressions have spawned a deluge of comments which I've intentionally avoided for the sake of forming my own critical opinion before having it blown in other directions by my fellow bloggers. There's already been some discussion out there in the blogosphere. With all the critical hype surrounding Flower I'm excited to have a chance to throw my tam in the ring during the early stages of what looks to be one of 2009's most talked about experiences. Over the months that I've been reading gaming blogs I've often felt a bit out of the loop and unable to legitimately formulate my own thoughts because I lacked either the time or the tools (still a Sony-only household) to play some of last year's most discussed games. Jeffries about the benefits of blogging for the long tail rather than the game du jour, I've actually been looking forward to trying my hand at the latter. Though I've recently read and largely agreed with a post by L.B. ![]()
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