Flower (video game)

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Flower
Developer(s)	thatgamecompany
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Distributor(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Designer(s)	Jenova Chen
Native resolution	1080p
Version	1.01
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3
Release date(s)	February 12, 2009
Genre(s)	Poetic Adventure[1]
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	ESRB: E PEGI: 3+
Media	Download
Input methods	Gamepad

Flower is a PlayStation 3 game available on the PlayStation Network. It was developed by thatgamecompany, announced at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show and released on February 12, 2009. Designed by Jenova Chen, the game was intended as a spiritual successor to flOw, Chen and the company's previous project. In the game, the player controls the wind, blowing a flower petal through the air through the movement of the controller. Flying towards flowers in the levels adds petals to follow the lead petal, and can have effects on the game world such as bringing vibrant color to previously dead fields or activating stationary windmills. The game features no text or dialogue, forming a narrative arc primarily through visual representation and emotional cues.

Flower was intended primarily to provoke positive emotions in the player, rather than to be a challenging and "fun" game. This focus on emotions was sparked by Jenova Chen, who felt that the primary purpose of entertainment products like video games was the emotions that they evoked in the audience, and that the emotional range of most games was very limited. The team viewed their efforts as creating a work of art, removing gameplay elements and mechanics that were not provoking the desired response in the players. The game was a critical success, to the surprise of the developers. Reviewers praised the game's music, visuals, and gameplay, and said that Flower was a unique and compelling emotional experience. It was named the best independent game of 2009 at the Spike Video Game Awards and by Playboy.

[edit] Gameplay

A screenshot of Flower, showing a trail of flower petals being blown through the air over a field

The game is divided up into six main levels, plus one credits level. Each level is represented by a flower in a pot on a city apartment windowsill, and upon selecting a level, the player is taken to the "dream" of that flower.^[2] Once inside a level, the player controls the wind blowing a single flower petal through the air. All motion is accomplished by tilting the PlayStation 3 controller to change the pitch and roll of the floating petal; pressing any button blows the wind harder, which in turn moves the petal faster.^[3] The camera generally follows just behind the petal, though it sometimes moves to show a new objective or consequence of the players actions.^[4]

Throughout the levels are groups and lines of flowers; approaching these flowers with the petal adds a new petal trailing the first. When the player approaches certain flowers or groups of flowers changes are made to the game world. These can range from opening new areas, transforming dead grassy areas to vibrant green fields, or turning on windmills. These changes also generally result in new flowers sprouting for the player to interact with. Flying through each flower results in a musical chime, which harmonizes with the music. The music itself dynamically changes as changes are made to the world.^[3] The more flower petals the player has trailing the lead petal, the faster the petals move.^[2] It is impossible for the player to lose a level or even lose any progress; the game features no enemies, hit points, or time limits.^[4]

Although no text or speech is used anywhere in the game besides the credits, the six levels follow a narrative arc.^[3] The beginning of each stage is near the end of the previous one, and the player through the course of the game approaches a distant city. The first couple of levels focus on restoring life and color to the landscape. After starting up a series of windmills, the player flies through a nighttime field illuminating darkened strings of lights until they reach the city. The city is full of menacing metal structures, small arcs of electricity, and washed-out buildings; the player enlivens the city in the final two levels and transforms it into a bright, cheerful place.

As the player progresses through the levels, the city viewed through the apartment window in the level selection screen gradually changes from its initial grim urban view and becomes more vibrant and colorful. If the player also triggers three secret flowers in each level, the cityscape is replaced with a bright field with mountains in the background. The music, similarly, changes in scope as the game progresses, growing in scale and complexity and adding to the narrative arc.^[5] The credits level is played similarly to the main levels, but as the player flies through each flower the name of a person involved in the game appears above it. The game includes PlayStation Network trophies; in keeping with the game's feel, while some are objective-based, many are centered around relaxing and watching the scenery.^[4]

[edit] Development

Flower was developed as a spiritual successor to flOw, a 2006 Flash game created by Jenova Chen and Nicholas Clark later developed into a PlayStation 3 game by thatgamecompany in 2007 and a PlayStation Portable game by SuperVillain Studios in 2008. Flower was thatgamecompany's "first game outside the safety net of academia".^[6] It was first announced at the September 24, 2007 Tokyo Game Show,^[6] and released on February 12, 2009 on the PlayStation Network.^[7] Developed by a team that ranged from six to nine people over the course of development, Flower was intended primarily to provoke positive emotions in the player, and to act as "an emotional shelter".^[8] The lead designer for the game was Jenova Chen, who co-founded thatgamecompany with game producer Kellee Santiago.^[9] Chen describes the game as "an interactive poem exploring the tension between urban & nature".^[7] Chen decided on the "nature" theme early in the game's development, saying that he "had this concept that every PlayStation is like a portal in your living room, it leads you to somewhere else. I thought; wouldn't it be nice if it was a portal that would allow you to be embraced by nature".^[10]

Before the team began prototyping the game, they first commissioned two pieces of music that would inspire the right emotional tone for the game.^[6] The team then created a number of prototypes, including ones focused on growing flowers and based around human consciousness, but decided that a prototype centered on petals floating in the wind best captured the emotions they wanted to evoke. The team kept their design focus on keeping the player in a peaceful emotional state, removing elements that frustrated players such as petal collection requirements to unlock levels and game mechanics that were too traditional and made the players too excited.^[8] The team also tried to not use any guidelines in the game, allowing the player to go anywhere in an open world, but found that without a few guides such as the camera focusing on new flowers or segmenting the levels, players got confused and frustrated. Chen described this process as "almost like we wanted to throw away the traditional game design, but we end up picking up all the pieces we threw away and putting them back because we know those are actually needed to deliver a good guided experience".^[11]

This focus on emotions was sparked by designer Jenova Chen, who felt that the primary purpose of entertainment products like video games was the emotions that they evoked in the audience, and that the emotional range of most games was very limited. To make Flower have the "emotional spectrum" that he wanted, Chen looked at the development process as creating a work of art, rather than a "fun" game, which would not provoke the desired emotions.^[12] He summarizes this view by saying that the only gameplay mechanic in Flower is hitting a flower to trigger something. The team specifically cut out deeper gameplay elements because they added "challenge" to the game, which, while fun, was not relaxing.^[11] The music for the game was composed by Vincent Diamante. He worked directly with the development team to integrate the music into the game, adjusting the placements of flowers and the tones played when they were reached to harmonize with the music, and adjusting the music dynamically to correspond to changes in the game world.^[5]

[edit] Reception

Flower was well received by critics, something which surprised the developers, who had expected a more mixed reaction.^[11] 1UP.com applauded the game, saying that "the freedom of movement makes the game feel as relaxing as a gently wafting breeze". They felt that "fun" did not fully describe the game experience, saying that it had a "well-constructed movie's emotional arc" and that the game's music, visuals, and gameplay all drew the player into a compelling emotional experience. They also felt that it was very replayable, which added to its short length.^[2] IGN agreed with 1UP's opinion, and said that it provided "more enjoyment, emotion and enlightenment than any game" they had played in years. Though they noted that the game would not appeal to everyone, they described it as "something very unique and very powerful" and stated that it is a "must-play".^[16] PALGN called it an "utterly unique, brave and moving game brimming with personality and intent", though they noted that as it was closer to a work of art than a game, many players would not be interested in it.^[17] Eurogamer had similar praise for Flower, describing it as "pleasantly innocent and uplifting", though they awarded it a lower score than other reviewers as they felt the price was slightly too high for the length of the game.^[15] Other reviewers, such as GamePro and GameTrailers, echoed the same praises for the game; GameTrailers said that it was "less a game and more an experience. You don't necessarily "play" Flower; you interact with it," while GamePro noted the music as the best part of the game's presentation.^[3][4]

Flower received the "Best Independent Game Fueled by Dew" award at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards.^[18] It was similarly named the "Best Indie Game" of 2009 by Playboy.^[19] Its soundtrack was awarded the 2009 "Best Original Soundtrack" prize from G4.^[20] Its gameplay debut at the 2008 Electronic Entertainment Expo resulted in multiple awards, including "Best E3 Download Game" from 1UP.com, "Best Original Game" from UGO, and "Special Achievement for Innovation" from IGN.^[21][22][23]

[edit] See also

• flOw
• List of downloadable PlayStation 3 games

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Flower microsite
• thatgamecompany official website