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Flower (PSN)
- Thread starter TTP
- Start date
I got it Sunday night, went one stage a day and just finished it. (Funny thing, I got the Nature "bloom 10,000 flowers" trophy when I reached the fourth level because I loved replaying the first three stages so much.)
What a wonderful game. It's a title I can see myself coming back to to play for an hour several nights a week. It's open-ended, with no time limit or scoring or death, yet all six levels (seven if you count the credits, which I would) are goal-driven and, in the case of the fourth and fifth stages, puzzle- and obstacle-oriented, respectively. There's a game to play here and an experience to immerse yourself that's simply enthralling.
I really dug the message, too. I interpreted the game's story as follows:
Such a good story. Such a good game!
What a wonderful game. It's a title I can see myself coming back to to play for an hour several nights a week. It's open-ended, with no time limit or scoring or death, yet all six levels (seven if you count the credits, which I would) are goal-driven and, in the case of the fourth and fifth stages, puzzle- and obstacle-oriented, respectively. There's a game to play here and an experience to immerse yourself that's simply enthralling.
I really dug the message, too. I interpreted the game's story as follows:
You're jaded by city life and so you fixate on the flower on your apartment's windowsill, daydreaming about idyllic landscapes out in the country (the first three levels), only for city life to creep back into your mind (the encroaching debris of the fourth and fifth level) and your love of nature to power through it all and find the balance between city life and nature, hence the flowers reaching the windowsill high in the sky at the end of the sixth level. Your love of nature is what infused the city with life. I think this interpretation gains further credence due to the developer diary available for download on PSN, where the girl says that fixating on each flower in the apartment sends you to an "imaginary dreamscape." All games are make-belief, so why distinguish something as an "imaginary dreamscape" unless, in the context of the story, each level is your spirit getting back in touch with the natural world?
Such a good story. Such a good game!
Yeah, the fifth level will probably go down in history as the game's most polarizing. It's such a departure from the previous stages, with its dark aesthetic and slower, obstacle-oriented gameplay.jett said:
I liked it but hey, I'm a sucker for rainy stages. I also think it fits beautifully into the game's narrative structure, serving as the emotional low point before the game's sensational climax. The sharp contrast pays dividends in the end.
But if you don't like it, you don't like it. I have no idea where the other two secret flowers are either!
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
I just got all the trophies. I was reluctant to do it at first, because the last thing I wanted to do to the game was ruin it by getting stressed out by trying to obsessively pull it apart in order to find all the hidden nooks and crannies. I felt it would've cheapened the experience.
I decided that I if I missed out on a trophy, I wouldn't try and repeat it until the next day. Luckily I had no troubles playing through the game and unlocking them all (without cheating and skipping the clock forward, I got the week one by accident, which was actually kinda cool).
What a great experience Flower has been. Thanks to everyone at That Game Company.
I decided that I if I missed out on a trophy, I wouldn't try and repeat it until the next day. Luckily I had no troubles playing through the game and unlocking them all (without cheating and skipping the clock forward, I got the week one by accident, which was actually kinda cool).
What a great experience Flower has been. Thanks to everyone at That Game Company.
VGChampion
Member
Yoboman said:
I've had flowers in the backyard all year here. I guess that's because I live in FL.
Fafalada said:One thing that struck me was how when levels are still desolate, they feel reminiscent of art-direction in SOTC landscapes. I wish we got adventure game of that type with this kind of weed-technology
Just played it yesterday for the first time. Great game, beautiful. All I could keep thinking was "I hope one day I'll be riding Epona around on a field that looks like this."
So I just bought it a few hours ago, and beat it a few minutes ago, and I have to say: wow.
This, of all games, make me want to have a surround sound system. I can only imagine.
I mean, seriously. I think I can understand what reviewers meant by it being an "emotional experience;" I had my share of goosebumps. The visuals, the music, everything's so stunning.
I was a little worried about whether or not I'd enjoy it at $10, but it was definitely worth it. Just wish I had a larger screen to take advantage of the game.
Something I'd like to ask people who've beaten it, though: on the last stage (not credits), when you beat it, and the camera zooms out with
does the music stutter for you? I'm on a US 60gb model, and it was stuttering a lot. It stuttered for a moment in an earlier level, but it was the most severe in the last one. I wasn't sure if that was an intentional effect or not, but I feel like it wasn't supposed to be. Also, for the flower pot in the second to last stage (the one with the crazy obstacles), a green leaf didn't fall on it like the previous pots, or the last one: did I miss something? It also has a light, remaining glow to it as well D;
It could be because I've had my 60gb on for so long, and the heat was getting to it, but :S
Anyways, definitely gonna go back to it later for the trophies
This, of all games, make me want to have a surround sound system. I can only imagine.
I mean, seriously. I think I can understand what reviewers meant by it being an "emotional experience;" I had my share of goosebumps. The visuals, the music, everything's so stunning.
I was a little worried about whether or not I'd enjoy it at $10, but it was definitely worth it. Just wish I had a larger screen to take advantage of the game.
Something I'd like to ask people who've beaten it, though: on the last stage (not credits), when you beat it, and the camera zooms out with
the giant pink tree growing
It could be because I've had my 60gb on for so long, and the heat was getting to it, but :S
Anyways, definitely gonna go back to it later for the trophies
Haunted
Member
The stuttering is not intentional, it's a know bug, lots of people experienced it. Don't worry, i's not your system.Darkpen said:So I just bought it a few hours ago, and beat it a few minutes ago, and I have to say: wow.
This, of all games, make me want to have a surround sound system. I can only imagine.
I mean, seriously. I think I can understand what reviewers meant by it being an "emotional experience;" I had my share of goosebumps. The visuals, the music, everything's so stunning.
I was a little worried about whether or not I'd enjoy it at $10, but it was definitely worth it. Just wish I had a larger screen to take advantage of the game.
Something I'd like to ask people who've beaten it, though: on the last stage (not credits), when you beat it, and the camera zooms out withdoes the music stutter for you? I'm on a US 60gb model, and it was stuttering a lot. It stuttered for a moment in an earlier level, but it was the most severe in the last one. I wasn't sure if that was an intentional effect or not, but I feel like it wasn't supposed to be. Also, for the flower pot in the second to last stage (the one with the crazy obstacles), a green leaf didn't fall on it like the previous pots, or the last one: did I miss something? It also has a light, remaining glow to it as well D;the giant pink tree growing
It could be because I've had my 60gb on for so long, and the heat was getting to it, but :S
Anyways, definitely gonna go back to it later for the trophies
The green petals falling into the pots signify the green hidden flowers you found in the levels. Every level has three, so if there's less green petals in one of your pots, you haven't found all of them in that level yet.
ah, ok.Haunted said:The stuttering is not intentional, it's a know bug, lots of people experienced it. Don't worry, i's not your system.
The green petals falling into the pots signify the green hidden flowers you found in the levels. Every level has three, so if there's less green petals in one of your pots, you haven't found all of them in that level yet.
do 3 leaves appear if you get ever secret green flower in each level? D:
Always-honest
Banned
yepDarkpen said:
Pristine_Condition
Member
Gowans007 said:
Too bad for you.
Pristine_Condition
Member
Gowans007 said:
Lots of people don't appreciate some awesome things.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
Whether it was you internalizing the hype or whatever, you didn't enjoy the awesome. Too bad for you. That's all I'm saying. You missed out, for whatever reason.
Just a quick question on the 10,000 bloom trophy.
You don't have to finish the stage in order for it to register the flowers bloomed in that stage? Me and my housemate have been restarting in and out of the first half of the last stage for the last few days and it feels like we've almost done that trophy twice over.
in short, am I doing it wrong?
You don't have to finish the stage in order for it to register the flowers bloomed in that stage? Me and my housemate have been restarting in and out of the first half of the last stage for the last few days and it feels like we've almost done that trophy twice over.
in short, am I doing it wrong?
dskillzhtown
keep your strippers out of my American football
Gowans007 said:
Alot of the "greatness" of this game is board-generated. It is unique and well-done, but people attaching such incredible hyperbole to it is not warranted. Again, I think the graphics, sound, control and everything about it is done well, but again I don't see the "OMG!!!!".
I think that it seems the net gaming culture seems so quick to crown games as the best thing ever. Especially when something outside of the genres of sports, shooters, rpg, etc. I commend the game for doing something different, but the emotional crap that I am seeing attached to this game was not my experience.
I enjoyed the game, but not really the experience that is being talked about.
PjotrStroganov
Member
dskillzhtown said:
I think it has to do with emotions linked to memories that get revived when playing this game. I'm almost inclined to say that a having a richer childhood experience makes for a more emotional gameplay experience, but that would go to far. Let's just say that some memories are less compatible with these kind of games than others.
dskillzhtown
keep your strippers out of my American football
PjotrStroganov said:
I am not calling out anyone for their emotional experience and attachment to the game. It just wasn't my experience.
OK, I'm not going to read all of this thread, so I apologize if this has been answered, but I'm confused on Level 5 (?)
.
Every other level my "petal trail" has gone into the ending vortex and sprouted a flower, but I CANNOT get this level to do it. The
I've played the level like five times and I refuse to go on to the next one until I get it, so I'm about to quite the game in frustration. I thought this stupid thing was supposed to be relaxing?
the one with all the electrical towers
Every other level my "petal trail" has gone into the ending vortex and sprouted a flower, but I CANNOT get this level to do it. The
level just fades out as I approach it. Have I been doing something in the other levels that I'm not aware of that makes this entering the vortex and sprouting occur?
lowrider007
Licorice-flavoured booze?
teiresias said:
Ha ha, same as me buddy, I must of done that level about 12 times wondering why I never flew into the vortex at the end, I came in here in the end and posed the same question as you and luckily one of the mod's told that you don't enter the vortex until the next level, the game was very relaxing up until that point, saying that though level 6 is so amazing all was forgiven and I had a big smile on my face again.
Yeah, as has been said twice already, you go into the vortex at the beginning of Level 6. There's a reason for this: Level 5 was all devastation, all the urban excess you're striving to shake off, while Level 6 is all restoration, the start of a fresh beginning. It's functionally baffling and thematically brilliant!teiresias said:
MickeyKnox
Member
I thoroughly enjoyed this game, I paid the 10 for it and it may be overpriced but it was a very relaxing experience, something everyone should get once it hits like $5.
The last level (I guess)
seems to cause the game to fall apart technically.
I'm having tons of camera issues where the camera gets stuck
, and now it seems I've hit a glitch where I'm STUCK after getting one of the secret flowers in the area right next to the
No matter how hard or high I try to fly I'm just stuck in that one little area and can't seem to get out. So much for this game being splendid all the way through at this point. The nonsensical change in the game's own convention at the end of the previous level (resulting in unnecessary re-plays that weren't necessary), and now the technical issues I'm having here (been trying to get un-stuck for the past half an hour) have really started souring the experience for me - even though by all other accounts this level is superb.
repainting the city
I'm having tons of camera issues where the camera gets stuck
beside corners of buildings
ramp where you get onto the highway.
SecretBonusPoint
Banned
MickeyKnox said:
Get that shit out of here, its in no way over-priced! Why do people just seemingly hate smaller devs actually making money?
Trevelyon said:
Stage 3 is the easiest to get this trophy IMO. Just remember to go back through the canyon 3 or 4 times, flowers keep spawning there for awhile. And like most of the trophies you need to finish the level, back out to the main screen and wait a bit for it to register. Don't expect to see it pop up in-game.
I still love Flower. Just wanted to say it again.
And the background image once you've gotten all 18 green seeds is amazing.
Since I've already gotten all the trophies I think I'll delete my save file and start it all over again. Going through Flower is like a spiritual journey. No fucking joke.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
I wish I hadn't 100%'d the game. I feel like playing more.
Nintendo Playstation
Member
Sittin' at 95%. I earned my last trophy on Tuesday so I'll play again Wednesday for the final one. It's been pretty difficult staying away for a week. I get home from school and after being caught in traffic, all I want to do is play! It's a lovely game and I even offered it up for my friends to try. All they wanted to do was watch me play! I hope Sony and ThatGameCompany see the opportunity for additional stages. Totally worth the $10 for the length of game it was, but I want more. New environments are probably the only way this game could be improved and I'd have no problem opening my wallet. I had no camera trouble and the building soundtrack similar to that of Wii's "de Blob" made flower that much more addictive.
If WipEout HD hadn't existed, I would've bought a PS3 for this.
If WipEout HD hadn't existed, I would've bought a PS3 for this.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
Heh, I like to have incentive when I play games, it stops me from feeling guilty over my [ongoing] procrastination. I don't get much time to lie on a couch and play, and I have a fair amount of games I am yet to finish.sykoex said:
Haunted said:The stuttering is not intentional, it's a know bug, lots of people experienced it. Don't worry, i's not your system.
if you noticed, the game is loading ALL THE TIME
even on the level select screen...with the different flower pots
i hope they (can) fix this
because the stuttering is the only problem I have with this game
and although I think the agme is otherwise perfect as it is, I would love to see "season packs"
imagine how flying above snow would look =O
Since I've bought and played it, I could definitely be accused of over hyping it, but it's only because I personally enjoyed it that much and wanted to communicate that.Gowans007 said:
Before I played though, I VERY much kept my expectations in check, as I do with every experimental PSN game. In the end, I got tipped over by seeing all the great reviews, but even then, I still let the experience surprise me, and not go into it assuming I'd think it was a 9/10 like all the reviewers.
Now that I'm unbanned, I want to say how much I enjoyed Flower.
It was a really unique experience. The music and the grass blowing with the wind were beautiful, and the
c:
Maybe I thought into it too much, but regardless the 'story' really made this game for me.
It was a really unique experience. The music and the grass blowing with the wind were beautiful, and the
sudden twist near the end was surprisingly deep for me. It was kind of sad, because as I saw it nature was minding its own business but in comes technology and ruins it, but nature keeps striving to restore life into the world, even as it seems to get punished brutally (that bit where all these electric things pop out of nowhere) by the work of mankind, even though it is trying to help. But in the end, colour and life are restored the the world and everybody's happy.
Maybe I thought into it too much, but regardless the 'story' really made this game for me.
