Beautiful, just beautiful.
Man, have you played this game? It's incredible!
At first I wasn't too sure if I wanted to spend $9.99 on a game in which you're... wind. I heard it was incredibly short and in the developer videos they say there is no time limit or score, but there was something so special about what I saw in those videos and in the screenshots. From just watching a bit of Flower I became so chill and felt very relaxed. The music was calming. I couldn't resist! I ended up buying it a couple of days after it released.
The game looks amazing. The menu is a window sill with a flower pot on it. That's where you select your level. There are 6 in total (+1 bonus credits level). You start with one of course. The levels are like dreams - the flower's dream. Within that dream, you start off with one flower petal. YOU are the wind and you have to guide your petal throughout beautiful landscapes and 'bloom' flowers which all have some kind of magical effect.
The first thing I noticed while practicing in the first level was how mesmerizing it is. The music, visuals and ambient noises are so relaxing. You could put the controller down, use the game as a display, fall asleep, dream heavenly and wake up feeling really good. This game is great for me as I can be quite an angry gamer. The lack of time limits and scores makes it all so much better. It's not competitive at all.
You fly around through various fields in each 'dream'. As you blow across groups of flowers on the ground, they bloom and you collect petals, forming a tail. If you've played/know of flOw, it's exactly that. It gets longer ad longer as your progress. You'll never lose it either since there are no enemies or penalties. What I like to do sometimes with a long tail is fly in a straight line and then do a quick 180 to fly right past my tail in the opposite direction. It's quite neat!
The more flowers you bloom, the more things happen/unlock. You'll need to do some specific things in order to move on. It's kind of like a very simple puzzle. For example: Circle around the windmill, collect/bloom the surrounding flowers while you're at it and the windmill will activate. You can then use the windmill as a speed boost. Stuff like that. After you've bloomed enough flowers, an 'exit' appears and you go back to the window sill. Another flower pot (level) will be there and that's how you keep going.
Flower is very atmospheric. You'll notice in the beginning how everything feels... a bit depressing in a way - somber. The levels you play are very colorful and exhilarating in the beginning but as you progress, things start to get a little darker and you'll be responsible for making everything 'happy' again... and it works great. The game can really play around with your emotions. Yeah, that sounds a bit touchy I guess but if you have enough imagination and depth, Flower can do a good job at tossing your moods around.
I highly recommend this game for anyone who wants to play something that is totally new, beautiful, relaxing, simple and addictive. At least that's how I think of the game. I love it. Yes, it is very short and I finished it already but I still play it. I can't be clear enough about how relaxing this game truly is. Just go play it. It's completely different from shooters, violence, racing and just plain frustration that occurs quite often in games.
Flower was totally worth my 10 bucks.