I bought Flower last week and it is stunning. I played through all the levels and I am only missing one hidden flower on the last two levels.
My review (non-spoiler):
Starting out Flower appears to just be a simple relaxing game very much like Flow. In the first two levels you learn pretty much all the necessary gameplay mechanics you will need to complete the game. But that is deceptive. You go into it thinking that is all you get.
The third level hits and at first it appears to just be a bit more of the same, but then you realize the entire world is now being affected, not just the plants. It is more than just bringing plants to life and adding beauty to the world. You are making big changes to even nature itself. But it still seems simple with just a goal oriented aspect added.
The fourth level takes you into night and you continue changing everything around you. Starting off it still looks simple with just a night aspect and goals. But then things...happen. The world is not what it appears. Life is not simple. Something has happened. Something is there.
Going from levels four through six (last level) you go on an emotional ride from pleasant joy to worry, to pure tense and even a bit of fear and being overwhelmed. Then as you come through you find a sense of triumph, joy and realization that you, a petal on the wind, are much, much more than just that. The change from tense to the joy of the end is such a sweeping feel that it is one of the best emotional experiences I have ever had in a game. I just felt so...good.
There is the debate of can video games be art, but it has rarely had much that can be pointed to in the positive. Even then, those few examples are not great games. But Flower does not just make an argument that video games can be art. In my mind it answers the question with a resounding YES!!! Are video games art? No, but neither are all movies. Can video games be art? Yes. Flower is art.
The gameplay is simple, the story relatively weak as you have no background, no obvious antagonist to point at and hate, and the story is told purely through imagery and feelings. But that is where it excels. The art direction of this game is beyond anything I think I have ever seen. The gameplay is simple, but it gives you that helpless feeling of a petal on the wind. The story may be weak, but you weren't seeking an adventure, you were seeking a relaxing and simple life. It all builds to a point and carries your emotions with it.
Yes, it can be played through quickly, but to experience the full effect you should at least play the last half in one sitting. If you finish level five and don't say, "But wait, it can't end there," you are missing something.
And then when you are done and you begin to "watch" the credits you realize that for the first time in your life you want to see these credits, and not because you hope some small secret is hidden at the end.
I had multiple people message me on the PSN this weekend asking if I think it is worth it. Some of those answers I gave early on in my experience as a maybe. Having played through it I can now say without a doubt that my answer is YES.
