It’s rare that you can find a game that has no apparent plotline, clear mission goals, health meters or measure of progress.
But here we have three for an absolute steal of a price and while they may be short games by today’s standards you’ll find your experience as a gamer all the more enriched for it.
So where to start ? We have Flower, flOw and the critically acclaimed Journey which were all previously only available as downloads over PSN, as well as smaller offerings in the form of Duke Wars, Nostril Shot and Gravediggers on the disc.
I’m going to talk specifically about the former trio because that’s where the sheer experiential joy stems from. Flower is essentially a eco-story, shaping the journey taken in each level by a petal floating on the breeze across a somewhat dull and lifeless landscape with the only apparent goal to touch each flower and bring colour back into the world again. It sounds too simplistic to actually hold your attention but it’s the execution that’s flawless and keeps you going.
Graphically and sonically Flower hits, it’s a peaceful and almost zen-like uplifting experience compared to the rush and gore of most offerings out there. Flower makes full use of the sixaxis controller in a way that actually feels natural rather than forced, it’s sublime and it works because of the setting.
flOw is another game that makes use of sixaxis in taking control of a microscopic organism to feed and evolve its way through levels. It’s more disorientating at first than Flower because of the way ThatGameCompany has portrayed the feeling of depth as you ‘swim’ in and out of levels but you quickly get used to it. Graphically it’s stunning, almost neon-like and manages to convey exactly what living in this microbial world would be like.
And then we come to Journey. There isn’t much else to say that hasn’t already been said. From the visuals through to the emotional engagement this game is an experience that is shared with random strangers online at the same time you are. The way the story unfolds through a series of short cut-scenes as you play through your own narrative is just genius. There is something about this game that is so different it’s hard to quantify because it sparks an emotional connection in ways few games do.
Journey is worth the asking price alone. Add in two more acclaimed gaming experiences and three other little bonuses and it’s an absolute bargain. Get it.
