In Flower, you play as the wind. Every level starts with you blowing open a single flower, and then taking one of its petals over to another flower. This will in turn release more petals, which will form a huge cluster right behind you as you progress further and further through the level. In order to move on, you need to fulfill certain objectives, which pretty much always take the form of blooming every flower of a particular brand in the level. This will activate windmills, cause earthquakes that'll tear open rock formations and above all, make the dark dreary landscape light and almost excessively colourful again.
The idyllic landscapes, along with the no-pressure game mechanics and a fantastic, dynamic soundtrack make Flower the appeasing game it is. What did detract from the uncompromising enjoyment for me was the control scheme. Pressing any button on the controller speeds you ahead as a gust of wind, and the turning is done through Six-Axis control. While it can be called one of the better and more logical uses of Sony's attempt at making motion control a thing on the PS3, that's really not saying much. I still found the whole thing to be cumbersome at times, and I was occasionally fighting the game in order to fly through that single flower that I somehow kept on missing again and again. It makes sense that you can't turn on a dime, but since the very goal of this game is to “just relax”, these minor annoyances can become temporary drawbacks for the game. However, when it does work, and you're flying full-speed through some of the best-looking grass ever programmed into a game, the game makes for some mighty fine joy. Every time you turn a corner, a new range of flora and colours will burst onto your screen.
