"There is no such thing as Art for everyone" said suda51 as a way to explain what the fuck he just made
I haven’t played the Silver Case yet but holy shit.
This game's gameplay is too terrible for the rest of the stars.
A mystery is concealed here! An endless journey, the prey protects their soul while the hunter hunts the truth. A requiem solely sung for the search! Truth is singular. It's time to go to work, Catherine! The search culminates here!
I feel like out of every kill the past game this one might be the gayest
Literally the funniest game of all time. if you're a fan of comedies like me it's hard to not find a game that incorporates comedy into its design better than FSR. With a very deep and interesting metaphor of Sumio's conflict hidden under it, it's literally like, idk man, knee slapping. The ending of the game had me laughing for fifteen minutes straight. Everyone who wants to create comedic media has to look at this game to see the perfect example of humor in video games. Left such an impact on my humor.
This review contains spoilers
Esse jogo... meu Deus. Tão confuso quanto seu antecessor, igualmente perfeito (tirando sua gameplay extremamente maçante, mas que sinceramente, eu não ligo nem um pouco por conta da narrativa genial que o Suda consegue entregar).
Eu vou carregar o Hotel Flower, Sun and Rain comigo pelo resto da minha vida, todos esses personagens estarão comigo para sempre, principalmente meu personagem favorito de todos os tempos, Sumio Mondo... ou melhor, Sumio Kodai, não?
Obra-prima.
Eu vou carregar o Hotel Flower, Sun and Rain comigo pelo resto da minha vida, todos esses personagens estarão comigo para sempre, principalmente meu personagem favorito de todos os tempos, Sumio Mondo... ou melhor, Sumio Kodai, não?
Obra-prima.
Genuinely a great experience but not a very good game I would say. Still worth checking out as a whole
An odyssey of love and deception.
Playing this on real hardware while trying to solve each puzzle on my own was the most immersive experience I had this year
This is the worst game you can play. This is the best game you can experience.
This game has the worst story. This game has the best narrative.
This game's gameplay is the most boring task you can do. This game's puzzles will make you think outside the box and truly make you search and work out the answer.
This game is a contradiction. Play this game. Kill your past
This game has the worst story. This game has the best narrative.
This game's gameplay is the most boring task you can do. This game's puzzles will make you think outside the box and truly make you search and work out the answer.
This game is a contradiction. Play this game. Kill your past
what the hell
An experience you won’t forget.
On the eve of the first grasshopper direct, I'm here to note down that this is one of the most beautiful, meaningful games I've ever played. Carefully crafted to put yourself in the shoes of someone refusing to acknowledge their past and refusing to let go of it simultaneously, flower sun and run presents as one of the best narrative experiences one could have in a modern era. I hope for a remake announcement no matter how foolish it may be, despite suda himself showing interest. Here's to finding that paradise, that way out, to kill our past.
Algarve really is fucked up like that
flower, sun and rain make the flower grow :'-)
everything in this game outside of the actual gameplay is so great that I can almost forgive how painful the walking sim becomes at points. the dialogue, characters, comedy, soundtrack, story and overall vibes makes this game feel like such a unique experience that couldnt come from any other studio. the game takes its time to reveal it's connections to TSC, but once it does the story somehow feels like an appropriate continuation for the characters that fleshes out themes set in the first game, while also being it's own "paradise" that briefly exists for the cast and tells it's own story.
although the walking of the game actually plays well into the themes of the story, the time spent going back and forth from point A-B is egregious. its actually very funny how much the game fucks with you and makes you do nothing but walk for half the missions, but i really don't think it makes for a fun experience for the most part. The best part of the walking is knowing that you'll encounter some freak at the end of the road who will fuck with Sumio for however long the story allows (stephan charbonie....). the puzzles were also kind of annoying at times, but most of them were pretty simple, and the actual Catherine system is very cool
genuinely can't imagine I'll ever play a game like this again, will miss Losspass Island....
Final Steps: 20,901
kill the past
although the walking of the game actually plays well into the themes of the story, the time spent going back and forth from point A-B is egregious. its actually very funny how much the game fucks with you and makes you do nothing but walk for half the missions, but i really don't think it makes for a fun experience for the most part. The best part of the walking is knowing that you'll encounter some freak at the end of the road who will fuck with Sumio for however long the story allows (stephan charbonie....). the puzzles were also kind of annoying at times, but most of them were pretty simple, and the actual Catherine system is very cool
genuinely can't imagine I'll ever play a game like this again, will miss Losspass Island....
Final Steps: 20,901
kill the past
This review contains spoilers
A game where im gonna write out my personal thoughts with this game which i havent done in a second so here we go.
To start off my ramble of thoughts, before main story potatoes imma yap bout the gameplay. Holy shit did this game rattle my brain with its puzzles mainly within the DS lost and found puzzles. Upcoming trying to be major relating to math and my dumbass couldnt do most. The story puzzles were a bit easier and actually a bit intuitive with clues in the guidebook, even ones i tried really hard but wasted a lot of time until giving into the guide, i found myself in a bit of awe at the thinking behind it if it wasn't completely batshit but again thats more so the optional puzzles. I loved the whole CATHERINE gimmick i love a little neat briefcase used to jack shit and input doo-da's and the like. The other aspect of gameplay that is the majority of the game, the all dreaded and loved WALKING!!!!!!!!! Within technical standpoint I don't think i fuck wit the walking heavy heavy its a bit boring, but thats the thing, game is art yadda yadda your supposed to hate it or sum! I found the shit ton of walking kinda endearing with the good ass music Takada composed for FSR alongside it. It gave me time to think about the game and get absorbed into it.
Speaking of the music, I did not get to experience the whole quality of the music being played on the DS Version (dont ask why im doing this review on this version it looks prettier). Hearing it still tho and then the HD versions of the PS2, oh my googly moogly it fucks. Masafumi Takada is a good composer and captured the tropical island feels and whatever was needed just right (he also did DR2 island music too which is also a good tune to my ears). I will chime into a bit more about some of the music in specific within the story part of the yapping session. Without mentioning those i'd say Cuban Overture was my favorite to listen to.
speaking of the story part of the yapping session,
KILLING THE PAST BABY WE LOVE THAT!!!!
It's hard to start this section, but personally id sum it up to :
This bum ass island bruh :laugh: to I remember you was conflicted.
Comedy attempt aside, the overall plot and thematic ideal of what I believe FSR tried to bring onto me was the longing of a way out of the mundane. I am not a professional critical thinker or philosopher, so it may sound silly but what am i yapping about? Assuming from the obvious that we have completed the game, Sumio Kodai of The Silver Case before this game we see not as kodai, but as Sumio MONDO. We last know of this man as being a "criminal" after case parade. What the hell happened? Kinda is not explicitly stated in a clear way in game but somehow he has broken free from prison and now at an island on a new job as a "Searcher". I really try hard not to just retell the story so im going to try and not bear with me. Lospass Island is fucking gorgeous, It's inhabitants however? Not so pleasant as days in Lospass are claimed to be. Sumio Mondo is called to stop some fuck blowing up a plane at the airport by Edo Macalister the D1 freaky man of this game. Within the island Sumio cannot use his car and must walk the whole way through the game, calves of fucking STEEL. Through the 18 requests (16 days by the end of the game) We spend half of these days helping out the local hotel guests and alike. They usually are somewhat friendly to Sumio, but overall every person is kind of a dick to you and tell you to get fuckin real dude. By the end of the request usually all of the people we help turn to be some odd person and end off with the plane overhead exploding either naturally or in cases like a lady turned to an angel, straight fucking send it to the plane. Sumio awakes every day to the same call by Edo, majority getting up and tumbling over, helping new people search for something and getting assed by them, and end off by the plane exploding. This is a time loop, or it is supposed to be?? Fuck man there is a lot to be said. Sumio is actually born within the island I suppose as "eleven children" of this island which within their electric bill, they clone the damn kid's bodies in case something happens. They even retain the memories of the previous living body onward. Characters Remy and Koshimizu also are those children. On more fucked shit, this whole island isnt even the beautiful one we see mostly its just some island that is kept secret so underground they can infinite silver eyes money glitch to hopefully harvest an eye that works with hyenas that this island breeds via traditions, that the guidebook really fuckin details about shoutout the guidebook yo. Sumio eventually is at a point where sue starts acting 2 goofy and encourages finding the truth and when we dont, sandance shot fucks us stupid style and we die. The whole remy episode was pretty cool with the whole finally introducing the cloned bodies under eleki, and therefore,what? playing ooooooo such a cool moment. Toriko is kinda there sometimes until the last few requests where she revives us so goat sauce on her number one hype lass. Okay i mentioned the music would be brought back up, this mainly happens in request where Tokio Morishima comes in, dude the music being Silver Case music remixed was fucking awesome its like telling us "aight brah wake up its over" Sumio closely regaining conscious from his longing of being nowhere near his reality remembering his past sorta. We then kill that shit in the last chapter where we say farewell to some characters and its actually sweet and genuine for the most part away with being a dick to Sumio. Sumio defuses bombs at the airport like he is a D1 Counter Strike player because Stephan is a fucking loser. The last important bit is Sandance Shot being revealed again ending the "game" he had goin on. We see that actually, the time loop shit is up in the air as we have been going through 16 BODY CLONES of Sumio and we are the last one at the moment. We still regain that memories they had and why we awoke everyday the same. Final Mondo is a beautiful mellow track with hints of "Investigation" from Silver Case in it I believe it sounded like. We board the plane and assume the island finally blows up, BUT THEN PETER THE TRUCK DRIVER SHOWS UP TO BE OUR BUDDY TETSUGORO KUSABI!!!!!!!!! He was looking for us alluding to the fact that Sumio stunted on em by escaping and its time to return to our loser cell. Sumio obviously is kinda fucked still as Kusabi hints we were "used" with this searcher shit. Kusabi's bum ass STILL HAS NO MOTION as he hits us with the "pay me 50,000 yen!"
The game explains Elbow, Maspro and Lospass silver eye production, Edo was a freak indeed working with them but wanted to stop them tho when he learned the truth, Lospass maybe actually was not real all along?? The game sorta ends on this note with the following perfect end statement;
"The long day of Sumio Mondo has ended, and a new day for Sumio Kodai has started."
The whole idea of Escapism and ideal of nothingness expressed to me was honestly well played. Sumio after kinda having no purpose with the Parade revenge done wanted to kinda escape from his life, and therefore found his desire to be away within Lospass Island. The Island was only really for silver eye production, but Sumio's "dream" I believe shaped it to be what we saw, and who was within it. It also shows how we must come to accept our past in some way but also not let it linger with Sumio remembering who he was as Kodai, then killing the past of Mondo and his eleki island origins leaving with a boom. Not stick ourselves too deep within the warmth of "Paradise" separated from the reality, despite the world feeling meaningless and giving meaninglessness things, accept the idea of moving forward still and not imprison yourself into numbing thoughts of that "Paradise".
I might not be the greatest thinker picking up pieces of crucial information and forming mind changing interpretations, nor great with wording my personal thoughts that decrease the yapping. But damn did this game make me think a lil bit and honestly what i believe i got out and what it contributed to the KTP narrative, damn good game I do say and I believe my time spent was well worth it. You dont need me to sing high praises tho, every backloggdian is singing em look at the ratings man.
Perhaps getting caught up in a Paradise filled with mystery away from the real world aint too bad once a while or you could think like Kusabi where there is no real paradise and just keep moving forward. But alas, like Sumio said in the final moments
With an emotional heart I bid you farewell, Lospass Island
To start off my ramble of thoughts, before main story potatoes imma yap bout the gameplay. Holy shit did this game rattle my brain with its puzzles mainly within the DS lost and found puzzles. Upcoming trying to be major relating to math and my dumbass couldnt do most. The story puzzles were a bit easier and actually a bit intuitive with clues in the guidebook, even ones i tried really hard but wasted a lot of time until giving into the guide, i found myself in a bit of awe at the thinking behind it if it wasn't completely batshit but again thats more so the optional puzzles. I loved the whole CATHERINE gimmick i love a little neat briefcase used to jack shit and input doo-da's and the like. The other aspect of gameplay that is the majority of the game, the all dreaded and loved WALKING!!!!!!!!! Within technical standpoint I don't think i fuck wit the walking heavy heavy its a bit boring, but thats the thing, game is art yadda yadda your supposed to hate it or sum! I found the shit ton of walking kinda endearing with the good ass music Takada composed for FSR alongside it. It gave me time to think about the game and get absorbed into it.
Speaking of the music, I did not get to experience the whole quality of the music being played on the DS Version (dont ask why im doing this review on this version it looks prettier). Hearing it still tho and then the HD versions of the PS2, oh my googly moogly it fucks. Masafumi Takada is a good composer and captured the tropical island feels and whatever was needed just right (he also did DR2 island music too which is also a good tune to my ears). I will chime into a bit more about some of the music in specific within the story part of the yapping session. Without mentioning those i'd say Cuban Overture was my favorite to listen to.
speaking of the story part of the yapping session,
KILLING THE PAST BABY WE LOVE THAT!!!!
It's hard to start this section, but personally id sum it up to :
This bum ass island bruh :laugh: to I remember you was conflicted.
Comedy attempt aside, the overall plot and thematic ideal of what I believe FSR tried to bring onto me was the longing of a way out of the mundane. I am not a professional critical thinker or philosopher, so it may sound silly but what am i yapping about? Assuming from the obvious that we have completed the game, Sumio Kodai of The Silver Case before this game we see not as kodai, but as Sumio MONDO. We last know of this man as being a "criminal" after case parade. What the hell happened? Kinda is not explicitly stated in a clear way in game but somehow he has broken free from prison and now at an island on a new job as a "Searcher". I really try hard not to just retell the story so im going to try and not bear with me. Lospass Island is fucking gorgeous, It's inhabitants however? Not so pleasant as days in Lospass are claimed to be. Sumio Mondo is called to stop some fuck blowing up a plane at the airport by Edo Macalister the D1 freaky man of this game. Within the island Sumio cannot use his car and must walk the whole way through the game, calves of fucking STEEL. Through the 18 requests (16 days by the end of the game) We spend half of these days helping out the local hotel guests and alike. They usually are somewhat friendly to Sumio, but overall every person is kind of a dick to you and tell you to get fuckin real dude. By the end of the request usually all of the people we help turn to be some odd person and end off with the plane overhead exploding either naturally or in cases like a lady turned to an angel, straight fucking send it to the plane. Sumio awakes every day to the same call by Edo, majority getting up and tumbling over, helping new people search for something and getting assed by them, and end off by the plane exploding. This is a time loop, or it is supposed to be?? Fuck man there is a lot to be said. Sumio is actually born within the island I suppose as "eleven children" of this island which within their electric bill, they clone the damn kid's bodies in case something happens. They even retain the memories of the previous living body onward. Characters Remy and Koshimizu also are those children. On more fucked shit, this whole island isnt even the beautiful one we see mostly its just some island that is kept secret so underground they can infinite silver eyes money glitch to hopefully harvest an eye that works with hyenas that this island breeds via traditions, that the guidebook really fuckin details about shoutout the guidebook yo. Sumio eventually is at a point where sue starts acting 2 goofy and encourages finding the truth and when we dont, sandance shot fucks us stupid style and we die. The whole remy episode was pretty cool with the whole finally introducing the cloned bodies under eleki, and therefore,what? playing ooooooo such a cool moment. Toriko is kinda there sometimes until the last few requests where she revives us so goat sauce on her number one hype lass. Okay i mentioned the music would be brought back up, this mainly happens in request where Tokio Morishima comes in, dude the music being Silver Case music remixed was fucking awesome its like telling us "aight brah wake up its over" Sumio closely regaining conscious from his longing of being nowhere near his reality remembering his past sorta. We then kill that shit in the last chapter where we say farewell to some characters and its actually sweet and genuine for the most part away with being a dick to Sumio. Sumio defuses bombs at the airport like he is a D1 Counter Strike player because Stephan is a fucking loser. The last important bit is Sandance Shot being revealed again ending the "game" he had goin on. We see that actually, the time loop shit is up in the air as we have been going through 16 BODY CLONES of Sumio and we are the last one at the moment. We still regain that memories they had and why we awoke everyday the same. Final Mondo is a beautiful mellow track with hints of "Investigation" from Silver Case in it I believe it sounded like. We board the plane and assume the island finally blows up, BUT THEN PETER THE TRUCK DRIVER SHOWS UP TO BE OUR BUDDY TETSUGORO KUSABI!!!!!!!!! He was looking for us alluding to the fact that Sumio stunted on em by escaping and its time to return to our loser cell. Sumio obviously is kinda fucked still as Kusabi hints we were "used" with this searcher shit. Kusabi's bum ass STILL HAS NO MOTION as he hits us with the "pay me 50,000 yen!"
The game explains Elbow, Maspro and Lospass silver eye production, Edo was a freak indeed working with them but wanted to stop them tho when he learned the truth, Lospass maybe actually was not real all along?? The game sorta ends on this note with the following perfect end statement;
"The long day of Sumio Mondo has ended, and a new day for Sumio Kodai has started."
The whole idea of Escapism and ideal of nothingness expressed to me was honestly well played. Sumio after kinda having no purpose with the Parade revenge done wanted to kinda escape from his life, and therefore found his desire to be away within Lospass Island. The Island was only really for silver eye production, but Sumio's "dream" I believe shaped it to be what we saw, and who was within it. It also shows how we must come to accept our past in some way but also not let it linger with Sumio remembering who he was as Kodai, then killing the past of Mondo and his eleki island origins leaving with a boom. Not stick ourselves too deep within the warmth of "Paradise" separated from the reality, despite the world feeling meaningless and giving meaninglessness things, accept the idea of moving forward still and not imprison yourself into numbing thoughts of that "Paradise".
I might not be the greatest thinker picking up pieces of crucial information and forming mind changing interpretations, nor great with wording my personal thoughts that decrease the yapping. But damn did this game make me think a lil bit and honestly what i believe i got out and what it contributed to the KTP narrative, damn good game I do say and I believe my time spent was well worth it. You dont need me to sing high praises tho, every backloggdian is singing em look at the ratings man.
Perhaps getting caught up in a Paradise filled with mystery away from the real world aint too bad once a while or you could think like Kusabi where there is no real paradise and just keep moving forward. But alas, like Sumio said in the final moments
With an emotional heart I bid you farewell, Lospass Island
This game has effected me more than any other piece of media in my entire life. There's no other piece of art I think about more than this game and there's no other character I think about nearly as often as Sumio Mondo. This is a game that you will hate the first time you finish it, but it will stick in your mind, until, months later, you find that you won't be able to stop the thinking about Sumio's hellish vacation in Paradise.
que
After taking 75,000 steps in Flower, Sun and Rain, you unlock the “Movement Speed UP” ability, which allows you to sprint, granting the player a much needed reprieve from Sumio Mondo’s endless march across Lospass Island. Only, the average player will never know this power up exists. I completed the game taking precisely 20,193 steps, a count which I imagine is generally higher than the average player, on account of me not knowing where to go and having to take a few additional agonizing journeys to and from the Hotel Flower, Sun and Rain. This begs the question: why even add such a thing in the first place?
Flower, Sun and Rain stretches its identity as a “video game” so thin that it only loosely fits the definition. Gameplay consists of mind-numbingly walking to various destinations around the island. Every puzzle is solved in the exact same way. Test the different colored jacks, find the corresponding passage in the guidebook, and then input the answer. Yet, despite not being similar to most games on a mechanical level, Flower, Sun and Rain is one of the most “gamey” video games I have ever played. Upon reaching certain milestones on your pedometer the game fades to black, and you are rewarded with largely worthless power ups, as if to shake the player out of their walking-induced trance and say, “Hey, you remember you’re still playing a video game, right? That’s what this is!” Similarly, characters will often break the 4th wall and recognize that they are, in fact, in a video game. It’s extremely obvious that all of these facts are meant to add up to some form of critique.
My reading of Flower, Sun and Rain interprets the work as a critique of the obsessive push toward realism in gaming. Nowhere is this critique more present than in Request 14: Träumerei. Directly following two chapters where the player controls characters who are not Sumio Mondo, the hotel manager Edo Macalister chides Sumio, saying that in order to make up for missing two chapters of action, he should prepare for lots of walking. This is precisely what happens. The player must walk from the Hotel and the wheat fields, two points which are about as far away from each other as possible, twice. Then, the player walks up to the fourth floor of the hotel another eight times, while Sumio is frustratingly locked into just walking. Running in the hotel rooms and stairways is not permitted, of course. After my first two trips and my first four journeys up and down the stairwell, I was reaching my wit’s end. However, that is when Ken appears, who is notably the only person on the island who has access to a form of transportation. Long story short, you “borrow” Ken’s bike, and it acts as a form of fast-travel for the chapter, and cuts down on the length of the chapter considerably. However, the scenario is very much “unrealistic” and somewhat out of character for Sumio. FSR asserts through this mechanic that obsession with realism is only valuable to a certain point. If a piece is injected with too much realism, it will lead to an unfun experience, as is the case in many sections of FSR. There were many times throughout the game where I was not necessarily having fun, but just because the game isn’t fun all the time doesn’t mean it can’t be a great experience.
There’s so much to be said for the quality of writing in this game. I love how they are able to so effortlessly allow the player to identify with Sumio. I don’t agree that the game is meant to be obtuse as a way to make fun of people who like games, far from it. I interpreted that you were supposed to be laughing along with many jokes at the expense of the player and Sumio, but these ideas would be better saved for a longer piece. Flower, Sun and Rain is among my favorite games of all time, and I recommend it to anyone with the patience to see it through to the end.
Flower, Sun and Rain stretches its identity as a “video game” so thin that it only loosely fits the definition. Gameplay consists of mind-numbingly walking to various destinations around the island. Every puzzle is solved in the exact same way. Test the different colored jacks, find the corresponding passage in the guidebook, and then input the answer. Yet, despite not being similar to most games on a mechanical level, Flower, Sun and Rain is one of the most “gamey” video games I have ever played. Upon reaching certain milestones on your pedometer the game fades to black, and you are rewarded with largely worthless power ups, as if to shake the player out of their walking-induced trance and say, “Hey, you remember you’re still playing a video game, right? That’s what this is!” Similarly, characters will often break the 4th wall and recognize that they are, in fact, in a video game. It’s extremely obvious that all of these facts are meant to add up to some form of critique.
My reading of Flower, Sun and Rain interprets the work as a critique of the obsessive push toward realism in gaming. Nowhere is this critique more present than in Request 14: Träumerei. Directly following two chapters where the player controls characters who are not Sumio Mondo, the hotel manager Edo Macalister chides Sumio, saying that in order to make up for missing two chapters of action, he should prepare for lots of walking. This is precisely what happens. The player must walk from the Hotel and the wheat fields, two points which are about as far away from each other as possible, twice. Then, the player walks up to the fourth floor of the hotel another eight times, while Sumio is frustratingly locked into just walking. Running in the hotel rooms and stairways is not permitted, of course. After my first two trips and my first four journeys up and down the stairwell, I was reaching my wit’s end. However, that is when Ken appears, who is notably the only person on the island who has access to a form of transportation. Long story short, you “borrow” Ken’s bike, and it acts as a form of fast-travel for the chapter, and cuts down on the length of the chapter considerably. However, the scenario is very much “unrealistic” and somewhat out of character for Sumio. FSR asserts through this mechanic that obsession with realism is only valuable to a certain point. If a piece is injected with too much realism, it will lead to an unfun experience, as is the case in many sections of FSR. There were many times throughout the game where I was not necessarily having fun, but just because the game isn’t fun all the time doesn’t mean it can’t be a great experience.
There’s so much to be said for the quality of writing in this game. I love how they are able to so effortlessly allow the player to identify with Sumio. I don’t agree that the game is meant to be obtuse as a way to make fun of people who like games, far from it. I interpreted that you were supposed to be laughing along with many jokes at the expense of the player and Sumio, but these ideas would be better saved for a longer piece. Flower, Sun and Rain is among my favorite games of all time, and I recommend it to anyone with the patience to see it through to the end.
No entendí
Game is a walking Sim with fun dialog and nice public domain remixes for an OST. Doesn't really have puzzles so much as it asks you to consult its tome of a travel guide to find the right numbers to use. You're better off looking at the scenes on YouTube, but writing is still charming for what it's worth.
one can only dream of getting breakfast
its good, but if you were to put a gun to my head and force me to play flower, sun, and rain again, id say shoot me
Um jogo sobre a mediocridade do cotidiano, sobre jacarés coloridos giirando e sobre aviões explodindo. Isso é Flower, Sun, and Rain.
Andar por si só pra mim já é um ato de reflexão. Toda caminhada que eu faço nunca parece sobre ir de ponto A até ponto B, todos os lugares que eu passo parecem vivos, parecem lugares. Quando eu faço o mesmo trajeto de carro ou de qualquer meio de transporte, tudo parece perder esse ar palpável de vida, tudo fica robôtico num sentido de não existir sentido pra isso. É mais sobre ir do ponto A até o ponto B do que propriamente ir. E o Suda provavelmente sente a mesma coisa. Andar aqui é o ato principal de gameplay, da mecânica que rege esse mundo. É o que te impede de terminar o jogo mas também é o que te faz terminar ele. O que faz essa caminhada ser um negócio tão especial é o conjunto das variáveis; a música de FSR tem um papel muito onírico de fazer isso funcionar. Junto de toda essa calma que ele não sente vergonha de ter, isso faz a atmosfera desse jogo ser muito única. Mas ainda sim, é impossível não achar isso logo de cara chato, são tantas tarefas inúteis que você tem que fazer que a pergunta se isso tudo vale a pena vai pairar na tua cabeça. E mesmo sendo um jogo que vai te deixar exausto, SER chato é o ponto dele. Isso é verossímil. Se esforçar pra terminar esse jogo é o ponto principal dele. É frustrante. É inútil. E toda essa baboseira que eu acabei de falar também pode ser inútil pra ti, e isso forma arte. Ao mesmo tempo que toda essa merda pode significar um grande nada, pra mim isso significa tudo, e isso por si só é arte. Flower, Sun, and Rain então é sobre superar ele mesmo, dar sentido às coisas que não existe sentido. É sobre entender que não existe o escapismo das coisas que você fez, o paraíso não existe. Tudo que você fez algum dia irá voltar pra te assombrar, mas ainda sim o passado não faz quem você é hoje em dia. Não define o que tu é quando acorda. Todo mundo deve enfrentar o passado, perder o passado é perder o senso do ser, pois é uma parte vital do eu. E isso é "Kill the Past", mas de forma diferente ao seu antecessor. É o Andrei Tarkovsky dos videogames.
"Flower, Sun, and Rain was me all along, wasn't it?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqnxZYZfDXE
Andar por si só pra mim já é um ato de reflexão. Toda caminhada que eu faço nunca parece sobre ir de ponto A até ponto B, todos os lugares que eu passo parecem vivos, parecem lugares. Quando eu faço o mesmo trajeto de carro ou de qualquer meio de transporte, tudo parece perder esse ar palpável de vida, tudo fica robôtico num sentido de não existir sentido pra isso. É mais sobre ir do ponto A até o ponto B do que propriamente ir. E o Suda provavelmente sente a mesma coisa. Andar aqui é o ato principal de gameplay, da mecânica que rege esse mundo. É o que te impede de terminar o jogo mas também é o que te faz terminar ele. O que faz essa caminhada ser um negócio tão especial é o conjunto das variáveis; a música de FSR tem um papel muito onírico de fazer isso funcionar. Junto de toda essa calma que ele não sente vergonha de ter, isso faz a atmosfera desse jogo ser muito única. Mas ainda sim, é impossível não achar isso logo de cara chato, são tantas tarefas inúteis que você tem que fazer que a pergunta se isso tudo vale a pena vai pairar na tua cabeça. E mesmo sendo um jogo que vai te deixar exausto, SER chato é o ponto dele. Isso é verossímil. Se esforçar pra terminar esse jogo é o ponto principal dele. É frustrante. É inútil. E toda essa baboseira que eu acabei de falar também pode ser inútil pra ti, e isso forma arte. Ao mesmo tempo que toda essa merda pode significar um grande nada, pra mim isso significa tudo, e isso por si só é arte. Flower, Sun, and Rain então é sobre superar ele mesmo, dar sentido às coisas que não existe sentido. É sobre entender que não existe o escapismo das coisas que você fez, o paraíso não existe. Tudo que você fez algum dia irá voltar pra te assombrar, mas ainda sim o passado não faz quem você é hoje em dia. Não define o que tu é quando acorda. Todo mundo deve enfrentar o passado, perder o passado é perder o senso do ser, pois é uma parte vital do eu. E isso é "Kill the Past", mas de forma diferente ao seu antecessor. É o Andrei Tarkovsky dos videogames.
"Flower, Sun, and Rain was me all along, wasn't it?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqnxZYZfDXE
This review contains spoilers
Suda having fun shitting on tourist culture.
I feel like people are kinda weird about the intentionally annoying stuff in this game cus
1. It really isn't THAT prominent? Like it gets pretty annoying towards the end but most of the time it's pretty chill.
2. I feel like it's more like the game is laughing with you and not at you. Like this feels like a friend doing something to piss you off in a funny way and not the weird "Suda is exposing video games as the vapid waste's of time they really are!!!!" "Anti-game" (ew) thing that most analyses of this game seems to think it is. Also most of the walking is chill you guys are just impatient lol.
Also one of the only comedy games to be actually really funny. Having this kind of rigid structure that most the days follows means that anytime something slightly out of the ordinary happens it's hilarious. I love my helpful himbo sumio mondo!
Sundance repeatedly saying "remember me?" and nobody remembering him as a reference the fact that he was going to be in the silver case then he got scrapped is so funny.
Oh also i played this in a kinda weird way lol. I had the japanese ps2 version of the game on my main monitor, The lparchive walkthrough of the ds version so i could understand the dialogue on my second monitor, And the fan translated version of the physical losspass guide book whenever i needed to look at that in a separate tab on my second monitor. I know the DS version added alot of bullshit that made the game a lot harder to bare (Probably where most of the perception of this being a drag comes from) so i legit think this is the best way to play until either that remaster suda's been talking about for years gets released or the fan translation of the ps2 version that was being worked on at the beginning of the year actually gets finished.
I feel like people are kinda weird about the intentionally annoying stuff in this game cus
1. It really isn't THAT prominent? Like it gets pretty annoying towards the end but most of the time it's pretty chill.
2. I feel like it's more like the game is laughing with you and not at you. Like this feels like a friend doing something to piss you off in a funny way and not the weird "Suda is exposing video games as the vapid waste's of time they really are!!!!" "Anti-game" (ew) thing that most analyses of this game seems to think it is. Also most of the walking is chill you guys are just impatient lol.
Also one of the only comedy games to be actually really funny. Having this kind of rigid structure that most the days follows means that anytime something slightly out of the ordinary happens it's hilarious. I love my helpful himbo sumio mondo!
Sundance repeatedly saying "remember me?" and nobody remembering him as a reference the fact that he was going to be in the silver case then he got scrapped is so funny.
Oh also i played this in a kinda weird way lol. I had the japanese ps2 version of the game on my main monitor, The lparchive walkthrough of the ds version so i could understand the dialogue on my second monitor, And the fan translated version of the physical losspass guide book whenever i needed to look at that in a separate tab on my second monitor. I know the DS version added alot of bullshit that made the game a lot harder to bare (Probably where most of the perception of this being a drag comes from) so i legit think this is the best way to play until either that remaster suda's been talking about for years gets released or the fan translation of the ps2 version that was being worked on at the beginning of the year actually gets finished.
mountains of tedium and some stiff dialogue can't hold back an incredibly strong narrative that continues the thematic ideas established in silver case: rather than escapism be the familiar yet impersonal internet, it's a seraphic island full of distractions and puzzles. FSR manages to frame "kill the past" in a completely different way than its predecessor, and somehow still lands completely on the mark in its social commentary.
“he’d love to spend the night in zion / he’s been a long while in babylon / he’d like a lover’s wings to fly on / to a tropic isle of avalon” - digital man, rush
dense, layered, and easy to get lost in all the same as its island centerpiece, flower sun and rain endures as personally-tailored perfection in a video game.
some years ago when i was working my way through kill the past, a good friend of mine advised me to not bother with the completely optional and not at all mandatory lost & found puzzles, as “they suck and they ruin the pacing of the game”. as a matter of pride i simply decided to not heed that advice and go through the game solving as many of the lost & found puzzles as i possibly could. in doing so i’ve made the playthrough likely much longer and more drawn out than it should have been, but it’s only until as of writing this in 2023 that i’ve realized that doing these puzzles actually held some value to me.
flower sun and rain is a game of multifaceted allegory and metaphor, where no ‘truth’ is singular (despite what sumio initially says) and just about any way of reading into it is a valid reading. to me, flower sun and rain is a metaphor about a man unwilling to acknowledge the past and move on to the future; a man eternally stuck in the present. the titular hotel claims its stake on being a paradise to forget about time in, and like a moth to a flame, sumio does as much as he can to waste away in paradise for as long as he possibly can. he lets himself get distracted with the denizens and their issues, letting paradise pull him deeper into itself so sumio doesn’t have to think about the airport and everything outside of this paradise. 25th ward puts a wrenchingly satisfying end to this thread as his life outside of paradise has become completely void of enjoyment. in the end he lets paradise subsume him, never to move on again.
paradise as an idea is something i had touched upon earlier in my thoughts on kaizen game works’ paradise killer, which for anyone who’s played a decent number of suda51 games, can very much see the unabashed ktp cribbing it proudly flaunts. it is rooted in a need to escape human problems ironically caused by humans and the societies they’ve built up. in building these paradises, it comes down to exploitation of resources and people to cultivate these getaways and romanticizing a world fundamentally incompatible with the systems that even lets a vacation spot like this exist in the first place. vacation spots like the flower sun and rain hotel are inextricably linked to colonial structures thriving off of that exploitation. this brings flower sun and rain close to an idea proposed by writer mark “k-punk” fisher known as capitalist realism, in which he proposes that due to the sheer widespread influence of global capitalism, it’s believed that it is the only viable political and economic system and that it would simply be impossible to even begin to imagine any viable alternative. in that sense there’s no such thing as a true-to-definition paradise; it is at best only a temporary state of mind, but it’s one that a person can find themselves unfathomably lost in.
there’s probably not a lot of people who went out of their way to do the ds port’s lost & found puzzles, as they’re technically not really rewarding the player with any juicy lore or narrative revelations, just some stuff to look at in the game’s model viewer and maybe the satisfaction of solving esoteric puzzles that have nothing to do with anything. or so one thinks they have nothing to do with anything relevant. for the player to deliberately seek out the lost & found puzzles and forget about time solving them, it is, to me, the perfect way to reinforce the narrative flower sun and rain presents. sumio is a man who lets frivolous people distract him and seeks out these meaningless problems to solve for others, and for the player to do these lost & found puzzles, they act as an extension of sumio to drag out every second possible to indulge in paradise. one of the most potent executions of a ludonarrative tool i’ve seen in a video game, and it’s entirely done through optional puzzles that a good deal of the people who played this game likely did not do.
i don’t regret doing the lost & found puzzles. i think they’re the best part of the game.
dense, layered, and easy to get lost in all the same as its island centerpiece, flower sun and rain endures as personally-tailored perfection in a video game.
some years ago when i was working my way through kill the past, a good friend of mine advised me to not bother with the completely optional and not at all mandatory lost & found puzzles, as “they suck and they ruin the pacing of the game”. as a matter of pride i simply decided to not heed that advice and go through the game solving as many of the lost & found puzzles as i possibly could. in doing so i’ve made the playthrough likely much longer and more drawn out than it should have been, but it’s only until as of writing this in 2023 that i’ve realized that doing these puzzles actually held some value to me.
flower sun and rain is a game of multifaceted allegory and metaphor, where no ‘truth’ is singular (despite what sumio initially says) and just about any way of reading into it is a valid reading. to me, flower sun and rain is a metaphor about a man unwilling to acknowledge the past and move on to the future; a man eternally stuck in the present. the titular hotel claims its stake on being a paradise to forget about time in, and like a moth to a flame, sumio does as much as he can to waste away in paradise for as long as he possibly can. he lets himself get distracted with the denizens and their issues, letting paradise pull him deeper into itself so sumio doesn’t have to think about the airport and everything outside of this paradise. 25th ward puts a wrenchingly satisfying end to this thread as his life outside of paradise has become completely void of enjoyment. in the end he lets paradise subsume him, never to move on again.
paradise as an idea is something i had touched upon earlier in my thoughts on kaizen game works’ paradise killer, which for anyone who’s played a decent number of suda51 games, can very much see the unabashed ktp cribbing it proudly flaunts. it is rooted in a need to escape human problems ironically caused by humans and the societies they’ve built up. in building these paradises, it comes down to exploitation of resources and people to cultivate these getaways and romanticizing a world fundamentally incompatible with the systems that even lets a vacation spot like this exist in the first place. vacation spots like the flower sun and rain hotel are inextricably linked to colonial structures thriving off of that exploitation. this brings flower sun and rain close to an idea proposed by writer mark “k-punk” fisher known as capitalist realism, in which he proposes that due to the sheer widespread influence of global capitalism, it’s believed that it is the only viable political and economic system and that it would simply be impossible to even begin to imagine any viable alternative. in that sense there’s no such thing as a true-to-definition paradise; it is at best only a temporary state of mind, but it’s one that a person can find themselves unfathomably lost in.
there’s probably not a lot of people who went out of their way to do the ds port’s lost & found puzzles, as they’re technically not really rewarding the player with any juicy lore or narrative revelations, just some stuff to look at in the game’s model viewer and maybe the satisfaction of solving esoteric puzzles that have nothing to do with anything. or so one thinks they have nothing to do with anything relevant. for the player to deliberately seek out the lost & found puzzles and forget about time solving them, it is, to me, the perfect way to reinforce the narrative flower sun and rain presents. sumio is a man who lets frivolous people distract him and seeks out these meaningless problems to solve for others, and for the player to do these lost & found puzzles, they act as an extension of sumio to drag out every second possible to indulge in paradise. one of the most potent executions of a ludonarrative tool i’ve seen in a video game, and it’s entirely done through optional puzzles that a good deal of the people who played this game likely did not do.
i don’t regret doing the lost & found puzzles. i think they’re the best part of the game.
in which suda51 beats me with a spiked bat for 12 hours