A hilarious, poignant, silly, shitpost of a game. Flower Sun and Rain is a surreal sequel to the silver case that's somehow more bonkers, yet easier to follow and digest simultaneously whilst hitting harder for me. It's also a really pretty lame puzzle adventure game.
None of the enjoyment from FSR comes from the puzzles or to an extent, even the execution of the quests you go on. The solutions to every puzzle barring a scant few boils down to finding the right terms in handbook and connecting the dots, and somehow by plugging these numbers into things your magical computer does... stuff?
There's some fun to be had in the sheer absurdity of the bad puzzles, but really the appeal here is all in the adventure, the encounters and the sheer atmosphere. Which are all consistently top drawer, and unlike the Silver Case, usually fairly bite size. The only real issue i have with them, and its by far from ever-present, is the occasional awkwardness with hitting the right flags or getting lost in where exactly you need to go or talk to next. Its nice to wander about in FSR but it can get aggravating when you're stumped.
FSR is a short tale, but its one that gives you all the time to soak in the atmosphere you want. Other Suda games are driven by atmosphere and tone, but in FSR it is unquestionably the main draw. The island of lospass is arguably the main character of the game, the music - mostly consisting of wonderfully remixed classical music, gives this surreal, vibe, and there's multiple extended sections where FSR almost compels you to just take it all in. And even on the fucking awful resolution of my DSi XL where i can count the pixels of the trees in the distance of the beach, there's really something to it.
The more relaxed nature of the game is also a boon. The subject matter of stopping a terrorist attack is honestly about on par with The Silver Case's plot in terms of grimness, but the presentation and the weird, ephemeral/purgatorial nature of lospass really makes FSR extremely relaxing. Even when the game really boils down to a bunch of increasingly tedius Fetch Quests, it somehow melts into just being amusing, especially in the blatant piss-take that is Request 14.
FSR in general is just so pleasant. Aside from all it's thematic stuff, its just a lovelly little world to lose oneself in for a bit. I guess that's also what it is for Mondo as well.
Thematically, despite being literally a sequel to the Silver Case, I actually think the game's themes of finding your true path and paradise are actually way more in line with No More Heroes. I still think No More Heroes is probably the better game, with more polish, less bullshit and less outright antagonistic design probably ultimately being for the better. But this is special too.
This is probably the most awkward of SUDA's english pantheon to get into. It needs experience of the the silver case to really be fully appreciated, is even more offbeat and antagonistic to being a game than his other works, and unless you can read japanese you're laboured with a pretty mediocre DS port. But somehow, it's probably definetly one of my favourite suda works and one of the best experiences i've played recently in general. Other people in this review section have probably put a better finger on what quite makes this game tick than me, so i'd check them out, particularly drigo and mr pixelton.
Thanks to all you Suda heads for getting me to give this a go. I'll consider lending you all 50,000 yen.
None of the enjoyment from FSR comes from the puzzles or to an extent, even the execution of the quests you go on. The solutions to every puzzle barring a scant few boils down to finding the right terms in handbook and connecting the dots, and somehow by plugging these numbers into things your magical computer does... stuff?
There's some fun to be had in the sheer absurdity of the bad puzzles, but really the appeal here is all in the adventure, the encounters and the sheer atmosphere. Which are all consistently top drawer, and unlike the Silver Case, usually fairly bite size. The only real issue i have with them, and its by far from ever-present, is the occasional awkwardness with hitting the right flags or getting lost in where exactly you need to go or talk to next. Its nice to wander about in FSR but it can get aggravating when you're stumped.
FSR is a short tale, but its one that gives you all the time to soak in the atmosphere you want. Other Suda games are driven by atmosphere and tone, but in FSR it is unquestionably the main draw. The island of lospass is arguably the main character of the game, the music - mostly consisting of wonderfully remixed classical music, gives this surreal, vibe, and there's multiple extended sections where FSR almost compels you to just take it all in. And even on the fucking awful resolution of my DSi XL where i can count the pixels of the trees in the distance of the beach, there's really something to it.
The more relaxed nature of the game is also a boon. The subject matter of stopping a terrorist attack is honestly about on par with The Silver Case's plot in terms of grimness, but the presentation and the weird, ephemeral/purgatorial nature of lospass really makes FSR extremely relaxing. Even when the game really boils down to a bunch of increasingly tedius Fetch Quests, it somehow melts into just being amusing, especially in the blatant piss-take that is Request 14.
FSR in general is just so pleasant. Aside from all it's thematic stuff, its just a lovelly little world to lose oneself in for a bit. I guess that's also what it is for Mondo as well.
Thematically, despite being literally a sequel to the Silver Case, I actually think the game's themes of finding your true path and paradise are actually way more in line with No More Heroes. I still think No More Heroes is probably the better game, with more polish, less bullshit and less outright antagonistic design probably ultimately being for the better. But this is special too.
This is probably the most awkward of SUDA's english pantheon to get into. It needs experience of the the silver case to really be fully appreciated, is even more offbeat and antagonistic to being a game than his other works, and unless you can read japanese you're laboured with a pretty mediocre DS port. But somehow, it's probably definetly one of my favourite suda works and one of the best experiences i've played recently in general. Other people in this review section have probably put a better finger on what quite makes this game tick than me, so i'd check them out, particularly drigo and mr pixelton.
Thanks to all you Suda heads for getting me to give this a go. I'll consider lending you all 50,000 yen.