Flower

I can certainly understand what other people see in this, and I expected to love it myself, but Flower only felt like a real step down from flOw to me, and it's definitely nowhere near the majesty of Journey. The thing is, there's a certain stripe of game this belongs to - I'm not sure what name to give them exactly, but I'm talking about those gentle, meditative games that pose little to no challenge and are all about the world, mood, and atmosphere, like Monument Valley, Thomas Was Alone, Myst, No Man's Sky, that kind of thing. Without challenge, these games all totally live and die on how successful they are at sucking you into their universe, and I just don't think Flower manages to do that at all. You'd think it would have a much easier of managing that than flOw did given the much more vivid and real setting and aesthetic, but all too often, Flower left me with this constant nagging voice in my mind saying 'well, it's just flowers and wind, innit?'. None of the other games I've mentioned ever had that problem save for No Man's Sky, and that didn't set in until I'd been playing for about six hours. Flower doesn't even last that long.

It's still a very relaxing experience and very pretty to look at, and there's a lot to be said for that, but the fact that I can't really immerse myself in this for whatever reason stops me from seeing it as a great game.