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When thatgamecompany sets out to make a game, one of its main goals is to make us feel something unusual. From flOw to Flower to its BAFTA-winning Journey, the studio founded by Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago has shown little interest in conveying a specific message or framing interactive metaphors and instead tailors its work to elicit a range of responses. For me, it's a goal it achieves time and again.With the developer's 2007 debut flOw and 2009's Flower now nestled amongst the big-budget blockbusters and PS Plus offerings of the PlayStation 4 online store, it's been a pleasure to return to both titles and revel in game design that transcends the console generation barrier. flOw and Flower may be several years old, but both are worthwhile additions to the PS4 library, and while neither goes out of its way to exploit the unique features of the DualShock 4, there's some subtle use of the controller's speaker and rumble features, while the mandatory Sixaxis control scheme quickly feels natural rather than forced or gimmicky.
The good news for existing fans is that both flOw and Flower are Cross-Buy enabled, which means if you've bought either the PS3 or Vita-specific versions then you can download the PS4 iterations for free and, as should be expected, both titles run at 1080p and 60fps. The unique visuals of both games disguise their age, but it's especially glorious to see Flower's expansive, dreamlike vistas rendered in full next-gen-o-vision. (As a side note to Trophy hunters, each version also comes with its own set of shiny virtual trinkets, which means there's double or even triple the number to collect depending on how many versions you have access to.)
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