Flower, Sun and Rain

Welcome to Lospass Island, the tropical paradise where time is completely forgotten! Sumio Mondo, a Searcher by trade, has been hired by Edo Macalister, the manager of the island's only hotel, 'Flower, Sun and Rain', to complete a particular task using his innate talent to find absolutely anything, no matter how big or small. Sumio goes about doing this by following the process of 'Jacking-In' to a variety of objects and inputting codes deciphered from a wealth of obscure clues using 'Catherine', his trusty suitcase. If that all sounds strange in itself, matters take an even greater turn for the surreal and totally bizarre soon after, with our protagonist asked to investigate a terrorist threat that is currently plaguing the island. Whilst distracted by some other hotel guests, though, a plane flies by overhead and suddenly explodes. Yet rather than being too late, following this event Sumio oddly wakes up back in bed feeling dazed, picks up the ringing bedside phone to find Edo telling him breakfast is ready, staggers and falls onto the floor, sups his bitter coffee and begins what appears to be a very familiar day indeed. And so the time-warp shenanigans begin, with Sumio seemingly never able to reach the island's airport in time to prevent the plane from exploding, instead completing numerous other daily requests from hotel guests and people from around the island until the plane once more bites the dust and he re-awakens in bed and it is morning again.

Interestingly enough, the original Flower, Sun and Rain follows on from Suda-san's earlier games, Twilight Syndrome and the two Silver Case adventures, with plot points in FSR only making real sense for players of the other titles. However, considering FSR is first out of the blocks in DS format, with The Silver Case duo not expected until next year and as of yet no word on Twilight Syndrome or Moonlight Syndrome appearing on Nintendo's portable platform, it will be interesting to see what changes are made to the 'prequels' when they land in 2009. Hopefully Suda51 has a sure-fire plan to ensure gamers are not left clueless and it could very well be a case of re-writing elements of the games' scripts to make everything fall smoothly into place since Sumio is actually featured in the other games as well, albeit in a younger form.

 

Visually the game is certainly a mixed bag, with strange-looking polygonal characters that are lacking in defined features, but look purposeful in their creation, adding to the quirky nature of the game's theme in general. As for the soundtrack, it proves to be an eclectic collection of specially remixed famous music, with new realisations of popular classics such as Ave Maria and Rhapsody in Blue bringing a familiarity to proceedings that really works in the game's favour since listening to them play away melodically in the background whilst having Sumio wander around the hotel and its surroundings, day-in and day-out, helps to wash away some of the mundane feeling and frustration that may otherwise have crept in if the soundtrack had indeed been teeth-gratingly awful. For music aficionados eager to know exactly what track they are listening to, at the start of each day the title is shown just before Sumio wakes for yet another bout of inane requests, stumbling out of bed, falling flat on his face, then supping on his increasingly unpleasant -tasting coffee before trying in vain to reach his final destination of Lospass Island's airport. The direction taken with the music really should be applauded as many of the remixes truly are fantastic and highly addictive in many cases. But the original tunes included cannot be ignored either. Overall the soundtrack element of FSR really does impress.

The game starts off in extremely serious fashion, with all the talk of terrorists and planes exploding (even if it does turn out to be the same plane on a daily basis…). But despite that there should be no reason to ever wonder if FSR is taking itself a little too seriously, thanks to the comical array of guests, some very strange goings-on in general, the unusual nature of the Searcher jobs dished out to Sumio (help a wrestler remember his inspiration, get a couple married, prepare cocktails for a drunk and sort out the island's electrical issues, to name just a few examples) and other little elements, such as comments made during conversations and the resulting reactions, plus even moments like when Sumio falls to the floor upon waking up each morning, as mentioned earlier (such a repeated action wore thin at times, but would then become laugh-out-loud funny later on). If that was not enough, the cleverly conceived script is certainly not afraid to poke fun at the game itself, with one young boy and his father actually pointing out that FSR's polygonal characters have big heads and hands that bear no resemblance to the 2D character art shown during conversations. They also make reference to how the majority of the soundtrack is lazy, relying on remixes of famous pieces of music from around the world and why Sumio has to solve puzzles using tips from a Guide Book of the island and a shiny silver suitcase called Catherine, whilst the question of why he is wearing what appears to be a funeral suit in such scorching sunshine is even posed! Everything is definitely tongue-in-cheek throughout, helping to keep the gamer plugging away without growing tired of the similar tasks each day as there is always something that forces a laugh or two from even the most stoic of players out there. Later in the game there are comments that then go on to point out that mysteries are the entire make-up and lure of Flower, Sun and Rain, so it needs to start cutting back on comical in-jokes and derisory comments towards the game itself! So just when you think the tom-foolery found in the script may go too far, its writer highlights they are in control of the situation. The translation work that has gone into this first ever Western version excels in every way.

 

So it has been established that Sumio is a Searcher and he uses Catherine the suitcase as a means of Jacking-In to various objects before inputting a code derived from numerous hints from people and clues hidden away in the Lospass Island Guide Book. And that is the main basis of the game! Everything can be controlled using the standard button format or the stylus, however the latter option is by far the better choice, with much greater precision of character movement, quicker menu navigation and code entering (via a safe-style dial, with a clockwise motion moving numbers forwards and anticlockwise backwards).

Rather than simply rinsing the same formula and repeating, once the climax of each chapter has been reached, and the subsequent plane explosion occurs in all sorts of different ways, the player is treated to an extremely zany sequence of events. The scene is depicted a young girl, Toriko Kusabi, wandering around, seemingly aimlessly, but each time it actually turns out that she is trying to find her cute little pink pet, Christina the Crocodile, who was born in the Far East and, as the game points out, likes to eat humans! These surreal breaks are accompanied by yet another addictive piece of music that lodges itself in your head and refuses to go away. Then it is time to roll back the clock and watch as Sumio once more wakes up, becoming more and more confused, and eventually frustrated, by his apparent lack of progress in achieving his goal of reaching the airport and completing the investigation into the risk of terrorist action.

 

In addition to the regular daily chores, odd occurrences and numerical puzzles that test your grey matter to the maximum on many an occasions, there is the side-task of 'Lost and Found' items. Each morning players can have Sumio wander over to his dresser table and check the regularly updated item list, with three new ones being shown each day. The twist is that it is not merely a case of going to claim said item. Instead FSR has players trying to figure out what the obscure clues mean, find the correct location and then jack into the particular object and input the right digits. If the day-to-day puzzles have been proving to be headache inducing, then the Lost and Found ones will definitely be nightmarish. However, those who thrive on challenge, and are in awe of the brainteasers found in the likes of the Professor Layton titles, will no doubt step up and get great value from what is on offer. Notes can be made on the in-game memo pad and you always have access to the highly informative Guide Book, which is crammed with data that never becomes apparent and can appear quite perplexing until a specific puzzle hits and then everything falls into place. And that sums Flower, Sun and Rain up quite perfectly - an extremely eccentric experience that eventually clicks, with everything falling perfectly into place, giving adventure game fans a wonderful treat.