Saturation, Entry 3.

In my final post on saturation, I want to examine some screenshots from a game called 'Flower', it is by Thatgamecompany.

Flower is an exploration typed game, although very open ended and dreamlike in nature. the player controls a single flower petal, and through tilting the ps3 controller, the player is able to exert wind force on the petal, blowing it around. As you navigate the area, the petal coming in contact with other flowers and grass has an effect on the landscape, it is this transitional effect that I want to highlight.

Here, we can see the path of the petal, followed by petals from other flowers the player has encountered. We can see the grey and desaturate surroundings untouched by the petal's influence, also. Through travelling through the world, the player brings saturation and visual interest to an environment that originally has next to none.

This is interesting, as the creation of saturate areas becomes an objective and reward for the player, in and of itself.

The saturation, as it is restored to the scene, gives the visuals a feel of familiarity to the player, Nature is 'not' desaturate, it is colourful and vivid, even in simple green plant life, the shades and hues of green are myriad and varied. The desaturate world, before the petal begins its work of transforming it, is a somewhat uncanny representation of nature, we know the shapes and forms, but the lack of saturation seperates the world of 'Flower' from what we know nature should be.

Interestingly, as the game advances, we begin to see more and more of another kind of world, namely, the human world.

A visual theme is made as nature encounters civilization. even when touched by the petal's influence, the man made environs change little, they become a little brighter and cleaner, but really, the mundane is inseperable from the structures. The player works around this, weaving colour and nature amongst the man made structures.

It's very impressive that the game is able to tell a story just through the use of saturation, and in tandem, the lack of saturation. Just as images use contrasting saturation levels to impart information and draw our attention to various parts of its composition. 'Flower' uses this same device to draw its open ended narrative to a close. 'Flower' is in my opinion, the embodiment of the power of colour and the understanding of it, and what we are able to do when we fully understand its application and implementation.