Flower, Sun, and Rain

Flower, Sun, and Rain
European Nintendo DS cover art
Developer(s)	Grasshopper Manufacture h.a.n.d. (DS port)
Publisher(s)	PlayStation 2 JP: Victor Interactive Software Nintendo DS JP: Marvelous Entertainment EU: Rising Star Games NA: Marvelous Entertainment USA
Distributor(s)	NA: XSEED Games
Director(s)	Goichi Suda
Producer(s)	Masato Mizushima
Artist(s)	Takashi Miyamoto
Writer(s)	Goichi Suda Masahi Ooka Sako Kato Minemine Yoshikazu Harada
Composer(s)	Masafumi Takada Shingo Yasumoto
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2 Nintendo DS
Release date(s)	PlayStation 2 JP: May 2, 2001 Nintendo DS JP: March 6, 2008 EU: November 14, 2008 NA: June 16, 2009
Genre(s)	Adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player

Flower, Sun, and Rain (花と太陽と雨と, Hana to Taiyō to Ame to) is an experimental adventure video game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and originally published by Victor Interactive Software serving as a sequel to their previous title The Silver Case. The game was initially released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan on May 2, 2001, while a Nintendo DS port, subtitled Murder and Mystery in Paradise (終わらない楽園, Owaranai Rakuen, "Neverending Paradise"), was released in Japan on March 6, 2008, Europe on November 14, 2008^[1] and North America on June 16, 2009. Publishing for the reissue of the game in Europe and North America was handled by Rising Star Games and Marvelous Entertainment USA respectively.

Plot

Sumio Mondo is a "searcher" who makes a living looking for people's lost things. He arrives on the Micronesian resort island of Lospass and takes a room at the Flower, Sun, and Rain hotel after being tasked with detecting and defusing a bomb, planted on a plane which is soon to leave the island's only airport. On the way to the airport however, Mondo encounters other hotel guests and island residents requesting his help with various problems, including searching for missing items. While Mondo is distracted by them, the airplane with the bomb on board takes off and explodes, crashing into the island.

The next morning however, Mondo awakens in his hotel room and discovers that something strange has happened. He has not even departed for the airport yet, nor has the airplane explosion occurred. Mondo attempts to head to the airport to prevent the explosion, but again his sidetracking to help other guests leads to a repeat of the previous day's explosion. Mondo once again awakens in his hotel room before any of the day's events have taken place.

After two weeks of repeating the same day, Mondo is still helping others when he is encountered by an assassin, Sandance Shot, on the roof of the Flower, Sun, and Rain and is shot and falls to his death five stories below. The next morning, two federal agents, Yoshimitsu Koshimizu and Remy Fawzil (recurring characters from The Silver Case) travel to Lospass to investigate the murder. During the investigation, a high school student named Toriko Kusabi confronts Shot to avenge the death of the island's "savior." Instead, the two strike a deal resulting in Mondo's resurrection.

Mondo continues his quest, during which he meets Tokio Morishima (another character from The Silver Case), the man responsible for the time loop. Tokio agrees to restore the flow of time and allow Mondo to reach the airport.

In the game's final chapters, it is revealed by Tokio and the hotel's manager, Edo Macalister, that Lospass Island is an artificial island which was colonized as a breeding ground for an elusive species of hyena whose silver eye, when placed into the eye socket of a human being, would give that person immortality. This discovery led to the birth of the Sandance Tribe, aborigines on Lospass. Edo declares that because of this revelation, it was he who planned to destroy the island with the bomb, however the bomb was stolen by Sandance Shot and taken aboard the plane to prevent its destruction.

Mondo proceeds to the airport where he meets Toriko, Koshimizu, Fawzil and Shot at the flight gate. Shot reveals that Sumio Mondo is actually the sixteenth genome clone of Sumio Kodai (the main character of The Silver Case), and that Shot is one of the other fifteen clones. Mondo then catches a plane with an agent named Peter Bocchwinkur and escapes the island. The game ends with a cliffhanger, in which Peter reveals himself to be Tetsuguro Kusabi (another character from The Silver Case) in disguise, making him the father of Toriko Kusabi, and Kodai's former partner from the Felonious 2nd Division.

Gameplay

Players control Sumio Mondo, the "searcher", to seek people's items in a seemingly-endless loop. Sumio uses a suitcase-shaped versatile instrument named "Catherine" to solve the mysteries about the people's items. Sumio can crack any secret code by using Catherine with a "Dial" for inputting numbers and a plug compatible to many specifications around the world. The player will discover some hints from what people say, combined with a tourbook of Lospas Island to input numbers into "Catherine" to crack the codes and find the people's items. There is a luxurious atmosphere of the southern island resort and the hotel, with waves of unexpected mysteries, and witty, characteristic - but sometimes poisonous - characters' lines. The DS version has a feature called "Lost and Found" which allows players to find additional hidden capsules, crack their codes and unlock items. At the beginning of every chapter, the player is given a "Lost and Found Report" which gives him/her three clues of the items and their locations.

Reception

The reviews for the English DS version of Flower, Sun, and Rain were mixed but generally average, some reviewers criticize the game's difficulty and camera angles, but praised its good story and colourful theme. Many reviewers felt that the game should only be recommended to fans of Suda 51.

References

External links

• Official website