Environment Research: thatgamecompany

Thatgamecompany was set up by an independent American company who's mission is to create timeless interactive entertainment that makes positive change to the human psyche worldwide. The company focuses on creating game that make emotional responses and get involved with the game physically and thatgamecompany wants players to feel rather then mash buttons and fight against monsters. That game company creates visually beautiful games and they are stunning to play through. Instead of using traditional 3D realistic graphics they have opted for more stylised approach more seen in oriental games and also is very similar to the style of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.

The first game that they produced was entitled Cloud which is an action flight game that allows players to fly around the sky as a cloud, collecting parts of other clouds to increase the size of your own so that you can rain on dark areas of the map to make them happy again. The general story of the game is about a child who is in hospital dreaming of himself flying and making shapes out of clouds before using the clouds to cleanse the world. This is a brilliant game visually as it is mainly played up in the sky and you are able to navigate around so freely. Due to the fact that you do mainly play as a cloud means this isn't the most exciting of games and it is getting quite old now so that graphics aren't the most impressive; but it is one of those games that you can maneuver so easily around that you can't help but be drawn into it; along with the brilliantly bright colours that have been used as well. 

The nest game in the series which they brought out was flOw which is a game where you play as an aquatic organism and play through a crisp deep blue atmosphere in a unique game in which the goal is to consume other smaller organisms to get bigger. This game is very similar to Feeding Frenzy but it much more beautiful. It is bought through the Playstation Network and the whole controls of the game are wonderful. Again like before with Cloud it is so easy to loose yourself in this game due to how mesmerising it is to glide and flow around the environment to try become as big as possible.Again visually in this game there isn't that much to look at in terms of realistic graphics as again they are quite cartoony and stylised but they work the way they are, as the creature you turn into is very weird looking the background fits in well with this.

The next game which they brought out was Flower, this is probably one of their best games as it is beautiful and completely unique to anything else that I have ever seen. It is an interesting game in which the user plays to begin with as a flower petal until they fly through the world collecting other petals, until they have a chain of them. This game is very similar to Cloud in  a way that you collect objects that are the same as you to make yourself bigger and then help cleanse the world, from the same thing as last time; industrialisation. As the world is now being run by factory and tall buildings, this game aims to go against that by making the flower petals fly and moved around the beautiful world to try and bring peace and beauty back to it. The controls around this world are wonderful and is operated by tilting the controller, making this another unique gaming experience. Even though all you do is fly and glide around a world collecting petals, the game is not as dull as first appeared, it has goals and tasks throughout each level and the difficulty changes as the player progresses through different environments which are all stunning, again using a very indie look to them, which are again, like the other games, very stylised. 

The last, and newest game, that the company have produced is Journey. Probably one of the more popular games that they have created due to how engaging and beautiful the game actually is. Again Journey is a very indie and stylised game which suits it perfectly as it makes the game more free and wonderful to play. Journey is an anonymous online adventure game to experience a players own journey through a world and how they interact with other players along the way. The character first awakes alone, surrounded by a desert and the objective is to reach the top of the mountain. The game then throws the player into wonderful graphics that kick up sand behind every step and old ancient ruins and caves that can be discovered and explored until the secrets of a forgotten civilisation can be uncovered.