Gravity Rush is one of my favourite games on the Vita, both because I don’t have many games on the Vita and because it’s actually a very good game. There aren’t many games at all that are animated so nicely on the small handheld and the use of gravity as a gameplay mechanism is both fun and different. I’m happy to see this game come to PS4 where I hope more can enjoy it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R6nOsYzr_A
The graphics in this game are all cel-shaded which I don’t see much of in games lately and it’s an art style I have missed. I remember back when I used to just play PS2 games all the time, I had a few games that were cel-shaded like Gravity Rush and I thought that this type of style was the future of gaming but it never really took off. I love this style because it always feels like I’m in an animated world and there’s so much that an artist can do when they work with this style. Games tend to lean towards a more realistic look nowadays so experiences like Gravity Rush are an artistic treat.
The world of Gravity Rush is colourful and vibrant, with a great use of colour all throughout, but it tends to stick to a colour pallet of greens, purples, reds, blacks and yellows quite a lot throughout the game. The world itself does feel at times a little small when you play this on a console, while this game felt big on the Vita while I was exploring it, on the big screen I felt at times that I would have loved the world to be bigger, but it doesn’t really matter because I really do like it.
There is a mixture of soft quick piano music and a fairly quiet bunch of NPC’s to keep you company while you run around the place doing missions and leveling up, everything just kind of feels nice. Gravity Rush isn’t that difficult a game, although it does have its challenges here and there. I find playing through it quite relaxing and enjoyable and even though I had to repeat certain missions quite a few times, I didn’t find myself frustrated at all.
You will play as Kat who is a young lady that’s lost her memory, she discovers that she has the power to manipulate gravity, allowing her to fly, walk on walls and all sorts of things. But there is something sinister around town and you’ll soon be taking on a foe known as the “Nevi” which are a group of horrible monsters you have to remove from time to time. The plot mainly revolves around finding out what’s going on, restoring order to the town and stopping the Nevi.
Much of the story is told through a comic book like storyboard which is animated, it has you flicking through artwork and reading dialogue. Talking to NPC’s also has you reading text and there are a few cutscenes in between gameplay as well. I don’t have any issues with the story that we have, the only gripe being that your character Kat is constantly referred to a “girl” instead of a “woman” which doesn’t bother me at all, but I kind of noticed it along the way, I mean she’s living alone in her own place! I thought it a bit odd odd.
With so few Japanese games out there on the Western market these days and also so few cel-shaded games out there to buy, especially on the PS4, Gravity Rush is a bit of a treat. If you missed this on the Vita, you might want to pick it up. The only negatives that I feel there are with it is that it’s a bit old now, so it doesn’t feel like a game I would want to spend full price on, but if you found this at a great price, it’s worth picking up. Also if you have this on the Vita it’s really just the same thing again, so there’s that to consider as well. Gravity Rush is overall a fairly good game that has some great artwork and an interesting character. It’s something different and I love that, being a good game is another plus in its favour.
