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I finally got a PlayStation Vita last week and do you know the reason why I bought it? Because of this game that I’m about to review. I honestly have no idea what drew me into buying a Vita for this game. Was it because Kat was a DLC character on PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale? Was it because I’m a fan of open world games and leveling up abilities? I don’t know but after beating the game and obtaining the Platinum Trophy, I knew I made the right choice in buying it.
The story revolves around a young woman named Kat, who wakes up in a park in Hekseville with no memory of what happened to her. She encounters this cat-like creature who gives her the power to control gravity. She then uses these powers to help others, restore all parts of Hekseville, and defeat the main enemy of the game, the Nevi.
There are a lot of twists and turns in the story and for the most part, I really like the characters, especially Kat. She is selfless and caring for other people. Plus, she’s really cute. I’d put her up there with Jade from Beyond Good & Evil and Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite as one of my favorite female characters in gaming.
One thing that really drew me in to this game was the visual style. The game uses cel-shaded graphics to resemble those french comics that director Keiichiro Toyama read in his youth. It reminds me of other cel-shaded games like the Sly Cooper series and Okami as both those games were made to resemble a cartoon and a Japanese water color painting, respectively. Certain scenes are also told in comic book format and even the pause menu resembles a comic book.
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| I really love the comic book-style cutscenes. |
The score by Kohei Tanaka is some of the best I have ever heard in a video game. The music can sound peaceful, upbeat, or epic and they match perfectly in certain situations or events. Some tracks like “Downtown” and “Discovery of Gravitation” remind me of some of the Studio Ghibli films that I’ve watched. If you want to know what my favorite tracks are, they are “Old Town”, “Resistance and Extermination”, and the main menu theme, “Gravity Daze”. When you hear “Gravity Daze”, you know you are in for a big adventure.
In short, Gravity Rush is an open-world game with RPG elements. Here are the full details:
You can pretty much explore Hekseville to repair parts of towns, complete challenges and side quests, and search for gems. You are not allowed to harm citizens, however, due to Kat’s heroic nature, that is, except run them over with your gravity slide or launch them into the air.
Kat can manipulate gravity. It is a really cool way to travel from place to place. You’re not really flying, but “falling”. You press the R button and she’ll float, then you press the R button again to “fall”. You can even walk against walls and even upside down, but the gravity gagye on the HUD is limited. Kat also has a wide variety of attacks which include kicking, gravity kicking, and… well, they all consist of kicking. You can use the Vita’s gyroscope to target where you want to go while floating, but to be honest, I prefer using the right analog stick more; I don’t like having to turn my Vita to go to a different direction.
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| Anyone think of the song “Free Fallin'” by Tom Petty while doing this? |
In certain parts of the game, Kat will have to navigate herself through Rift Planes to restore parts of Hekseville. During those parts, she will earn a new power. You can collect Precious Gems to power up Kat’s abilities to make yourself more powerful. They are found all throughout Hekseville and can also be earned by breaking records in challenges, adding replay value.
You fight these enemies called Nevi, which all come in different sizes. Some even resemble animals like swordfish and sharks. You defeat them by hitting their obvious weak spots. Some have only one, but others have multiple weak spots. Many have criticized the combat for being tedious and monotonous, and I partially agree. Yeah, they can drag, but to me, I never really got bored of them. Plus, if you don’t level up often, then yes, it would be a problem.
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| “Kick, punch, it’s all in the mind..” Wait, she can only kick. |
There are challenges you can unlock after repairing certain parts in town like elevators or other machines. Some challenges consist of earning points by defeating a lot of Nevi or getting from Point A to B, all under a time limit. I thought those would be a big problem for me since I am not a fan of “gold medal challenges” in gaming, but I started to like them a lot. They encourage you to level up your abilites more in order to beat the high score. These beat the Gold Orb challenges in Jak II and Jak 3 by whole lot (those racing missions – ugh!).
If I could name some problems I have with the game, I wish there were more side missions. The DLC packs just weren’t enough. Other than that, I can hardly name any other complainst.
I am glad I bought a Vita thanks to this game. It’s one of the best game I have played in a while, and it’s on a handheld. I, amongst many fans, am waiting for a sequel to be released since the ending, while satisfying, did not resolve everything, but I think that was intentional. I would love to see more of the universe of Gravity Rush explored. If you haven’t gotten a Vita, then this game should be more than enough reason to buy one.
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