Gravity Rush (PS Vita) - Review

Having seen Gravity Rush's gameplay before buying the Vita, I knew that this was a game that I wanted to play when I got my hands on Sony's new handheld. I've seen a couple of reviews for it from big-name sites like gamespot and IGN that gave it a decent 6/10 or a 7/10. These scores kinda made me curious. A PS Vita exclusive that had some pretty cool gameplay, I wonder what made it get a 7 or 6. 

Gravity Rush, developed by Project Siren and published by Sony Computer Entertainment in June 2012, What intrigued me about it was the type of story. Gamers are used to expecting a game with heavy RPG elements when it comes from Japanese developers so when I heard that this was a - sort of - open world game that's more focused on the adventure aspect, naturally I was interested. Right from the start of the game you're treated to a smooth opening credits that showcase the kind of environment the game is going to take place in. An industrial steampunk "utopia". 

The story revolves around a female character who wakes up having amnesia and can't remember who her identity is. She's accompanied by a cat that grants her the power to shift the laws of gravity in her favor, thus, making her able to walk on walls and ceilings etc. At first, she starts by doing small deeds like saving a kid or repairing broken city contraptions, earning her a good name in Heskeville, the first town in the game. The female lead is fittingly named "Kat" because of her cat, Dusty. It's rare to see a superhero game which is generally a genre that's filled with western titles being made by a Japan company. What's even more rare is how successful the developers are in blending together elements of a JRPG and a superhero game. You notice the superhero element in the classic western storyline and the RPG elements in the skill-leveling. 



It might seem like a simple story at first because most superhero stories start out that way, but towards the end, it starts to reveal itself and the build up to the climax becomes ever more evident. If you've played Gravity Rush's 20+ episodes, You'll know what I'm talking about. 

One thing that I enjoyed throughout the game were the visuals. The world that was crafted for the character has a very distinct industrial look to it that properly shows the tone of the game. Metal monorails and flying airboats are just some of the steampunk characteristics of the game. The world in Gravity Rush is HUGE. I enjoyed zipping through the sky to watch the architecture of the place. Sadly, different towns are separated into set areas which don't really allow for cross-town flying (something which would've been cool to do). Cutscenes in Gravity Rush play out like a comic book, you go from picture to picture as speech bubbles pop out  from the characters and the art style of these cutscenes slightly mimic that of western comic books like Spiderman or Superman. 

Gameplay-wise, Gravity Rush could've done better. Not saying that there were many flaws with it, but there was potential to extend the play time to upwards of 25 hours. But let's talk about the most important part of the gameplay. Fighting and Flying. During battle, you have to target an enemy's weak spot and this goes for all enemies. There are many ways to hit that weak spot be it by kicking it normally, flying towards it with a gravity kick, which is probably the most useful move in the game, or you can try special powers which do a number of things from torpedo-ing towards your enemy or whipping up a typhoon of projectiles ready to be thrown to the Nevi, the enemies in the game. These attacks are usually useful for boss fights. The problem with the fighting in Gravity Rush is that it requires a certain amount of precision, especially when you're still low-level. If an enemy shifts slightly to the left or right (which they often do) you'll completely miss them and just go careening through air. This is probably the most annoying part of the gameplay as it happens most during boss fights. 



To keep you busy throughout the story, there are several contraptions around the city that you can fix using gems that can be found all over the city. Fixing these contraptions gives you access to challenge missions. These missions vary from sliding races to defeating enemies ASAP. Personally, I really enjoyed these challenge missions (weird for me because I generally don't do them for any game) because of that sense of satisfaction when you achieve the fastest time or highest score. Earning the highest score gives you hundreds of gems to boost up your skills or fix other contraptions. Other extras that the game throws at you are different costumes for Kat that can be unlocked. Although, I think the first costume is the best.

Gravity Rush will take you for a ride, Kat is as lovable as any superhero couple that with awesome flying mechanics and fun challenge missions to do around the city all topped off with a traditional hero story with JRPG artstyle. Sure, there are some (at times) frustrating flaws with fighting but this small problem should be overshadowed by the amount of content that the game has. This Vita exclusive is worth buying if you're looking for an adventure game for the Vita. 

            Final Score - 7.9 / 10 

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