Gravity Rush 2 Review [Minor Spoilers]

Graphics

Because the game was developed on a home console for the home console this time around, the graphics are leaps and bounds better than its original VITA predecessor and its remastered version. Characters and environments are much more clean-cut and less pixelated, and the environments are generally very impressive to look at. The colour saturation especially has been greatly improved when compared to Hekseville in the original game. Jirga Para Lhao is simply a much more lively place and it’s just yet another example of how great Keiichiro Toyama (the director) is at designing unique worlds.

2B to command. I’M FREAKIN STANDING UPSIDE DOWN AND I HAVE NO IDEA HOW I GOT HERE. PLEASE SEND MY BABY 9S.

The game takes advantage of all these graphical upgrades by including a photo mode which I shamelessly found a lot of fun playing around with. I’m usually not someone who likes dabbling with photo modes, since I’d rather play the actual game. However, the photo mode in Gravity Rush 2 was just too charming and too cute for me to pass up. I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve taken dozens of pictures of my favourite characters doing silly poses, and also pictures of enemies trying to kill me when I really should be fighting them instead. What I’m ultimately trying to say is, photo mode is incredibly good and you should all try it out!

Also, did I mention that there’s a bunch of new costumes for Kat? And the good news, all of them are free (minus the preorder bonus)! Like I know Kat is your ultimate waifu Toyama, but could you be a little less obvious about it? Also, Super Star is my favourite costume, if you disagree then you’re dead to me. 

While we’re on the topic of game worlds. Gravity Rush 2 also makes an effort in being much more immersive with its world than the original. What I mean by this is that the objects, characters, and environments all react in some way to what Kat is doing. Now this was in the original too but they amped it up a notch when it came to the sequel. Whether that’s making boxes break whenever Kat falls on them, or having characters briefly float alongside Kat everytime she activates her powers. It’s these little touches that really make the world feel alive, and Toyama and his team should be commended for their work.

And on the left here you’ll see the remains of the Nevi civilization, first erected 5000 years ago. Please stay close and so that you don’t get lost.
Uh, I think you’re the one that’s lost ma’am, I’m a miner…

Now since this is the first time Gravity Rush has been developed on the console, there are some minor graphical issues that you need to be aware of. Characters and textures pop in just a tad too late. And the motion blur can be a little too much sometimes. But overall these issues shouldn’t have a great impact on your experience. They didn’t for me at least.

Music

There’s only so much I can say for how good Gravity Rush 2’s music is. But I’m determined today to try to convince you of why that is, so…here we go.

Gravity Rush 2’s music is actually pretty unique when compared to similar game soundtracks of its nature. See, most video game soundtracks with orchestras are written with a certain Hollywood-esque theme in mind, in that a lot of them are very character driven, or try to evoke a very specific mood. Gravity Rush 2’s soundtrack, on the other hand, is more reminiscent of much older classical music, where the focus was less about trying to fit a character or feeling, and more about displaying music in a purely artistical sense. While this principle doesn’t apply to all of the tracks, it does apply to the overall theme of the soundtrack.

More specifically, the orchestra’s use of the strings playing in a style that’s reminiscent of old classical music, as well as the jazzy wind sections (that’s saxophones and trumpets mostly) all give the soundtrack a flavour that is more classical European jazz than the usual classical video game orchestra sound. The biggest example I can easily point to is the only vocal track in the entire soundtrack, “A red apple fell from the sky”. I won’t say anything more than to just listen to it, and you’ll most likely get what I mean.

Simply put, listening to Gravity Rush 2’s gives you a feeling that is fundamentally different from most other games you’ll play. But that’s probably because most games don’t have jazz that is just this classy.

Conclusion (TL;DR)

If you’ve read through the entire review, you’ve probably noticed a recurring theme when it comes to this game. And that is that this game is simply “much more” than what the original was. Gravity Rush 2 easily exceeds my already high expectations, and stands as a shining example of how to do video game sequels. I’d even put it in the same category as Kingdom Hearts 2 in terms of great sequels, it’s just that good. The story and characters are better by a ducking mile, in that there’s actually a concrete story to experience and characters worth caring and loving even more so. The gameplay adds some much-needed fixes as well as some new fun mechanics, though it still could use some work in my opinion. The graphics and music both improve on the original, and overalls make this niche franchise a far more grandiose experience.

This is my favourite picture out of every one I took 🙂

But now is the time I come with heartbreaking news. As of my writing this review, there’s a huge chance that the online servers of Gravity Rush 2 would be shut down. There’s been a lot of outcry for keeping them up, but it seems inevitable that the servers are going to close down for good. It’s especially a shame since the game only released in early 2017, so the servers have barely been up even 2 years.

Ultimately, to me this as a sign that Sony wants to abandon the Gravity Rush series in the future. Which is incredibly disheartening to hear since I’ve found a lot of joy and happiness while I was playing these games. So as an end to this review, I just want to ask you readers one favour. If you’ve read my reviews for Gravity Rush, and are interested in checking out this series. PLEASE show your support by buying the games if you haven’t already. I normally don’t ask this of others, but the last thing I want to see is Sony ditching an IP that is as unique and incredibly as Gravity Rush.

If you’ve already bought the game, and would like to see other ways you can support, please check out Gravity Rush Central’s website right here. They usually have the latest news with regards to Gravity Rush posted, and they’ll let you know what you can do to support this awesome series.

Art by Zededge

With all of that out of the way, I’d like to thank all of you for taking this time to read my Gravity Rush 2 review! I know that these can get quite long and lengthy (I kinda lied about this being relatively short :P). But I hoped that you were able to find some enjoyment in reading my thoughts about this wonderful series. Anyways thanks for all your support once again, and I’ll see you all in the next one!