Gravity Rush Review [Minor Spoilers]
Graphics
One of the most interesting facts I had stumbled upon when writing this review, is how Gravity Rush’s graphical presentation took heavy inspiration from Franco-Belgian comics, which are French comics also known as bandes dessinées that dated all the way back in the early 1900’s. This inspiration can be seen in the game’s watercolour designs, both in its characters and in its cities.
Where it’s most evident however, is in the game’s comic-style cutscenes, which takes influence from a combination of both the Franco Belgian comic style and Japan’s incredibly popular medium of manga. There’s an additional layer added on top of these cutscenes, in that you can use the Vita’s 3D gyroscope to shift your perspective of the comic, making the characters and dialogue boxes really pop out of the environments, overall making the scenes feel much more alive. Overall, the comic-book style cutscenes adds a ton of aesthetic appeal to the game, and really makes Kat feel like a hero worthy of her own manga/comic book.
Maybe in one of your dreams Syd. I bet you’d like that
The watercolor designs and the gorgeous comic-style cutscenes all mesh together wonderfully, creating a game that is absolutely beautiful to look at on the Vita. The cel shaded look of the game really lends itself to the game’s watercolor vibes, and gives the feeling that you are living in a fantastical place. The varied environments have immaculate detail, though the game’s short draw distance does sometimes make fast traversal of the areas feel very odd, as large buildings will suddenly pop up in the background. This wasn’t nearly enough to deter my enjoyment of the game’s presentation however, and I can say with confidence that this game is one of the most aesthetically gorgeous games I have ever played on a handheld device.
Music
There’s only one word that I can use to effectively describe Gravity Rush’s music, and that is “atmospheric”. In all my time playing video games, there are only a few that have music that very accurately portrays the themes of their respective games. Gravity Rush is one of those games, ranging from its very ditzy, delightful pieces, such as “passing Moment”, to its very triumphant, energetic themes such as “Gravity Daze”. The game seems to have it all when it comes to portraying its astonishing worlds and characters.
Opting to go for wide variety of sounds, including elements of classical orchestra, to some really funky jazz tunes, the game’s soundtrack feels very reminiscent of a movie score set for a Hayao Miyazaki film. Which is in my eyes a very good thing, as it really makes every moment in Gravity Rush feel very personal, whether it’s the theme “Old Town” playing as I’m happily flying throughout the city, or “Clearly Dangerous” as I’m engaged in a high-octane chase. The soundtrack makes it so that there was never a dull moment in my time with the game.
Now that I’m nearing the end of the review, I would like to finally answer the questions I had asked near the beginning of this review.
“What was it that made Gravity Rush stand out from most other titles?”
I would say that the really beautiful, inventive world and its characters, the intuitive gameplay mechanics that make excellent use of the Vita’s unique features, the gorgeous art design, and the incredibly atmospheric soundtrack makes this game a one-of-a-kind not just for the Vita, but for any game that I have played so far.
“Why didn’t it garner more attention during the initial launch?”
Although there was a decent amount of hype surrounding the game when it released. It paled in comparison to already existing IP’s that came out at the same time such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Now it’s really easy to blame its initial status of underrated gem on that fact alone, but I also think that because the game set out to do all these unique things, it came off as very niche from the consumer’s perspective. It’s heavy use of motion controls probably also didn’t help much too, as people are always very skeptical about games whose main schtick revolves around motion controls. It’s hard for a brand-new IP, especially a title like Gravity Rush, whose design is not the most appealing to the mainstream audience, to win out against games that have a pre-existing fanbase and history of success.
“How does the game hold up today?”
For a game that came out during 2011, I would say that it still holds up greatly even today. In fact, Japan Studios recently released a remastered version of Gravity Rush for the PS4 back in 2016, which features vastly improved and upscaled graphics, full 60FPS, better controls, and even includes all the DLC packs for free! If I were to choose between either the remastered or Vita version to recommend for new players, I would definitely choose the remastered version in a heartbeat.
All in all, I really loved the game, and had an absolute blast playing through it all throughout my close to twenty-five-hour playthrough. As of the posting of this review, Gravity Rush 2 has already been released for the PS4 back in January of this year, and you can bet that I will be checking that game out as well. I sincerely hoped you enjoyed this review, as I had a great time writing it all up as well , and hopefully I can keep on doing for as long as I can. Thank you very much.
