Gravity Rush is an enjoyable breath of fresh air worthy of play by any Playstation Vita owner.
The intro to Gravity Rush sets out the tone for the entirety of the game in that it's highly mysterious and perplexing. Kat, the protagonist, doesn't even know who she is, or where this mysterious cat that appears to be the source of her discovered powers came from. To make matters even more bizarre, the city around her is of the floating-in-the-sky variety. Soon enough, Kat must take advantage of her newly ascertained abilities to help some citizens in distress. After her heroic efforts and their ungrateful thanks, the objective of the game or direction of the story isn't clear for quite some time. In fact, it's almost never made certain as to what direction the plot is heading throughout the game. It's not necessarily a negative element as it, overall, adds to the already mystifying experience. One thing that is quite clear, however, is the fact that Kat must use her powers to help the citizens of this floating city and help reconnect the other chunks of the city to reunite families and loved ones.
In terms of gameplay, the main attention grabber is the fact that Kat can manipulate gravity, which turns out be loads of fun and is an incredible gameplay element as a whole. Controlling gravity is surprisingly quite simple. Pressing the R button slightly levitates Kat off the ground, pushing it again makes her soar above, below, or in any direction, which makes it seem a lot like flying. Instead of it simply mimicking flying, Kat can land on almost any object and walk along it so long as its consistent with the direction in which the gravity was altered. Jogging sideways and upside down is made extremely easy; as well, traversing throughout the world is a cinch due to this power.
Of course, the game doesn't consist of just floating around and helping people. Hostile creatures, referred to as "Nevis", must be defeated. Kat doesn't possess an abundance of combat moves, so it basically boils down to your basic kick and variety of special attacks, which take a while to recharge. Kicks may be used whilst levitating from above, thus resulting in the ever-useful gravity kick. These Nevi foes consist of strange, black-blob-typed creatures, which probably isn't too head turning for Anime culture. Enemies all have glowing red weak spots that must be attacked in order for them be to dealt with. Unfortunately, the combat is not one of the prominent aspects of this game. Battles can prove to be lengthy and tedious, especially due to the limited moves and abilities. Airborne fights offer a change of pace, but they are oftentimes dizzying and as repetitive as ground skirmishes. On the bright side, the combat isn't cheap or overly difficult. Missing gravity kicks can sometimes be annoying, but actually dying should be a rarity for most.
The story missions themselves are undoubtedly the main attraction when it comes to Gravity Rush. There are 21 in all, which provide roughly 7-10 hours of game time alone. Along the way, several characters and side stories are introduced. Dialogue is sporadic and entirely in Japanese, but subtitles and artistic comic-book-styled cutscenes contribute to making the storytelling captivating. Still, it's often a bit difficult to tell exactly what's going on in the story. A single antagonist is never exactly established, and not every introduced character ends up being significant to the story. Furthermore, not everything that was left unexplained from the beginning is covered. However, this fact, along with the conclusion of the game, leaves much room for more story to be told in any possible sequels.
Outside of the story, there's a fair amount of exploration. For starters, gems are scattered throughout each city's location. These gems are used to upgrade Kat's powers and abilities, providing a rewarding aspect to roaming about each location. Also, random bits of dialogue and interaction between other characters, usually ones previously met, can take place between story missions. These chunks of dialogue usually provide some sort of insight as to what's going on, while others are more amusing. Restoring components of the city via gems is another task to complete outside of the stories. Doing this unlocks repeatable challenges, which add more playtime to the game. Aforementioned challenges are one of the only difficult areas of Gravity Rush, at least if striving for gold, that is. Side distractions, for the most part, aren't going to keep anyone away from the actual story for too long, however.
Besides the innovative gravity manipulating mechanics, Gravity Rush's overall presentation is another shining factor. Visually, Gravity Rush is beautiful. The amount of detail isn't extraordinary, but the artistic presentation earn this game some nods. As seen from a long distance, the areas appear as basic sketches until arriving within a certain distant. Audio provides Gravity Rush both its undeniable charm and darker atmosphere when appropriate. Each portion of the city is unique and lively in its own way, and the accompanying sounds simply make each area feel distinct.
Once said and done, the story alone, again, will take an upward of 10 hours alone. Further exploration, collecting, and conquering challenges can easily make this a 20+ hour game. The time consumed is mostly of great quality, but the tiresome combat remains virtually the only component of this game that makes it feel draggy at times. Moreover, the hard to follow nature of the story and unexplained bits may have a more significant impact on some. Despite some of the shortcomings, Gravity Rush does more things right than wrong.
With a seemingly lackluster library, it seems as if there's little hope for the Playstation Vita's future. Yet, Gravity Rush proves that there are hidden gems within the handheld's collection that are worthy of playing by any owner. Though this charming game has flaws, most of the experience is refreshing. Concerning those with doubts or who may feel out of their element playing this sort of game, Gravity Rush is definitely worth a try regardless.