Fly, Fight and Rush Through the Air!
Gravity Rush was originally released for the PS Vita. The Remastered version is the enhanced edition that was made for the PS4. The game’s big feature is the 360 degree range of motion. This feature is based around the main character’s ability to control gravity, which is exactly the abilities she’ll need to help save the floating city of Hekseville.
Kat’s character is a mix of strong-willed, caring, and optimistic. She has a very endearing personality that made me like her quickly. She simply enjoys helping people any way she can. If someone is in trouble, then she cannot ignore it. At the start of the game when she is introduced, she has lost her memory. Instead of going on a quest to get it back, she makes the best of what she has, even making her home from inside of a city pipe.
The fact that the story doesn’t focus around Kat regaining her memories is pleasing to me. For one, it has been something that has been done in other stories before. Second, it gives more support to Kat’s self-less nature. The story is not about how she can regain her memories but how she can help the city. If her memories do come back, then great. If not, then she has new memories now.
The story involves restoring the city. Hekseville is already separated into 4 islands. Different islands have missing sections that will need to be restored to access the next island. There is no reason to rush though. There are multiple story paths and side missions to experience like the Traveler’s story, a couple that you will find in different areas of the game. They tell you a bit of their story before disappearing. My only real issue with the main story is that the final boss is not well established. Other more interesting story-lines were left open for a sequel.
For her quests, Kat will need to deal with Nevi monsters. These creatures all have a common weak point: the orbs in their bodies. There is a variety of the Nevi, some on ground, some in the air. Multiple orbs are not the only reason these monsters are harder. How they moved was the hardest part to me. The main attack I used is called the Gravity Kick, a high powered kick delivered while in the air. The down side to this attack is that it goes in a straight-line to the targeted point. So if the Nevi moves, then it is a complete miss. Flying enemies were the most frustrating.
There are ways to upgrade Kat’s abilities. Her gravity gauge, health, attacks and speed can all be increased. The game does not allow for anyone to fully upgrade all the abilities right away. As you go through the story, more levels can be accessed. The core powers have a max level of 12. The other abilities are maxed at 6. They cannot all be maxed until after the main story of the game is completed. They are upgraded through Precious Gems. The purple gems can be gathered throughout the city; on top, on the side, and underneath of the buildings. Nevi will drop gems, too. The best way to gain gems are through Challenge missions.
Challenge missions will be found in different areas of the city. Each challenge has bronze, silver and gold rankings. Each challenge will have different values that will need to be met to reach the top score. There is a good variety, but they mostly fall into two categories: race and battle. There are some varieties within these two with certain conditions to meet like battles that can only be completed by using Pitching attacks, aka throwing objects at enemies. Even with the same conditions the challenges differ by the areas they are located in. Another item to note is that some challenges are only able to be accessed after spending precious gems. The Precious Gems are also a source of fuel that needs to be used to repair parts of the city. Once the area is repaired, the challenge will open up.
Going into this game, I did not expect to like it as much as I do. There is a fast travel system, but I rarely used it. I preferred flying around and collecting gems on my way as I went to different locations. Sometimes the free range of gravity could be disorienting. This was mostly in battles or challenges where there was more of a rush to completing a task. This made me just want one button that I could orient myself to the world, without losing place. This game is a lot of fun if you get the chance to play it.