GRAVITY RUSH ~ Initial Impressions

So I've been playing yet another different game lately. However, this is unlike any other game I've played in so many ways. Gravity Rush was released in 2012 on PS Vita. It brings something unique to the table with its innovative gameplay and use of just about all of the Vita's functionality.

The story centers around Kat, a girl who is befallen with amnesia and wakes up after a cataclysmic event not knowing who or where she is. She also has a mysterious black cat who she later names Dusty following her around. But the cataclysm isn't quite over. Just a little bit of free exploring brings her upon a man whose son and home has been swept up in a dark vortex that has torn the city apart as well.

Someone has to do something and Kat is asked by the man to help. Kat did survive HER fall, after all, though she doesn't remember it. Dusty sort of beckons her on to help, they can sort of communicate, although Dusty's entire dialogue consists of "Meow." She's been granted a mysterious power and Dusty seems to be the key to it, she can defy and manipulate gravity.

The gameplay is unique in that no one has done this before. Kat can fly for limited spurts to any surface in the open world environment. As you level her up, flight and other attributes improve and last longer. She doesn't just fly anywhere, though, youhave to direct her. For instance, initiating flight just sends her upward a bit. Using either the Vita's tilt functions or the right stick, you direct her where to go and launch her there. It doesn't matter whether the surface is vertical, horizontal, upside-down, she will stick to it until the gravity meter runs out. Even then, you don't have to worry about her falling to her death. She'll crash and knock down people or break objects, but that's it.

Upon rescuing the boy in danger, Kat isn't given thanks or treated as a hero by the man she helped. He berates her for not saving his house, as does the boy she saved. She runs off, upset but not deterred. She's going to help people with this gift, find out who she is, and what is going on.

I love this game. The gameplay is amazing, Kat is such an awesome, dynamic character and THE ART! While cel-shaded graphics are nothing new, this game could give most animated films a run for their money. Those that get motion sick from games might wanna think twice, but even just watching this played and following the story will satisfy.

I haven't done a lot of screencaps, but here are a few I've done...

Bunch of people that I scooped up in a Stasis Field (Energy/Gravity that Kat uses to move and throw people and objects around)

This is one of the types of cutscenes in the game. There are traditional cutscenes using the in-game characters, then there are these that are presented like manga/comic panels that you advance by swiping the touch screen. They can also be viewed in further detail by tilting the Vita in different directions. 3D, if you will.

This is Kat's house... In a sewer pipe... She has to find a place to rest and finds this abandoned pipe in a giant underground labyrinth of sewers beneath the city. Early in the game, she has to go around looking for things for her home like a bed, chair, etc. and use the Stasis Field to bring them back. You can save, warp to linked manholes around the city and later on, outfits become available to change into.

Just kicking at some bitch here... You can't attack civilians, but you can scare them and topple them by falling out of the sky/off buildings. HIYA Shameful whorebag!

Soaring through the air. Wheeee!

On top of that tower.

Reibun~