Discovering Gravitation in Gravity Rush

The last few years of PlayStation exclusives have seen a distinct shift from the legacy of previous systems, being far more focused on dense realism when compared to titles from the PlayStation and PlayStation 2. While technically impressive, the shift to cinematic realism has led to the neglect of other franchises in Sony's wheelhouse. And while these classic games are being acknowledged through places like the ill-fated PlayStation Classic and the renewed PlayStation Plus programme, very few of them have received new entries for cutting-edge hardware.

The Gravity Rush series stands as one of PlayStation's final forays into the world of non-conventional games and has been unfortunately overlooked since the first game's debut on the PlayStation Vita in 2012. Releasing as an effective showcase for the quality of games that could be achieved on the system, Gravity Rush has an irresistible charm that has managed to stand out in a crowd with innovative gameplay to help seal the deal for an incredibly solid experience overall.

The game opens with players knocking an apple down from a tree and seeing this apple tumble its way down the bustling city streets, with members of the cast noticing that something is amiss. The red apple becomes a recurring symbol throughout Kat's story across both games, a clever nod to the ubiquitous story of Isaac Newton and the so-called "discovery of gravitation".

From there, players follow the exploits of Kat as she discovers herself without memories or knowledge of where she is before becoming a local superhero for the city of Hekseville. While doing so, a separate journey unfolds to discover the truth about herself and where exactly she came from with twists and turns around every corner. While the plot goes in some odd directions, the character of Kat herself stands as one of the most memorable protagonists in Sony's library. Ceaselessly positive, yet witty and tactful when the time calls for it, seeing her interact with the world around her is a treat. From being seen as a curse on the town, Kat soon develops relationships with the people around her and we see her grow out of her shell and confront a rival in fellow gravity-shifter, Raven.

Having released initially on the PlayStation Vita, Gravity Rush was designed to take advantage of the gyroscope and accelerometer that are baked into the hardware. As the name suggests, players are tasked with shifting gravity and aiming Kat to where they want to go. This is done by moving the system around and aiming, with options for non-motion control. This aspect of the game, which never feels intrusive, was maintained in the jump to consoles for the remaster of the original game and Gravity Rush 2.

Motion controls often emerge as a divisive topic yet Gravity Rush makes convincing use of them to blaze new ground in action-exploration. As someone who played and loved Super Mario Galaxy as a child, the sensation of being able to manipulate gravity and fly around as I wanted to still stands as a brilliant sensation that feels like a childhood dream brought to life. Simply moving around the urban landscapes of Gravity Rush is a fluid and enjoyable experience, only supported by the great cast of characters that Kat meets in those landscapes.

Shifting gravity also has a role to play during combat, as most encounters task Kat with attacking specific glowing spots on the Nevi - the assigned villain faction of this story. Each type of Nevi has a distinct visual design that clearly indicates where to aim attacks, and gives a clue as to how they might retaliate. Combat is by no means the focus of this duology, but advancements in Gravity Rush 2 add depth to this system to make an action combat system that feels dynamic and unique. With more unique ways of moving around the environment, Gravity Rush 2 takes the foundation of the first game, perfects everything that the original game attempted, and polishes it to a shine.

Across both games, character moments and story beats are presented through highly expressive and detailed comic strips that show key moments in luscious clarity. This method of storytelling is an innovative way of adhering to the hardware limitations of the PlayStation Vita whilst simultaneously creating a distinct visual style for the game. This style is so distinct that it was brought over to the 2017 sequel when it could have easily been replaced by fully animated cutscenes. And while Gravity Rush 2 is far more liberal with its use of animation to tell its story - with some exceptional setpieces - the comic strips make their return, and aid in telling the heartfelt story of Kat and her space cat Dusty.

All of these elements come together to create an experience unlike any other on the PlayStation 4, a journey that stands out among the rest of Sony's first-party IP on the console. Imaginative environments pair with fluid traversal and memorable characters to create a heartening duology.

Despite the mastery shown here, Gravity Rush was only ever a modest success in the broader discussion of Sony's IP. While it has been acknowledged since in handwaves and headshakes with PlayStation Network icons of Kat and Raven, we've not seen a return for the gravity-shifting duo since 2017's release of Gravity Rush 2. The effective closure of Japan Studio in 2021 has only added to worries that we might never see the resolution of the story, alongside the loss of countless other IP as a consequence of this reformation. The founding talent behind Gravity Rush has departed to form Bokeh Game Studio and create independent titles so the direction of a potential third game is up in the air too.

Gravity Rush stands as a hard pill to swallow, in which the quality of a game may not directly translate to recognition or financial success. Rumours suggest that we may yet see a return to the world of Hekseville through a potential remaster, and while those have yet to be confirmed as of writing, this stands as an important rumour. With reports of ballooning budgets and costs of triple-A game development, to see Sony returning to their roots and revisiting the games that put them on the map would be a great way to restore faith in their exclusive catalogue.

Much more scrutiny is being aimed at Sony's primary focus on realistic single-player adventures, at the sacrifice of the more outlandish games that helped them to blaze trails in the first place. Gravity Rush making a return would be a landmark step for PlayStation, with much potential for unique use of the hardware of the PlayStation 5 system and DualSense controller. By now, we all appreciate the fidelity that can be achieved through the use of the impressive technology in the console, yet we've not seen many games forgo this realism and make use of the power elsewhere.

Physics-based movement could be amplified in a new way through the use of the technology and so I hope we see Sony return to this franchise. Kat is a character who deserves the spotlight as one of Sony's standout female protagonists and could easily be so much more than a semi-forgotten superhero.

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