Gravity Rush 2

[ratsoalbion]

Here's where you can contribute your memories and opinions of Gravity Rush 2 for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

[oni-link]

I really loved this game. I know a lot of people found it tedious or archaic, but I loved the world and the slice of life style stories. It's not an all action open world game where you blow things up and cause chaos and save the world. It's an open world game where you live in this weird and wonderful world, you help out the locals, you indulge them, and if there is some world saving to be done, then sure you'll get to that too

Just traveling around the world is a joy, and while combat is simple, it's still fun when everything clicks. The music is phenomenal too and stays with you long after the fact

I also really enjoyed the story, and by the end I was on the edge of my seat waiting to find out who Kat really was

I acknowledge it's not a game for everyone, and it does have some glaring flaws (stealth sections) but overall it's one of the most memorable and unique games I've played this generation

[ColinAlonso]

I completed Gravity Rush 2 shortly after release and wrote these few thoughts back then.

The additional gravity styles are great. It's rarely essential to use them but switching up attacks with them is fun. I also enjoyed using Moon style to take giant leaps everywhere. Sadly, the camera hasn't improved much from the first game and struggles with these new styles. More levels are designed around tight spaces than before and the camera has issues here too.

The new city of Jirga Para Lhao is interesting in how it differs from Hekseville both visually and in physical structure with more open areas to fly around its clusters of smaller islands. However I preferred flying through Hekseville's streets and various levels when I returned there.

The new side missions are a welcome way to break from the main plot. These vary from racing against birds, doing stunt work and stopping an alcoholic entering pubs. They flesh out the world and bring back characters from the original. I did them all, in contrast I barely touched the simpler challenge missions.

Stealth sections are not fun here and there are many during the middle of the game.

I enjoyed the plot. However, the last chapter should have been at the end of the first game. It wraps up plot threads from the first game that weren't referenced in the rest of the second. It's great for anyone who has played the original but probably tough for those new to the series.

As a fan of the first game I really enjoyed Gravity Rush 2. It builds on the first game and introduces a lot that complements the core game. But as the novelty of the brilliant gravity mechanic wears off I would not be as excited for a future sequel.

[Simonsloth]

Just as a rough idea what time on the 19th will you be recording? Or a better question should be what is the deadline for feedback?

I’m in a race against time to finish it. It’s not the 8 hour game I thought it was.

[ratsoalbion]

Honestly the deadline for feedback is realistically a day before recording. The correspondence has to be read, considered, edited and possibly cut up and slotted in. Not something that can really be done properly at the last minute. Best to consider the end of the 18th the deadline.

[Simonsloth]

Thanks for being honest Leon. I appreciate its not a case of “Breaking news: Contributor X has finished Gravity Rush 2 these are their thoughts verbatim”

I always try to be prompt where I can and will consider Friday my target.

[Simonsloth]

Gravity Rush 2 in many ways is superior to its predecessor. It’s visually stunning, it sounds amazing and offers more locations, gravity styles and variety. However I’m left feeling a little disappointed.

Perhaps it’s the move from vita to home console which has done it a disservice. The side quest diversions lent themselves to on the go gaming whereas here they seem to serve as distraction which slows down the main narrative. Rarely do they offer anything to flesh out the characters or add to the world building. Some of the other missions also made me feel quite uncomfortable such as the photography mission for the creepy voyeur who encourages you to take pictures of young girls. The entire epilogue feels like it was pulled from an entirely different game as if they decided against a trilogy and stuck this on the end. Even more striking was that the only reason I knew there were more missions was by looking through my trophy list. After all the credits had rolled and this felt very much like post-game side quest mopping up territory.

The stealth missions are abysmal. They should offer an opportunity to outwit enemies using your gravity to walk on ceilings or walls leaving them oblivious. Instead what you need to do is head down a preset pathway to avoid the eagle eyed guards who seem to be able to spot you from a great distance out of the corner of their eye. Sometimes I even managed to get closer to my desired target only to find the designated spot I needed to stand in was actually further away.

The game looks beautiful. I didn’t play the remaster of the original so I was very much blown away on multiple occasions. The soundtrack is sublime with the slinky French jazz hotel lobby style theme of Lei havina as my favourite. I really appreciated the variety on offer and how each locale was visually and audibly distinct.

The actual gameplay mechanics felt tighter and I struggle to envision a better control scheme for this game than that on offer. The gravity manipulation when in spacious environments is incredibly flexible and satisfying. Unfortunately in narrow corridors it is nigh on broken. One sequence where you are supposed to escape a collapsing hallway became a laborious exercise of ploughing into walls disorientated then trying to establish which way the arrow was pointing to escape.

Overall though for all my nitpicking (even if some of the nits are quite big) I really enjoyed my time with Gravity Rush 2. The package is hampered by poor stealth missions, a mediocre storyline and it’s move to home console. I think if the sequel had been on vita it would have looked, sounded and no doubt played worse than this game but I probably would have enjoyed it more. However I would take a charming, ambitious, unique but ultimately flawed experience over a polished uninspired focus grouped one in a heartbeat.

[Simonsloth]

3 word review- falling with style (unless you’re inside)

[Scrustle]

This is one I wanted to contribute to but I couldn't really collect my thoughts in time. I was somewhat deflated hearing people so down on it on the podcast though. I guess I can see where some of the criticisms are coming from, but the general negativity just doesn't reflect my own experiences at all.

I can understand having trouble with the camera, but the only place I found that was actually a serious problem was that one mission where you are flying through the collapsing hallways. And even then, it was just a bit confusing and annoying working out which way I was supposed to go for that one bit. Not a massive issue in the grand scheme of things. Similarly, the sections where you lose your gravity powers were a low point for me as well, with that one stealth section where you have to escort that character through the city streets being the worst. But even though that mission was truly awful, that's the only point where I think the issue really becomes a significant frustration. I can sort of get how the game could seem a bit too padded with content, and that it probably didn't need to have all the stuff it did have, but I never really felt like the game was overwhelming or too long by the end of it. I find it odd that there was a mention on the show of how the game felt long at 20 hours, while I was sitting somewhere a little more than 40 hours by the time I finished the game, and I wasn't feeling like the game should have ended way earlier than it did. And I've even played more since then and broken 50 hours total.

But I really love the game despite its issues. Kat is a brilliant character who is charming and funny and a joy to spend time with. The aesthetic design is brilliant, with a fantastic art style that uses colour in some amazing ways, some great world design, and one of the best soundtracks in any game. The gravity mechanics are as fun and novel as they always were. I do agree they can be kind of rough to control sometimes, and with some abilities perhaps being somewhat imbalanced, but I found they were still very fun to use and I enjoyed switching things around with different styles. I actually really liked Lunar style too. It's really fun to string together all the various long distance jumps to gracefully glide around, only gently touching the ground/buildings to use as a jumping off point to launch yourself on your next leap. The styles in general were a pretty good addition, fun to play around with, even if not every ability had the same amount of utility. I would have preferred if they were unlocked sooner too.

But hey, the point of these podcasts isn't to just reflect my own opinions back at me. Was still a good show, as always.