Sup everyone!
Back in June, my bro Félix convinced me to do a one month video game challenge about video game music. I was initially reluctant to commit to it, but it ended up being fun enough so that I'd want to do something like that again, and that time is now! Basically, for the whole month, I'll be posting a small overview of a video game that best represents whatever theme corresponds to that day on the grid, on the written date. I initially didn't know what to do exactly, but after talking to T-Force about it, he sent me a basic version of this grid which only had 24 tiles. The additional 7 tiles were decided by other people, who are conveniently all members of the Flashflashrevolution community. As an added rule, I'll only do one game per franchise. I've already made a list of picks by never using a console more than once, and it was pretty easy, so this extra rule should pose little challenge while making the whole thing much more interesting.
Today's challenge is: Favorite game of all time.
It's easy enough, as there can only be one title there, and that title is
Gravity Rush 2. A sequel to Gravity Rush, which was basically made to show off what the Playstation Vita could do, and which was granted a massive budget for a sequel out of absolutely nowhere, and they sure as hell gave it everything they had.
Gravity Rush is about a girl named Kat, a mysterious girl who fell from the sky and who can manipulate the way gravity affects her with the help of her feline familiar. She can fall in any direction, make objects falls in any direction, increase, decrease or negate gravity as a whole, and use a whole bunch of gravity/time/space powers.
The second game picks up shortly after the events of the first game, and immediately after the OVA made to bridge the two titles (sort of, it's a little inconsistent). As with its predecessor, the story is set in a large fictional world inspired by early 20th century Europe, and the characters speak a fictional language loosely based on a mixture of French and Japanese. The game does a great job at portraying this accurately amidst all of the fantasy elements mixed in. It is also heavily inspired by Belgian and French Superhero comics such as Tintin and Asterix, which, combined with typical Japanese game features, makes for a very unique setup.
The world itself is insanely vibrant, and the Jazz influenced OST supports the visuals like I've never seen a game do before. And as you're given more and more liberty to do as you please in this world, you start to realize the true greatness of what it is you are playing. There's a LOT of game content to go through, but all of it is secondary to the immersion into this world, sort of like the way Breath of the Wild feels, except a LOT better.
The only thing better than the universe itself is the controls, over which you are granted a LOT of freedom. There's extremely little you can't do with a character that pretty much controls the laws of physics, especially late in the game, and the fact that the game is incredibly disorienting only adds to the fun once you master the sometimes counter intuitive mechanics. There are a ton of objects to interact with, to a point where it feels almost completely unecessary to have this much, but hey, no complaints. And let me tell you, once you start moonjumping and wormhole warping all over the place, you just can't stop doing it. It feels AMAZING.
Then there's the story, which is sweet, melancholic and endearing, but I'd be lying if I said this was the story to end all others. None of the characters are super interesting aside from Kat, and this is mostly due to the first game in the series completely botching that aspect. Never the less, it does enough for you to care, and that's alright with me.
I've yet to meet anyone who has given this a fair shot who wasn't completely blown away, and while it absolutely isn't a perfect game, it is most definitely a special experience for any gamer who can enjoy an open world action game. If I had to point any major issue, it's that the camera has a lot of trouble keeping up, especially when manoeuvering around tight spaces, but even so, it's still an incredible step up from its older brother.
So why is this overall fantastic game my favorite ever? Aside from the obvious, it also checks every single “gaming fetish” checkmark I could possibly have. High speed action, female protagonist, deep aerial mechanics, movement freedom, extreme colors and contrasts, counter intuitive physics, it does everything.
Gravity Rush 2 has only been released for the PS4 so far, but it is a Pro enhanced title. If you have a PS4, or a PS4 Pro, you owe it to yourself to at least try out the demo!
