Gravity Rush 2

Gameplay

The gravity-controlling mechanics introduced in Gravity Rush are expanded in Gravity Rush 2. Players are able to choose among three gravity styles: the original style from the first game, Lunar and Jupiter. Lunar will be light and increase Kat's speed and her ability to jump higher. Jupiter will make Kat feel heavy, giving her attacks more impact. Players can change between gravity styles using the touch pad.

Director Keiichiro Toyama stresses immersion with Gravity Rush 2. Toyama says the key to this is expanding the universe and making Kat and her surroundings feel more alive. The new city in the game, for example, is more lively and colorful, and Kat will be able to chat with the city's inhabitants, throw gang signs, and people will react organically. Environments will be destructible.

The Nevi return in Gravity Rush 2, along with other enemies, such as human soldiers, some of whom operate combat mechs. Raven, who appeared in the first game, will be an AI-controlled ally who can fight with Kat during certain battles.

As Gravity Rush 2 has three times the amount of missions than its predecessor, the game will be between 20–40 hours long. The game map is 2.5 times larger than the one from the original.

Plot

The game picks up where Gravity Rush left off. Kat returns along with her friend Raven. The main characters from the previous game appear. In the aerial city of Hekseville, reconstruction is progressing after the new weapons incident caused by the former mayor D’nelica. After a strange gravity wave disturbance was observed, the gravity queen Kat begins an investigation with her shifter partner Raven, and Syd, a police officer. Kat senses something strange and the area is hit by a gravity storm on an unprecedented scale. The three investigators are sucked into a gravitational whirlpool before even getting a chance to use their powers. Arriving in a strange mining settlement called Banga village, other locations include the previous game's city, Hekseville, and a new location, "The Rift Plane".

Development

Work on Gravity Rush 2 started when the development of Gravity Rush was finished. It was announced on September 20, 2013 at the Tokyo Game Show and was originally known as 'Team Gravity Project'. During their Tokyo Game Show 2015 presentation, Sony unveiled the game as Gravity Rush 2. Originally scheduled to be released on December 2, 2016, the game was delayed to January 2017 by Sony in order to ensure that the game would not compete with other triple-A titles set to be released during the Christmas period.

On December 3, 2016, it was announced that the free DLC that Sony were offering to make up for the delay will be "Raven's Choice", allowing players to play as the significant side character Raven, Another Story The Ark of Time – Raven’s Choice will see Raven battling to save the Lost Children trapped inside the Ark at the end of the first Gravity Rush

Kohei Tanaka, who worked on the music for Gravity Rush, returned to compose the music for Gravity Rush 2. An anime, titled Gravity Rush: The Animation ~ Overture ~, was released on December 26, 2016. Made by Studio Khara, it serves as a bridge to fill the narrative gap between Gravity Rush and Gravity Rush 2.

On November 11, 2016, Gravity Rush 2 went gold.

Reception

Gravity Rush 2 received "generally favorable" reviews, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.

Peter Brown of GameSpot praised how the game built improved upon its predecessor by calling it "more than just a simple follow-up, Gravity Rush 2 exceeds expectations". Brown noted the variety and scope of the world and felt that the story was much improved by being more consistent and engaging. Jaz Rignall of USGamer was also positive regarding the story, considering the character development, light and fun approach and stylized delivery to be the Gravity Rush 2's stronger element, even favorably comparing them to Studio Ghibli productions. Reviewing for Polygon, Whitney Reynolds noted the protagonist Kat's fun characterization and enthusiasm as reasons to play through the optional side quests. Reynolds also praised the overall larger cast of female characters. Chris Carter of Destructoid considered the visuals to be enhanced by having been developed for the PS4 first, unlike the first Gravity Rush while still retaining well received elements from before, including the hand drawn art and comic book-styled story transitions, calling the overall looks "gorgeous".

Miranda Sanchez of IGN was positive to the gravity altering gameplay and the new additions to Kat's abilities, progression and their use in the game's many activities and combat, the latter of which made "more interesting by offering creativity options with Kat’s movements". However Sanchez did critique certain instances of "unfortunately long missions in smaller spaces that made the otherwise cooperative camera a pain". David Roberts of GamesRadar also praised the gravity-based movement throughout the open-world environment yet was critical of the camera controls, particularity in small spaces calling it "ill-equipped to keep up". In addition Roberts was negative towards to "ground based" missions that contrasted with other sections of the game.

As of February 15, 2017, Gravity Rush 2 has sold 102,630 copies in Japan.