henke on 11/7/2024 at 13:45
Gravity Rush 2
I never finished this back in 2017, bouncing off it after 8 hours or so. I recently decided to give it another chance. The intro is a cool and unexpected way of starting the story, but after that the game settles into a slow, tutorial-heavy stretch. And I got so bored I gave up on it again. Uninstalled!
Gravity Rush
So I decided to install the first game again, to see if it really was as good as I remember. I ended up playing through the whole thing. It has some jank, but overall it's a great ride. There's something about how wild and unglamourous your powers are that I really love, and the story goes to some unexpected places and moves along at a snappy pace.
Gravity Rush 2, again
Ok, maybe being refreshed by the first game would help me finally enjoy the sequel? Reinstalling. The first thing I notice is how the controls and camera feel smoother, and the game overall looks significantly better than the first one.
I think the big design difference between these games is that in part 1 the gravity flipping gameplay came first, then they designed a story around it. In the sequel I'm getting the feeling that the story came first, then they made levels in service of the story. Unfortunately, the story calls for a lot of stealth sections and throwing things, in a game with some of the worst stealth and throwing mechanics I've ever experienced. There's also more in-door sections, and the camera just can't deal with those. Often you'll end up just staring at incomprehensibly zoomed in geometry while you're struggling to figure out where you are, where the enemies are, and the basic layout of the room you're in. There's also just a lot of boring ass missions and WAY TOO MUCH DIALOGUE AND STORY! The story was never great in the first game, but they didn't overdo it either, and let the gameplay take center stage.
I also think the world design was better in part 1. Being designed for the Vita initially it has more open spaces and big blocky buildings, and the more sparse geometry of it made it easier to read and navigate. The sequel has a lot of detail and people milling around the streets. It undeniably looks better, but is not easier or more fun to navigate through.
I've now made it further in the sequel than I did previously and I'm struggling to keep going. Gravity Rush 2 is boring, man.
