Mistermixmaster said:
Lvl 64 Klutz said:
I played the demo and loved it, but several of the reviews on Amazon say the game isn't much longer than 5-10 hours. Is this true?
I've spent 16 hours on it, roughly 12-13 being story missions. Exploration, DLC-missions and challenge missions are there as well, so it's not really a shortage on content. (I'm still missing two of the DLC packs which will give even more playtime for when I'm on the train/bus
Yes, I'd say around 15 hours of gameplay. But I'd like to add that those 15 hours are all fun, as opposed to sandbox games like GTA or Oblivion where at least 50% of gameplay is padded out with monotonous running around in nothingness. It's solid from start to finish.
On topic of the review, I can't help but feel that it was really negative all around. Kat starts with a 3-hit melee combo, sure, but it evolves as you level it up. There's also sliding attacks, the jump kick (normal jump + attack), the drop-kick lookin' attack (normal jump + spin movement stick half circle + attack) and the dodging-counter attack move as well, which leaves plenty of room for fancy combos.
Still, the thing that I can't help wondering about is the "You fly from one checkpoint to the next, read some dialogue, fight some enemies, rinse and repeat."-part in the review... were we playing the same game? Because I remember boss encounters, stealth sections, rescuing people by carrying them to safety, putting out fires (a DLC mission, but still), and helping out in general with tasks like finding people or helping them with their jobs.
I will agree on the motion controls being a bit difficult to handle until you get used to it (the options have a setting for adjusting sensitivity of motion control) and the camera messing about a couple of times though...
I'm with you on all those points. The fighting is much more interesting than, well, pretty much any game I've played this generation. Not to say it's ground breaking, or perfect, because it really isn't. The targeting system is hit and miss, and the camera takes time to adjust to, but can the Escapist please compare it to a game that does combat with any more variety or complexity?
As for jumping from A to B, what differentiates it from other games is that it's worth jumping from A to B. The story and characters are worth interacting with. Further more, at least it'll only take you 30 seconds max to get from A to B, as opposed to other games where you have to trundle to the other side of a boring map to get to. Again, the game is to the point, and never feels padded out, which is what I can't stand about sandbox games or certain RPGs.
80Maxwell08 said:
I'm still not going to get it even if I have a Vita right now and no games on it save old PSP games I played years ago. I played the demo and it felt like a budget title the whole way through. For one I started by looking around and saw the game looked like a PS2 game to a very low quality PS3 game. Then I ran around and saw they couldn't even be bothered to try putting the most basic canned animation for a splash if you jump in water. Then I actually started playing the game.
The controls felt a little off to me with delays and the camera always being 1 step behind. The gameplay was probably the most basic I've played in a very long while with the combat practically feeling tacked on. Then the boss came and I managed to beat it by spamming the same flying kick attack over and over then the screen prompted me to touch the glowing spot on the enemy and it entered into a incredibly boring finisher cutscene that for the life of me I don't get. Then it was over.
Really? That was what they people kept calling the Vita's killer title? I tried that demo several times to see if I was missing something and for the life of me I don't get it one bit. I guess it's going to be a few more months until my Vita gets an original game of it's own to play. Personally now XSEED is localizing Ragnarok Odyssey to come out later and since I played a lot of Ragnarok Online years ago I'll be giving that a look.
Also if any of those problems/minor annoyances from the demo have been fixed then let me know and I'll gladly take it back.
So you're going to write off a game because it doesn't show a little splash when you jump in some water? I also have to genuinely wonder if you're trolling when you compare this to a PS2 title.
Just because the game is cel shaded, with cartoon visuals doesn't mean it's not next gen hardware. It means they've spent more time giving this game style and personality as opposed to trying to fit as much on the screen as possible (it's imitating the classic European comic books that the creators were inspired by). The reason for locations losing detail from afar is to prevent disorientation when flying.
As for the gameplay, no, it doesn't change much more than what you've played in the demo, but rather expands. Everything is essentially fought pretty much in the same way, but you can upgrade your attacks, special moves, evasion, etc.
This, I can understand, will not be in certain people's taste. With me, I liked the battles, and as I played further it felt more natural, but for those with little patience, or unable to grasp anything more than the slower paced, simple fighting in MMOs, I can understand why they'd find it all a bit fiddly.
My conclusion is that Gravity Rush isn't a perfect game, but it does so much right, and its flaws can be overlooked with patience. As for killer app? Yes, I'd say it is, because it naturally uses the Vita's features and later locations really show off the power of the system. It also shows off the creativity Sony has at its Japanese offices at the moment. Compared the myriad number of FPS, RPGs, sandbox games, etc, it's nice to see a game add elements of various genres and put them together in such a focused package.
