Gravity Rush 2

Gravity Rush 2, the sequel to the originally handheld PS Vita game, brought Kat, a girl with the mysterious ability to manipulate gravity, into a full-fledged console adventure with a significantly expanded world of floating cities inspired by French Art Nouveau and Victorian architecture. The core mechanic remains the ability to change the direction of gravity, letting Kat literally walk on walls and ceilings or fall upward, creating a completely unique sense of spatial orientation unmatched by other action-adventures. The sequel additionally added two alternative gravity styles, heavy and light, letting the player change the strength and speed of attacks and movement depending on the situation.

The story continues the first game and deepens the mythology of the world of Hekseville and the relationships between Kat and her companions, while the playful, comic-book- and anime-inspired visual style, hand-drawn cutscenes, and Japanese voice acting give the game an unmistakable identity. The photo mode and the ability to freely fly the camera around the vast floating islands of Hekseville and the new city of Jirga Para Lhao gave players room to admire the unusual architecture of the environment from angles no other game offered. Orientation in space is confusing at first, but once the player gets used to it, simply moving through the city becomes one of the greatest joys of the whole game.

Despite its technical and design originality, the game did not achieve commercial success matching the effort invested, which became one of the factors leading to the later closure of Sony's Japan Studio. The end of Japan Studio in 2021 put a definitive end to hopes for a third installment, making Gravity Rush 2 the series' last major entry and one of the last strongly Japanese-flavored first-party Sony projects. Critics praised the unique movement system and aesthetics, earning the game cult status as a commercially overlooked gem of the PlayStation 4 generation.