Sony can't stop, won't stop with the adaptations

PlayStation Productions seems to be on a roll with new projects, as another movie adaptation of a Sony IP is apparently moving forward. Deadline reports that a film based on Gravity Rush is in development.

According to Deadline, PlayStation Productions and Scott Free Productions have launched development. Anna Mastro (Secret Society of Second Born Royals?) looks to be attached as director, with Emily Jerome on the scr?ipt.

Gravity Rush is the pushing-and-pulling action-adventure series from Sony Japan Studio, where pro??tagonist Kat can bend gravi?ty to her will. She fights monsters, defends her hometown, and also does the occasional odd job for others.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMGaMOyr0GI

Deadline says it's not clear who will produce the Gravity Rush film as of yet. Distribution i?s also apparently unclea?r.

Rushing to the silver screen

Gravity Rush just adds to the rapidly growing list of PlayStation IP productions in development. Alongside the Gravity Rush film, we also heard from Deadline's report last week that Sony is planning on a Days Gone film.

It's not just film adaptations, either. Twisted Metal has a series in development, and reports of Horizon and God of War series have also popped up. Plus, The Last of Us just got a first-look clip in an HBO sizzle reel.

The Gravity Rush movie news is actually pretty exciting, as I personally think this series would make the jump to film pretty well. It's got a good basis for some cozy, feel-good, slice-of-life moments. And Kat's gravity powers could mak??e for pretty exciting action setpieces.

There's the stinger of Sony Japan's down-scaling, though, as that deflates any of my hopes for some new Gravity Rush around this. Regardless, it looks like Sony is carrying on with adapting a ton of its properties i??nto film and T?V. It's anyone's guess as to what could or could not be next.

The post A Gravity Rush movie is reportedly in development appeared first on Destructoid.

'Gravity Rush VR' should be an official thing

So most people who know me are aware of my undying love of Gravity Rush. The cast, the world, the sheer freedom of exploration: Gravity Rush is a game I loosely dreamed of as a kid and very rarely saw become a reality. But in 2012 it became a thing on the ill-fated Vita platform (with a PS4 port four years later), and against all odds, it got a sequel. But for four long years we haven't heard anything about the fate of the franchise, and the Team Gravity studio that lovingly poured their heart and soul into this universe was dissolved. Thankfully, the community is here to pick up the pieces with Gravity Rush VR.

As shared by Shinobido Heart on ResetEra, Gravity Rush is currently in the works for VRChat. Low key, people have been creating all sorts of crazy worlds in it, including ones based on existing IP like Jet Set Radio, with iconic locations such as Shibuya Terminal. VRChat has a lot of p??otential in terms of tinkering and ?modding, with a strong community behind it.

The post points out that currently in the Gravity Rush build (which broke ground in 2020 from a collective of series fans), you can only visit Auldnoir, which is the main hub town, and the project lacks details like NPCs and the beautiful airships darting around Auldnoir's skyline. Shinobido Heart has shared several other projects that you can check out too, like Xenoblade 2, Xenogears, NieR Automata, FFVII, Astral Chain, and Mirror's Edge.

The post A Gravity Rush VR project?! Sure! appeared first on Destructoid.

Kat's out of the bag

Two more veterans from Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan have taken their leave of the company, just one day before the developer/publisher begins its restructure process - which will see the studio shrink its workforce and dial down production, shifting focus to Astro's Playroom developer Team ASOBI.

Shinsuke Saito announced his departure from SIE Japan in a very succinct message on Twitter earlier this morning. Saito is an artist, animator, and character designer, responsible for the creation of popular protagonists such as Kat from the world-bending 2012 Gravity Rush. Saito was also art director for 2017 sequel Gravity Rush 2.

Also leaving SIE Japan is Kentaro Motomura, who has had the prestige and good fortune to be involved with the development of titles such as Bloodborne, Wild Arms, Dark Cloud, and Everybody's Golf. Whi??le Motomura did no??t note any specific plans, he intends on continuing in the field of game development.

The two former employees join a constantly growing list of long-time SIE Japan associates who have left for pastures new in the past year. The exile has seen the Sony Japan studio lose Bloodborne alumni Masaaki Yamagiwa and Teruyuki Toriyama, as well as Gravity Rush producer Keiichiro Toyama, who has since founded Bokeh Game Studio, which itself employs two further ex-Sony Japan devs in Junya Okur?a and Kazunobu Sato.

The Sony Interactive Entertainment Jap?an restructure process begins tomorrow, April 1.

Gravity Rush d?esigner Shi??nsuke Saito leaves SIE Japan [Gematsu]

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PlayStation's greatest gals

Sony has followed up on last year's International Women's Day PS4 theme with another fantastic piece of a??rt, celebrating the amazing ladies that head-up some of PlayStation's smash-hit franchises.

The star-studded theme - perfectly captured by Guerilla Games' artist Choro Choi - includes Aloy from Horizon: Zero Dawn, Kara from Detroit: Become Human, Chloe and Nadine from Uncharted and Kat from Gravity Rush, who was c??onspicu??ous by her absence last year. Of note, Freya seems to be using magic to aid her playing. Shenanigans.

The Last of Us' Ellie is also along for the party, as is Atoi from Tearaway, Little Big Planet's Sackgirl, and even some imps from Dreams. Most amusing of all has to be Lady Maria from Bloodborne, who manages to maintain her sombre air for th?e occasion.

The free 2019 theme should be rolling out across PlayStation Store in a?ll regions tod?ay.

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United we stand, united we fall

Last week, Gravity Rush 2’s online servers came to a postponed yet premature end. While its asynchronous game modes were far from its main focus, they were meaningful enough for their early closure to spark a very vocal backlash. The rewards exclusive to online play only fanned those sparks hotter. Unfortunately, despite the voices of Gravity Rush fans all o??ver the world, the futur?e refused to change again.

I wrote my guide for Dusty Token grinding (which is now useless) partially out of a desperate hope. Perhaps, I thought, publishing such a resource just might give GR2 the tiny push it needed to keep those features alive a bit longer. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with this practice, as I implied in the conclusion to that piece. (Come to think of?? it, I ha??ve a love-hate relationship with a lot of controversial practices in game design.) Now that we’ve had the time to accept the gravity of this loss, I’d like to elaborate on what I meant. After all, Gravity Rush 2 is far f?rom the only game that’s caused a large backlash by losing online exclusive components.

The vices of online exclusive content speak for themselves. Not all players have the time or accessibility to play on the Internet until they unlock some special thing. Even worse, it’s possible to pick up a used copy of one such game only to discover that a major feature is no longer available. In Gravity Rush 2’s case, not only are entire side attractions (photo sharing and treasure hunting) effectively null, but a power-up that grants unlimited flight is now unobtainable unless you won it beforehand. Their absences hurt GR2.

What doesn’t speak for itself is why this practice continues despite its controversy. The cynical answer is “it makes devs more money” and depending on the implementation, yes, but that doesn’t explain its application in games without microtransactions or paid DLC such as GR2. Another business-oriented answer is that online play gives a game more longevity, except GR2’s short-lived s??ervers once again makes that irrelevant. Then perhaps the r??eason is spoken by its community instead. They sure spoke a lot to keep these features around.

Of course, one of the biggest reasons this push made as much noise as it did was specifically because of the short server lifespan. There’s no point in sugarcoating the fact that this campaign was driven by backlash as much as passion, but this kind of backlash doesn’t occur for games wit?hout passionate communities. The very existence of these online features, despite that they were just side activities, meant a lot to this player base. When used right, online is one of gaming’s greatest tools in bringing people together, and I love it on that principle.

Online-exclusive content can strengthen these communities further because it spurs more players to try such content. Admittedly, it’s a little cynical to use extrinsic incentives to push players towards certain features. But when removed from any extra monetization-driven agenda, those extrinsic incentives can nudge us out of our comfort zones towards new intrinsic joys. I believe that the inclusion of these online features and giving them exclusive rewards drove Gravity Rush’s niche audience closer together, allowing its community to flourish more than it would otherwise. That’s why I still respect the decision to limit items such as an ?infinite Gravity Power talisman to these servers.

With that in mind, that benefit only remains?? valid as long as those servers live, and the deaths of those servers still carry all the problems they did otherwise. This well-earned stigma has a?lso had years to grow, thanks to hundreds of online or partially-online games that suffered similar fates.

Microsoft had a browser mini-game that gave a chicken suit in Fable 2, but that’s long been defunct. Super Mario Maker is still kicking, but the fall of Miiverse took comme??nt-driven levels with it. Achievement hunters constantly lament the loss of multiplayer trophies to s?erver closures. The list goes on. It’s overdue for a trim.

Naturally, the easiest solution to these problems is to never make content online?-exclusive in the first place, and that’s a great way to circumstance-proof content. But that also prevents online communities from growing quite as much as they might otherwise. It’s a better solution than none, but I believe there’s still a better solution that preserves that opportunity.

The threshold from which online-exclusive content stops being arguably good and starts being unquestionabl??y bad is at the point a server gets the axe. That point is far away from any decent game’s launch, far enough away for it to do a lot of potential good before then. Far enough away that a patch a year or so after launch could subsequently address it long after the community h?ad its time to grow.

Gravity Rush 2’s shutdown made it impossible to collect more Dusty Tokens, but its online features were always asynchronous. It could have been patched to add a new array of offline Treasure Hunts and other “online” activity invites to accrue Tokens and earn loot. That could have been a relatively inexpensive gesture to keep the content available. I suppose the most likely reason this hasn’t happened is that Sony’s staff ceased touching GR2 altogether to move?? onto other projects, hence the server closure. I figure AAA development policies are rigid li??ke that.

Speaking in a more generic sense, another option is to patch in other ways of getting the same unlocks. A patch might give something an alternate offline unlock condition, similar to how Super Smash Bros. characters traditionally have two unlock methods (one specific condition, and one that’s just playing X versus matches). Doing that, or ?even just straight-up automatically giving that content to all players, keeps that content available for much longer. Downloading a patch still requires having an available Internet connection, but this is much easier and requires less time online than actually playing online.

Asking for more patches to solve game design problems isn’t a revolutionary idea, I know. That doesn’t change the fact that this has remained a relevant controversy for about a decade while few games have implemented any such solution. Maybe the first of these games just didn’t have an infrastructure that could feasibly support those kinds of patches, beats me. But later developers could have built such contingency plans into their code after seeing how those games suffered. It has to be easier than rem??oving a unanimously loathed?? microtransaction system and re-balancing everything it affected.

In fact, one very recent release does have such a contingency plan, that game being Mario Tennis Aces. While its online tournament-based character unlocks aren’?t exactly the same idea, they’re similar on principle. DLC characters are exclusive to players who play in monthly online tournaments, making them even more exclusive than other such content practices… except not entirely. These characters will become available as free unlocks a month after their debuts, according to Nintendo. That’s an infinitely better promise than most games with "expiring" online-exclusive content make.

Online gaming has brought me closer to a bunch of my friends and helped me make new ones. In a way, it’s helped keep my quirky, annoying-but-lovable insanity from devolving into the unhealthy kind of insanity. That’s a part of why any little thing that might make online gaming more prevalent fascinates me. At the same time, I have to be honest about the self-imposed long-term harm that online exclusivity does to games. If anything, that fascination with online is all the more reason to mitigate the damage done by its loss?? however possible.

The post I’m both cool with and tired of online-exclusive unlocks appeared first on Destructoid.

#DontForgetGravityRush

As we've written in the past, Gravity Rush 2's online component is going to be shut down soon (in four days, to be exact). While this normally wouldn't be a big deal for a single-player focused game, a lot of features in Gravity Rush 2 are going to?? become harder to come by (namely unlocking costumes with the game's "Dusty Tokens" system). It also means newer players are going to find certain aspects of the game very grind heavy, which won't make a good impression on them.

Enter the fan campaign called "#DontForgetGravityRush." Hosted by fansite "Gravity Rush Central," their goal is a simple one; get Sony to extend the life of Gravity Rush 2's online features. While one could be mistaken for assuming Sony is cutting off online interactions due to a decreasing player base, this campaign actually has some data that proves the opposite. It turns out a couple of hundred new players are jumping into Gravity Rush 2 each day and have been since launch.

These fans have compiled a large list of features that are going to disappear once Sony switches off the servers and it looks pretty stag??gering. I'm even a little surprised to see such big portions of the game going away, which is not something I would have expected from a first-p??arty PS4 game.

If you wish to help, all you'll need to do is take to Twitter and post the hashtag #DontForgetGravityRush to Sony. ??If enough people make their voices heard, maybe Sony will reconsider cannin??g this cult series' interactive features.

Join Us in Asking Sony to Keep Gravity Rush 2’s Servers Online, or to Patch? the Game to Make the Locked Items Avail?able for New Players! [Gravity Rush Central]

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UNLIMITED POWE... POTENTIAL!

Back in January, players were lamenting the impending closure of Gravity Rush 2’s on?line servers. Everyone rushed to complete their Dusty Token grinds before their exclusive rewards, including cosmetics and equipable Talismans, would be forever lost in the gravity storms. Then, lo and behold, Sony announced that these servers would be extended until July 18! It was excellent news, but it was still merely delaying the inevitable.

Now, history is repeating itself. The servers are buzzing with last-minute challengers and treasure hunters. With a hard time limit and a lot of GR2 fans lacking the luxury of binging games nonstop, some of us want every advantage we can get to earn those last few rewards. It’d ??be a shame to miss out on infinite gravity power forever, so to make this impending serverpocalypse less stressful than the last, we’ve pre?pared a list of tips for Gravity Shifters everywhere.

Oh, and quick FYI: the fifth tip (the very last one) in this list refers to some mild story spoilers from about halfway through the main missions. If you’d rather avoid that kind of info, take caution before you s??????????????????????????croll that far d??own.

Take zoomed-out Treasure Hunt photos

After completing a Treasure Hunt, you’re prompted to take a new photo of the treasure so that another player can get the ?same chance you did. Much like how you get Tokens for finding a treasure with a hint, you get even more Tokens when someone successfully uses your hint to find a treasure. So naturally, you’ll want to take a photo full of hints to point a player towards their goal.

As long as the treasure’s ??location is easy to see, zooming out is generally more useful as it shows more of the area surrounding the treasure (such as signs, landmarks, island edges, etc). Even capturing another island in the distance can help pinpoint the treasure’s relative location. The more stuff there is to identify in the photo, the better!

Rate all the photos. ALL OF THEM.

Every time you find a random player’s Photo Check event, it’?s always within your interest to rate them. You get a few Tokens for every rating you give, and the rating you give doesn’t affect what you get, only what the other player gets. Early in my playthrough, I was sometimes torn between rating photos as “Nice!” or “Okay…,” but choosing something is better than nothing. Especially since yo?u get nothing for refusing to rate a photo, nor does anyone else get to evaluate it in that case.

Honestly, the nice thing to do would be to always give Nices, since it gives more to the other player without any cost to you! At the same time, one could argue that honesty is a better policy if you truly happen to dislike a photo. Given that photo upvo??tes are one of the slower online events to grind, maybe? that photographer is mostly fishing for criticism instead of likes? However you spin it, responding to every Photo Check you see is a win-win of some sort. And there are a lot of good photos worth the attention in a game this beautiful, should you happen to stumble across them!

Grab a friend for Challenge Missions

Most online events are distributed randomly, but Challenges can be sent to specific indivi??duals from your Friend List. If you’ve got a buddy who’s also hankering for some Dusty Token grinding, this is a good opportunity to lend each other a boost! The two (or more!) of you can do Challenge Missions all over the world and repeatedly challenge each other, guaranteeing a steady stream of Challenge invites. Just make sure you do it when you both have time to spare since Challenge invites only last 12 hours bef??ore they expire.

Gear up for Challenges

You can only receive so many Challenges at a time, so you might as well use the time in between new invites to tip the odds in your favor. That means making sure you’ve spent your Precious Gems on relevant upgrades and, more importantly, reconfiguring your Talismans to tailor yourself to any particular challenge. When your competiti??on is just as desperate for Tokens as you are, any advantage you can take could bring you over the threshold from defeat to victory.

For instance, speed-increasing attributes like Accelerator will earn precious milliseconds during races. Stock Enhancer is useful for the many Challenges that depend on carrying and throwing things with Stasis Fields. Offensive buffs can give you the edge in battles to kick a few extra enemies in their s??tupid faces. If you have dozens of unsorted Talismans, this may be a lengthy chore. But since you only get one shot per Challenge received, and Challenge victories easily give more Tokens than anything else, it’s worth securing the victory.

You can accept activity invites from anywhere even after… the thingie happens

Alright, so about that spoiler. In the third act of the story, you get locked out of Jirga Para Lhao and forc??ed ?into another world. That means it’s impossible to initiate online events from Jirga Para Lhao until you’ve wrapped up that act. However, you’ll still receive more invites for Challenge Missions and Treasure Hunts from there.

It’s easy to ignore them and assume you’re still locked out of them, but thankfully, accepting ??them brings you back to?? the city for the duration of those activities! So if you’re still only halfway through the game, there’s no need to hesitate to accept those invites.

I wish that these servers would have been supported far longer, but unfortunately, this is the destiny of every online server in modern games sooner or later. In this case, it’s just alarmingly soon. Personally, I’m all for the inclusion of features like these because they bring together gaming communities and encourage more interaction. That’s why the servers got the extension they did. Sony saw how active the GR2 community became as the due date crawled closer.

But it causes unnecessary anxiety and s??tress when these features are the sole method of accessing unlockables that will probably be lost forever as soon as those servers go offline. That's especially true if the servers don't even last a full two years. There should be a better middle ground, and wh?o knows, maybe Sony will surprise-reveal such a thing as soon as they cut the servers? But I’m not raising my expectations.

That’s what this guide is for, to help you be absolutely sure you’ll earn those unlockables before they go missing forever. If you have any other tips an??d tricks to lend your fellow Gravity Shifters a hand in their grinds, fire away in the comments!

The post Gravity Rush 2 Dusty Token grinding tips appeared first on Destructoid.

RIP

A few people messaged me today asking to remind readers about the imminent Gravity Rush 2 online component shutdown followi??ng a short extension -- so here's that ??reminder!

Similar to one of several facets of the Souls series, Gravity Rush 2 has an online bit that involves asynchronous play, in the cute form of scavenger hunts and picture ??sharing. But like all online serv??ices they require some form of maintenance to run, and Sony hasn't deemed the mode worth keeping around.

Instead, the service will be shut down on July 18 at 10PM ??PT, roughly 30 days from now. Go ju?mp in if you haven't already!

The post PSA: Gravity Rush 2’s charming online component shuts down in one month appeared first on Destructoid.

Six more months of winter

Gravity Rush 2's online component isn't absolutely essential to the game's core, but it's really nice to have. Through a cute little treasure hunt game you can send hints to other players and issue challenges -- fun asynchronous stuff. Originally all of that was set to get nuked on January 19, but according to a brand new in-ga??me pop-up, the online shutdown process has changed.

Now, the online component is set to blow up on July 18 at 10PM PDT. The pop-up reminds us that the game will still be fully playable after this part of it bites the dust.&nbs??p;Despite the delay, it's still sad. It was originally set to be removed a day after the one year anniversary of the game, which might as well be the death knell for the series.

Gravity Rush 2 [ResetEra]

The post Praise Kat: Online shutdown for Gravity?? Rush 2 has been delayed appeared first on Destructoid.

And the first screw up of 2018 will go to Sony!

Although we are not even a week into 2018, the first gaming disappointment of the year will be upon us this month. As we reported last year, the online portion of Gravity Rush 2 will be shut down on January 19. This in turn will? mean some parts of?? the game will be forever lost, while others will have an extended grind.

While the main story line and side missions, along with the trophies, will still be accessible, the following will be a?ffected??.

• Receiving and sending challenges
• Leaderboards
• Receiving and posting Treasure Hunt hints
• Receiving, posting and reviewing photos
• Earning Dusty Tokens

The loss of the Dusty Tokens is a big one, as it results in unique photo items, tailsmans and costumes being permanently locked off, including the Unlimited Potential tailsman which allows unlimited gravity. However, the loss of the hint system for Treasure Hunts is turning into a silent danger that not many are realizing. The folks and readers at Gravity Rush Central have been digging into what it's like searching for the treasure boxes scattered throughout the world while offline. The results, which you can se??e below, aren't pretty.

- searched ~50 spots
- did 20 rounds

Results:
- every round took me ~2-3h
- only found a treasure in 4 rounds, on a different day
- average 4:20 => 16:100, so a 16% chance to fin??d a treasure, IF YOU KNOW WHERE.

also it co?uld be simply luck on my site, maybe someone [...]

— Felix Busch (@DarkS_FB) November 27, 2017

Remember that randomness is at play here, so his results may not be the same for everyone once this happen?s. He also had Unlimit??ed Potential equipped while he tested, meaning his rounds were shorter than someone who would be forced to take breaks without it.

If you intend to grab Gravity Rush 2 at some point, I would suggest doing it now and putting a lot of time into it so you have some of the Dusty Token rewards before they are lost forever. Knowing how most companies work, there is likely no patch inbound to fix the issue. Regardless however, you should absolutely pick up the game. Our own Chris Carter gave it a 9.5 out of 10 in his review, and it made the nominee list for our Game of the Year awards. If that isn't enough to convince you, there is also a demo on PSN you can try o?ut.

The post Reminder: Gravity Rush 2’s online features will be shut down this month appeared first on Destructoid.

No beer and no PSTV make Charlotte something something

People are often dismissive of the PS Vita: it pales in comparison to the Nintendo 3DS, its back catalogue is nothing special, and Sony made some utterly bizarre design choices. These people often forget that there is another layer of disappointment to this story, which was the release of the PSTV – a gadget for your PS4 that doubled as a non-handheld Vita. Let me repeat that – a non-handheld handheld, three years before Nintendo executed the idea with some semblance of elegance. In hindsight,?? it feels like it was almost doomed to failure.

Hold that thought, though – maybe the PSTV (and the Vita, for that matter) ??attract greater criticism than they deserve. There are certainly reasons why you might want to own a small, versatile Sony games console, and the PSTV provides just that. I've had my PSTV since February 2016, and I use it on a fairly regular basis – I'd say that at this stage, equal time is spent between my PS3, PS4 and PSTV. So, I feel well placed to look back on the hundreds of hours I've poured into this little guy, and tell you whether it deserves to be written off as a flop. Ultimately, the PSTV lets Sony fans down, falling short in several areas, but there's still something of value there for a select few of us.

PROS

1. Its size

Simply put, the PSTV is seriously compact. It's also just as lightweight as you'd expect for something so tiny. There's really not much between the PSTV and the Raspberry Pi 3, while it is dwarfed by the DS Lite (see below). This makes the PSTV the perfect console to take with you to gaming events, where there is an abundance of screens or you're taking your own. I dread having to schlep my hulking PS3 Slim (Slim?!) across half of the city for gaming meet-ups, so having something so squashed down that I can fit in into a n??ice handbag, yet still hook it up to a large screen later, is a huge plus.

The PSTV with a rainbow alpaca (for scale)

 2. It's cheap as chips

When I picked up my PSTV, shops couldn't get rid of them fast enough. They were being flogged primarily as a PS4 accessory, since they also allow for strea??ming PS4 footage to a second TV, so demand was pretty low. If that was all the PSTV did, then I think it would have died on its arse completely.

So, I spotted a bunch of them on sale at MediaMarkt for 40 euros, and grabbed one without a? second thought. At the time, PS Vitas could run to around quadruple the price; PSTVs have since gone up to closer to 100 euros, but you can still pay almost double that for a Vita. Either way, you're shaving off some of the price if you're willing to forfeit the screen. It's also such an unpopular/unknown console that flash sales to? get rid of stock are highly likely.

In addition, the fact that the PSTV comes with 1GB internal storage meant that I could start tinkering with it before I got hold of a used proprietary micro SD card (more on that later). And I got a voucher for a Worms game that I'??ve never played, and probably never will, so??...that's nice, I guess?

3. So many great games – on? a massive telly!

Back in 2015, the only way you could play Danganronpa 2 on a big screen was to get a PSTV: the PC release came a year later, and the double release of Danganronpa 1 and 2 on PS4 came two years later. The same (still) applies for Persona 4 Golden and Persona 4: Dancing All Night. It also might be one of the more practical ways for you to play PS1 and PSP games, even though the PSTV only supports digital releases of these formats. Meanwhile, it has a Vita cartridge slot, so digital or physical Vita games can be playe?d on it. If you value playing your favourite titles on a larger screen, rather than being hunche?d over a handheld unit, this console is for you.

Personally, I would always rather play something blown up to a larger scale than squint at a tiny screen. I'm also not one for playing games in public, outside of a multiplayer context; I feel quite self-conscious on the odd occasion I do whip out my DS Lite on the bus. I'd much rather just listen to podcasts when I'm out and about. If I'm at home, but away from a TV screen, that tends to be when the laptop comes out and I complete more menial tasks in Stardew Valley.

Handhelds are not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination, but I can relax and absorb the atmosphere of a game better if I'm playing it on a home console. On the whole, the PSTV allows me to get more enjoyment out of Vita games. And I already enjoy the heck out of a LOT of Vita g??ames.

CONS

1. Incompatibility and lack of support

By far one of the worst things about the PSTV is the fact that large parts of the Vita catalogue are not compatible with it. Because it isn't a handheld console and therefore has limited capacity to mimic touchscreens, huge swathes of games are greyed out in the PS Store. There is a way to use the analogue sticks of the DualShock 3/4 to perform touchscreen inputs, but it is so unwieldy that there is simply no PSTV support for a lot of titles. Among the outcast games are Gravity Rush, the Persona 2: Eternal Punishment and Persona 3 Portable bundle, and Danganronpa 1 (in Europe only – no idea why cer??tain games are only supported in specific region??s).

You'd think the DualShock 4 would allow for some touchscreen functionality, but Sony re?ally dropped the ball when it came to incorporating the controller's various functions. The headphone jack doesn't work, nor does the Share button. There is no advantage to playing with a DualShock 4 compared to playing with a DualShock 3, which reeks of laziness.

The only thing worse than being unable to play some PS Vita games on the PSTV is the fact that some games are apparently supported, yet don't work as they should. Luckily, this has only happened to me with one game that I got through my PS Plus subscription for f?ree, so I didn't thr?ow my budget away on something broken.

Amnesia: Memories is apparently unlocked for the PSTV, yet the mini-games (required to get all of the trophies) require quick reflexes – and touchscreen functionality. While the PSTV can theoretically mimic this through ana??logue stick inputs, there's no way that playing a time-sensitive air hockey or rock-paper-scissors mini-game this way could be anything other than gobsmackingly shite. With no sign of any fixes or updates to the PSTV on the horizon, this is what you will be stuck with for all eternity, sadly.

2. The great micro SD card swindle

This will probably go down as one of the greedier moments in Sony corporate?? history. This problem extends to the PS Vita, but crucially, it was never fixed with the PSTV: th?e need for proprietary micro SD cards.

While I can appreciate that banning the use of standard micro SD cards would avoid the PSTV becoming a hacker's delight, it eventually got cracked anyway (as is inevitable). The laugha?ble pricing of these Sony-branded micro SD cards rubbed the fans up the wrong way right from the start.

This is compounded by the memory card being locked to a single PSN account. So, for example, you will need separate memory cards if you have a UK and a US PSN account – technically against the rules, but even?? the President of SIE Worldwide Studios does it – or the patience to back-up and format one memory card again and again and? again. There is simply no way to buy a game with one account and play it on another account, unless you apply some serious modifications to your console. So if you want to experience Vita games from around the world, you'd better be ready to lay down some serious cash, or to go through the irritating process of wiping your memory card several times.

3. Shonky hardware, shonkier software

In many ways, the PSTV is a sturdy little thing – you don't get the feeling it will be smashed to smithereens, lest you forget to cover it in bubble wrap before going on a trip with it in your backpack. In other respects, it can be quite temperamental. I have noticed from personal experience that it can be hard to get the bloody thing to power down properly; I am used to having to set the time and date 50% of the time I switch it on, bec??ause I don't realise it's not powered down properly when I flip the switch on my extension lead.

As you'd expect for a handheld derivative, it's not business up front, party in the back – there is a HDMI out, an Ethernet port, one USB slot, and that's your lot. It's minimalist and cer?tainly attractive, but also really sparse. If you want a fuss-free way to stream your favou??rite Vita games, prepare to be disappointed.

The PS Store has always been ludicrously primitive, and it's at its worst on the PSTV. The damn thing crashes all the time, and it saddens me to see that Fez and TWD: Season 2 are still the top advertised games. They're doubtlessly great games, but they're oh so very old! Also, my internet connection is terrible, but I swear it's even worse on the PSTV. When I tested it out on my parents' comparably impressive WiFi at Christmas, the download speeds were sluggish, even when downloading something as simple as Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God.

To me, the PSTV feels like a prototype stolen from Sony's R&D department: the foundations of something good are d??efinitely there, but it has an upsetting lack ??of polish.

THE VERDICT

It would be irresponsible of me to tell you to go out and buy a PSTV at all costs. In fact, it won't be a valuable addition to the vast majority of Sony games collections, since it falls short on so many levels. But if the compatibility ??limitations don't scare you off, if you vastly favour games on a giant TV screen, and if you're a little short on cash, the PSTV might be worth looking into. You're not going to experience anywhere near the same level of thrill as when switching on one of its heftier siblings for the first ??time, but it's a nice little standby device for when there's an obscure Vita game you're itching to play (provided it's compatible).

The real question is whether the $60 price tag is worth it, given that you'll be dropping just as much on a decent-sized memory card. Sony ??should have realised the error of its ways and made a firmware update to allow for non-proprietary SD cards or multiple accounts per card, or it should have dropped the price on the cards and made them more readily available. Instead, the PSTV fell into obscurity. And it sort of belongs there, even though I do have a soft spot for it.

Do you own a PSTV? Do you think it's a terrible console, or did you get some enjoyment out of it? Let me know in the comments down below!

The post Looking back on the ??PSTV: hidden treasure or ??colossal failure? appeared first on Destructoid.

Kat's landing

Sony Entertainment have announced that on January 19, 2018, just a day late of its first anniversary, Gravity Rush 2 will be closing its online services.

Of course, this isn't quite as shocking as a MOBA or a sports title shutting its servers after just a year of release. Obviously the fan-beloved Gravity Rush sequel is a?? single-player experience, and as such, I guess its online options have been considered surplus to requirement by the developers?.

As of January 19, the sending and receiving of challenges, treasure hints and Photo Ghosts will become unavailable. Rankings are gone, as are the acquisition and rewards tied to Dusty Tokens. Until that date, the drop-rate of Dusty Tokens will be sign??ificantly increased?.

Gravity Rush 2 is a game I want ?to play, that I'm unfortunately yet to experience. So, Kat and Raven ?fans, will this news have any impact on your enjoyment of the topsy-turvy title?

Gravity Rush 2 closing online service in 2018 [Sony Entertainment Japan]

The post Gravity Rush 2 will close its online services on ?its firs??t anniversary appeared first on Destructoid.

Hopefully this means costumes at the very least

Where will Kat end up next? We've seen Gravity Rush 2 partner with the likes of NieR: Automata and Phantasy Star Online 2 in recent months, and now Grasshopper Manufacture is "teaming up for a collaboration" for its action-survival game Let it Die. That may be reason enough for a redownload.

LET IT DIE & Gravity Rush 2 will be teaming up for a collaboration. Get ready to dive into the action! More information will be coming soon! pic.twitter.com/bkJr2w6Pdx

— LET IT DIE The Game (@LETITDIETheGame) June 2, 2017

It's a total tease for the time being, but this hint-of-news-to-come warms my heart. The fact that we're hearing anything at all about the IP post-Gravity Rush 2 gives me a glimmer of hope for its future.

Let it Die [Twitter]

The post Let ??it Die and Gravity Rush 2 seem like a good match appeared first on Destructoid.

Lovely

We knew Gravity Rush 2's 2B outfit was coming west for free on May 9, but you can get a better look at the costume in the trailer below. It doesn't give her any new abilities or? whatnot but it's cool all the same, and seems to come with two variants -- mask on, or mask off.

You have to hope that with all of this heavy promotion that the Gravity Rush series is here to stay. Sony clearly likes Kat, having put her in at least one spinoff (PlayStation All-Stars)?, and they're pushing her like crazy with this sequel??.

As long as they keep taking their time and making core entries as good as the last ?two, I'm down.

The post Get a closer look at Gravity Rush’s NieR: Automata homage appeared first on Destructoid.

May 5, for free

Even if it's not in the form of substantial expansions, I'm glad that Sony is still somewhat supporting Gravity Rush 2 -- the longer this game is in the spotlight,? the better. Although most of that love has come in the form of costumes that's?? alright with me, especially when you consider this next one.

This cross-promotion is with none other than Square Enix, which will allow Kat to don the outfit of 2B from NieR: Automata. As a pair of PS4 exclusives it makes sense, and it'll drop on May 9 in the west for free. [Correction: It'll release on May 5, not May 9.]

If you're interested, there's also a sale on th??e base game for 20% off (40% with PS ?Plus) in Japan. It will likely be a worldwide thing in the coming days.

PlayStation [Twitter]

The post NieR: Automata’s 2B outfit comes to Gravity Rush 2 next month appeared first on Destructoid.

'The Ark of Time: Raven's Choice'

Previously available as a companion during certain parts of Gravtity Rush 2, you can now play as Raven in a free bit of DLC that was just released. It's a brand new story called? "The Ark of Time: Raven's Choice."

The best part about the add-on? You can play it right away as it doesn't spoil the plot of the second game. Instead, it deals with the aftermath of the first entry, almost like an epilogue of sorts. The Ark of Time is roughly two hours long, and contains some combat bits and some exposition for Raven. It flows well an?d is easily worth playing if you've finished the core game.

Plus, having this missing link alongside of the anime, and both entries on PS4 is amazing -- I hope we get to see a Gravity Rush 3.

Raven [PlayStation Store]

The post You can grab Gravity Rush 2’s free Raven DLC now appeared first on Destructoid.

Why is Raven like a writing desk?

Gravity Rush continues to get good support, including costume collaborations with Phantasy Star and NieR: Automata. Now it's time for more story. Previously announced for sometime in March, Raven's DLC is now confirmed to r?elease worldwide on March 21, 2017. Without spoiling the first game, the DLC's story will focus on Raven attempting to help certain people who were in trouble at the end of the first game.

I have the first game installed and ready to go on my PS4, lacking only the time to sit down and play it. Being behind doesn't bother me though. Not only will Gravity Rush 2 likely be cheaper by the time I get to it, but I'll be able to enjoy all the extra content as I play rather than having to come back to play the DLC later. Trying to get back into a game weeks or even months after I finish it? just to play a little extra content is a bit of a chore.

Good news, gravity shifters: Gravity Rush 2's story-based DLC, The Ark of Time – Raven’s Choice, launches March 21! pic.twitter.com/J2hQK8EVgU

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) February 24, 2017

The post Gravity Rush 2’s free ‘The Ark of Time – Raven’s Choice’ DLC falls on March 21 appeared first on Destructoid.

P.S. please alter my pants as fashion dictates

[Boy howdy, the outfits the heroines of recently released games wear are not only cool and elegant but surprisingly doable in real life. It was cool to scroll down this cblog to see video game characters in their default models, then real-life people wearing similar clothing. ~Strider]

The title "sartorial gamer" is perhaps no??t accurate in many ways. I'm not a huge buyer of designer clothing, rarely wander into second-hand vintage clothing shops, and I sometimes even walk out of the house w?ith my jumper on back to front. Unfortunately, when on a limited budget, I would rather drop coin on my favorite broccoli pizza or some sweet gadgetry than pieces of cloth that will inevitably fade in the wash within a few weeks.

However,?? I guess that I am in some ways "sartorial" in the sense that I admire clothing, and clothing design, as an art form, even if I don't wear much of that art myself. As the limitations of console and computer gaming have lessened over the years, the ability to depict realistic clothing th??at moves freely and looks gorgeous has improved.

There have been a few occasions recently where the appearances of particular characters have blown m??e away, and it only seems right that they are given the attention they deserve. So, here's a recap of a handful of outfits that I thought were particularly spectacular, through seeing trailers, promo art, etc. I'm only going to cover female characters - although there have been?? plenty of well-designed male character outfits, this probably warrants its own blog post. I've also included some handy real-life looks that may have provided inspiration or which resemble the character very closely, along with links to online stores, where the items are still available.

Probably the most renowned instance of the gaming and fashion worlds joining forces is the use of FFXIII character Lightning in Louis Vuitton's Spring-Summer 2016 campaign.

2B - NieR: Automata

R?elease date/platform: 3 March 2017 (PAL); PS4/Windows

Top: 2B; middle and bottom: Sarah Burton for? Alexander McQueen, Spring/Summer 2012 collection (pictures from vogue.com).

2B from the upcoming game Nier: Automata has a striking gothic ensemble which is particularly impressive in its apparent functional limitations, namely her visor. On reading more about the Nier universe as an outsider, I discovered that she is an android, and therefore isn't necessarily impair??ed by having her "eyes" covered. 

Alexander McQueen and his successor, Sarah Burton, have been known for designing daring and often quite impractical outfits - note the obstructive masks above. Si?milarly to 2B's outfit, they also flirt with the dark side. To be quite honest, I'd ??rather go into battle in 2B's outfit, since at least her skirt billows out, whereas the Sarah Burton confections appear to constrain leg movement.

(Not that I would look like anything other ?;than a marshm?allow in any of these outfits. Sigh.)

Kat - Gravity Rush and Gravity Rush 2

Release date/platform (Gravity Rush 2): 18 January 2017 (EU); PS4

Left: Kat from the Gravity Rush series; center: jumpsuit by Gareth Pugh; right: Haus von Lila Dogma gold gladiator sandal (currently sold out).

Kat's outfit in Gravity Rush is, as the title of the game suggests, struggling against gravity - her dress/playsuit is held down by golden vines. I adore this outfit, and I love the artwork of 2B and Kat trading outfits even more. The playsuit is along the lines of something I would have looked for in a club??bing outfit when I was 18 (back when clubbing meant getting pissed off a 2l bottle of Smirnoff Ice and spinni??ng in circles 'til I near puked in a hedge). The golden "jewelry" adds that extra level of detail that could only really exist in a game character, but makes her look like a fierce, magical adventurer.

Even more playful designers like McQueen and Gareth Pugh can only fight against gravity to a certain extent, hence why it was so difficult to pick out a similar outfit to Kat's attire. However, Gareth Pugh's sleek but still slightly roomy playsuit with a pair of kickass golden gladiator sandals (wi?th long socks, natch) would give off a similar effect.

The kneepads and harness on the Haus von Lila shoes are removable, but maybe it gives off more of a Kat "flying through the air 'at the speed of sound'" kinda vibe to keep them on?

Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, Final Fantasy XV

Release date/platfor?m: 29 Novembe?r 2016, PS4/Xbox One

Above: Lunafreya from Final Fantasy XV; below: Hervé Leger Extrella sleeveless gown.

Lunafreya's look is more ethereal and snow queen in nature than 2B or Kat's look, yet it is just as pretty.?? Her formal look as an adult is a simple white bandage dress with wide straps and wedges, which is admirably unfussy for a member of royalty. As a person who tends towards republicanism, I am glad she is not squandering her taxpayers' money on sapphires the size of a toy poodle's head.

However, for a real-life dress which matches Lunafreya's formal look almost to a T (sans flared hem), you would have to put down some serio??us cash. Hervé Leger is known for being the pioneer of the bandage dress, so it makes sense that there would be a similar dress in his past designs. It's without fanfare, it's clas?sy and it can be matched to an array of accessories - it's the perfect item to stash in your wardrobe for official events.

Note that Lunafreya's wedding ?dress was actually designed by British punk? designer Vivienne Westwood and can be viewed as part of a side quest:

Nice bit of product placement, there. To be honest, I would have thought Lunafreya would be more of a Vera Wang person.

Emily Kaldwin, Dishonored 2

Release date/platform: 11 November 20??16; PS4/Xbox One??/Microsoft Windows

Left: Emily Kaldwin from the Dishonored series; right: wool trench coat by Chloé (sold out).

All of my examples so far have been notably feminine, so it's high time to introduce a pinch of androgyny to the list. Emily Kaldwin is merely a child in Dishonored, but by Dishonored 2 she is a fully grown, trained assassin with a ??cut-throat look to match. Her style is a lot boxier and less free-flowing than some of the submissions above; you would be served just as well looking through?? men's collections to find a matching look.

Burberry stock a lot of unisex-appearing outerwear, but this long Chloé coat I found appears to have a similar feel (despite missing the purple lining and gold fringing). It almost looks military?? and looks best with a chunky pair of black boots. Throw on a patterned Hermès scarf and you're? not far from being a throat-slashing empress yourself.

***

Which outfits worn by female game characters hav??e impressed you in recent times? Let me k??now in the comments below!

The post The sartor??ial gamer: my favorite outfi??ts from recent games appeared first on Destructoid.

Console sales drop again

For the second week in a row all console sales have dropped, but the bigger news may be Valkyria Revolution's relatively low count. Despite the name change, Valkyria Revolution opened up with 56,416 Japanese sales combined for PS4 and PS Vita. For comparison, in their respective first weeks, Valkyria Chronicles sold 77,267, Valkyria Chronicles 2 sold 94,444, and Valkyria Chronicles 3 sold 102,779.  

38k was good enough to land the PS4 version at the number three spot, but combined it is the second most purchased game of the week behind only Gravity Rush 2. When the first game initially went on sale for the Vita, it sold just over 43,000 copies back in 2012, so this is a considerable improvement??. 

Media Create Sales 1/16/17-1/22/17 [4gamer]

Top game sales. Lifetime sales in parentheses.

1. [PS4] Gravity Rush 2 – 74,361 (New)
2. [3DS] Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World – 39,555 (New)
3. [PS4] Valkyria Revolution – 38,197 (New)
4. [PS4] Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 – 22.758 (160,555)
5. [3DS] Pokémon Sun & Moon – 21,036 (3,092,2776)
6. [3DS] Yo-kai Watch 3: Sukiyaki – 20,831 (629,229)
7. [PSV] Valkyria Revolution – 18,219 (New)
8. [PSV] New Danganronpa V3 – 15,943 (92,110)
9. [3DS] Super Mario Maker for 3DS – 14,285 (928,969)
10. [3DS] Momotaro Dentetsu 2017: Tachiagare Nippon!! – 8,638 (269,727)
11. [PS4] New Danganronpa V3 – 7,955 (47,961)
12. [PS4] Grand Theft Auto V (4,990 Yen Edition) – 74,56 (252,874)
13. [PSV] Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition – 6,824 (1,090,208)
14. [PS4] Final Fantasy XV – 5,859 (23,632)
15. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Welcome amiibo – 5,033 (112,797)
16. [3DS] Miitopia – 4,775 (156,947)
17. [PSV] Hana Oboro: Sengoku Denranki – 4,522 (New)
18. [WIU] Minecraft: Wii U Edition – 3,732 (279,716)
19. [PS4] Battlefield 1 – 3,432 (252,485)
20. [PS4] Watch Dogs 2 – 3,037 (105,648)

Top console sales. Prior week's sales in parenthese???s.

1. PlayStation 4 – 26,243 (39,116)
2. New 3DS LL – 18,229 (23,212)
3. PlayStation Vita – 11,521 (13,816)
4. PlayStation 4 Pro – 7,133 (7,887)
5. 2DS – 6,203 (9,243)
6. New 3DS – 1,625 (2,091)
7. Wii U – 794 (1,169)
8. PlayStation 3 – 557 (701)
9. Xbox One – 35 (75)

The post Valky?ria Revolution met with lukewarm sales in its first week as Gravity Rush 2 debuts at the top appeared first on Destructoid.

Now I'm even more impressed

Happy Gravity Rush 2 day!

Before you dive in (or while you wait for the install), you should watch this making-of video for the game's live-action ad. How'd they bring Gravity Rush to life? With a fancy rolling room, of course!

Aside from showing the fascinating rig used to create the gravity-bending sequence, there's also some cute moments with the kitten in this video. Practical effects and a cat? That's a win-win.

The post Go behind the scenes?? of that live-action Gravity Rush 2 video appeared first on Destructoid.

Sir Isaac Mewton

Talk about going out of your way to make something cool to promote yo?ur game. SIE Japan released a four minute live action trailer about two Japanese sisters and their pet cat. We view an everyday apartment from the first-person perspective of one of the girls who is wr??iting a report about Newton's Law of Gravity. You know, that one law. Slowly, gravity starts to bend.

Obviously referencing the main character of the game, Kat, the trailer dubbed "Gravity Cat" uses the cat to first demonstrate that something is amiss with the gravity. Eventually they are shot out the window and smiling and laughing together, apparently ignorant that the?y're likely about to die. Oh? well, we got a cute cat and we're flying! Hell yeah!

This well put-to-together and well acted commercial along with the claymation adverts for Yo-kai Watch 3: Sukiyaki are fun and make m?e want to see more ?unique trailers.

The post Live action Gr?avity Rush 2 trailer featuring anti-gravity cat is wild appeared first on Destructoid.

Cosplay instruction manual

Do you have black cloth, scissors, and some ornate golden bands to wrap around both your legs and torso? Then you can follow these ten easy steps to dress like Gravity Rush hero Kat. You might need red contact lenses to com??plete the look, just don't meet me in the middle of the night, thanks.

The image was posted to Twitter by Gravity Rush character designer Shunsuke Saito, who wrote in Japanese, "Once in a while, I'll hear fans ask 'What's go??ing on with Kat's clothes?' so I drew out ??how she wears them. The gold frame has a spring-like elasticity, and holds down and fixates the black cloth. If she moves around too intensely…it may slip off."

I was concerned that the gold bands that wrap around her torso and legs were metal and poten??tially constricted b??lood flow, but no need to worry about that thankfully (be careful ye who cosplay). Instead I'll just have to worry about her clothes flying off. I haven't started the game but it should be fine so long as she doesn't perform any complicated acrobatics or fly around in the sky. 

Gravity Rush character designer reveals how protagonist Kat puts on her u??nique outfit [Gematsu]

The post Ever wondered how Gravity Rush’s Kat gets dressed? You’re in luck! appeared first on Destructoid.

That's so Raven

Back in 2012 I was whisked awa??y to the land of Hekseville with Kat and Raven, and fell in love with a brand new low-key property from Sony.

Gravity Rush was everything I wanted an open world action game to be, and for several years, nothing outside of an appearance in PlayStation All-Stars indicated that Sony intended on returning to it. But here we are in 2017 and Gravity Rush 2 is definitely real.

I'll make it easy for you too -- consult your feelings on the first game, as they're basic??ally just going to be amplified with the sequel.

Gravity Rush 2 (PS4)
Developer: SIE Japan Studio
Publisher: Sony
Release Date: January 20, 2017
MSRP: $59.99

At first, I was little worried. Gravity Rush 2 attempts to open up with an off-kilter, oddly paced intro that simultaneously assumes you haven't played the first with rampant tutorials, yet doesn't provide much exposition or explanation from a narrative perspective. Even if you haven't shifted gravity before it feels remedial. Never sour, just safe. But a lot of that fluff is just worldbuilding, because once Gravity Rush 2 lets loose, the charm?? h??its in full force. 

Kat has gone from the "Hekesville Gravity Queen," a superhero in her own right, to a blue-collar miner. It's an angle that doesn't last long, but it's a good arc that sets the tone for the rest of the game. This is all coupled with the bonus that Gravity Rush 2 doesn't have a lot of the same baggage as the first. It doesn't need to offload its story or premise of floating islands, political unrest, or the existence of the evil shadowy Nevi. They're all just there, and you're strapped in for the ride. In that sense it feels like an anime (which also exists!) -- a Saturday morning adventure that you're experiencing along with Kat and her companion Raven. Its comic book s?tyle scenes are a good way to move the story forward, and beat out static dialogue. They also fit stylistically with the hand-drawn exaggerated style, and I adore? the instant transitions, running into an in-game door and popping into a comic.

The military antagonists also allow the team to explore some sociopolitical ground, backed by great writing. This is especially evident with Kat's dialogue, which is frequently witty, and always weird. It cannot be understated how easily the writing lets in some levity, but also feels self-aware at times without getting too "meta" or meme-worthy like, say, Borderlands. I actually had a moral quandary with one of the game's choices, and it wasn't something stupid like the "kill a cat/save a cat" or boilerplate "this is good/bad" style found in games like Fable or inFamous.

Oh, and it's still gorgeous, more so given that this was built from the ground up for the PS4. There's some pop-in but I've always been bigger on draw distances, especially with a game that puts such an emphasis on traversal like Gravity Rush 2 -- I love being able to see where I'm headed while boosting into the sky. The bigger supporting cast makes it all feel a little more adventurous, coupled with a gigantic map and several other areas tha?t I won't spoil here. While most of the gameplay systems are the same, it does iterate in that sense.

Speaking of, R1 is still "float in the direction you choose," L1 is still the drop/cancel gravity button, and most of your fights involve li??beral use of a single attack button with the occasional special ability. But as simplistic as it is, the real draw is how damn fluid everything is, alongside ?of some tightening up of the controls from the last game. Kat doesn't just float, she falls with style, as every single ability has a degree of care put into it.

??The operative "gimmick" is several new styles, like Lunar, a swift playstyle focused on aerial combat, and Jupiter, a brawler stance. It adds a little more nuance to the previously mash-heavy action, and of course, swapping styles also changes up Kat's look. It's a perfect, elegant solution for people who wanted more, but it doesn't cram so much in that it feels bloated. I'd often find myself swapping styles just to roam around the map, and not for any particular gamey reason.

That random roaming is enhanced by one of Gravity Rush 2's new online components, treasure hunting. When I first heard that asynchronous elements were going to be added I figured I'd ignore them, but after giving them a go I got addicted in a big way. In sh??ort, any player can take "hint" pictures for others to locate treasure chests and send them into the online nether. Once you locate a chest (which is usually a good reward, like a stat-boosting trinket), you can take your own photo hint, and the cycle begins anew.

I have to emphasize again how diverse the map is. There's a lot of distinct themes in the sequel, all of which feel unique compared to the mostly shanty nature of Hekseville. Each treasure hunt, random happenstance, or trial (score attack) activity can offer a brief respite from the main?? campaign -- which is well-paced and lengthy in its own right.

Gravity Rush 2 is the kind of game that makes me want to do everything. If there's more DLC beyond the upcoming free Raven campaign, I'll play it. If there's some uncovered secret or time trial I haven?'t done yet, I'll find it. Now that the series is unchained from t?he ill-fated Vita, I hope it gets the recognition it deserved the first time around.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Gravity Rush 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

PS4 or Vita?

I had a thought this morning while I was enjoying the Gravity Rush 2 demo and watching the anime series over again -- how many people actually played the [amazing] first iteration?

I mean, it had the horrible fate of being released on the Vita at launch in 2012, a system that scared away droves of ??potential fans due to the hubris of Sony's decision of adding expensive, proprietary memory cards, and taking a gamble on 3G gaming. If it just had the option to pop in a cheap SD card like the 3DS, it might still be relevant today.

So for many, their first introduction to Gravity Rush was on the much more successful PS4, when it dropped on t??he PSN in 2015 (2016 in the west). I'm really glad that Sony decided to give this ser?ies a second lease on life, not only with that aforementioned console port, but with a full-on sequel as well, which arrives in less than a month!

If you haven't played the original yet, do it! It's a wond?erful light-hearted romp that's sort of a new take on the superhero ?shtick, with one of Sony's most likable leads to date.

The post When were you first introduced to Gravity Rush? appeared first on Destructoid.

What else are you doing

At this point, I'm fully ready for Gravity Rush 2. I've played the demo multiple times (it's pretty rad), I've replayed the first game on PS4 and all of its DLC, and I've watched the Overture anime.

You can do that latter bit in a hot second too but checking out Parts A & B below, as Sony has released the anime for everyone on YouTube. Produced by Studio Khara, you'll definitely want to turn on the closed captions s?etting so you understand what's going on.

Only less than a month to go now!

The post Watch the Gravity Rush 2 anime free on YouTube appeared first on Destructoid.

Here are the details

In a sort of last minute announcement, Sony has informed Destructoid that the Gravity Rush anime will be coming westwar??d before the game's January launch.

How soon? Well, tomorrow, actually! Starting on December 26 at 8:00 AM PT, Sony will upload episodes on their official PlayStation YouTube channel.?? The series?? (which consists of seven to nine minute episodes) will attempt to flesh out a narrative that links the sequel with the original.

I had the chance to watch a screener for the first two 'sodes, and I'm happy to rep??ort that? it's worth watching. Kat is her signature goofy, lovable self, and the presentation, from the voicework to the soundtrack is authentic. Seeing little slice of life type stuff like Kat and Raven hanging out in Kat's sewer crib is great, among several action scenes featuring the pesky Nevi.

Don't expect any Earth-shattering revelations or even much of a story (at least out ?of the two I watched), as most of it just seems like ligh??t exposition. Without spoiling anything, the duo notices that there's been more Navi intrusions than normal following the events of the original game, and are introduced to a pair of new antagonists. Half of each episode is fighting, which is impressively animated by Studio Khara, of Rebuild of Evangelion fame.

For those of you who are wondering, yes, it's sub-only at the moment, and will likely stay that way forever. If you're even remotely invested in the series and plan on picking up the second game it's worth a watch, even if it doesn't feel essential (which is probably a good thing for folks who don't like all these cross-media property initiatives like Final Fantasy XV and Yo-Kai Watch).

The post Gravity Rush’s anime series is a cute little extra, will be free on YouTube appeared first on Destructoid.

It's so close now!

I must have watched the below teaser around 10 times now. I mean, it's not even 30 seconds (it's more like 20), but it shows so much. Mostly centering around Kat and Raven, the Gravity Rush anime will bridge the gap between the first and second games. The Overture episode will be included in first-print runs of the upcoming PS4 edition, but my guess is you can probably catch it on YouTube or a str?eaming service at some point.

As a reminder, a free standalone DLC is also coming in March featuring Raven. I can't believe that it's nearly here! It feels like forever since I bought the original on Vita at launch and played it into the night. Gravity Rush 2 will arrive in the US on January 20.

The post A 30 second trailer for the Gravity Rush anime ??is all I need appeared first on Destructoid.

That's good!

I didn't realize how embedded in asynchronous online play Gravity Rush 2 was, but it seems to have a lot of good mechanics involved with normal play. For one, online events can randomly spring up on the map, along with treasure hunts, which you can take photos of to share hints w??ith other players.

Speaking of photos, you can rate other pictures, and if yours are rated, you'll earn an in-game currency called "Dusty Tokens." Time trial challenges with ghosts are in, as are "mine" missions that evolve based on how many people are online . In the mines you can die, and drop some currency for other players to find, Souls style.

All of this sounds optional. Yep, yep, I'm loving thi??s.

Gravity Rush 2 Details Its Asynchronous Online Featur?es And Costumes In New Fo?otage  [Siliconera]

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It's Christmas for me

Christmas came early this year! Well, not really, because if it weren't for the delay Gravity Rush 2 would be in my hands right now, ??????????????????????????but this is close ?enough. 

Sony seems to be thankfully ramping up their efforts to promote the sequel, and will engage in a joint livestream alongside of Spike Chunsoft on Christmas day in Japan, showing off both Gravity Rush 2 and Danganronpa V3. It'll be h??eld at 9:00 PM JST on that day, which is 7:00? AM ET (just when you're getting up to open presents!).

In other Gravity related news, the trailer below gives us a brief look at the Overture anime, alongside of more game footage. Just like Final Fantasy XV's Brotherhood project, this OVA of sorts seeks to bridge the gap between Gravity Rush 1 and 2. We'll finally be able to ??get our hands on the ac?tual game on January 20.

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'The Ark of Time: Raven's Choice'

Over the weekend Sony gave us some insight into the potential future of Gravity Rush 2 -- side stories. Although only Raven was announced, the "Another Story" tag was emblazoned upon the announcement, hi??nting at more potential meaty DLCs in the pipeline.

But thankfully, the first hit will be free. Sony clarified that although Raven's campaign "The Ark of Time: Raven's Choice" won't be available at launch, it will be free. Gravity Rush 2 is still slated for a January release, but a playable Raven won't? make it in until March 2017.

That's perfect timing, I think. I spent several months combing the streets of Hekseville in the first game. It's just a lovely, ?lovely setting coupled wi??th an amazing traversal mechanic.

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