I went to a local game store to track down a used copy of Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis. Upon seeing that it had no original box, I set it down and began to walk out of the store. As I was walking, I noticed that this particular store had a PS Vita demo kiosk. I picked it up. It was a nice size and felt sturdy. I like the sticks and the buttons. All is good on that front. On to the menu screen. Quite a bit to choose from.
I don't know why I chose Gravity Rush. Maybe I'd seen a little bit of it before, I don't recall. But I tapped the little icon and away I went. I really liked the artistic direction. I like the gradient of the sky. How it was all set in this sort of hazy, Gothic, industrial dystopia. All this, and yet we have a very fresh-faced, not quite anime lead character to guide us through. Everything is fluid and gorgeous. It has a sense of newness to it that I was not prepared for.
It was a game that I'd waited a long time just to see and didn't even know it. Everything wasn't painted in a drab muck, nor was it in neon. It was actually a strange blend of the 2 and a bit more. All this was taken in just from moving the right stick around and panning the environment. And now that I've snapped out of my Elysian dream, I started to actually play it.
It felt great. I love it when a game has very easy to understand mechanics that can be blended to do complex things. This game has a very straightforward melee combo system. It uses the touch screen to dodge and also has a jump button to mix things up. It has these things, but the real kicker here is the fact that you can modify the gravity of your immediate area. One touch of the a button and everything around you begins to float. You can then orient yourself in a direction. Another press of that button pulls you through the air to that spot. You can orient yourself with the right sticks or by tilting the Vita. And either solution works just as well.
I don't want to spoil too much else. I fought some monsters in some creative ways. There is a great comic book style story mechanic. You can actually pan around within the panels like you wish you could with a real comic book. No sound on the demo units means I couldn't get a feel for the audio, but overall it was one of the most refreshing and fun experiences I've had with video games in a long time and I will be getting a Vita just because of it.
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