I finished Gravity Rush 2 last night and while I'd like to write a full review, I just don't have the time for that. Still, I'd like to put some of my thoughts on the game into writing, just for my own benefit if nothing else. Maybe someone else will have some thoughts to share.

I can't think of another game in recent memory that I've both loved and hated so much. Typically I'll just feel ambivalent about a game if I think it's mediocre (I felt this way about Nier Automate for example, as I didn't personally find much to like there). This was something quite different though; I don't think I've played a game in the last decade that I felt this internally split about.

I adore the game's style. I love how each area has a very different tone to it (both literally in terms of color and music and metaphorically in terms of aesthetic). I like the gravity shifting mechanic. I like Kat's perpetual peppiness and childlike naivete. I even like the silly pseudo-French gibberish language.

However, I can't make up my mind on whether I'm ok with the narrative. I certainly don't like it, but I'm not sure if I hate it. The first half of the game is somewhat coherent, but they go bonkers in the last half. Gravity Rush 1 was like this as well, and I believe there was a specific intent for the game to be a series of loosely connected vignettes as opposed to a single cohesive narrative...but it just doesn't work for me. It's hard to care about the characters when the plot becomes they are involved in turns to nonsense.

Other than that, I also have never come so close to throwing my controller over a game. It's not that the game ever gets incredibly hard; the problem is that it's difficult for terrible reasons. They added instant fail stealth segments - in a game where you have zero situational awareness beyond characters visible on screen - I was completely aghast at this. How can someone do this in game made in 2017? I know Japanese game design has always been a little slow to evolve, but surely even gamers in Japan must hate instant fail stealth sections in a game with no tools for being stealthy.

In general, there were so many side quests that on one hand were cool and interesting because they did something unique, but also incredibly frustrating and tedious to play on the other. It's like they did no real play or balance testing, just technical testing. I kept asking myself, "How did this get in the game?"

I was pretty surprised to see how well the game reviewed by professional reviews, but if I take the cynical view that most of those reviewers were probably just burning through the main quests and didn't approach the game the same way a "real" player would, it's not too surprising.