Gravity Rush Remastered has a lot of obvious problems. The controls can be a little sluggish for the complicated aerial acrobatics the game demands, the camera often shows you walls or floors instead of the enemies that are bombarding you, and some of those enemies will often be stuck in the geometry, sometimes to the point where all their weak points are hidden by a wall and they are effectively invulnerable unless you can coax them out.

The game originated on the Vita and while it was polished for PS4 the graphics are technically unimpressive, with simple geometry and limited draw distance. The story is kind of all over the place and leaves a lot unresolved by the end of the adventure, with underbaked characters and weird digressions into doing chores for strangers and at least one big revelation that the character sees but the player never does.

I love it without reservation.

Gravity Rush Remastered is a game that achieves greatness by doing certain things so well that none of the rest of it matters. It leans into its strengths and doesn’t linger on its weaknesses and in doing so it creates a gaming experience that’s not just worth visiting but stands head and shoulders above many of its better rounded peers.

Aesthetically what Gravity Rush lacks in technical wow factor it more than makes up for in charm. The game is clearly designed to be like an anime TV show, with 21 missions corresponding to 21 episodes, and cut scenes presented as frames of a manga, sometimes with small amounts of animation. Adding to the anime style, far off areas aren’t fogged out but rather sketched, like they’ve been penciled in by the animator but not fully inked or colored yet, a gorgeous and charming effect. The city where the game takes place is one of those 18th century European locations where so many anime shows occur, with peaked roofs, cobblestone squares with fountains, and lots of alleys and side streets. There are a few other areas as well, also with styles heavily influenced by anime, and there are steampunk elements with big airships and video screens. It all combines into a wonderful fantasy locale that feels both charming and lived in. The music is phenomenal, with each part of the city having its own wonderful theme, and it compliments the environment perfectly. The charm of the world made me want to get lost in Gravity Rush Remastered, and much of my time with the game was spent whooshing about the rooftops gathering gems and enjoying the sights and sounds of the city’s districts, a dumb smile plastered across my face. The city isn’t too big either, focusing on being fun to navigate than being sprawling and overwhelming, and the placement of power-up gems on every surface heavily rewards exploration of the various areas.

A charming city alone wouldn’t be enough to make me fall in love with a game, though, and it’s far from the only thing Gravity Rush Remastered has to offer. I mentioned above that the controls can be stiff, and they can, especially when trying to fight flying monsters that dart out of your way. There is an upside to the janky controls though, and the game uses them to make you feel in tune with the character, who is massively powerful but not not always entirely in control of that power. Flying through the sky, limbs akimbo, Kat often seems like a student driver in control of a high performance vehicle, always on the edge of disaster. When she takes off near other people she lifts them into the air and flings them alongside her, while they scream in fear and surprise. Try not to think about where they land, or in what condition. Kat also has limited flight power and, at least early on in the game, will have to plummet towards the earth for a bit before she recharges, often in mid-air, and can take off again. This gives the flying a rhythm of moving towards your goal, falling out of control, and recovering to fly towards the objective again. It’s unique and very fun after you get the hang of it. It also introduces a consistent low grade tension to the game where you’re always trying to accomplish small goals, like picking up a specific gem or killing a specific enemy, before your powers run out and you have to back off. That’s great game design, because you’re constantly thinking about and engaging with the game’s systems even when all you’re trying to do is fly up to grab some gems atop a skyscraper.

In addition to the very fun gameplay Gravity Rush has wonderful characters. I said that they are underbaked, and I do feel like they are, but that’s partially because I wanted to get to know each of them better. Kat herself is one of my favorite game protagonists of all time. She’s strong and brave but also vulnerable and goofy, and she’s a lot of fun to spend time with. I didn’t realize how tired I was of space marines until I took control of a girl who, yeah, is a super heroine, but also loves ice cream, takes discarded furniture to build an improvised home in the sewers, and is downright rude to cosmic beings (but also feels bad when she hurts their feelings.) Kat’s friends are also charming and fun, for the most part, and I often took the time to seek them out for optional dialog between missions.

Finally, Gravity Rush Remastered avoids the most obvious pitfall for a charming game with janky controls by being easy. I don’t think I died once during the entire experience, and most missions were, frankly, a breeze. Health gems are dispensed liberally, enemies are often pretty lazy, floating in one place and not attacking very much, and pretty early in the game you get devastating super attacks that obliterate even bosses. When an encounter was feeling frustrating I relied on those special attacks to thin the enemy herd or drain the boss’s life meter, cheerfully cheesing my way through what might be choke points in a tougher game. I’ve often said that if a developer can’t make a game feel precise and tuned it should at least be easy to avoid frustrating the player with unfair encounters they have to repeat over and over, and Gravity Rush Remastered does just that. It’s a charming light adventure, that let me play at my own pace and see the ending without having to throw my controller at the wall.

It's rare these days that I find a game that makes me want to play it compulsively, drawing me in no matter what my mood or other options available at the moment are. Gravity Rush Remastered was such a game, and having beaten it I intend to go back and mop up side quests and maybe even grab the platinum, which is also quite rare for me. The game is just so charming, so pleasant to play, look at, and hear, that I find myself wanting to go back to the world again and again just to spend time there. To me, that’s the highest praise a game can earn.

Needless to say I will be getting the sequel.