Gravity Rush: Not Your Average RPG

When Gravity Rush first took the spotlight, all eyes fell on an action-filled platformer in which a girl -- guided by a mysterious cat -- leapt through the air and broke gravity's clutch on the world. But besides a short demo featuring a courtyard battle, little news emerged on this girl's future.

As it turns out, Gravity Rush had several surprises tucked into its Vita-powered sleeve. While the gravity-defying platforming still dominates the experience, this beautiful experience packs tons of RPG goodies. With abilities to level up, side-quests to complete, villains to best, and worlds to explore, Gravity Rush has much more to offer than it first let on.

But introductions are in order. The mysterious girl you control goes by the name Kat. Fitting, when you consider her feline companion. At some point during Kat's arrival in this strange world she befriends a man named Syd who works for the local law enforcement. With a fresh friendship in place Syd tasks Kat with helping out around town, like assisting with the capture of a dangerous man named Alias that can mimic others.

The world of Gravity Rush, accessible through a detailed world map, comes divided into several sections or towns. NPCs occupy these towns and issue side-quests and story missions with ease. Kat can always retire to her small hideaway in the city's sewer system, however, if you feel the need to save your progress.

One mission Syd offers Kat involves swapping out a town relic with a fake, in order to "keep it safe." Ulterior motives aside, this launches Kat into a stealth mission which requires her to stay out of the police's sight. An easy task, if you can manipulate the laws of gravity to get around.

With a quick tap of the trigger, Kat drifts into the air and can then "fall" in any direction, regardless of orientation. Once she lands, this surface becomes her new floor. With this trick, Kat can run along hard-to-reach walls and towers without a single sweat broken.

These gravity-bending techniques play an important role in battle as well. Kat can slide along the ground at any time as if sliding down a slope, making a quick escape much easier. Alternatively, Kat has the ability to deploy a stasis field around her and pick up nearby objects to use as weapons. Once under the influence of her powers, these objects now double as deadly projectiles and even break the armor off of more difficult enemies.

Abilities like the stasis field, along with Kat's basic combat maneuvers, can all benefit from level-ups with the help of precious gems scattered around the world. With enough gems Kat can improve these powers and reduce charge times, enhance power, and grow into an even more effective fighter all around. All of these level-ups can be manipulated from Gravity Rush's touch menu, along with the aforementioned map and various mission objectives.

With so many opportunities for exploration and leveling, Gravity Rush mirrors many RPG conventions designed to reward you for your efforts. Although the breath-taking gravity manipulation already sold me on this Vita exclusive, the RPG elements make it all the sweeter. And, of course, you just can't go wrong with magic cats.

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This article is based on a 20 minute demonstration of an incomplete version of Gravity Rush, which included hands-on time. The session was supervised by a Sony representative.

Ryan Clements writes for IGN's PlayStation Team. You can follow him on myIGN and Twitter.

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