We knew Gravity Rush 2 was a thing, but it wasn’t until this morning that news broke that it won’t have the same home of the PlayStation Vita as its predecessor. Instead, the sequel was announced as a PS4 exclusive.
Many fans instantly began raging at the news that Gravity Rush 2 isn’t even getting a Vita release alongside the PS4 version. After all, Gravity Rush has gained somewhat of a cult following. Generally, those who played it, loved it. Is Sony burning these same fans for standing alongside the game on the handheld platform by giving them the next entry on an entirely different system?
The pool of people who both own a Vita and have played Gravity Rush isn’t exactly the largest number you’ll ever find, but this is exactly why if a sequel was going to happen, Sony was never going to put money behind it to bring to the Vita.
When initial reviews for the game came out, the general consensus was that the game was great and worthy of a play through, but sales for the game treaded far behind where Sony had hoped. If the series was ever going to see another entry, it was going to have to be on a platform that offered a large enough audience to make it worth it. Bring in the PS4.
The game’s director, Keiichiro Toyama, previously spoke in an interview saying that Gravity Rush was suited better for Vita due to its “handy and accessible nature” and “the impression of a different world existing beyond the screen” that the player gets by tilting the device. So will the DualShock 4’s gyroscope be an applicable substitute for the Vita?
Movement on the handheld device felt accessible and fluent once you got a hang of it. Still, such a small screen often left players confused as to where they were headed when main character, Kat, was flying through the air in combat against the ever appearing Navi monsters. Will putting the title on a home console make movement easier? It’s yet to be determined.
While it would’ve been a nice bit of fan-service to see Gravity Rush 2 end up on the Vita in some form, it should hardly be surprising that it isn’t happening. For a long time now, Sony has been going all in on PS4, and maybe as fans, we should just be happy to see a sequel happening at all.
If that doesn’t comfort you, there’s always remote play.
