Raise your hands if Gravity Rush is the reason you got a PlayStation Vita or plan on getting one. Wow, that's a lot of hands!
All the anticipation for Gravity Rush comes from the game's combination of a clever core mechanic with a unique aesthetic. A new post over at the PlayStation Blog shows a three-year-old concept video from the physics-defying action title's early development days and it's clear that an emphasis on looking wonderful was there from the very start.
The accompanying blog post from the game's art director explains how the sharply delineated look of the game came about and why the game's environment needed to be much more than static backdrops:
Another important factor is the concept of a "living background." This is the idea of bringing the game world itself to life so that users can actually ‘feel' it. Basically, players can interact with certain objects in the game and they can actually get into the scenery within the remote background. Environmental background is not a piece of a picture, but it actually exists within the game, and we can use that background with our gameplay. That was our ultimate goal. By combining the unique art style of BD and the idea of living background, we created a sensation that could only be brought to life with a video game.
Last time I saw Gravity Rush, I remember thinking it felt like a living comic book. Something drawn by Moebius, maybe. I can't wait to dive—upside-down, sideways, whatever!—into its world when Gravity Rush comes out next month.
The Art of PS Vita's Gravity Rush[PlayStation Blog]