Honestly, playing Gravity Rush Remastered PS4 today feels like a bit of a fever dream. It’s this weird, beautiful anomaly that shouldn't have worked as well as it did. Most people forget it actually started its life on the PlayStation Vita back in 2012 before Bluepoint Games—the masters of the remaster—got their hands on it for the home console.
It’s stylish. It’s dizzying.
You play as Kat, a "Gravity Queen" who wakes up with no memories in a floating city called Hekseville. Alongside a mysterious celestial cat named Dusty, you gain the power to literally fall in any direction. It isn't flying. That’s the big distinction everyone misses. You aren't soaring like Superman; you are shifting your personal center of gravity so that "down" is suddenly "up" or "sideways."
When it hit the PS4, it wasn't just a resolution bump. It was a revelation.
The Bluepoint Magic: Making a Portable Game Feel Huge
Bluepoint Games didn't just slap a 1080p coat of paint on this thing. They basically rebuilt the experience to handle the 60fps demand of modern console players. The difference between the original Vita version and Gravity Rush Remastered PS4 is night and day because of that frame rate. In a game where the camera is constantly spinning 360 degrees as you plummet toward a floating clock tower, 30fps was... let’s say "challenging" for the stomach. At 60fps? It’s butter.
The textures got a massive overhaul too. The world of Hekseville is heavily inspired by Franco-Belgian comics—think Jean Giraud, better known as Moebius. The Remastered version allows those cel-shaded lines to pop with a crispness that the small handheld screen just couldn't manage.
You’ve got these sprawling districts like Auldnoir and Pleajeune. On the PS4, the draw distance actually lets you see them properly. Instead of buildings fading into a foggy abyss, you see the verticality of the world. It matters because verticality is the entire point of the gameplay loop.
Why Gravity Shifting Still Breaks People’s Brains
Most games want you to stay grounded. Gravity Rush wants you to forget the floor exists.
The mechanic is simple but deep: tap R1 to float, aim your reticle, and tap R1 again to "fall" in that direction. You can walk on the sides of buildings, fight enemies while standing on the underside of a bridge, or just hover in the clouds watching the airships go by.
It’s tactile.
The PS4 controller's DualShock 4 motion sensors actually make the aiming feel more intuitive than the analog sticks alone. You tilt the controller slightly to fine-tune your landing. It’s one of the few games where motion controls don't feel like a cheap gimmick added at the last second.
Combat is where things get polarizing. You’ve got the Gravity Kick. You’re essentially a human projectile. Some critics back in the day, like those at IGN or GameSpot, noted that the combat could feel repetitive. They weren't entirely wrong. If all you do is spam the kick, it gets old. But the Remastered version includes all the original DLC—the Maid Pack, Spy Pack, and Military Pack—which adds some much-needed variety to the mission structure and Kat’s wardrobe.
A World That Doesn't Hold Your Hand
Hekseville is a character. That’s a cliché, I know. But here, it’s true.
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The city is divided by class and geography, separated by a literal endless void. The music, composed by Kohei Tanaka (the legend behind One Piece), is this whimsical, jazzy, orchestral blend that perfectly captures the "steampunk-lite" vibe.
One minute you’re helping a guy find his lost balloons, the next you’re fighting massive, blobby monsters called Nevi that look like they crawled out of a modern art nightmare.
What’s wild is how the game handles its story. It’s told through interactive comic book panels. You use the touchpad or the tilt sensors to peek around the frames. It’s charming as hell. It feels like you’re reading a living manga. It’s also unapologetically Japanese in its weirdness—Kat is a superhero, but she’s also a broke teenager living in a sewer pipe who just wants to buy a decent chair.
The Technical Leap Nobody Talks About
We need to talk about the "Special Effects" and the geometry. In the original Vita release, the world had to be simplified. On Gravity Rush Remastered PS4, the developers added more "clutter"—stuff like benches, street lamps, and NPCs that actually react to you.
When you shift gravity, objects around you that aren't bolted down start to float too.
If you stand on a ceiling, the trash cans and crates fall "up" with you. It creates this sense of physical presence that was missing from the handheld version. It’s a small detail, but it’s the difference between a static world and a reactive one.
The loading times? Practically gone. On the Vita, moving between districts meant a coffee break. On the PS4, it’s a blink-and-you-miss-it transition. This is crucial because exploration is the primary joy of the game. You collect "Precious Gems" (the game's currency) to upgrade Kat’s health, gravity power duration, and attack strength. These gems are often hidden in places that require some serious aerial gymnastics to reach.
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Is it Better Than the Sequel?
This is a hot debate in the fan community. Gravity Rush 2 is bigger. It has more powers (Lunar and Jupiter styles). It has a much more vibrant color palette.
But Gravity Rush Remastered PS4 has something the sequel lacks: focus.
The first game is tighter. The story, while still leaving many questions unanswered (leading into the sequel), feels more personal. Hekseville is easier to navigate and memorize. In the sequel, the world got so big it almost became overwhelming. The original game feels like a perfect 10-to-12-hour snack.
Also, the performance on the base PS4 for the first game is rock-solid 60fps. The sequel struggled to maintain 30fps at times because of the sheer amount of physics calculations happening on screen. If you value smooth motion—and in a game about spinning through the air, you should—the Remastered original is arguably the superior technical experience.
The Tragedy of the Gravity Rush Legacy
We have to address the elephant in the room. Sony closed Japan Studio (the developers) a few years back. The creative lead, Keiichiro Toyama—who also created Silent Hill, by the way—left to form Bokeh Game Studio.
This means Gravity Rush Remastered PS4 is part of a "dead" franchise.
That sucks. It really does. But it also makes this version even more essential. It represents a time when Sony was willing to take massive risks on weird, experimental titles that didn't fit the "gritty cinematic third-person action" mold they’ve settled into lately.
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There are rumors of a movie. There are rumors of a PS5/PC port of the sequel. But the Remastered version of the first game remains the purest entry point into this world.
Common Misconceptions and Frustrations
People often think this is an open-world RPG. It isn't. It’s an action-adventure game with an open map. Don’t go in expecting The Witcher or Elden Ring. The side quests are mostly "challenge missions"—race from point A to point B, or kill X enemies in Y amount of time.
If you hate time trials, you might find the platinum trophy hunt frustrating.
Another thing: the camera. Even in the Remastered version, the camera can get confused when you’re tucked into a tight corner. You will occasionally find yourself upside down, inside a bush, wondering which way the sky is. Pro tip: click the R3 button. It instantly resets Kat’s orientation to the "true" ground. Use it often. Your inner ear will thank you.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Playthrough
If you’re picking this up for the first time in 2026, don’t rush the main story. The joy is in the movement. Spend an hour just falling through the city.
- Prioritize Gravity Energy upgrades. Nothing kills the vibe faster than running out of juice mid-fall and plummeting into the abyss.
- Use the motion controls. Seriously. Don't turn them off immediately. Give them thirty minutes to click. They offer a level of precision for the Gravity Kick that the sticks just can’t match.
- Talk to the NPCs. The world-building in this game is subtle. The dialogue in the comic panels and the "hidden" conversations on the streets add a lot of flavor to the class struggle happening in Hekseville.
- Check the rooftops. Most of the Precious Gems are tucked away on high ledges or underneath the floating islands.
Final Thoughts on the Gravity Queen
Gravity Rush Remastered PS4 is a masterpiece of art direction. It’s a testament to what happens when a developer has a singular, weird vision and follows it to the end. It isn't a perfect game—the combat is a bit shallow and the story ends on a massive cliffhanger that requires the sequel to resolve—but there is nothing else like it.
Even years after its release, no other game has quite captured the terrifying, exhilarating feeling of falling upward. It’s a cult classic for a reason.
If you want to experience it, the physical discs are becoming somewhat of a collector's item, often fetching higher prices on eBay than they did at launch. Digital is the way to go for most, but having that Bluepoint-engineered code on your hard drive is a must for anyone who considers themselves a fan of unique game design.
Actionable Next Steps for New Players
- Check the PlayStation Store: Look for sales, as this title often drops to under $10, making it one of the best value-for-money experiences on the platform.
- Download the "Gravity Rush The Animation: Overture": This is a short anime (available on YouTube) that bridges the gap between the first and second games. Watch it after you finish the Remaster.
- Master the "Gravity Slide": Hold L2 while on the ground and tilt the controller. It’s the fastest way to travel on flat surfaces and is required for some of the tougher gold-medal challenges.
- Invest in the sequel immediately: If you enjoy the Remaster, you will want to jump straight into Gravity Rush 2 to see the conclusion of Kat's story, but play the Remaster first to appreciate the jump in scale.