Gravity Rush creator wants to see the series on PC

Gravity Rush protagonist falling through space.
(Image credit: Sony japan Studio)

Gravity Rush is one of those games that encapsulates why Sony's now-defunct Japan Studio is sorely missed: There's nothing else quite like it. A 3D parkour-slash-action game with full 360 movement and gravity manipulation, the original was conceived by director Keiichiro Toyama way back in his Konami days before Sony gave his team the chance to make it (initially for PS3, then re-configured as a Playstation Vita showcase). Particularly striking is the colourful, lo-fi comic book aesthetic that channels French artist Jean Giraud.

Toyama will always be best-known for directing the original Silent Hill, after which he went on to make a long list of very good horror titles (Sony hired him to work on Siren). His current independent outfit Bokeh Game Studio is now working on Slitterhead. However it is the 10th anniversary of Gravity Rush, as part of which Toyama spoke to the fansite Gravity Rush Central, which asked how he felt about Sony porting more of its games to PC and whether he'd like to see the series as part of that.

"I think it would be a good thing to open the game up to more users," says Toyama. "It would also be wonderful if Gravity Rush 2 ran on 60fps."


The framerate focus hints at a wider aspect of these games, which is that they absolutely pushed the Vita to the max: Many prefer the remastered PS4 versions which came out several years later. Bringing them to PC would perhaps allow unexplored elements to return to the fore, including the ambition to make it work in VR—The whole of Gravity Rush 2 could be played in first-person mode anyway.

"We had run tests," recalls Toyama. "The frame rate was low, so it was far from any comfortable experience… Even so, the feeling of entering this other world was touching. Due to the nature of the game being a gravity-controlling action, we had hit a brick wall in terms of sustaining a high frame rate for VR."

Gravity Rush protagonist falling through space.

(Image credit: Sony japan Studio)

Finally, asked if he would like to work on a new Gravity Rush, Toyama of course did not say no: "There are various things to bear in mind as a start-up, but on a personal level I obviously would like to. Even if it wasn’t a new game, if there is any opportunity for me to be involved with anything related, I would be grateful to do so."

Gravity Rush is great, and what little kinks it had were minor next to the overall feeling it created: It shows up how unambitious much of the industry is about 3D movement and spaces, a game that sets out to capture the joy of movement and motion, and make the player feel amazing. It has some of that Jet Set Radio DNA, not that it's the same kind of game, but in that just being in this world is ace.

"It’s a somewhat strange game, and I don’t think it can be referred as a major title," says Toyama. "But I’m truly happy that people have been attached to it for such a long time." Sony: Do it.

TOPICS
Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."

Read more
Bloodborne in excelsis.
Retired PlayStation exec reckons Bloodborne PC hasn't happened because Miyazaki 'cannot do it himself, but he doesn’t want anyone else to touch it'
Majima from Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii looking at a document
I thought Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii would burn me out on the Like a Dragon series, but now I know that's never going to happen
Shuhei Yoshida speaks on a conference stage.
Former Sony exec finally says the quiet part out loud: putting PlayStation games on PC is 'almost like printing money'
Exographer
Exographer is a physics-based platformer with a difference—it's made by an actual particle physicist
Days Gone's Deacon St. John giving you the winky face
Using the State of Play showcase to announce a remaster of Days Gone makes it feel like Sony has graduated to deliberately trolling Bloodborne sickos for kicks
Concord cinematic screenshot
'You can’t plan a success in this industry': Former Sony exec Shuhei Yoshida says he would've 'tried to resist' the company's ill-fated march towards live service gambles
Latest in Adventure
Image of illuminated manuscript-style drawings from the game Pentiment.
Random characters kept swearing in Obsidian's font-obsessed murder-mystery when its procedural error system ran amok: 'Naughtiness abounded'
An image of a corpse with the text "You've been re-educated."
I played the lost videogame sequel to 1984, and came away more nostalgic than ever for gaming's awkward adolescence in 1999
Rosella encounters a satyr in a forest in King's Quest 4
Eagle-eyed streamer spots that Roberta Williams' portrait in King's Quest 4 is based on her author photo on the back of the game box: 'I never noticed it before.'
Myst puzzle game
'You’ve been asking, and we’ve been listening': Myst remake adds a whole new world to the classic adventure, one originally introduced in another overhaul from 25 years ago
The character takes a test in a school room.
Expelled! review
Max, protagonist of Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Double Exposure, stares with trepidation at something off-screen with her friend.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure reportedly a 'large loss' for Square Enix, says analyst, who adds: 'The company's IP fundamentally varies too much between good and bad'
Latest in News
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all