When most people think of the ill-fated PlayStation Vita, there's usually just one franchise that started life on that doomed handheld that comes to mind: Gravity Rush. The 2012 Sony exclusive is remembered not just for its unique gravity-twisting gameplay and its cute protagonist Kat. It went on to have both a remaster and a sequel on PS4, but outside of that and appearances from Kat in other Sony first-party titles like Everybody's Golf 6, LittleBigPlanet and PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale, Sony haven't brought it up much in recent years, apart from the announcement of a movie adaptation back in 2022. Now we've got our first official look at the movie, but a lot of fans have been left wishing they never bothered.
At CES 2024, Sony's presentation featured a segment about Torchlight, a brand new vizualisation facility for movie production that uses all kinds of cutting edge technology to help filmmakers realize their vision using tool using photogrammetry, Unreal Engine, advanced mocap and much more. Among the few snippets of demo footage they show throughout the below video, check the one starting at 2:15 for a look at the Gravity Rush movie.
A blonde girl jumping off a building and flying downward to show a futuristic city? Sure, that sounds like Gravity Rush, but that looks nothing like Kat. Gravity Rush is a Japanese game with a very Japanese, anime-esque art style. Who the fuck is this? Cos this sure as hell ain't Kat.
To be fair, the movie is in pre-production stage and it's likely this isn't her final character model, just a placeholder until they're ready to show actual Kat in a more actual outfit. Hopefully - it's one thing to tease an adaptation of a niche, forgotten fan-favorite, but this already looks like it's changed things a bit too much for most fans. Details about the movie are still fairly scarce, but we do know it's being directed by Anna Mastro, who until now has mainly directed music videos and episodes of TV shows. If it softens the blow a little, the presentation also mentions that forgotten rhythm game Patapon is also making a comeback in some form, but that hasn't stopped Gravity Rush fans from having mixed feelings over the movie teaser.
Have you played Gravity Rush before? What do you think of the teaser? Do you think it could work as a movie? Leave your thoughts below!
