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Dazing Around

By: RJ (@rga_02)

A floating city in the sky with violins and pianos ringing in the air. Faux French being spoken with the ever looming sun in the background. Japan Studio’s 2012 title, Gravity Daze hits all the right notes for me. 

The atmosphere and sounds of Hekseville activated all my feelings of past and current experiences. Within Hekseville there are four districts that shot up my vivid imagination. The housing district  Auldnoir reminded me of when I was a child and my parents and flew to Paris for a mini weekend trip. Towards the later course of the day, my parents and I were walking in this beautiful Parisian neighborhood with the sunset looming over us. It was sight to see. The urban area of Vendecentre reminds me of my very own Chicago. Every now and then I still fire up Gravity Daze just to walk and fly around Vendecentre whenever I want to escape the boredom of work. And in real life, I do the same – sans the flying of course. Whenever I’m bored, I take the blue line downtown just to soak in the city. I’ve done it a million times by now, but walking the city streets never gets old for me. The entertainment district, Pleajeune reminds me of (for better or worse) the city of Las Vegas. Las Vegas is a trashy city to put it politely. The last time I visited, I was offered a blowjob by a daughter….and her father. In my romantic view of the world – all entertainment centers such as Las Vegas would be like Pleajeune. A city of ambient neon lights with classical architecture. With jazz bumping in the background. Even the industrial side of Hekseville, Endestria struck a chord with me. I’m fascinated with urban areas of all type. Be it glittered with beautiful buildings or towering with smoke pipes. I love seeing any man made structure pierce the sky. Endestria reminded me that even the gritty side of town can be beautiful. Well, beautiful if you have some sort of twisted romantic view of the urban landscape such as me. I’m probably a ruralist’s worst enemy.

Not only is Hekseville immersive, but soaring the skies of that floating city is also a wonderful experience. I’ve always loved the power of flight. From time to time when I come back home from work, I sit on my porch and just watch the planes buzz in and out of Chicago O’Hare. Gravity Daze puts the power of flight in your hands. Of course there are dedicated flight games such as Flight Simulator, and you can soar the skies in Grand Theft Auto. What Gravity Daze does different from those titles is that the power of flight is personal. You aren’t controlling a machine. You are in a sense, the protagonist of Gravity Daze. She is gifted with the ability to soar the skies. One hit of the R button and you are suddenly flung to the air, everything becomes a blur. The roaring sounds of wind come toward you. Then you take full control and wander the sunset lit skies of Hekseville.