How 'Gravity Rush 2' Gets Players to Cooperate Through Photography

Between side quests, story missions, secrets, photo albums, and leaderboards, there's plenty to keep you busy in Gravity Rush 2, but more than anything, I found myself drawn back to the game's ongoing treasure quests. Though Gravity Rush 2 doesn't feature true "multiplayer," it's possible to interact with other players through these treasure quests, and it's so delightfully clever.

Lemme explain how it works. Early in the game, a optional mission involves tracking down a treasure chest shaped like an apple. The game offers up a photographic clue, a hint on where to start looking. (You always start near the treasure's locations, thankfully.) When you've found it, the game then asks you to take a photo of the area surrounding the treasure. What to include in that photo is up to you, but it's randomly distributed to other players as their hint.

Here's one that I took:

You can take a crappy photo, obviously, and make someone's life hard, but there's reason to be a good citizen of Hekseville; if someone successfully uses your photo, you're rewarded with Dusky Tokens, which unlocks new gestures, costumes, equippable talismans, and more. Every time this happens, the game sends you a nice little message, which always put a smile on my face.

Even though I wasn't able to talk with the person who used my photo, the notifications felt like a digital high-five, a way of acknowledging that we're all on our own journeys to save Jirga Para Lhao. If only Dark Souls fans were this kind, when they left messages for other players.

Follow Patrick on Twitter. If you have a tip or a story idea, drop him an email here.