Lift with your legs, not your back!
Lift with your legs, not your back, is what my father used to scream at me, when we were working together. I think of that everytime i am about to carry even the smallest item, even when i pick up a coin from the street.
Yet lifting brings toward a paradox – because I enjoy lifting weights at the gym (not that it is visible on my physique), however, I hate lifting shit outside of those walls! It technically fulfills the same purpose for my body, when I do my mediocre attempt to bench press, as when I lift the couch to vacuum under it – no correction, the lifting of the couch is actually multipurpose, since my body gets some and my floor becomes cleaner, whereas the gym is just a set of repetitive tasks, which fulfills nothing else than the removal of a few calories, which effort is instantly ruined, when i hit up a box of MCNuggets 15 min after.
This attitude got further complications, when i participated in a work seminar for employee safety – did you know that the most damages occur during activities involving: Lifting, Pulling, Pushing, Holding, and Carrying? Maybe you did, but this information led me to the utter obvious conclusion, that at times, life would be easier with game mechanics – more specifically the mechanics of lifting items via a magically telekinetic abilities. This either being a product of the characters capabilities or a semi failed attempt, by the developer, at coding said mechanism, with a weird outcome (which the coder hoped nobody would notice).
What I am subtly trying to hint is that the lifting mechanism comes in many shapes and either blends in perfectly with the surrounding gameplay or simply stands out like a sore thumb. It is super important for me to stress that this is neither a critique of the overall games or the dedicated developer behind it – it is simply a fun observation, which often brought a good laugh to the game. It probably should be mentioned that this is mostly a topic that is noticeable for… let’s say, the lower percentage of people… so for those of you, who cannot relate at all, I fully understand.
However, I do believe that everyone can relate to the dilemma of “sacrificing your first born for the strength to carry all the groceries at once, versus doing the trip twice”, where the correct mechanism could save us from this hassle! Mel Magazine even gave a nice explanation to why this is an incarnated need for some individuals and a nice description of how to carry the most groceries in an efficient way (thank you to the author Brian VanHooker, it gave me a good grin)!
Of course, with such a mechanism many authors of health articles would be without a job, since there would be no need for the countless articles on “The Best Lifting Techniques to Move Heavy Stuff ”or “How to Lift a Heavy Object Safely”. On the other hand, maybe the focus of these articles would just change, as in “The Best Lifting Techniques to Move Heavy Stuff with your mind”, bringing a new focus to the strain of your brain (great name for my new rap song).
So if the potential effects on the unemployment rate, created by this telekinetic power, does not relate to you – then maybe you recognize the moment of weakness, where you were lying on the couch, desperately reaching out your hand to perform a Jedi Force Trick, making the remote hover towards you.
Where am I going with this?
My point being – Since I nearly threw my back out of order last week, trying to move my dresser 2 inches, I would like to explore the potential of a “lifting mechanism” in the real world, versus carrying stuff with raw strength. As there are many games to use as an example, I will use a bit from several, but focus my efforts on a small game called Gravity Rush 2 – since the logic of reversing the gravity of an object, seems to good to pass up!
Gravity Rush 2
Gravity Rush 2 was released worldwide in 2017, an action-adventure video game developed by Japan Studio‘s Team Gravity division and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment – with the core mechanic of the game, focusing on the player’s ability to manipulate gravity, allowing unique movements and navigation.
The concept is intriguing and different – as it forces the player to literally see the provided world from a different perspective as you shift the gravity to benefit the given situation you are in, whether fighting shadow monsters, running on walls or delivering packages with more agility than the amazon drone project. As a small tribute, it might be worth mentioning that Gravity Rush 2 was the final game released by Team Gravity before its dissolution in 2020 (R.I.P.).
The Plot
So the plot – very simplified, the game follows Kat, a gravity-shifting teenage girl, after she is drawn from her home into another universe and must liberate the citizens of Jirga Para Lhao from its evil rulers.
While doing so, the player must fight against numeros shadow-like monsters, called Nevi, and assist the general public in everyday matters they might need help with! It gives you a great opportunity to test out different gravity-shifting moves and no task is too big or too small, as you help with everything from package deliveries to saving hostages of war.
How Is This Relevant?
What caught me about this game, was not the cool gravity battles or the plot – no, to me the gravity-shifting ability of Kat and how it is used in side quests – see that is what this is all about!
Fuck being concerned with lifting a few boxes, her ability makes it, so that i would never have to take the stairs agin – I would simply levitate my way into obesity – and lucky for me, the game lets you explore this use of the power in all its glory! You do package delivery, mail delivery, scouting, espionage and even “people transportation”.
You would be correct in assuming, that i have gotten myself hooked on the most boring part of the game, but nonetheless, until you have tried transporting a 90kg man through the air, while he slings around you like a bag of potatoes – doing so without laughing – then you cannot judge me.
Gameplay
With that in mind – The general gameplay is focused on the gravity-controlling mechanics introduced in Gravity Rush, which are expanded in Gravity Rush 2. Players are able to choose among three gravity styles; light, heavy, and “in between” (almost like a certain story with 3 bears). You will experience quests with goals, based on time, points, story, deliverables and much more – giving you a great variation in play style.
The gravity powers are a cool mechanic that, to me, took a bit of time to get used to, as the developers have tried to “recreate” the feel of 0 gravity, with a slight touch of direction manipulation. Meaning, that you do not have the ability to fly around like superman, but instead haul your ass in whatever direction you shoot towards.
At the same time your camera spins around and if you are not careful, you will soon lose any sense of what is and down. I cannot stress this enough, but this is a very difficult game to play with a hangover. Additionally, you can change the gravity of not just yourself, but also that of many objects around you, which can then be used as projectiles or to an extent of easier transportation.
Debate Of The Day
It brings us to today’s discussion! Lifting Mechanisms, is to my opinion, such an underestimated feature in games and it is used extensively! However, very few developers are making that mechanism even remotely close to mimicking that of reality.
Take for example Skyrim, my absolute favorite game by far, which is a game that Bethesda has been milking the shit out off – by selling and reselling countless adaptations including – digital deluxe, game of the year, special edition and numerous other versions – but none of these adaptations looks into editing the rather funny method your character is lifting objects. It is not with his knees and it is not with his back, but just like with gravity rush, items just randomly hover in front of you.
Does the main character have any psychic abilities? Magic powers yes, and even a spell called telekinesis, but otherwise no – so basically, in 3rd person view, you just see your character standing there, with items hovering next to him, acting like nothing is going on – and this is not a common thing! You see NPC’s carry boxes in what i would refer to as a “regular” way. If this was real life, everyone around you would be looking astounded at you, but in skyrim, no one bats an eye (not even when you carry a course through the streets).
The worst thing is, that where this could be super convenient, since you technically still have your hands free, the feature does not allow you to engage in other matters while holding the item.
There are of course also games in the complete opposite ballpark, which is almost too close to reality, like Death Stranding by Kojima Productions – which is basically just a UPS simulator on steroids, with shadow monsters and Karen stealing your package from your doorstep. Nonetheless, here your character is limited by the weight he is carrying and this affects movement speed, stamina and fighting capabilities, which is imitating real life rather well, except there is no possible scenario, where I could lift more than 12kgs and still focus on having a full blown conversation without losing my breath and passing out.
At the same time, this game might be hitting too close to home, since it does not really fulfill the purpose of not tiring me out physically – which is why I once again can return to the topic of Gravity Rush.
In this scenario, we also get to lift things telekinetically, but this time intentionally, and we are given the ability to lift several things at once, while engaging in combat. Not that i engage in many “mano e mano” moments on a daily basis, yet it would be great to know that it was an option, without having to put down my beer first.
However, during my playtime, I also noticed several inconveniences with this power, or at least inconveniences with how it is portrayed in the game – which opens for a potentially nice Pro vs Con list! Finally, i know this discussion could be taken to a 1000 different directions and uses, concerning the ability to fly, changing your own weight and the consequences to earth of changing gravity spontaneously, but my biggest concern right now, is regarding the annoyance of lifting heavy stuff.
Package May Contain Fragile Goods
Delivering packages in Gravity rush often involves moving between buildings, avoiding flying cars, fighting Nevi and maintaining your stamina level, so as not to fall to your death – while making sure you hold on to the goods!
At times the goods are fragile, some times they are not – but when they are, you are given a convenient “damage meter” showing the extent of the damage caused. I see several red flags in this:
1. a small percentage of damage on a book, is a hell of a lot different than that of similar level to a glass vase, meaning that if amazon delivered their packages to me under these conditions, I would be requesting a refund from their support minutes later!
2. Kat’s delivery style, which is severely questionable, as she just lands in front of you, turns off her power, lets the package fall to the ground from 1-3 meters height, and then leaves with a smile on her face! So here I see my flatscreen being delivered in perfect condition, just for UPS to power toss it off their van and have it crack in front of me.
3. The amount of packaging material used, to maintain the items stable inside the box, while they are spun around uncontrollably for several kilometers, simply cannot be very environmentally friendly.
As such, the delivery of fragile goods might not be the best job for a gravity shifter and should be handled under more stable conditions. Personally, there are some items where i would be willing to take the risk – this could be, for the fun of it, in the case of carrying my partners (ugly) woven wood box. If that thing got dropped from a certain height or damaged beyond repair, it would not be the worst thing and I would in the best case scenario, at least not have to break a sweat moving it.
Otherwise, I would sadly see it more fit to manually carry our boxes with kitchen items or making use of the shady skyrim mechanics, since here the item just stands still mid-air. More than that, I got to severely question the companies hiring Kat – maybe DHL is hiring? They must have 0 care in the world for the customer experience and simply ignore all the bad yelp reviews that are to follow.
Lifting Is A Mental Game
Now without a job, there is no food, and then there is not much strength to carry packages with neither your arms nor your brain. However, maybe Kat could prevent the annihilation of just a few packages, if she did not only rely on her powers? This is to me a massive plot hole in the mechanics of the game. Just because you have the power, you will only use the power and nothing but the power (with great power comes great responsibility, so don’t waste it on delivering pizzas Peter!).
It is often that it simply would be easier if Kat held the box, the papers or even the people, in her arms and shifted away, where she instead let all three of them bounce around her body, into all sorts of buildings, cars, and humans, to generate more damage than necessary. She is basically the equivalent of a wrecking ball being sent towards the wrong house – it does its job, but not with the expected outcome.
Nonetheless, benign a bit reflective, I am uncertain whether I would not fall into the same pattern of abusing this power – I would most likely try to avoid the physical strain in most scenarios, despite all the downsides this may bring. There are not many acts of heroism needed in my small community and as not to waste the power, I can see how it will mostly be used for transporting myself to work – no more public transport or lifting groceries. Helping a friend move here and there, and hurling myself out of the window to avoid the stairs would be th way to go. At least Kat is doing someing good in between all those things.
However, Kat also has the “advantage” of not getting overweight or suffering from atrophy, from the lack of movement like astronauts, who can experience up to a 20 percent loss of muscle mass on space flights lasting five to 11 days (thank you NASA). Meaning, if we had this power, we would have to force ourselves to exercise next to it, unless we wanna end up like a ragdoll within a few weeks.
All in all, none of this justifies the lack of manual effort from Kat – I mean, if it is not a wakeup call to slam an old lady into the ground with 50 miles an hour, then I do not know what is!
Let Me Carry You Across the Road
Bringing us to the third aspect of this mechanic – the potential of carrying people around. This is a bit unorthodox, because I am all for carrying your newlywed wife over the doorstep and helping out that one friend who sprained an ankle during football, yet other than that, it is not that often this is actually needed.
Whereas in the case of Gravity Rush, every second citizen has a need to be assisted towards the other end of the town or to another island, with no regard to how this might happen. At least the game quite accurately portrays the citizens’ surprise with a scream, when they are flung through the air like a wet cloth.
This is by far, the most hilarious animation of the whole game – the person you pick up with your powers, is depicted as hovering above ground 3 feet from you, while orbiting your body, in the movement of a broken fidget spinner. This scenery looks neither comfortable for the one being carried or as a good way to carry an individual – a passed out individual maybe, but this would still be debatable.
This of course only goes for the people Kat intentionally wants to carry, the people around her when she takes off from the ground, suffer a much worse fate – which is being flung through the air on an unwanted journey, by the gravitational pull created from our so called “heroine”, with no one to save them as they start plummeting back down towards the ground.
Imagine, just minding your own business, and this teenage girl does a superman jump towards the sky, releasing a pull so strong that you are sent across the parkinglot, with your groceries fucking flying in all directions and you land on the hoot of a random car – so now you have to go to the doctor, cover the car insurance, collect whatever groceries survived (which for sure cannot be done in one trip) and forever wonder if this event really happened or even worse, will happen again.
Be that as it may, it is still a pretty convenient skill – I am sure parents would love the ability to hover their toddlers out of the car after they fell asleep or safely transport their elders down slippery steps during the winter – the possibilities in social care are actually quite extensive!
Slingshot Your Cat Skillfully
To that end, finding a mechanism that is without any downsides, is probably impossible (it of course does not have to have as many as in Skyrim, but still) and could Kat use said mechanism more skillfully? Probably yes – or maybe a good start would be to not rely 100% on it and neglect any other bodily function.
Be that as it may, the possibility to adjust gravity to your will, would be a giant benefit in the daily life of anyone – even if you cannot make items float, but simply change their weight, this would be an incredible innovation! However, there should be a big label of precaution on it, as in “do not transfer people, without protective gear” or “only use for 15 min day, to avoid muscle weakness”. Just as you also do on your blender (don’t put your hand in the blender kids), so it should not be anything out of the ordinary.
Yet, it is very uncertain if it would limit the amount of damages occurring with carrying / lifting items, to be fair, it would probably bring forward a lot more and worse damages, than if you had just carried your cat inside, instead of slingshotting it with an uncontrollable force. At the same time, I would also question the effect on people’s physical wellbeing – hovering stuff with your mind, sounds like a surefire way to a relentless weight gain and looking like the Axiom Humans in Wall-e.
How would you lift?
I have been a bit hard on Kat’s laziness in the last couple of paragraphs, so lets us take it to a vote!
All right, I guess that is all I got in me for today – Thank you for reading this far and feel free to provide any feedback you may have – We would like for you to keep leveling up with us! Feel free to contribute your own content, such as fan art, game reviews, or personal gaming stories, to be featured as Pixelated Wisdom.
Sources
Thank you to the sources providing me with cool inspiration: