I read IGN's review, and while I understand where they're coming from on the complaints against the game's combat, I don't know... I love having to whip around through the air, trying to get myself into a good position for attack, and having the potential to whiff. If the game had, say, lock-on, I could see it easily killing the experiencing of flying and of having actual control over that flight.
Maybe it's like the argument of recent Sonic games and the lock-on system those games have. Some people find it nice to have combat be easier, while other people think it's a stupid-ass idea.
There was very rarely that I felt like battles in Gravity Rush were annoying because of the way the game's combat works, and as even IGN says, the game provides you with an ability that can help compensate for that.