I am VERY CONFLICTED about Rift Apart. It's an absolutely stunning showcase for the PS5 in every way, and it feels like a legitimate masterpiece most of the time. But then it just has to do something dumb every once in a while to bring the experience down.

First: The Good!

I've said it in multiple reviews before, but I really am in love with the DualSense. The haptic triggers, advanced rumble, and speaker (when used correctly) create a thoroughly engrossing experience that I will never not be a sucker for. The way that you half-pull a trigger for certain functions feels amazing, especially with the gentle little stop in the middle. The sounds and voices that come out of the controller throughout are just fun, and the rumble does a great job of making each weapon you use and each surface you walk on feel different. I love it!

Beyond the controller, the weapons feel great to use in and of themselves. I leveled each weapon up fully and spent all the Raritanium you can acquire in a single playthrough. In the end, there were very few weapons I didn't adore. I was a particularly big fan of the Negatron Collider. Big laser good.

I played this game right after finally getting a 4K OLED TV, and it's easily the most visually impressive game I've played to date. It's easy to take incredible graphics for granted, but I try to stop and say "wow" every once in a while, and Rift Apart probably got more wows out of me than anything I've played since Uncharted 4. And can you believe how good all that FUR looks?!?

Anyhow, missions are fun, characters are enjoyable, weapons great, visuals stunning, music solid, blah blah blah. Why didn't this end up clearing a 4/5 for me even though I was absolutely enamored with it most of the time?

The Bad!!

The Clank astral projection mini game is... fine. Just felt like puzzles for puzzles' sake, there was nothing particularly compelling there, I'm not sure if it's filler or a misguided attempt to break up the near-flawless Ratchet/Rivet gameplay, but I think the game as a whole would be better off without it.

The Glitch mini game is worse. A tiny cute spider robot shoots viruses? Okay that's kind of cool I guess, but... it's in a game that already has a lot of fantastic shooting. Why are we interrupting that for some bland laser-zapping? They try to give Glitch her own antagonist here, but it just ends up feeling pointless and hollow. Playing the Glitch levels felt like watching a bunch of 4-minute webisodes that spun off from your favorite TV show. The showrunners swear that these matter and are worth your time, but... are they??

Those are both downers, but they don't ruin the main third-person shooting and platforming. You might even argue that they make you appreciate the main gameplay even more by giving you something bland and tedious to compare it to! But, unfortunately, even the Ratchet/Rivet stuff ends up stumbling once you try to go for 100%. (And let's be real, if I'm enjoying a 3D platformer collectathon, I'm gonna collect every single thing) In the first Ratchet & Clank, levels are wide open areas which give you a variety of options for potential paths between any two points. Rift Apart mostly eschews this approach (with Savali being the main exception), instead focusing on segmented levels built around scripted set pieces. These make for some great and exciting scenes, but once you're trying to navigate a world like Sargasso or Cordelion without just following objective markers, you realize there's often one railroaded path that connects islands or rooms together, with deviation not often being possible. In a more open setting, exploration is a joy and wouldn't invoke the term "backtracking" at all, but completing most areas of Rift Apart feels a bit too much like repeating levels of an on-rails shooter, hoping you don't accidentally miss something because you'll have to begin the sequence of island-hopping again.

It really is a great game, and I'm glad I played it. But man, it's such a shame that it's not as consistent as it could've been.

I just spent a week staying with my parents back in Orkney. It's not accurate to call it my hometown, because my whole family have moved out of the main town of Kirkwall, to a bunch of fields half an hour outside of it. It always makes me a little self-reflective whenever I visit. How things have changed since I left, what I gave up, and why I couldn't picture myself living there any longer than I did.

After years of pitching the idea to my mum, my recently-retired dad has finally purchased an enormous 4K TV. A big 77 inch Sony OLED Bravia thing with HDR, VRR and all the other bells and whistles I couldn't hope to namedrop. No, he hadn't turned off Motion Smoothing, and sitting through a splined version of Kong: Skull Island was quite the ordeal, but I did get up early to tweak all the settings one morning. The Steam Deck can do 4K on older games, and seeing killer7 like that was quite extraordinary (even if I think the game's aesthetic pairs better with a CRT).

Much of my early interest in videogames was shaped by my older brother. I would be his Tails, his Skate, and less enthusiastically, his Gilius Thunderhead. He suggests he doesn't have a lot of time for games these days, but in spite of that, I know has sunk over 500 hours into the Destiny games, and he's spent a lot of money on fancy controllers with backbuttons. I don't fully know what he thinks of my ongoing enthusiasm for games, whether there's an air of "racecar bed" to it, but there seems to be at least a part of him that's a little envious of it. Like that was part of himself that he gave up for a family, financial security and a bunch of high-end home appliances that he doesn't get to use as much as he thought he would. Maybe he's grown up in ways that I haven't. Maybe we've just become very different people. Maybe time has made our differences more apparent. I first noticed it when I got a GameCube, and in spite of all the lawnmowing and housework we'd teamed up on to afford Resident Evil 2 on launchday, he wasn't making plans to try the Resident Evil remake when I told him how incredible it was. He was more focused on going to T in the Park and talking about how into Muse he'd become. [see note]

He was fairly insistent about bringing his PS5 around to our parents' house. I think he'd been looking for a good excuse since our dad got the new telly. He'd even left his braided HDMI 2.1 cable plugged in, in preparation. For all the talk about how he doesn't really have the time for games now, I know he never stopped investing in them. He has owned every PlayStation, and even bought one of those Dual Play 3D TVs that allowed each player to see their own full-screen image when doing multiplayer on Gran Turismo 5. He was pushing me to take the PS5 with me when we visited him on Monday, but it didn't come over until he brought it for the big family day on Saturday.

The PS5 didn't get as much of a look in as I think he'd been hoping. He brought two Dualsenses, and one fancy SCUF controller with the backbuttons, and those were eagerly held by his son and my sister's many, many children. The only local multiplayer game he had was Gran Turismo 7, and I was stuck helping young children navigate Kazunori Yamauchi's middleclass menus, while he sat with his increasingly drunk wife in the neighbouring kitchen. It wasn't even a full hour before they were asking about the new Mario Kart tracks, and my 1080p Nintendo Switch went on.

The following day, I was scheduled to leave. Poor weather conditions lead to my flight being cancelled, and I was driven back to my parents for another night. Everyone was exhausted. It was as if fate was prodding me to further explore the potential of Ultra High Definition.

I remembered my brother hyping up Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. I hadn't known him to play platformers since the Mega Drive, scoffing at Crash Bandicoot and Croc: Legend of the Gobbos in our subsequent PlayStation library, but I guess becoming a father has pushed him to chase more kid-friendly games, and knowing how enthusiastic I still am for Super Mario, I guess it seemed like a natural recommendation. I saw a digital copy had been installed on his console, and I gave it a shot.

I've been a vocal critic of the shift in direction Sony have taken since the PS3's later years. Shifting their chief base of operations from SCEI Tokyo to the SIE headquarters in San Mateo, California wasn't just a concern for weebs, but it marked a change in the company's values. The PlayStation brand had started as something to bridge the gap between high-end home entertainment and Nintendo-style videogames, with the project originally intended as a SNES with a CD drive, and many of its key developers following that legacy. While games retained the strong standard of mechanical design that had been established on the NES and SNES, they didn't have to follow the conservative family-focused intentions as dictated by Hiroshi Yamauchi. This lead to more adult themes in games like Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid, but also artier, experimental projects like Jumping Flash and PaRappa the Rapper. That was the PlayStation that I was a fan of, and one that Sony had shifted away from when chasing the surprising success of the Xbox 360. After a tough few years with the expensive PS3 hardware, Sony finally managed to eke out a success with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and every project they would invest in afterwards would seem influenced somewhat by its quick-talking, cinematic presentation.

Rift Apart is very much a post-Uncharted 2 Sony game. Nothing ever shuts up, and you never really find yourself thinking about anything. You're constantly force-fed setpieces, with little meaningful user input. Don't play it the way it wants you to, and it won't be long until a character repeatedly pushes you towards the correct answer with a looping instruction. Each environment is enormous, with elaborately detailed buildings and rock structures decorating every location, but they're mere facades. You can only explore what's on the pre-determined route, and there's no meaning to any of it beyond set dressing. Characters attempt to project a fun, wacky presence, but I didn't hear a single funny line of dialogue. The script comes off like a TV spin-off of a Disney blockbuster. There's no sense of sincere passion behind anything. It's just a lot of very talented people doing their job.

There's still a shadow of a real game in Rift Apart. For a lot of the younger players trying it, it's likely their first interaction with a twin-stick shooter, and the warping dodges and weapon options play a little like a kids' version of Returnal. Everything is slick as all get out, and presented attractively, but there's little sense of real depth. If you weren't playing it right, the game would bend itself backwards to put you on the correct path.

Seeing my nieces and nephews over the last week got me thinking about kids' games. The most engaged I saw them was when my 7 year-old nephew was messing around with Google Maps, laughing when he warped through a car that disappeared, resolving that he "blew it up", and finding shitty rundown buildings that he'd joke were my house. It reminded me of how I'd messed around with games and interactive CD-ROMs at that age. I wasn't really interested in how I was supposed to play. Kids don't want to be told how to play. It's instinctive. They try something basic, see the effect, and if it was funny or interesting enough, they dig a little deeper. It's why Minecraft and Roblox have become such massive, dystopian revenue platforms. I don't think games like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart have a lot to offer them, beyond a distraction. I never thought the Aladdin TV series or Timon & Pumbaa were ever any good, but the familiar characters and constant motion shut me up when they were on.

I think Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart contrasts very poorly against something like Super Mario Odyssey. A game full of fun, surprising moments that truly has a cross-generational appeal. Young kids can have fun discovering rewards from experimenting with every vertex of the levels, and running around the beach with the funny dog, while their weird Mario veteran uncle finds himself emotional at the implementation of the N64 triple jump and the grand celebration of the character's Donkey Kong roots.

Maybe that's it. Maybe my brother just hasn't been playing the right games. Maybe the Resident Evil remake was that Sliding Doors moment that made him the owner of a two-door fridge freezer, and me, the owner of a Steel Battalion controller. It's a little dispiriting to think he might see Rift Apart as the best that a PEGI 3+ can get. How we could have grown up playing the very same copies of games, and lead to such wildly different evaluations of the medium. I love my brother, and I want nothing but the best for him, but suggesting *I* was missing out by not buying Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart makes me very worried about a lot of things.

I put my PlayStation account on his PS5. Maybe he'll dig through my library and download the Resident Evil remake for himself. I think it's far more likely that he'll just keep my profile on there out of courtesy, uncurious about the doors I've opened up, just in case I ever end up playing his PS5 again. I don't expect I will, either. Maybe his son will try the Tony Hawk's I bought, though.


[note - He has not talked about Muse in a very long time, and it was unfair of me to bring this up.]

I was never a fan of Ratchet and Clack. I played the original PS2 game, the first PS3 game and the remake on PS4 but those games never clicked with me... until now.

I don't know what it was, but I absolutely loved Rift Apart. I enjoyed the combat, the humor, the dialog and the action. The only thing I can say I was kinda disappointed is that the series is know for its whacky weaponry and it's not until NewGame+ that you unlock a couple of truly weird weapons.

On the technical side, the game runs and looks amazing. There are several moments in which the camera pans away and you truly believe you are still in a cutscene. The only technical issues are a couple of bugs I found during my gameplay.

Overall, I was surprised on how much I loved this entry, and I think I will keep an eye from now on on this serie

Rift Apart plays great, it got tight accurate platforming (that for some reason has always been underutilized), satisfying shooting with great effects as the enemies break apart, and some solid traversal mechanics. And technically it's a marvel, it's truly a sight to behold.

But it has struggled to retain the old charm and wit of the first games for over a decade now, and Rift Apart might be the most generic and safe writing this series has ever seen. Virtually every gag is a dud.

It's also clinging on to the same formula, and while the rifts add a unique touch, if you played the first game back on the PS2, you can already imagine how this game plays. I don't know why Insomniac is this insistent on being traditional considering how many Ratchet games there are.

But, the game looks so damn good and there are some incredible sequences in Rift Apart (that big fixer-robot battle was amazing), that I can forgive the problems I have. However, if the next Ratchet and Clank don't try something new, I'll be disappointed, the spectacular visuals won't carry a second game the way it carries Rift Apart.

A fascinating interdimensional journey, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart offers players a superb gaming experience with engaging action, lovable characters, and top-notch humorous writing. I had only played A Crack in Time before to this, so I am now excited to play more of the series after finishing it.

Rift Apart's extensive arsenal of weaponry is one of the game's most notable qualities. The sheer range and creativity of the weaponry at my disposal attracted me as soon as I began my adventure. I found myself using every weapon in my armory since each one seemed distinct and had a distinct function. The Lightning Rod stood out as my particular favorite among all. It was easy to make foes and bosses submit to my will due to to its powerful rate of fire and ability to obstruct enemy movements.

Speaking of combat, Rift Apart has excellent level design. The game successfully balances difficult confrontations with expertly designed locations. Combat is given an additional degree of strategy by the placement of objects like the red boxes that explode, keeping confrontations from getting simple and dull. Since it enables players to approach each encounter in their own special way, the game is kept engaging and fresh throughout.

One of the game's biggest highlights is the introduction of Rivet, a fascinating and lovable character who serves as a parallel version of Ratchet. It was a lot of fun exploring her character. A unique dynamic between the two playable characters was formed and gave the story more depth by allowing viewers to see this other version of Ratchet with plenty of screentime together. Kit's presence as Clank's counterpart also enhanced the added depth and comedy, all in all making for an excellent cast of characters that kept me interested in their journey.

Rift Apart's narrative may not be ground-breaking, but it still succeeds in engrossing players in an exciting multiverse adventure. The game tackles the idea of numerous realities effectively and weaves it into an exciting narrative. It provides a far more enjoyable and interesting experience than most multiverse stories in media, more specifically with MCU movies. The ideal duration of the narrative ensures that it doesn't drag on unnecessarily while yet providing a rewarding and pleasant experience.

Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart is a game that shines in its focus on detail and capacity to build an engrossing universe. An excellent gameplay experience is provided by its enormous selection of weaponry, memorable characters like Rivet and Kit, and skillfully designed level layout. The graphics are also absolutely riveting. It definitely takes advantage of PS5 hardware, and it makes me happy that Insomniac didn't settle for a cross-gen game. It is also worth praising how this game is understandable to newcomers like me, as I wasn't confused about anything happening. Rift Apart is a must-play that will leave you itching for more adventures in the Ratchet & Clank universe, whether you've been a longtime fan of the series or a beginner like myself.

Great entry in the Ratchet & Clank series. Great platforming for the most part, excellent weapons, good story. Amazing visuals. It's basically the whole package. My main critique concerned some bugs that made progression a little janky - a couple story triggers weren't triggering and I had to reload a few times to get them to work.

Ratchet and the others are much more expressive this time and I think the effort was well placed. His ears will wiggle or downturn when he's sad and their eyes will widen and contract naturally - it feels very cartoon-like in a great way.

Most weapons work well with some occasional weirdness. Some platforming stages also require some specificity - places will look accessible but actually lock you out of continuing which was sometimes a drag.

Pure fun! This was my first Ratchet & Clank and I loved every minute of it.

I had a good time utilizing all the different weapon types in the simple but fluid combat system. There are a lot of fun elements packaged into this game -- for example, getting around on the hover boots.

Looking forward to picking this one up again later for a Challenge mode replay, and exploring some of the older entries in the series.

This game made me so happy! It took me back to the first game when I was a kid with my younger brother. I don't just mean the nostalgia, but the way the game felt, the way it was structured. It gives me hope for Sony's future.

The gameplay, running at 60fps, was beautiful and felt great to play. The colour palette and lighting as my enforcer lit up a room of goons-4-less was stunning. I haven't seen anything like it on the PS5. The game itself looks incredible, the graphics are stunning.

Rivet is a great character, and I can't wait to have a Rivet and Kit game. The story was basic, but hey, it's fun, and that's all that matters with Ratchet and Clank. One of the first games this year to make me excited about a sequel!

Fair warning: this game is Steam Deck verified but at present it shouldn't be. I had several crashes, the screen was extremely fuzzy half the time, and more then once the environments forgot to load, including part of the ending cutscene. Probably the most "memorable" glitch came from how I completed a quest that gave me a schematic for the ultimate weapon... except I didn't receive it yet the quest was still completed. I then learn how to load backup saves on the Steam Deck, so I guess I have that to show for this incident. I've heard using a actual PC is more then fine, so maybe avoid this on any "diet PC".
Then again I've played Skyrim on PS3 for over a hundred hours, this kind of unstable game is nothing new to me, nor is playing a game on the worst possible platform (Oh Hi Bloodstained Ritual of the Night on Switch).

Ratchet & Clank is a series I hold very near and dear. A childhood franchise that I played to Hell and back in the day when getting a new game was a rare and exciting time. I loved every game I played: 1, Going Commando, Up Your Arsenal, Deadlocked, Tools of Destruction, and A Crack In Time. I've played each of them at least four times. I distinctly remember being so upset that our Tools of Destruction disc got scratched, and it'd be a crap-shoot if the next planet loaded or not. Despite all of that, Crack in Time was the last new Ratchet game I played. I can't remember the exact reason, maybe I was really into another franchise at the time, or maybe even back then I recognized that the newer games didn't look too appealing. I was going to play Rift Apart whenever I got a PS5, which still hasn't happened.
As mentioned, the way I played this was completely unideal, but I still was able to stick with it. Was it nostalgia for the older games? I don't think so since the combat felt pretty different. It felt more restrictive with going into this "battle mode" where you can only shoot relative to the camera rather then your character's direction. That messed with me more times then I'd like to admit, but wasn't long before I was able to adjust. They also added their own invincible dodge, which I was mixed at first. It felt a little too forgiving with being able to dodge right through attacks with pretty generous timing. Bearing in mind that I stuck to the hardest difficulty through the whole game, I did find myself struggling a few times in some of the more hectic battles. The game still keeps the strafe flips from the older games and it then hit me why they did this. The phantom dash is invincible, but you can't shoot and are committed to a direction. Strafe jumping is much riskier but your offense is unimpeded and have more control in mid-flight. These games have never been masterful in combat encounters, but this little bit of decision making added a lot to the fun of these shoot-outs. Especially since enemies are surprisingly very aggressive at max difficulty. Some may even lead their shots, so sometimes I'd be punished by not thinking how I'm dodging attacks.
It helps that, apart from a few too many scripted sequences, I feel this is one of the better paced games in the series when it comes to action. I was never left feeling wanting before we were back to fighting, something the Future games struggle with I feel. There's not a ton of extra game modes to contend with, just some light dimensional puzzles and hacking shooting games. Neither go on for too long, though I personally wish the puzzles were a bit more challenging. Then again, it does bring up something that may be harder for me to contend with: I'm not the audience to these Ratchet games. Not anymore, that is. More then ever did I noticed all the dialogue the characters exchanged during gameplay that felt very forced. Pointing out the obvious repeatedly for the mission objectives, not really giving the player much to think about where to go or what to do. I have a map, but it's mostly used for collectable hunting (to be fair, I did get everything in this game which was pretty fun). Character's talk to themselves all the time almost like I was a kid, but they are not talking to me, but to the main audience. I watched a video on this game where it was laid pretty plainly that this series has many different audiences, with no way to please all of them. The scathing commentary on capitalism from the first four games (well, Up Your Arsenal wasn't as prominent with that commentary) is pushed aside for their own themes of self-doubt. To some of the older fans this feels like a series that has lost its edge. And frankly it has, because it changed. But what would be accomplished returning to those themes? What else does Ratchet & Clank have to say about this exploitative system that we are trapped in that it, or literally every other story about capitalism, hasn't covered yet? Hell it's not like those are completely absent from the modern games in this series, in this very game I overheard a NPC saying "Only 40 hours till my next break". Some of that theming is still there, but that's no longer their focus. Because the team is done with that kind of story. You can only do the same thing for so long before getting sick of it.
Huge tangent aside, even for a younger audience maybe you could have had a option to tone down the tutorialization on what to do. They have done a great job with all the accessibility features and options given. I especially like the option to skip the puzzles, which makes repeat playthroughs much more smoother, so adding more options to cut out some fluff would make the ride more enjoyable. But once I accepted that I'm playing a game intended for younger audiences, yet still at the capacity to be played by all ages, I appreciated the story and characters more. I think Rivet is a great addition. I like the subtle differences between her and Ratchet where one is more of a hot-headed newbie, while the other is veteran hero who feels he's been out of the limelight too long to be relevant. I've heard a few people were annoyed that the two share the same equipment with no meaningful gameplay differences, and to be blunt I really don't care. There is a in-game explanation but it doesn't explain everything, and I really don't need it to. It makes the game smoother without limiting the player. Obviously I won't talk about them in detail, but I thought the plot twists and reveals were handle well. One way they handle a particular reveal was damn clever, even when you were expecting something to happen.
I have no good way to transition to this... but the platforming is probably the best in the series. The phantom dash combined with the hoverboots that feel intentionally over-tuned as well as a more forgiving wall-jump had me doing things that felt like I was cheating. There were a lot of instances of "This probably won't wor- Wait it worked?!" And that is a incredibly gratifying feeling that I haven't felt playing this series before.

If things smooth out on the "Diet PC" end of things then I'll bump this to a four, potentially 4.5 if they resolve everything. Or perhaps I'll bite the bullet on a PS5 or a actually good PC. Either way, I said earlier that this franchise has lost its edge, but I feel its gain something else to fill that void.

And they really had to lock the Bouncer weapon to New Game Plus, huh?? I can't tell if that's insidious or brilliant, I'm leaning towards the former

There was a concern going into Rift Apart that it would be more of a tech demo for the PS5 hardware than an entry that stands on its own merits in the series, or that they had learned the wrong lessons from their 2016 R&C remake.

Thankfully, those concerns turned out to be largely unfounded, as Rift Apart is one of the finest games in the Ratchet & Clank series and a truly marvelous and gorgeous game in its own right.

While I still maintain that A Crack in Time is overall the best in the series thus far, that game doesn't have Rivet and Kit in it, so advantage Rift Apart on that front. But yes, the worlds and characters are as charming here as they've ever been, and while its story doesn't have the emotional depths or bite that ACiT does, it nonetheless provides a very enjoyable Ratchet & Clank adventure, something that honestly was sorely needed after the remake, just to right the ship at the very least.

Rivet and Kit, the main duo's alternate-dimensional counterparts, are very easy to root for and always fun to watch, managing to not just be gender-swapped versions of Ratchet and Clank but with their own strengths and flaws that are honestly reminiscent of the boys' personalities in the original game, which makes for a nice dichotomy between the four of them interchangeably.

The main attractions here, however, are the rift-jumping gameplay mechanics as well as the Dualsense controller feature integration. Both of these manage to stop short of just being gimmicks and become integral parts of the gameplay. Rift tethering helps with traversal and provides different vantage points in combat, while the Dualsense's adaptive triggers feed into the feeling of the weapons themselves, allowing you to be more precise than ever before with how you use them. It all feels incredibly intuitive and doesn't stop being fun to play around with from start to finish.

Oh yeah, and this game is GORGEOUS, and I mean constantly stunning, even in the 'uglier' locales you visit. I've seen it described as an interactive Pixar movie before, and honestly, that's not hyperbolic in any way. Insomniac truly are digital wizards.

Exploring the worlds you visit is perhaps the best it's ever been (which I've said for several games in this series now, but I really do mean it this time), thanks to new traversal methods like the aforementioned rifts and wall-running, combined with a much more tactile sense of what there is to uncover, thanks in part to the game's surprisingly deep accessibility options, which is always great to see.

However, as usual, the hacking minigame is a bit of a letdown. Granted, the unique character you control in these sections, Glitch, is super endearing and adorable, but the actual hacking just involves a variation of the shooting gameplay you were already doing before. It would have been nice if these sections were a different genre like past R&C games, but it's not that big of a deal as these parts are fairly few and far between.

The primary villains, Dr. Nefarious and Emperor Nefarious, are also lackluster, especially compared to the last non-remake game, Into the Nexus, which managed to give its villains decent depth despite the fairly short length of its campaign. Here it's just the same ol' Dr. Nefarious up to his usual tricks, but this time joined by an even more evil and superior alternate dimension version of himself. It's entertaining, to be sure, but not exactly thrilling.

Nevertheless, Rift Apart is still a fantastic Ratchet & Clank adventure, that brings new life to the franchise in more ways than one and delivers a decent enough story that does lack the sharpness of previous games, but is elevated by its continually charming cast of characters, new and old.

8.5/10

Back again with my problem with writing about 3D platformers for kids. Rift Apart is fun, it's cute. The use of the adaptive triggers is actually really amazing and is a standout quality of this game. The rest is... good? Gameplay has enough oomph to work, the platforming is fun enough. Only the story is frustrating, really. I wouldn't have minded if there was none, actually, but now there is one and it's really frustratingly written. The game also sometimes just flat out broke and I had to restart. Mostly lost around a minute of playtime so that's fine. I gotta say, other than the adaptive trigger thingy and the real beautiful graphics, I don't feel like there was much there that was really exceptional. It's all a lot of "good enough." Which is fine! I had a cute time.

O primeiro jogo que joguei até hoje que realmente tira todo o proveito possível do SSD, foi bem interessante ver essa abordagem. Nunca tinha jogado nenhum jogo da franquia até hoje, então não tenho parâmetros para julgar se é um "bom jogo de Ratchet and Clank", mas parando pra analisar esse isoladamente, consegui ter um saldo bem positivo ao final da experiência.

Vou começar falando do que citei no início, que é o bom proveito de SSD. É óbvio que um SSD melhora qualquer experiência em jogo, mas até esse jogo eu nunca tinha considerado ter um SSD realmente NECESSÁRIO, no sentido literal da palavra, pra se zerar algum jogo. Aqui é, de fato, necessário. Ele depende da velocidade de leitura do disco para conseguir fazer carregamento de muitas coisas quase que de maneira instantânea, e faz que a dinâmica de atravessar portais para ambientes totalmente diferentes seja muito divertida!

Outra coisa que achei incrível foi o sistema de aprimoramento das armas! Não sei se outros jogos da franquia também têm esse sistema, mas é muito recompensador utilizar diversas armas e melhorá-las ao máximo para destruir os inimigos. Lembra muito a mecânica de alternar formas do Nobody Saves the World, claro que é um estilo de jogo totalmente diferente, mas em ambos é necessário diversificar seu estilo de jogo para conseguir progredir na campanha.

Agora pontos negativos... Não gostei do fato de Ratchet/Clank e Rivet/Kit terem a EXATA MESMA jogabilidade. Poderiam fazer a mesma paralelização entre os dois para a progressão da história, mas talvez pudessem ter pensado mais em alguma forma que a jogabilidade de cada um fosse mais característica. Não precisaria nem mexer no sistema de armas, mas ter alguma coisa em cada um que fosse específica de cada personagem.

Fora isso, também percebi alguns bugs chatinhos e movimentação confusa em poucos momentos. Mas nada que atrapalhasse tanto assim a experiência. No fim, achei uma experiência bem divertida, não estava esperando tanto do jogo e acabei surpreendido!

Esse jogo foi muito especial pra mim por que fui presenteado por alguém especial também, eu amei de verdade e foi minha primeira experiência com a franquia, pretendo visitar outros títulos da mesma. O jogo tem gráficos excelentes, trilha sonora emocionante, combate e sistema de armas FENOMENAL, dentre outros vários pontos extremamente positivos. Eu infelizmente sofri com alguns problemas, incluindo crash e problemas com meu save (bug em Blizar Prime e problema com colecionáveis coletados, porém não constavam como pegos), mas acontece, apenas citando algo que me frustrou um pouquinho! O jogo é realmente muito bom, recomendo! :DDD

The Ratchet & Clank series is one of my favorite in my lifetime. The only one that rivals it, is Kingdom Hearts. Rift Apart continues the glorious wonder of the series its had since the very beginning, but this time just bringing that glory to a whole other level, in the expanse of its planet designs such as Corson V and Cordelion. They all seem to feel heavily lived in and have their own atmosphere.

Along with the planets, adding great gameplay with various great weapons, like the Topiary Sprinkler, Mr. Fungi, and the Ricochet. One of the classic weapon lines has returned though with the RYNO 8. In all of its glory, its a beautiful weapon of mass dimensional destruction. When you get all 10 Spybots within the game, you get the RYNO 8, which makes it feel worth getting, and the traversal to get the Spybots is rewarding because it's making you feel like you are getting better in traversal in the game. The traversal feels like a great evolution from Insomniac's history with Sunset Overdrive and Spider-Man.

The story of Rift Apart was quite grand and enjoyable. Just pure Ratchet & Clank bliss. After a hiatus, Ratchet & Clank venture into their roles of being heroes again. It brings in a new dimension of where Ratchet is a lombax named Rivet. She is a really likable character that has had hardships that Ratchet hasn't really faced. That leads into various things of trust and doubt as themes of her arc, but also the arcs of Ratchet & Clank who have been on a heroic pause for awhile. The thought of "can they do this?" crosses their mind in various ways which brings an element of empathy to each main character.

Overall, Rift Apart is a fantastic entry into the Ratchet & Clank series. Right now it is tied with A Crack in Time. Both are equally peaks in the franchise, in various ways.

100% everything (will do Challenge run later)

There is something undeniably fun about Ratchet and Clank games, and it is the amount of destruction and chaos you can achieve playing these games, it's simply unrivaled in my book.

The humour is still there, Clank's laugh is still there. Collectibles and the RYNO is here too.

Oh yeah, Rivet is a great character, definitely one of the best I've seen in a RAC game.

Also, in a time where PC ports have been getting the L lately, this port was surprisingly capable.

Man I wish Sony and Imsomniac would consider porting the other games to PC too.

Rivet/10 would RYNO∞ all over the place with infinite ammo

"Holy shit!"
"You said it, pal!"

Excelled at everything it's predecessor set before it in so many ways, making it a perfect video game sequel and a great game in it's own right. What lacked in the 2016 reboot is completely remedied here, from narrative to gameplay, everything is pretty much exceptionally flawless.

Some of the most intense and fun gameplay in a genre like this, had a lot of fun and it was super satisfying coupled with the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, really made it feel so immersive along with how amazing this game looks, it was insanely photorealistic given it's cartoonish artstyle, makes me excited for what's to come with this console's generation in the future. The level design was pretty straightfoward in a good way, it was easy to navigate and intrigues the player to 100% achieve everything it has to offer, so overall, amazing level design as well as pretty competent boss design, however it gets a bit repetitive in that regard and this is the only aspect where R&C (2016) get's one over.

I was surprised with how well written the narrative was. Insomniac could have very well constructed a great game based off it's gameplay alone and call it a day, but they put some actual effort into telling a wholesome, heartwarming story that's themes hit home and hard, so that completely caught me off guard and I really enjoyed it. It's packed with charm and some very much needed character moments that the reboot did not have and going forward, I really hope (if there are to be any) future Ratchet & Clank games adopt this formula of paying intricate attention to the narratives.

Totally worth playing over the weekend then coming back to, replaying and even platting, which I plan to do soon once I can properly purchase this for myself instead of through PS Plus.