This is one of the better 'Ratchet' game I've played, and I've played a lot of them. And it's a great showpiece title for the Playstation 5. The series, and nearly all Imsomniac games actually, is held back by an absolutely awful sense of humor and characters that truly never shut up. Rivet, the new Lombax in 'Rift Apart' acquits herself pretty well, I will say. She doesn't have the signature Insomniac snark, thank god, but even she has some pretty cringey attempts at humor. I actually hope the next game stars Rivet alone. Leave Ratchet at home. Decommission Clank. Kill off Qwark.

Since 'A Crack In Time,' 'Ratchet and Clank' has been past the point of diminishing returns. The gameplay is SO FUN but it stopped innovating long ago. Perhaps the 'Super Mario' series is the closest point of comparison for 'Ratchet and Clank,' and one might consider how 'Odyssey' and 'Bowser's Fury' both recently showed how that series continues to meet the moment, and reinvent itself, after nearly forty years. 'Ratchet and Clank,' by comparison, is downright shameful.