Ratchet & Clank has been one of my favorite game franchises since its inception on the ps2. I grew up on those games and continued to love them through the ps3 era.
A Crack in Time really set the standard for me when it came to what this series is capable of - this will be the title I commonly compare Rift Apart to because it is most similar to that one and feels like a true follow up.
Obviously the visuals of this game are mind blowing. So far this is the only game to feel truly next gen to me. The animation is outstanding and it's hilarious that the in game graphics are better than the actual CGI film from a while ago.
The series has been dormant in my mind since A Crack in Time on ps3. The ps4 remake was solid but it was a remake of the very first game which means it didn't get to take advantage of a lot of the ideas introduced in the sequels (and it also used the movie for its story which is horrible). The characters were so sterilized in the ps4 game. It was a fun remake, but it was a let down in a lot of areas for me.
Luckily Rift Apart feels back in line with where A Crack in Time was taking the series. The story here is honestly really solid. I've seen complaints that Ratchet & Clank themselves don't have much development here. I agree, but I also don't mind because we've had so many character arcs with them already. This is mostly Rivet's game. Her story is pretty great and I love how the game balances gameplay between her and Ratchet in a natural way. It's not an amazing story though. It honestly doesn't come close to Crack in Time's for me, but it's still easily one of the better ones in the whole series. Not that I only play these games for their story but I do love the world of R&C and adore when they utilize it for interesting narratives.
Sadly Rift Apart seems to forget a lot of what happened in the Ps3 entries. It starts to go in a direction that I found really exciting but the game is rather anti climatic in the end and feels like its leaving room for a sequel, which is fine. The story told here is charming enough, but it teased a lot of interesting things and didn't follow through with them in the end.
Anyways the story here isn't the most important thing, it's the gameplay of course. It's hands down the best the series has been. New mechanics introduced in Rift Apart really change up the combat scenarios in a way that was necessary to keep the series interesting. It almost plays out like Doom for kids. Insanely fast paced shooting and warping around stages to avoid enemies. Scattering for ammo pickups etc. It's insanely fun and I wasn't bored for a second. Visually you can hardly believe the things you're pulling off.
The weapons are sort of weak here too compared to previous games. There are some great ones for sure, but a lot of them do similar things and cancel each other out. They were fun to use and served a practical purpose, but they really lacked a lot of personality from previous arsenals. Not the worst by any means but I feel like some of the ps2 and ps3 games had more interesting weapon selections. Or at least on par rather than doing something totally new.
However, this is sort of made up by the way you use the weapons. The ps5 trigger functionality is really awesome and makes the weapons a lot more interesting to play around with. Having different functions for different types of trigger presses is a great idea and it becomes pretty engaging because of the way the ps5 triggers react.
The levels and set pieces are also consistently high quality. Nothing felt like filler. There was a perfect balance of platforming and shooting - whereas some previous games fail to find a good balance of the two.
I have minor issue here and there. Rift Apart failed to surpass A Crack in Time in a few areas. I was heavily disappointed to see them abandon constructo mods and space exploration. No insomniac museum is shocking as well, as that was one of the first things I started anticipating when this game got announced. And of course the story not being as impactful. Thankfully Rivet (and other characters that I will not spoil) were fantastic additions, and I would actually be sad to not see them return in some way for future installments. While I complain about the story being a little too simple, It does a great job at introducing new likeable characters that I really want to see more of.
It's not the best in the series for me personally but I wasn't expecting it to be since crack in time is a very personal game for me. The fact I even quesetioned if I liked Rift Apart more at one point shocked me and is a testimant to how much I loved it.
Rift Apart is about everything I could have wanted from a new Ratchet & Clank game. Seeing a new installment with this much care and budget puts a huge smile on my face. So glad to see this series continue strongly after having a bit of a slump. Insomniac are champions. I'm stoked to see more from them in the future. Fingers crossed R&C can continue to thrive on playstation in a world where these types of games seem to only come from indie devs or nintendo.
A Crack in Time really set the standard for me when it came to what this series is capable of - this will be the title I commonly compare Rift Apart to because it is most similar to that one and feels like a true follow up.
Obviously the visuals of this game are mind blowing. So far this is the only game to feel truly next gen to me. The animation is outstanding and it's hilarious that the in game graphics are better than the actual CGI film from a while ago.
The series has been dormant in my mind since A Crack in Time on ps3. The ps4 remake was solid but it was a remake of the very first game which means it didn't get to take advantage of a lot of the ideas introduced in the sequels (and it also used the movie for its story which is horrible). The characters were so sterilized in the ps4 game. It was a fun remake, but it was a let down in a lot of areas for me.
Luckily Rift Apart feels back in line with where A Crack in Time was taking the series. The story here is honestly really solid. I've seen complaints that Ratchet & Clank themselves don't have much development here. I agree, but I also don't mind because we've had so many character arcs with them already. This is mostly Rivet's game. Her story is pretty great and I love how the game balances gameplay between her and Ratchet in a natural way. It's not an amazing story though. It honestly doesn't come close to Crack in Time's for me, but it's still easily one of the better ones in the whole series. Not that I only play these games for their story but I do love the world of R&C and adore when they utilize it for interesting narratives.
Sadly Rift Apart seems to forget a lot of what happened in the Ps3 entries. It starts to go in a direction that I found really exciting but the game is rather anti climatic in the end and feels like its leaving room for a sequel, which is fine. The story told here is charming enough, but it teased a lot of interesting things and didn't follow through with them in the end.
Anyways the story here isn't the most important thing, it's the gameplay of course. It's hands down the best the series has been. New mechanics introduced in Rift Apart really change up the combat scenarios in a way that was necessary to keep the series interesting. It almost plays out like Doom for kids. Insanely fast paced shooting and warping around stages to avoid enemies. Scattering for ammo pickups etc. It's insanely fun and I wasn't bored for a second. Visually you can hardly believe the things you're pulling off.
The weapons are sort of weak here too compared to previous games. There are some great ones for sure, but a lot of them do similar things and cancel each other out. They were fun to use and served a practical purpose, but they really lacked a lot of personality from previous arsenals. Not the worst by any means but I feel like some of the ps2 and ps3 games had more interesting weapon selections. Or at least on par rather than doing something totally new.
However, this is sort of made up by the way you use the weapons. The ps5 trigger functionality is really awesome and makes the weapons a lot more interesting to play around with. Having different functions for different types of trigger presses is a great idea and it becomes pretty engaging because of the way the ps5 triggers react.
The levels and set pieces are also consistently high quality. Nothing felt like filler. There was a perfect balance of platforming and shooting - whereas some previous games fail to find a good balance of the two.
I have minor issue here and there. Rift Apart failed to surpass A Crack in Time in a few areas. I was heavily disappointed to see them abandon constructo mods and space exploration. No insomniac museum is shocking as well, as that was one of the first things I started anticipating when this game got announced. And of course the story not being as impactful. Thankfully Rivet (and other characters that I will not spoil) were fantastic additions, and I would actually be sad to not see them return in some way for future installments. While I complain about the story being a little too simple, It does a great job at introducing new likeable characters that I really want to see more of.
It's not the best in the series for me personally but I wasn't expecting it to be since crack in time is a very personal game for me. The fact I even quesetioned if I liked Rift Apart more at one point shocked me and is a testimant to how much I loved it.
Rift Apart is about everything I could have wanted from a new Ratchet & Clank game. Seeing a new installment with this much care and budget puts a huge smile on my face. So glad to see this series continue strongly after having a bit of a slump. Insomniac are champions. I'm stoked to see more from them in the future. Fingers crossed R&C can continue to thrive on playstation in a world where these types of games seem to only come from indie devs or nintendo.