I think what impresses me most about Rift Apart, a game that blows me away in pretty much every way it possibly could, is how strongly it sticks to the same goals the series has had since the PS2. It's very confident that the same mix of straightforward collectathon action platforming with a bunch of different guns with a ton of character in levels that provide a bit of freedom for exploration (but are still pretty linear) linked together by big cool setpieces that worked in 2002 also would work in 2021.

It goes without saying that they were right. While years of convenient streamlining and tightening are clearly visible in the final product here, the core is exactly the same as ever and somehow that never comes off feeling particularly "retro". Make the action platforming tighter and more engaging and make the big fancy setpieces bigger and fancier, and you've got a game that feels at home in the modern gaming landscape despite not really sharing all that much DNA with anything coming out today with any budget to speak of.

The game as a whole falls into place. The arsenal is full of all the inventive, odd, and satisfying weapons you'd hope for, all enhanced by the Dualsense's haptic and adaptive trigger capabilities giving much more room for them to feel distinct from one another in your hands. There's all kinds of sick movement options that on the highest difficulty are required mid-combat to constantly restock on health and ammo, with the arena flow often reminding me of the best moments in the nu-Doom games. Levels are alive with an overwhelming amount of things happening in the background at any moment to a degree that seems like it should be impossible even on the capable PS5 hardware. The rift gimmick is used to its fullest extent sparingly, keeping the wonder of being thrown into whole new environments mid-fight special. Character designs are beautiful and the characters themselves are infinitely lovable and warm. Every interaction is so sickeningly sweet and I can't get enough of it. Everything works.

And even if it doesn't seem appealing to you, I think anyone with a love of animation owes it to themselves to give this a shot.

I had a fun time with this, but it took being generous and patient as if this really was a flawed but inventive early 3D platformer. If you want to enjoy yourself, a few tips:

- Reject your completionist impulses. The level design is constantly hanging little diversions in front of you and asking you to look around but taking the bait completely destroys the flow of everything else in the environment. This game has no business locking levels behind collectibles, it works against everything it does right. That is, unless you're the kind of player who is fine not enjoying yourself until the second or third pass through a level.

- Be willing to laugh at game breaking bugs, as they WILL fuck you over plenty of times. You will get inputs eaten, you will fall through the floor, the camera will fuck off to another dimension, and you will float off into the sky. Embrace it.

- I got nothing for the controls but uh don't blame yourself when they fuck you over. You are not the one who chose to make a dash come out when you attack twice in a row. Oh and hold the roll button down when you go off ramps instead of letting go, idk why they don't tell you that one.

At first I wanted to come here and say that this completely fixed everything I hate about that other momentum-based platformer series the developers are known for contributing to by providing fast recoveries and creating levels which flow naturally and don't require several plays to move through smoothly. This is somewhat true, but through the grafted on collectibles and constant resets caused by bugs it ends up about the same in the end. But when the physics aren't launching you in the opposite direction of where they should or otherwise falling apart and you're squarely focused on clearing the course with nothing else on your mind as you chain together big-ass Tony Hawk combos, everything clicks together and that work was worth it.