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Clearing My Backlog #2

Ratchet and Clank was a big part of my childhood, I remember playing and enjoying the first trilogy on both the PS2, and the PS3. I don’t recall many specifics but the general feeling that those games invoked in me was joy, and I know for a fact that they were a lot better than whatever the hell this was. This is the most nothing burger videogame of all time, there is little to no substance behind any of the characters — whether it be their decision making or development — the same goes for the story, enemy variety, etc, all of it feels so incredibly middling and passable, which is exactly why it becomes not passable. I usually don’t mind giving games a pass if they have something in there that’s exceptional, or “good”, even if most other aspects are complete shit, but here, everything is so dull and basic to the point where it just becomes a boring experience.

Let’s start off with the good stuff. The graphics are very pretty, especially on select planets like Rilgar, Batalia, Quartu, Pokitaru, and Kalebo 3. I love how vibrant (some of) these planets are, and the colours really pop, not every planet is like this though as some are just “fine” for the lack of anything to really look at such as Veldin, Aridia, and the Deplanetizer.

Second, it’s just really fun to defeat hordes upon hordes of enemies while thousands of bolts fly towards you making those numbers go up, it gave me heavy LEGO vibes, and I adore that. This is also made more fun by how many weapons there are, the vast majority of them are really enjoyable to use and offer some much-needed variety, even if the enemies are lacking in that department. I do think that a lot of the weapons, especially the Doom Blades are overpowered as hell; when they’re fully upgraded it takes a few seconds to defeat full on bosses which makes those entire sections a bit of a joke. That’s pretty much everything I liked about the game, everything else is a complete failure.

The characters are so boring, there’s nothing here that’s even remotely interesting in regards to their development, because it simply happens too fast. Ratchet goes from a nobody working on a scrapyard to the Captain of the Rangers in what seems like an extremely short amount of time, and it just rubs me the wrong way. The same thing happens with his friendship with Clank, it progresses too damn fast, which makes it feel so lifeless.

There’s not much to do gameplay-wise, like I said before, everything lacks variety, and that’s also true in how the planets have very little to do on them. Sometimes you can go off the beaten path and find some collectible shit, but it’s going to take you maybe 10 minutes max to do those side things, and once you leave a planet you have absolutely no reason to go back there, which is a shame considering you’re only on each one for about 30-40 minutes. There’s also these missions where you get to play as Clank, and oh my god… just no; they throw these puzzles at you, and they are the most mind-numbing sections in the whole game. The flying sections are also terrible, I don’t know if this was just me, but the controls were so unresponsive and clunky, not fun at all.

Another thing that bugged me was the OST, which just screams generic heroic themes, so so so bad. There’s also a suit Ratchet gets near the beginning of the game that is very much a downgrade to his original one, and I was a bit disappointed that the game doesn’t allow you to switch back.

Overall, just a very bare-bones game that probably should’ve had a bit more thought put into it.

Playtime: 18.5 hours

Every Game I've Ever Played - Ranked (By Score)
Playstation Exclusives - Ranked
Clearing My Backlog
2016 - Ranked