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Ratchet & Clank need to go back to its glory days

64bitmodels

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Seeing rift apart and then comparing it to the originals on PS2 just makes me so sad dude. Ratchet used to be this wisecracking immature funny teenage lombax who had a real personality and was edgy as fuck. And now he's cuddly the cardboard cutout. 0 personality, just what appeals to kids. The gameplay used to have strategy to it with loads of unique weapons and fun gameplay mechanics, now it's just a strafe jump simulator. And the less said about the shitty music in the newer games, the better. Let's just say they took a soundtrack with style and replaced it with a generic movie score.
Just because the main character is fluffy and the games have colorful environments doesn't mean its automatically a kids game. I wish publishers realized this but sadly not and they keep making boring games like Ratchet 2016 and Rift Apart which have no soul or charm to them besides being marketable. But hey, the graphics are better right? (ignoring the fact the originals had a BEAUTIFUL art direction that really helped the environments pop and stand out even with the anemic weak ass hardware of the PS2, while the newer games are just all about showing how much detail, polygons, textures and whatever other crap they can cram into each frame)



Also, before you ask, i'm not a fucking Xbox fanboy. I just loved the games before they ended up not being so good anymore. I don't usually like making negative threads but i had to get this off my chest
 
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March Climber

March Climber

Member
TexMex said:
Imagine thinking that Ratchet, at any time in history, has been “edgy as fuck.”
Click to expand...
Never thought that, I just took him(from the original) as more of a guy who sees through the bullshit of corporatizing and marketing space, same as the protagonist of The Outer Worlds depending on how you play that game.

When they changed him to be a typical hero it was a slight misstep to his character growth. He was going to end up there anyway based on 1's ending but they fast tracked it.
 
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Shmunter

Shmunter

Member
There should be more adult jokes. And by that I mean in their wit and depth, not simply inappropriate. Like what classic Pixar delivered, adults knowingly nodding, kids laughing at the zany.

In saying that, most family entertainment has the depth of spilt milk.

Their Spider-Man games are also way to safe. I’m hoping for a more profound story in Wolverine.
 
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March Climber

March Climber

Member
Shmunter said:
There should be more adult jokes. And by that I mean in their wit and depth, not simply inappropriate. Like what classic Pixar delivered, adults knowingly nodding, kids laughing at the zany.

In saying that, most family entertainment has the depth of spilt milk.
Click to expand...
It takes an extremely good comedy writer to ride that line in the best way.
 
Otre

Otre

Banned
Those games always had what we call today a "Dreamworks" aesthetic. Comedy dialogue with some risque jokes but made for all the family. Dunno what you on about edgyness. R&C is as edgy as a Shrek film.

Ratchet dosent need to come back to the old days. It never left, just got prettier and more mainstream. You just played too much of it and need to move on.
 
RCU005

RCU005

Member
To me, the Future trilogy has been the best. It was very well balanced and had everything. Great weapons, great story, great music, great pace, great puzzles!

Rift Apart is good, but it feels like Mario 3D World after playing Mario Galaxy. It’s still great but not as epic and big scope.

Loved the introduction of Rivet, but the game needs to be epic once more. Hopefully the next game is a big one since you have two main characters now.
 
Fess

Fess

Member
Making Rift Apart so great for kids was the reason I nearly had it top my GOTY list. Insomniac even had Swedish voice acting this time, great voice acting. I played through the whole game with the kids beside me and it was the best family playthrough I’ve ever done.

So NO. Most kids games are crap, let at least one AAA game be great for kids.
 
Shifty

Shifty

Member
Yeah, the PS2 games were the golden years in terms of the writing. Even at its weakest with dickhead R&C1 Ratchet, it had more depth of character than the newer Pixar-style stuff.

All of the games have plenty of fun on a mechanical level, but I find the titular duo more interesting as a ragtag pair of unlikely friends than as fated sentinels of time and space or what have you.

Present-day Insomniac are too coward to remake Going Commando because they'd have to animate new Ratchet miming out the Courtney Gears booty shake.

TexMex said:
Imagine thinking that Ratchet, at any time in history, has been “edgy as fuck.”
Click to expand...
Where's that DAMN fourth titanum bolt 🔫:messenger_face_steam:
 
A Most Virtuous Cat

A Most Virtuous Cat

Banned
I agree 100%. Also, I have seen a trend of putting in a female lead/ co-protag in any game/ movie that becomes successful; Ratchet also fell victim to that.
 
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Reactions: Isa
Isa

Isa

Member
I feel the same way OP. Ratchet was one of my favorite longstanding multigenerational franchises. I started noticing things were getting a bit off during the late stage after the Future trilogy, namely with all the spin-offs but they still had some redeeming spark that connected them to the series. I do still love the Future series, and I'm kind of bummed out that they rebooted the franchise for this, I wanted to see what happened after A Crack in Time. That was my personal favorite for the scope and space travel. Plus the growth of Ratchet. But the originals on PS2 is also where its at. The pairing of Ratchet's low intellect, brash act first think later(maybe) bad boy attitude paired well with Clank's smart nerd style. They clashed at first, and Clank was like a lost puppy intent on doing good, and Ratchet wasn't always a noble hero. The reboot totally lost that. I still haven't completed the newest, its so dull and hard to get into for me, despite the great gfx. I remember reading people discussing what was missing from the reboot, and someone nailed it in one sentence. They took out the humor.

I do think its a bit of both Sony's direction and Insomniacs. Sony probably wanted Ratchet to slide into a specific family friendly niche(our core audience has kids of their own now), whilst Insomniac was really struggling with ideas during the spin-off era(anybody remember Fuse?). But they are missing various elements of what made R&C great games. I know some people don't like certain mascot games, but damn I love the Jak & Daxter trilogy but for my money Insomniac made better more consistent R&C games during the PS2 gen. Not trying to poo poo the current stuff too hard, I know people really like the new one and I will push myself to finish it one day. But I'm just a fan of their work, Ratchet was among my favorite PS franchises and I miss what appealed to me. Also, those games had fantastic pacing. Explore new rock, see and hear funny cutscenes and dialogue, get cool new gadget and toy, enjoy some minigame, go to next cool new planet.

I wish the R&C collection was on PS5 I'd do another play through. I'm pretty sure I have them on PS4 and replayed them there, man its crazy how inspired by Futurama they were.
 
Raonak

Raonak

Banned
Rift Apart is really good imo, on par with URA and ACIT.

Edgy ratchet from 1 was annoying as fuck.
 
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Fahdis

Fahdis

Member
Man the first Ratchet & Clank Trilogy was everything. It also looked amazing seeing the bustling moving machinery or environment on the planet. No game had ever given me that sense of scale ever again.
 
A

ANDS

Banned
Never give a critical game review to an unabashed "fan." What's with this lamenting that R&C lost its "edge?" What edge? If we're talking about subversive humor a la PIXAR. . .I guess? What I saw in the video was a fan with a decent thesis, ruining it with nitpick-quality examples and bad snark. The 2016 R&C is an interesting game for sure, I think largely dictated by the movie release more than anything else, but it wasn't a bad game and for damn sure R&C: ARR was a spectacular follow-up.

. . .I also like the "glitch" in the beginning of RATCHET getting stuck on some scenery as evidence of its "fall in quality" - pun not intended.
 
H

Hypereides

Member
We can't be edgy these days, mate. That's a big no-no. Someone on Twitter might get offended by it. That's the target audience now.
 
kruis

kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
Hypereides said:
We can't be edgy these days, mate. That's a big no-no. Someone on Twitter might get offended by it. That's the target audience now.
Click to expand...

R&Cs writers are woke as fuck too. They've scrubbed away anything that might cause offense. The game now features female cosmic miners, a pregnant flying dragon, a misunderstood monster that just wants to be loved, a child robot with a persecution complex who just needs a friend in life ... The game is so saccharine that my teeth hurt while playing it.
 
Nezzeroth

Nezzeroth

Member
Rift Apart was fantastic, what are you talking about.

Literally the only thing I would change is that the game felt a bit short, otherwise it was amazing.
 
Topher

Topher

Gold Member
kruis said:
R&Cs writers are woke as fuck too. They've scrubbed away anything that might cause offense. The game now features female cosmic miners, a pregnant flying dragon, a misunderstood monster that just wants to be loved, a child robot with a persecution complex who just needs a friend in life ... The game is so saccharine that my teeth hurt while playing it.
Click to expand...

How are any of those story points "woke as fuck" though? A cosmic miner being female is woke?

miners.jpg
 
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sol_bad

sol_bad

Member
Badlucktroll said:
I wish they'd put rachet and clank rift apart on ps plus. that way i would'nt have to buy it. haven't played it yet.
Click to expand...

I bought it for $77aud the other day. I'm going to play through the whole series after I finish Demons Souls. Can't wait!
 
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fart town usa

fart town usa

Member
I've played them all except for Rift Apart, my favorite are the PS3 titles but the PS2 games are great as well.

The remake was fine but nowhere near as good as Tools of Destruction or A Crack in Time.

ACIT is my personal favorite, that game is 10/10 masterpiece IMO.
 
Topher

Topher

Gold Member
fart town usa said:
I've played them all except for Rift Apart, my favorite are the PS3 titles but the PS2 games are great as well.

The remake was fine but nowhere near as good as Tools of Destruction or A Crack in Time.

ACIT is my personal favorite, that game is 10/10 masterpiece IMO.
Click to expand...

Sony really needs to remaster all those games in put them in a collection.
 
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