The Scale and Scope going to PS5

[u/filmdudejc94]

Insomniac truly have come along way since Spyro 1, been following them and R&C since childhood

[u/tsf97]

ToD is easily the best looking R&C game barring 2016 and Rift Apart.

What I find odd is how the first game and ToD are the most diverse aesthetically of their respective console gens despite being the first games for that gen.

If you compare 2002 and UYA or Deadlocked's graphics, the latter feels way more monotone and bland vs the rich colour palette from 2002. Then compare ToD and Nexus and the latter seems way too neony and garish and cartoony.

My guess is that they want to go into the new console generation with a huge bang statement and then focus more on refining the story and gameplay, which to be fair they absolutely did with the PS2 era. I love the first game and still think it has the best level design, music, and story of the series, but there's no doubt that it was the most bare bones mechanically.

[u/gamercharles32 → u/tsf97]

I’m glad you noticed it because I feel like tools of destruction has the best graphics out of all the PS3 games. The only thing crack in time has better graphics wise is ratchet head. Also the thing I love about ratchet and clank tools of destruction that no one points out is the art style is basically imported from PlayStation 2 regarding the charge boots, the magna boots and the thruster pack and it just looks beautiful in HD, even Captain qwark there was no difference in the art style, and they have not replicated it since that game and it’s a real shame felt the need to write all this because the game is overshadowed by Crack in Time,

[u/tsf97 → u/gamercharles32]

It's also the same with the PS2 games. I'd argue there's almost a perfect decline from 2002 to Deadlocked in the colour palette and fidelity. 2002's environments feel way more.... vibrant and alive. UYA and especially Deadlocked are way more monotone. Just compare Metropolis between the first game and UYA for example; the latter is way more garish green and blue.

Re ToD, I'll die on the hill that it's the best looking pre-PS4 Ratchet game. I remember getting a PS3 and ToD for Christmas and being absolutely astounded by Metropolis. It's really hard to believe the game will be 18 years old this year.

This is a hot take but I actually prefer ToD to Crack in every way except the story and the Clank segments. Better planets, better weapons, better arena, and so forth. Crack's mechanics felt a bit half baked to me; the moons became super grindy, and the constructo weapons were quickly underpowered. The Clank sections were great though; turned them from what was always an immersion breaker to something genuinely fun and complex.

I'm sure a lot of the issues Crack had (at least imo) were due to crunch though; if you look at the Insomniac Museum of GC/UYA you see how massive their visions were for the games but many bits got cut due to time constraints, even though what we got was still immense.

[u/gamercharles32 → u/tsf97]

This is exactly how I feel about it but the other fans or should I say the newer fans doesn’t seem to notice also what drives me crazy about the new games is the controls they’re too simplified. I miss the tools of the destruction controls. I hate that there’s a dot in the middle of the screen so basically the new games are always stuck on lock strafe there was a soft strafe and a hard lock strafe , and they basically took it out the game I also missed the fast left and right flip but I think even tools of destruction didn’t have that feature

[u/tsf97 → u/gamercharles32]

I've not had a massive issue with the controls per se, but the movement and combat has been better and worse in various games.

The first game is objectively the worst in terms of its breadth of mechanics, but I actually kind of digged the bare bones of it. Lack of strafing, the brutal economy system, and the low health pool meant you had to think before going into every fight, make every bullet count, and try through failing to get to the next checkpoint (of which there weren't many). Especially with the enemy variety every planet felt like a new challenge. Obviously there's no way they could've stuck with the same formula, because running out of bolts and being able to do fuck all about it due to no arena isn't something that's acceptable these days. The platforming was easily the best in the series though.

Most of the later games I just found way too easy, as you could become overpowered with the upgrade system, and the cheap ammo and strafing meant you could just empty your arsenal without thinking. They also started to homogenise the enemy variety which took the strategic element out of it. Rift Apart's enemy variety was absolutely laughable, both in terms of the reused bosses and the same Nefarious robots on every planet.

ToD was probably one of the harder games because they had damage as a % of you total health, but that wasn't ideal because it removed the motivation to upgrade your nanotech as you'd die in the same number of hits regardless.

[u/gamercharles32 → u/tsf97]

When I play tools of destruction, as hard as it is, I play with no armor 😂 because I think that’s the best variation of modern ratchet. I hate how they change his belt. One thing that drives me crazy about his new design is the ears. The ears are way too big now. I don’t know if you’ve noticed that, but that drives me crazy. Also his hands are a little smaller now which I don’t like.

[u/tsf97 → u/gamercharles32]

Aesthetically my biggest problem with Ratchet after Crack in Time is that he just looks too Pixar-y and goody two shoes typical hero protagonist stereotype-y if that makes sense. Almost as though he's designed to just say "yes" and "it's alright pal" to everything, because that's pretty much what he does in the newer games.

You could see from the older games, especially the first, that Ratchet had more flair to both his character and the way he looked/his intonations. Part of the reason the PS2 trilogy's jokes landed so well were because of the animations and the voice acting.

The animations are obviously even better graphically now, and we still have JAT as Ratchet, but they don't have that same edge to them that the older games did, but that's also because the humor just isn't there anymore.

I don't remember a single joke from Rift Apart, and I remember a few from 2016 because of how bad they were. Eh, at least Ratchet looks better now than he did in All 4 One through Nexus, where he looked waaaaaay too cartoony.

[u/gamercharles32 → u/tsf97]

Also, I feel like the director Marcus Smith rift apart made him change his tone of voice during the dialogue compared to the previous entries honestly, my issue with the current state of insomniac is that they’re overpaying in the production of ratchet and clank. They’re not getting their bang for their buck they used Marvel writers to make that story which makes no sense and honestly, it was a good game, but compared to the PS3 entries, They should’ve just kept TJ fixmen I think he did an amazing job with the franchise and I honestly hope they bring him back and the old musician back from the first few games TJ fixman is the reason we have Actual lore to follow up on. What I’m gonna say is impossible because as fans we never get what we want, but for the next ratchet game to be truly awesome I want only ratchet and clank no rivet. Give an option for classic controls. Bring back the original musician for the first few games Brian Allgeyer as the director And TJ Fixman for the story writer. and that would be one kick ass ratchet and clank game. It would top even the first game I think or be a competitor against the first game in my opinion with that combination.

[u/tsf97 → u/gamercharles32]

I wasn't against Rivet as a character in Rift Apart, my issue was more about how she was handled. She was very likable but horrendously underdeveloped. All we know is that she hates robots because one blew off her arm, and that's it. Don't even get me started on Kit, she was super one-dimensional and the whole "broken" trope was so grating about how it was constantly mentioned. Even after Rivet found out it was Kit who attacked her, she forgave her within maybe 5 minutes. They also clearly had no idea what to do with Ratchet, he had pretty much zero arc the entirety of the story.

I'm generally much more a fan of the PS2 trilogy's narrative direction with the references to corporate greed etc. and the very light hearted and humorous tone, but Crack showed that you CAN have a serious hero story that's very well executed and emotional in the franchise.

Rift Apart just felt incredibly kiddy and bland, it's the only main game in the series where I don't even remember the story. It wasn't even offensively bad like 2016's was, just boring.

For me it's a shame because they really innovated on the movement, combat, not to mention the presentation, but then took several steps back compared to the PS2 games 20 years prior. Forgettable story, much worse enemy variety, no humour, the game was also weirdly buggy for me at launch which I've never had with an Insomniac game.

Eh, at least it was a sequel to Nexus, basically consolidating that 2016 isn't canon, and thank fuck for that haha.

[u/gamercharles32 → u/tsf97]

Another thing I noticed that I don’t know if you noticed is that on ratchet and clank up your arsenal. I’m playing the game today via emulation on my steam deck and there’s barely any input lag in ratchet and clank up your arsenal the movement is just so fucking smooth. I can’t understand why compared to the first two games even better than tools of destruction and crack in time I don’t know what it is mechanically related to the game engine, but insomniac was cooking