Ratchet & Clank - Megathread

[The Last Stand]

I'm also fairly certain the RYNO was already brought up; but look at the evolution of gun RYNO over each game.

Deadlocked didn't have the RYNO, but something equally destructive: The Harbinger.

Basically, fire once and have missiles rain down around the proximity. It looked very badass. An improvement from UYA's RY3NO V5.

Spoiler: Issues with RY3NO

When you upgraded the RY3NO to its max, the rockets would form together and make a flash of light that would disintegrate on-screen enemies. The disintegration part was cool, but when you fired the weapon, the screen would flash white as well for a couple seconds. That would give me a headache. Moreso, the weapon was buggy at times. Not all the enemies would disintegrate, but rather "take damage" or be unaffected. When the screen would flash, you could still get hit with no way to react. It's also ineffective with bosses as well.

Remember the Annihilation Nation planet challenges from UYA? That's Ratchet: Deadlocked's entire gameplay loop. Very little platforming, just arena shooting and combat.

The gist was you were taken capture to participate in gladiator, arena combat by a corrupt, egotistical TV conglomerate known as Vox. Gunplay was the main focus in this installment, and frankly the best in the PS2 era. The weapons, while fewer than before, packed a punch. They could be upgraded as before, but up to 100x. And you had the ability to mod them to increase their potential (I think Going Commando had that too).

You could travel from planet to planet, but each planet had a televised introduction to it. Vehicles were more focused as well. You even had a difficulty mode to adjust the challenge.

Previous Ratchet & Clank games were cartoonish and light-hearted, Deadlocked cranked the seriousness up because of the arena combat theme. But it still had a share of humor. You could unlock Gangsta Dual Vipers by unlocking 10 skill points, my favorite.

I liked Deadlocked. It refined the series' shooting for that era.

 

[Gravityqueen4life]

was more of a Jak and Dexter fan. only played Ratchet: Gladiator Deadlocked and i remember it being fucking awful. had no idea what i was doing.

l always had plan of geting into the series but there was always something else that came up. heard emulation was awful so thats out of the bed. can i buy the ps2 games on the ps4?

 

[The Last Stand]

l always had plan of geting into the series but there was always something else that came up. heard emulation was awful so thats out of the bed. can i buy the ps2 games on the ps4?

No, you cannot. I wish Sony would expand their backwards compatibility on PS5 to include PS3, PS2 games.

There IS a Ratchet & Clank collection of the trilogy released on PS3. But there's a few issues with those ports. They've upscaled the resolution, so some elements normally hidden from the original 4:3 ratio show up with the new aspect ratio. In some cases, the game would stutter and graphical bugs would appear. It's distracting from the original experience.

I know it mentions Jak II mainly, but these problems mentioned are shared with the R&C trilogy on PS3.

 

[Mongo0o]

Ratchet, Jak, and Sly were the three king platform/action games of that era. Even though other series by ND and Insomniac were great, that Ps2 generation can't be topped on originality.

I've noticed Going Commando getting a lot more love over the years ever since GamingBrit's video on why Up Your Arsenal was a disappointment. I'll still always like UYA the best personally

Deadlocked is criminally underrated and had one of the best online sections of any Ps2 game back in the day.

The first three future games tell an incredible story and have graphics that rivaled the likes of Pixar at the time. They did lose that great crude humor from the original trilogy though. Don't waste your time with anything after them

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZHWPkWUDwno

No commercial has ever made me want a game as much as this.

 

[The Last Stand]

Deadlocked is criminally underrated and had one of the best online sections of any Ps2 game back in the day.

Deadlocked (Ratchet: Gladiator in Europe) was Insomniac's first experimental approach with Ratchet & Clank.

From what I read, they were influenced by Halo, hence the darker tone and focus on weaponry.

Hell, Ratchet: Deadlocked was going to be another title entirely. With the same darker tone, it would've been Ratchet & Clank: NEXUS.

Apparently, they wanted to be more cinematic before the Future saga. Even continue off from Up Your Arsenal.

 

[KingofNothing]

I'm rewatching the developer commentary for Going Commando and I had completely forgotten they changed Ratchets personality after the first game because there were complaints of him being too mean. And I honestly never got that complaint. Yeah he was snarky and outright hostile to Clank halfway through(for story reasons), but he gets through that by the end of the game is a better person for it. Did anyone here think Ratchet was too much of a dick in the first game?

All that dev talk I've been watching also reminded me of the Insomniac Museums they put into the games. Loved these areas, I spent a lot of time messing with the prototype weapons and gadgets and fussing about with the particle effects to see what kind explosions I could make. Sucks you don't see this kind of thing in games anymore.

 

[The Last Stand]

I'm rewatching the developer commentary for Going Commando

I should do that too. I like that developers look back on their games and explain the behind the scenes.

and I had completely forgotten they changed Ratchets personality after the first game because there were complaints of him being too mean. And I honestly never got that complaint. Yeah he was snarky and outright hostile to Clank halfway through(for story reasons), but he gets through that by the end of the game is a better person for it. Did anyone here think Ratchet was too much

I remember that complaint. Ratchet was more snarky and selfish, but only halfway through does that complaint have merit.

Would you blame Ratchet for being peeved? Clank wanted Ratchet to find Qwark. Qwark was discovered to be working for Drek, and tried to kill the duo. Only did Ratchet find out the magnitude of stopping Drek, he mellowed a bit on the bigger picture.

Frankly, I liked the contrast between Ratchet and Clank in the first game. Clank was focused on stopping Drek, Ratchet was easily distracted.

I'm glad he matured a bit as the series progressed. It shows character development.

 

[The best and greatest]

The lava gun/nitroglycerin gun will always be my favorite.

You might say a super-soaker that shoots lava is dumb and goofy but I have yet to see another game make one.

 

[KingofNothing]

Would you blame Ratchet for being peeved? Clank wanted Ratchet to find Qwark. Qwark was discovered to be working for Drek, and tried to kill the duo. Only did Ratchet find out the magnitude of stopping Drek, he mellowed a bit on the bigger picture.

This right here is why the complaint always confused me when it came up. He eases back on the dickery. I would understand if he was a piece of shit for the whole game, but he's not.

The lava gun/nitroglycerin gun will always be my favorite.

You might say a super-soaker that shoots lava is dumb and goofy but I have yet to see another game make one.

True, frankly I'm just glad that they fixed that atrocity of an "upgrade" from Going Commando when they made the Liquid Nitrogen Gun. Meteor Gun is trash. One of the worst if not the worst upgrade in the franchise. It just works so much better as a literal stream of damage.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Did anyone here think Ratchet was too much of a dick in the first game?

I think Ratchet's more abrasive attitude worked in the first game because it contrasted with Clank. Where Clank was intellectual and passive, Ratchet was kinda brutish and short-tempered. And that worked because Ratchet's gameplay focused on shooting things and blowing shit up. It even works in a broader context where Ratchet softens as time goes on and matures.

The remake proves that this dynamic worked because Ratchet's a lot nicer out of the gate and immediately befriends Clank, which in turn makes their relationship so much less interesting. The first game forced them together despite their opposite personalities so by the end they've accepted each other, which is the central ingredient in this kind of buddy-cop relationship. The remake doesn't have that, and the leads are far more boring as a result.

Plus Remake Ratchet being too nice just turns him into a generic platformer goody-two-shoes hero. It highlights that without that development of Ratchet from abrasive teenager to mature hero, he's just not that interesting.

True, frankly I'm just glad that they fixed that atrocity of an "upgrade" from Going Commando when they made the Liquid Nitrogen Gun. Meteor Gun is trash. One of the worst if not the worst upgrade in the franchise. It just works so much better as a literal stream of damage

I remember getting excited when I upgraded the lava gun. It was so useful, it was basically GC's version of the flamethrower. Then I got the Meteor Gun and regretted it immediately.

 

[The Last Stand]

The lava gun/nitroglycerin gun will always be my favorite.

You might say a super-soaker that shoots lava is dumb and goofy but I have yet to see another game make one.

The Tesla Claw from R&C is an underrated weapon. Quite powerful by itself, and accurate with plenty of ammo. It was the only "futuristic" weapon with the mechanic, primitive setting of Ratchet & Clank 1.

 

[Dom Cruise]

I only really loved the first game, the second and third games, coming out only a year after one another, didn't feel as polished or as fresh as the first game to me, I mean they were good, it's just that there's something special about that first game to me.

The "darker and grittier" fourth game just seemed ridiculous to me and I never even played it at all.

All those Sony PS2 platformers including Jak and Sly had that issue where the sequels were not as good as the first game, the platformer genre went through a real identity crisis as gaming "growed up" in the PS2 era.

I wanted to play that first PS3 one since it looked so impressive but simply never got around to it sadly.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

I kinda dug Deadlocked because it's actually the funniest in the series. It's only slightly grittier than your usual Ratchet fare. Honestly, I blame the cover art for giving such a bad impression. Gleeman Vox is an incredibly funny antagonist, and the newscasters lying about Ratchet makes for some of the best gags in the series.

I'm also biased because when I was younger I sucked balls at the series, and Deadlocked was the first one I could say I was "good" at. Plus the game's combat had some real intensity to it that's actually kinda impressive to think about now because it was capable of so much on PS2.

 

[UCHUBomb]

Absolutely insane to me that Sony had three 'mascot' franchises going on simultaneously and all of them managed to be good and distinct from each other. I don't think we're ever gonna see that level of quality coming out of them ever again, especially from western studios nowadays.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

Ratchet and Clank was my favourite series growing up and a good case of iteratively updating concepts without hurting the overall appeal. The original trilogy was amazing.
Deadlocked was a neat concept and got a lot of shit unfairly. If I remember correctly it was the arena minigame which was always great fun.
The PS3 trilogy was a bit.... meh. I don't know, having the whole plot revolve around Ratchet felt forced and the gameplay didn't improve too much.
Nexus was a lot of fun and I can't understand why they didn't follow with it through.
2016..... 2016 in a nutshell:

The only thing that the game succeeds is in making you appreciate the original game story, which was replaced by the most generic ass story imaginable.

 

[The Last Stand]

I remember the first game fondly. Keep in mind, I've played the original after UYA and Deadlocked.

The atmosphere and aesthetic was quite primitive compared to its sequels. The UI was very retro in a futurist way. You remember CRT televisions? That was the overall idea.

The buddy-cop relationship with Ratchet & Clank upon meeting was established and expanded upon their continued adventures. The first game made me appreciate the refinements we've known as the series matured and improved.

No strafing, it was touch and go auto aim. You had four hit points, which could increase to 6 to 8 for a fee later in the game. Weapons were over the top but not upgradable until challenge mode. Bolts, the game's currency, was worth one.

Money and resource management was important to learn in Ratchet & Clank. Again, unlike the sequels, where "one" bolt could add up to 5, 10, 20, etc, one bolt was one bolt. You had to kill enemies and smash crates often to accumulate enough to progress to the story, get better weapons and gadgets, and preserve ammo.

That brings up another critical aspect of Ratchet & Clank: its social commentary. Which will come up later, I've learned about it as I've grown older.

The soundtrack was top notch. Funky and futuristic instrumentals.

 

[Dom Cruise]

I kinda dug Deadlocked because it's actually the funniest in the series. It's only slightly grittier than your usual Ratchet fare. Honestly, I blame the cover art for giving such a bad impression. Gleeman Vox is an incredibly funny antagonist, and the newscasters lying about Ratchet makes for some of the best gags in the series.

I'm also biased because when I was younger I sucked balls at the series, and Deadlocked was the first one I could say I was "good" at. Plus the game's combat had some real intensity to it that's actually kinda impressive to think about now because it was capable of so much on PS2.

The marketing for the game didn't make it clear there was still humor at all, glad to hear the game is worthwhile though.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Money and resource management was important to learn in Ratchet & Clank. Again, unlike the sequels, where "one" bolt could add up to 5, 10, 20, etc, one bolt was one bolt. You had to kill enemies and smash crates often to accumulate enough to progress to the story, get better weapons and gadgets, and preserve ammo.

The first game's interesting in that you really had to scrounge for money. If you're playing the game normally, you can only barely afford the more expensive stuff like the Tesla Claw, and that's not even getting into the RYNO which I've never been able to afford. Hell even ammo was pricey; buying Devastator rounds and Tesla Claw ammo could easily clean you out. Not to mention that grinding was heavily discouraged. As I recall, repeat trips to planets give you fewer bolts, so you had to make most of your purchases count.

The soundtrack was top notch. Funky and futuristic instrumentals.

Metropolis is my favorite track in the game. It's so damn good. It sucks the 2016 game didn't even try remaking the soundtrack.

 

[Dom Cruise]

Metropolis is my favorite track in the game. It's so damn good. It sucks the 2016 game didn't even try remaking the soundtrack.

That's the track I still remember and still listen to.

Knowing the 2016 remake doesn't have that track is all I need to know to know to avoid it.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

That's the track I still remember and still listen to.

Knowing the 2016 remake doesn't have that track is all I need to know to know to avoid it.

The remake is a series of missed opportunities and unfortunate changes because it was trying to tie into the movie. Like how awesome would it have been to hear those old tracks spruced up or redone? That's like the easiest thing to accomplish, but now it's all generic orchestral. Beyond that, a lot of the subtlety and bite of the original is just gone. The social commentary's not really there anymore, and Ratchet himself is really fucking boring.

I think you need only compare the plumber scene in the original with the remake to see that the remake just isn't as good.

What's even crazier is that the original is so fluid and lively while the remake is static and lifeless. Somehow a 2002 game ends up animating better than a game in 2016. I want to chalk that up to the remake being a tie-in and probably not having enough time to have fully animated cutscenes, but it's just sad.

What's sadder is that the gameplay itself is fine, but everything surrounding it is just lesser. It highlights just how important the the music, writing, and characterization was to the original.