The Ratchet & Clank Topic - Rift Apart - RELEASE DATE: June 11th 2021

[Tornado]

Sony isn't even the one distributing it, and it's being made by the company that was most known for making those Barbie movies with some of the heavy lifting done by Insomniac themselves; so they are probably hoping for a low risk-medium return best case, driven by being a 3D movie in what is kind of a dump month. Throw a 20 million dollar advertising campaign behind it and there's a decent chance all you've managed to do is wipe out any profit.

[CrashRatchetFan]

30 minutes ago, Tornado said:

Sony isn't even the one distributing it, and it's being made by the company that was most known for making those Barbie movies with some of the heavy lifting done by Insomniac themselves; so they are probably hoping for a low risk-medium return best case, driven by being a 3D movie in what is kind of a dump month. Throw a 20 million dollar advertising campaign behind it and there's a decent chance all you've managed to do is wipe out any profit.

I've seen some marketing for the film on TV, mainly the kids stations like Nick and CN. Call me crazy but I've seen more marketing pushed for the game than the actual film. Maybe that's just me since I've been out of the loop for so long. 

If the film flops, it flops. And that's a shame too because there's potential for it to become very successful. 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

So uh...possible movie spoilers? 

It's very possible the movie is gonna have Nefarious take over as main villain around the end of the movie. He was the main villain in the game but due to Qwark telling the story, that was possibly a change he made.

However, the soundtracks recently released and accidentally fucked up big time. The final track is called "A Mechanical Uprising". I.E: the thing Nefarious is known for. Looks like he might transform into a robot during the movie and try to use the planetizer as a weapon to take over.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

We have the official theme and music video for the movie.

 

[Tornado]

So why does this game run at 30 FPS again? I'm not seeing anything in it dramatically different from what the PS3 games had, aside from all of the effects being heavily post-processed.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

I got a Samsung TV with a AutoMotion Plus feature that produces extra frames that make it look like I'm playing the game at 60FPS. The input lag is very minor so you can't really tell the difference.

For games like Hatsune Miku though and ones that need precise timing, I must turn the AutoMotion Plus feature off.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

So I finished the main story, and I honestly loved the game. It's honestly contending against A Crack in Time for me as my favourite Ratchet game ever. It feels like it takes the original game, updates every single flaw I had with it, and turn it into a best of weapons game. I loved seeing the Bouncer and Pyrocitor again, but I also loved new weapons like the Pixelator. The graphics and gameplay generally feel really refined and it honestly feels great to just finally have a full length Classic Ratchet game, since it's been seven years since we had one. 

I also loved how the story was tweaked in the game.

As a quick sum up, Ratchet's a much better character in this game. He isn't an asshole, he isn't just doing things because he wants to be famous and for selfish reasons (which in the original game made him feel not too different from Qwark's actions actually), and him and Clank's friendship is pretty awesome throughout the game. I also like how things were more streamlined. While it sucks there isn't as many planets as the original game, I thought planets like Orxon sucked anyway in general, as did planets like the City Ruins. I just felt in general, they looked at which planets would get the best reception, and decided "yeah, we'll go with this one". It also helped the story in general. I found it much more endearing that Qwark wasn't an out and out fucker like he was in the original trilogy, but rather a person who let jealousy get the better of him, and ended up on a path he felt he couldn't have been redeemed from, so he thought it was his only option.

It even managed to open up a alternative character viewpoint for him. What if instead of Qwark doing it out of sheer jealousy, Drek convinced him that it was for the better of an entire alien race, and the jealousy managed to convince Qwark to help him. We even see that Qwark didn't realize the full scale of the plan, as he is clearly unaware what the deplanetizer was going to do exactly, and by that point, he felt the only thing he could do was continue on that path, as no one else would believe him. Drek isn't an out and out villain either. He's an asshole, but his backstory at least tells you why he's like that (He was forced to live underground for his entire life with the rest of the Blarg while his father ruined their planet. 

I'll do a more detailed post when I completely finish the game as I am currently finishing up collectables and then moving on to challenge mode.

[TheOcelot]

Yeah it's really good so far. I'm playing on Hard mode and up to Nebula G34. I want the RYNO!!!

The graphics are stunning and I love Qwarks narration. It's obvious that an incredible amount of love has been put into this game. The controls and presentations are excellent.

I came out of the sewers in Blackwater City and bubbles kept coming out of Ratchet for some reason. Lol!

The bubbles stopped when I left the planet.

Kept finishing 2nd in the Gold hoverboard cup until I finally beat it! Also, the small window of getting through the sewers without drowning is extremely harsh.

 

 

[Agie]

One of the GameStops I went to was completely sold out of copies of the game. Fortunately, it was in a mall and there was an FYE not very far, and they had it. So I bought it there. It was the only copy there prior to me buying It. It wasn't overpriced, either.

It's fun based on what I played, but I'm planning on going to see the movie, so I don't want too many spoilers.

Still, if a Game Stop was sold out of copies, and the FYE had only one copy before I got there, the game must be doing well. I think.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

Also this is the first game I played since the PS2 days that actually uses movie clips in the game.

I don't think I've ever played a movie game on the PS3 that uses actual clips for its movie. Either they use their crappy in game engine instead for cutscenes or create a different story from the movie (which uses prerendered CG and also the in game engine).

Quite refreshing, makes me want to see the movie more.

[CrashRatchetFan]

On April 21, 2016 at 9:17 AM, Ryannumber1gamer said:

We have the official theme and music video for the movie.

 

Yeesh, that sounds corny as hell. 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

6 hours ago, Ming Ming Kanon said:

Also this is the first game I played since the PS2 days that actually uses movie clips in the game.

I don't think I've ever played a movie game on the PS3 that uses actual clips for its movie. Either they use their crappy in game engine instead for cutscenes or create a different story from the movie (which uses prerendered CG and also the in game engine).

Quite refreshing, makes me want to see the movie more.

The LEGO Movie Videogame used movie clips as well for it's cutscenes.

Another thing. From what I've played of the game, Cora's the best ranger in my opinion, followed by Brax. Trust me when I say that's an improvement, considering before, I didn't even want them in the universe, so the fact the game managed to get them to grow on me says something. Elaris still kind of sucks though :/

[TheOcelot]

I've now beaten R&C on Challenge mode (Hard). Just thought I'd post my thoughts. I've unlocked 90% of the trophies. I will need to do a third playthrough to get the remaining ones; all weapons fully upgraded to level 10, all raritanium upgrades, use groovitron on all types of enemies and beat the hoverboard challenge on Rilgar in under 1:35.

What a fantastic game.

First time I saw the gameplay graphics my jaw dropped. I mean, you'd expect them to be good - graphics have always been of a high standard on previous R&C's - but, wow! It's like movie quality, it looks so good.

The gameplay is probably the best it's ever been. Very fluid. Controls feel fine, very responsive. None of the gimmicks - perhaps with the exception of the hoverboard races - give me any trouble. The gimmicks feel overused. Felt like a good balance. Clank's stages are a lot of fun.

The holo-card thing is interesting. It's nice seeing concept art from previous games, although the whole "trade duplicate cards for a new one" seems pointless. Why not just have the holo-cards scattered throughout the stages and leave it at that? They do look nice though.

As for the weapons. They are pretty much what we come to expect from R&C games. The "Pixelizer" and the omega version "Pixelizer HD" is such a nice idea. The effect it has on enemies-turning them into pixels is very cool. RYNO is overpowered as usual, but that's the way I like it  This made the penultimate and final bosses very easy. The Groovitron is such a fun weapon-making everyone dance. It even makes the weapons vendor dance which is so cool!

Spoiler

I love how Qwark uses the Groovitron against Ratchet and Clank in the penultimate boss fight making them dance like a bitch. Haha!

I think the design of the stages, some being true to the originals, some being half like the original/half new and others being brand new feels like a good balance. It feels familiar, but not too familiar, if hat makes sense. I especially like Batalia's wintery re-design and Gaspar's new look. The use of the thruster-pack going after those brains is pretty cool. I tried to find all 60 but got stuck on 59. Thank god for the map-o-matic! Those brain enemies "Telepathopus" are kind of creepy...

 

Likewise some of the gold bolts can be found in their original locations or in different areas. Managed to find them all by myself with the exception of the one in the hoverboard race on Kalebo III. The hoverboard course on this planet is the best one. Once I worked out how to get to the second shortcut (with a little help from youtube) it's much easier. It's also easy to get theunder 2:05 tropy. My record is about 1:51. The hoverboard race on Rilgar however, can go fuck itself. The hoverboard controls are a tad sensitive, but you can only win based on luck (unless theirs a shortcut I'm missing). The amount of times I finished second-just being pipped over the line was ridiculous. If I was too far behind, then the AI opponents seem to slowdown, and if I'm going fast-staying ahead on them then they just catch up regardless. It makes no sense. Which is a shame because the actual course itself looks good, and like I said the race in Kalebo III is better designed-more fair.

It doesn't hurt the gameplay not having the arenas or the armor vendors. If anything it's a nice change, but they should be brought back in future instalments.

The story is good and I'm eager to see the movie, although I don't think it's being shown in my local cinema which is a bummer. It's a bit weird that Nefarious is an alien instead of a robot. I think the use of some of the movie scenes in the game was interesting. You can tell which scenes are from the movie and which were made for the game. A slight nitpick; some of the pacing of the story felt kind of rushed and this is, I think, because of how the movie scenes are designed. Some scenes end abruptly, when normally there would be more dialogue more build-up. This is definitely noticeable as the story progresses.

For eample; before you fight the (hilarious) penultimate boss on the Deplanetiser, the character is introduced (a scene from the movie), says a few words and then the boss fight starts immediately. There's no build up to the fight. It also most feels like lazy design, which is strange because most of the story is well written. It's only a minor nitpick. Other than that it's an excellent game, One of the PS4 games I've played.

I like the soundtrack and the voice acting is good. Once again Captain Qwark (Jim Ward) is on top form. His narration as you go through the game; telling you what you need to do and reproaching you if you don't is very funny. It's so nice that they still have the same voice actors.

R&C is a fantastic video game series. I highly recommend the first PS4 instalment. Hoping they'll make another one, even if it is on the PS4.5

Been playing R&C games for the last two months. I've platted R&C1, R&C3, A Crack in Time and Nexus. Time to take a break from R&C. Might go back and plat R&C2 another time.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Speaking of which, I managed to platinum the game today. Also, to help with your trophies @BenderBR

-Hoverboard Course

Not really much advice to give other than if you are having a lot of trouble, you can use the motion cheat to slow down the game a bit to make it easier to avoid explosive boxes. Try to avoid doing too many tricks in case you screw it up and slow yourself down. Be especially careful on the last ramp right before the finish line as there's a glitch where if you fail the trick, but land on the track, the game believes you have died for some reason and teleports you back at the starting line.

Death by Disco: 

Level 10/200 Nanotech/Weapon Upgrade trophies

There are two great chance to grind for these, and it's using a trick, which is especially good if you need to buy more weapons, as it works for infinite bolts. When you change your games' difficulty, it reloads your last checkpoint, but keeps your bolts, bolt multiplier, and experience, but it also gives back your ammo for most weapons. The best place to use this trick is Blackwater City, in the area where there's a Gadgetron Vendor, and you jump down into the main city which is where you first fight one of the tank enemies. Clear out all of the enemies here, and as soon as it's done, go into your game options, and change your difficulty, which will reset the enemies. Just keep repeating the process as needed.

[TheOcelot]

"Congratulations Space Ranger, you now join @Ryannumber1gamer as an honorary Platinum trophy holder!"

Yeah, I've finished my third playthrough (second Challenge mode playthrough). I upgraded all weapons and got the trophy for using the Groovitron against all enemies (I hadn't used it against Dr. Nefarious and a few others). As you can see I finally beat the 1:35 time in the Rilgar race. I took a break for a few hours, then came back and did it!  

[TheOcelot]

R&C has just received 1.03 patch

There's gonna be another patch (1.04) in about a weeks time.

Quote

Here’s the full list of patch notes for update 1.03:

Audio

• Balance FMV and game volume

Trading Cards

• Adjusted card drop probabilities

Difficulty

• Adjustments to hoverboard races

Trophies

• Trade Up – Fixed issue where trophy could not be unlocked if all cards are collected before trading.

Bugs

• Fixed issue where players got stuck on Aridia near hydrodisplacer section
• Fixed issue where players could not obtain Gold Bolt on Gaspar
• Fixed issue where players couldn’t finish flying section (and trophy) on Pokitaru due to crash
• Fixed issue where hoverboard races on Rilgar were not available
• Fixed issue where players could get stuck on Warship in Nebula G34
• Fixed issue where players could get stuck on Kalebo III
• Fixed issue where players could get stuck during trespasser puzzle on Deplanetizer
• Fixed issue where dying at the same time as the final boss causes fight to contantly reload
• Fixed issue where Hologuise isn’t available on Deplanetizer.
• Fixed issue where Grim’s garage won’t open on Veldin after killing enemies.
• Fixed issue where game could crash on Batalia while obtaining RYNO card.
• Fixed issue where cinematic on Aridia would play when dying before clearing area.
• Fixed issue where XP/levels gained after final boss would not carry over to new Challenge Mode.

Additionally, Insomniac Games revealed that update 1.04 is scheduled for release within the next week. On top of unnamed bug fixes and improvements, here’s what you can expect from the upcoming patch:

Photo Mode

• Use “No HUD” cheat with the Plasma Striker zoom

Audio

• Big Al’s audio should now properly play

Trophies

• Tech Head – Trophy should unlock properly

Bugs

• Fixed issue where Kerwan train sequence wouldn’t start.
• Fixed issue on Pokitaru where Big Al/Felton would not progress back to ship.
• Fixed issue where crates would disappear at certain camera angles.
• Fixed issue on Nebula G34 where player could not progress after boss fight.
• Fixed issue where boost rings would sometimes disappear during hoverboard races.
• The Bouncer now retains XP and upgrades if entitlement is lost.

Insomniac is also investigating the Et tu Copernicus Trophy not unlocking properly, and an issue where people can’t collect 100% of the Telepathopus brains.

 

[Kaotic Kanine]

Just discovered through Tumblr (and checked Rotten Tomatoes to verify): reviews for the movie have arrived! Unfortunately, they're not good so far...

[CrashRatchetFan]

Supposedly, TJ Fixman's original ideas for the film differ drastically compared to the final product, particularly the humor:
tjfixman.wordpress.com/2016/04/02/a-farewell-to-lombaxes/

Basically, a new director came in and didn't see things eye-to-eye with Fixman and changed things. I wonder if this what led him to quit Insommiac? Kevin Munroe seems to be responsible, he wasn't even heard or mentioned in the press when the first teaser came around back in 2013.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I wouldn't look at the reviews too much. Most people who've actually played the games seem to love it from other reviews I've watched. 

[Dejimon11]

What about those who haven't played the games? How can this movie appeal to somebody who is being introduced to the series for the first time?

[Ryannumber1gamer]

5 minutes ago, Dejimon11 said:

What about those who haven't played the games? How can this movie appeal to somebody who is being introduced to the series for the first time?

As I mentioned previously, it seems to be fans of the series, and those who aren't already going in with the mindset of "Video Game movies suck"

[sonicgirl313]

I've seen the movie and it's great! It was very true to the game series though admittedly the hashtag joke made me roll my eyes and my brother facepalmed at the Wilhelm joke. But other than that we both found the film enjoyable and we managed to get all the references in the film, especially to certain other things. AKA...

Spoiler

In the scene where Clank is trying to figure out what species Ratchet is, he pulls up a profile picture of Daxter and later on one of Sly Cooper sporting his movie design.

But it does seem the film would give fans of the games more mileage than newcomers but I believe newcomers wouldn't be lost and confused since a majority of the characters are new and the main characters has had their backgrounds pretty much altered. So I have to say, if you're a newcomer and use the film to introduce yourself to the series, if you're a fan of the humor then you should be able to like the games since the humor besides those two jokes stay pretty true to the games' humor.

[Agie]

I'm seeing the film regardless. I've never found critics to be the most reliable of sources...

[pppp]

So apparently the movie is little more than fanservice, the actual plot and characters don't stand on their own.

[Nix]

The movie's not very good.  All the characters are really flat and the humor is really hit and miss (and even when it does hit, it never got anything more than a light chuckle from me).  The only consistently somewhat entertaining character was Qwark and even he had his share of shit jokes too.  That said, the voice actors, despite the shitty writing, gave a good performance, and the I felt Clank had a bigger presence in the movie than he did in the new game remake, so there's something I guess.

I'd honestly just stick with the game if you're remotely interested in the movie.