Hero meets alternate versions of friends and enemies. While I agree that great art can move and incite feelings, and they don’t necessarily need to be good feelings… sometimes I just want to shoot things and have fun, you know? Which is why Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is such a breath of fresh air to me. And don’t even get me started on the bullet purgatory (because hell doesn’t loop) that’s Returnal. But were they fun? Were they games? I’m not so sure about that. I recommend playing both of them, at least once. Last of Us Part II was a moving piece of media. Death Stranding almost felt like a piece of art.
I’ve been playing games on the Playstation that almost seem more like experiences. Insomniac really tried to ensure that as wide a range of players could enjoy Rift Apart as possible. There’s also modifications to the vibrations or triggers to change how much force is needed to pull the trigger. There’s the difficulty settings from easy to extreme, or options to input shaders on top of enemies or interactable objects to improve visibility. The desire to ensure equal access to all players extends into its gameplay options, with a wide array of ways to tweak the game while still keeping it fun. Both new and old players are introduced to the game at equal footing, and after both Ratchet and Clank are introduced, each play equal parts as the hero of Rift Apart. I’m sure that’s why Insomniac decided to open with a scene about Rivet, one of the new characters, instead of Ratchet, and it was a great decision. That way there’s a cute reference to what they used to be in previous games, old fans have something new to look forward to, and new fans aren’t really bogged down by extra baggage. Old characters are still re-introduced in Rift Apart, but because Rift Apart is about multiverses, they’re introduced with a spin. That’s not to say long time fans won’t be interested in the game. I mean, Kingdom Hearts III was the twelfth game in the franchise and I think I need a university module to understand what is going on. Especially since it’s the sixteenth game in the franchise.
I fired up Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and with absolutely no background knowledge in the series, was able to enjoy the game.įor an industry that’s more and more fixated on rehashing franchises and building huge sprawling universes, I am beyond ecstatic that a new player doesn’t need to do extra reading to enjoy Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. Let’s start with how easy it was to get into the game.
But why should you get it? Why am I recommending Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, even though it probably isn’t really any of my preferred game types? New Game Plus