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Was Ratchet and Clank 2016 REALLY that bad?

Ok yes, the story and dialogue is cringe but who cares, we play R&C games for the gunplay, puzzles and fun platforming. I dont get why it gets docked so heavily just for the cringe kiddified dialogue when it nailed the gameplay aspect, the pixar movie like graphics which were cutting edge for when it came out and many other aspects. And funny enough a lot of people say Rift Apart is the best in the franchise whilst shitting on 2016 when that also has the same type of kiddified dialogue.
 

Blindy

Member
The gameplay I enjoyed a lot but yeah the story changed too much from the original that some people weren't able to overlook it. Not sure why they made those changes from R&C 2002 from a story perspective.
 
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The gameplay I enjoyed a lot but yeah the story changed too much from the original that some people weren't able to overlook it. Not sure why they made those changes from R&C 2002 from a story perspective.
Which is weird since it has always had gameplay as the clear focus and people have always played it primarily for the gameplay.
 

Kuranghi

Member
Both RA and 2016 are disappointing coming off the back of A Crack in Time for me.

Something I liked about 2016 more than RA though is the secrets cause its just the original games secrets, RA had trash secrets for the most part.

A remake of Going Commando would be amazing, I really really enjoyed the weapons and their evolution in that one. Better than any of the other games including ACiT:

You started challenge mode and the Bomb Glove could be rebought as the Mega Bomb Glove and then upgraded to the Ultra Bomb Glove. It already felt much more powerful straight away and then it was like a mini nuclear explosion when it was Ultra.
 
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Dazraell

Member
I enjoyed it, but original PS2 version was much better, especially if we're talking about character portrayal

Rift Apart was a hit and miss for me. I overalled liked it and was impressed with some of its technological features, but I disliked the story and found Rivet character as boring and forced
 

Holammer

Member
Never played it, but I understand they made silly story changes and did the trans-media thing where watching the film and playing the game completes the experience.
I watched a Let's Play a little and the game looks really good for the PS4, I wouldn't mind a PC port. In fact, they should have released it before Ripped a Fart.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
It had some weird framerate. I didn't enjoy it. I actually should grab a copy of Crack in Time for my PS3. Thats the last legit good RC game I played.
 

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
I enjoyed it as well, but Insomniac only had 10 months to complete it because Sony were all over the place trying to tie it up with the movie to promote both of them. You ended up with a game that was half-assed because it was rushed.

On its own, it's not bad at all. Fantastic graphics, decent gameplay, and nothing too terrible. When contrasted against the original game though? Yeah, it's awful. One of the weakest reimagining/remakes I've ever played.

1. The story makes no sense and has nothing to do with the original game. Ratchet and Clank become fast friends, completely eschewing the character development they had in the first game and how their friendship came to be. Ratchet also has his "modern" personality. That is, he's toothless and nowhere near as charismatic, funny, or witty as he was in the OG game.

2. The moody, atmospheric music of the original game was replaced by generic superhero shit. I cannot recall a SINGLE track from the 2016 game. The OG had some bangers such as Metropolis, Orxon, and the best of all; Gemlik Base.

3. The best levels weren't even included and a lot of the planets were significantly cut. No Orxon, Gorda City, Fort Krontos, and a few others. The first three are especially egregious because they're some of the most challenging, well made, and fun levels in the original. That they didn't add them is a travesty.

4. The game is also much, much easier and feels like some Pixar shit to be played by the whole family. No challenge whatsoever. Braindead platforming and you don't need to use your head and assess the situation before jumping in to the fights in the later levels. As I mentioned in the other thread, it's very easy to get killed if you just blindly rush in. Enemies do ambush you and they're placed in a way that makes them a major hindrance at time and a few of them can quickly kill the player.

5. It's 30fps. Enough said. I recently replayed the 2002 game and tried to replay 2016 after, it feels like a slideshow. I think these games perfectly represent what Sony was in 2002 vs what Sony is now. The game has no bite, is safe, and scared of offending anyone. It tosses aside gameplay and feel in favor of visuals and cinematic flair. Same thing happened with GOW but at least, 2018 is an excellent game.

Overall, it's not terrible as a standalone title. If it were unrelated to the R&C series, it'd be a decent 6/10 game. As part of R&C though, it's a piece of crap. Still, as I said before, I blame Sony for that one. 10 months to develop a game in the modern era is completely ludicrous.
 
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TransTrender

Gold Member
It wasn't terrible but it definitely stood out as a regression from previous games.

From a narrative presentation the rollout of everything was terrible because not only did you have relevant dialogue in the foreground, and Quark narrating , but you also had background audio from TVs or the radio that were also giving relevant exposition, all overlapping with a chorus of sound effects. This was a jumbled mess.

Graphically things looked nice, but the problem was with the overall art style, perspective, and scaling. The problem I had was visually identifying enemies and incoming shots because the models were indistinct and blended in to the visually busy backgrounds while also unfolding in a chaotic set piece. This was annoying. Outside of that most of it looked pretty good.

To me the gunplay and combat wasn't as engaging as previous versions, and the encounters weren't that engaging or fun either. There were some other more interesting set pieces I liked. I didn't like most of the space combat parts.

Characters were annoying and sure it was cringey.

I didn't like the Clank parts as much.
 

ungalo

Member
It didn't "nail" the gameplay, it's the same as previous entry.

A remake 15 years after the original that manage to be inferior in so many aspects doesn't deserve any praise in my book, even if it's not offensively bad.
 
Is this the game where they made a movie out of splicing all the cut scenes together and put it on a service like Netflix?
 

Gambit2483

Member
For $30-$40 was a great 3D platformer throwback to the AA games of the PS2/PS3 era

Not to mention, is one of the best visual showcases on the PS5, imo. Insomniac has definitely figured out how to get good visuals/performance on PS5 (the ps5 update)
 
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Flabagast

Member
I never read anyone saying it was bad. It was just totally mid

Like all Insomniac games, including most recent ones
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
No, it was fine. I recall having a more fun time with it than the newer one.
 

flying_sq

Member
It was the first time I played rachet and clank. Thought it was pretty fun. I don't recall anyone saying it sucked
 

DrFigs

Member
I liked it a lot. one of my first platinums that i actually put time to get. there are people who compare it to the ps2 games and say it's worse, but i never played those games, so i came in w/ no expectations.
 
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Cattlyst

Member
It was the first R&C game I played. Enjoyed it and it looked great. Don’t recall anything about it being a bad game in the slightest. Is it now considered bad? Jeez…
 
You remember those Disney movie licensed story games that would try to stretch out the story of a 2 hour movie into a mixed quality 8-10 hour experience?

That's what this was, but Frankensteined with moments from the original game so the extra 6 hours of content was slightly more meaningful.
 
Ok yes, the story and dialogue is cringe but who cares, we play R&C games for the gunplay, puzzles and fun platforming. I dont get why it gets docked so heavily just for the cringe kiddified dialogue when it nailed the gameplay aspect, the pixar movie like graphics which were cutting edge for when it came out and many other aspects. And funny enough a lot of people say Rift Apart is the best in the franchise whilst shitting on 2016 when that also has the same type of kiddified dialogue.
as tonto would say, 'who's we, white man?'...

i fell in love with the original ps2 games as much for their irreverent attitude as for anything else. insomniac was obviously having a lot of fun with the games (back then), & they felt fresh & unique because of it. the remake & rift apart? yeah, all the mechanics/fireworks might still be there, but with the heart & soul obliterated...
 

Gambit2483

Member
It’s a complete downgrade in every way from the first game that it was trying to remake.
o5rN5Je.jpg

Right...
 
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Blindy

Member
I think they were basing it on the movie.
For sure, I just didn't think the premise of R&C2002 needed to be changed. It had a good origin story and I enjoyed the characters of it and the development of Capt. Quark, how Ratchet and Clank met etc.
 
They finally made the ratchet and clank games playable on ps2 emulator not sure what they did but now i can play them with frame rate taking a small dip but games still running very smooth and fast... for a long time the games had problems with slowing down in certain areas of the games. - Just thought i would share that. since Ratchet HD Collection will be forever locked behind ps3 and vita it seems.
 
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as tonto would say, 'who's we, white man?'...

i fell in love with the original ps2 games as much for their irreverent attitude as for anything else. insomniac was obviously having a lot of fun with the games (back then), & they felt fresh & unique because of it. the remake & rift apart? yeah, all the mechanics/fireworks might still be there, but with the heart & soul obliterated...
That's what most people play it for since its gameplay focused. I dont see why anyone would play it primarily for the story/characters unless they are very young. It's just not that kind of game.
 
That's what most people play it for since its gameplay focused. I dont see why anyone would play it primarily for the story/characters unless they are very young. It's just not that kind of game.
again: in your opinion. myself? i don't really see the point of simply 'going through the motions' of playing games if i'm not interested in the story/characters. to each their own, eh? (& ps: about the last thing in the world i am is 'very young')...
 
Rift Apart and 2016 are what happens when you take all the personality, care, and passion and surgically and methodically remove it all to make a bland, uninspired title that looks pretty, but is boring to play.

They are the trophy wives of the video game world.
I feel the same way about some series like tales with it's latest entry but not ratchet and clank. As long as the gunplay, platforming and puzzles are fun im not concerned with anything else when it comes to this series.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
I enjoyed it.
People complaining about voice acting must not realise its pretty perfect for a space cat and mini robot pair of characters…. Its not trying to be Citizen Kane
 
I enjoyed it as well, but Insomniac only had 10 months to complete it because Sony were all over the place trying to tie it up with the movie to promote both of them. You ended up with a game that was half-assed because it was rushed.

On its own, it's not bad at all. Fantastic graphics, decent gameplay, and nothing too terrible. When contrasted against the original game though? Yeah, it's awful. One of the weakest reimagining/remakes I've ever played.

1. The story makes no sense and has nothing to do with the original game. Ratchet and Clank become fast friends, completely eschewing the character development they had in the first game and how their friendship came to be. Ratchet also has his "modern" personality. That is, he's toothless and nowhere near as charismatic, funny, or witty as he was in the OG game.

2. The moody, atmospheric music of the original game was replaced by generic superhero shit. I cannot recall a SINGLE track from the 2016 game. The OG had some bangers such as Metropolis, Orxon, and the best of all; Gemlik Base.

3. The best levels weren't even included and a lot of the planets were significantly cut. No Orxon, Gorda City, Fort Krontos, and a few others. The first three are especially egregious because they're some of the most challenging, well made, and fun levels in the original. That they didn't add them is a travesty.

4. The game is also much, much easier and feels like some Pixar shit to be played by the whole family. No challenge whatsoever. Braindead platforming and you don't need to use your head and assess the situation before jumping in to the fights in the later levels. As I mentioned in the other thread, it's very easy to get killed if you just blindly rush in. Enemies do ambush you and they're placed in a way that makes them a major hindrance at time and a few of them can quickly kill the player.

5. It's 30fps. Enough said. I recently replayed the 2002 game and tried to replay 2016 after, it feels like a slideshow. I think these games perfectly represent what Sony was in 2002 vs what Sony is now. The game has no bite, is safe, and scared of offending anyone. It tosses aside gameplay and feel in favor of visuals and cinematic flair. Same thing happened with GOW but at least, 2018 is an excellent game.

Overall, it's not terrible as a standalone title. If it were unrelated to the R&C series, it'd be a decent 6/10 game. As part of R&C though, it's a piece of crap. Still, as I said before, I blame Sony for that one. 10 months to develop a game in the modern era is completely ludicrous.
The difficulty is the biggest issue at least it’s 60fps on ps5
 

Three

Member
It's sitting at an 85/100 so I would say no it isn't that bad. I enjoyed both 2016 and Rift apart. I think 2016 is better than RA in terms of gameplay.
 
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