Hi everyone. As I post this, I do so with the Rift Apart critique ready. Seriously. It's finally done. Look forward to it this Monday. On the precipice of the release, however, I wanted to address something I should have months ago, at least on this platform. I did acknowledge this on Reddit before, but I want to make sure I properly bring light to it here as well. When I decided I wanted to return to KZfaq with these longer-form videos, one of my most major inspirations was TheGamingBritShow (TGBS), an exemplar of the essayistic style with which I wanted to work, and a creator who's said his fair piece on Ratchet & Clank. Upon deciding I was going to go through the entire Ratchet & Clank series in the run-up to Rift Apart, then, I knew I had to be careful in how I went about things so as to not act like a less-eloquent parrot. It was tricky, though, as I agree with so many of TGBS's critiques, and I wanted to touch on similar ground to establish points of contention I felt ran through to later games, points I was already planning on picking up in future videos. While I tried to keep my voice my own, I fell into an easy writer's trap, in that rewording various talking points and simply having the awareness of 'I should be doing my own thing' made me overlook how poor a job I was doing at differentiating myself from my inspiration, combined with a bit of rushing to try and get the entire subseries out before Rift Apart launched (which didn't happen anyway). The end result is that my Up your Arsenal critique plays like a Cliff Notes of TGBS's video, and more than a few moments in the other games' segments that feel ripped out of his other works. I want to make it clear: my intention was never to plagiarize TGBS. I simply did not do enough to distinguish myself from the work which inspired me, and I own that and apologize. I have since learned from these mistakes; in subsequent Ratchet critiques, I took substantially more care in differentiating my thoughts and style, and I will continue to do so regardless of what games I cover next. I sincerely apologize to both TGBS and you the audience, and I will strive to do better by all of you going forward. Again, I'm sorry, sorry for how it turned out, and for how long it took for me to confront it on this platform. I'm not trying to hide my mistakes, I'm trying to grow from them. See you Monday, and beyond.

The first one was always my favorite because it actually feels like an actual platformer. The games after it just feel like a shooter, with minimal platforming

I feel bad for Up Your Arsenal. It had a really rough development that's decently well documented and even some of the developers were convinced that they were putting out the worst Ratchet and Clank game, and frankly if it was releasing as its own game instead of coming off the success of the first two, then I doubt it would've succeeded. It's really emblematic of how the Future series and beyond has really just been coasting on brand recognition alone. At least Up Your Arsenal still does and says SOMETHING even if it's messy and falls short compared to the first two, like the attempt was clearly still there and it's still a far cry away from hashtag Gadgetron.

I suspect all the dislikes come from the misleading title

Up Your Arsenal used to be my favorite game, but when I heard people started criticizing it, I can finally see it

"The Ratchet and Clank PS2 Trilogy sucks" said literally nobody ever except Young Defiant

Honestly RaC 2 was the best for me But after replaying 1st game and it became my fav(Commando is my 2nd) I started to like it even more The ability to strafe is fun and all but this gets very repetitive(which is fine for most part) Upgrading weapons by using them is not a great move(bc of what you said) What I would change is this(there are couple of options) 1.I would make weapons getting upgraded but only by buying them for bolts and Titanium bolts like in RaC2 Titanium bolts in 1st and 2nd game were useful to find but after 3rd they are useless I would make that titanium bolts are giving you a much stronger upgrade so you are eager to find them 2. Make what deadlocked did (10lvls or more) Buying upgrades and combinre them with different weapons I would also add titanium bolts here(they would work similar to rac2 Also the final form of the weapons after they are maxed out. I would keep them but I would make that if you upgrade your weapon by 100% with buying and tutanium bolts,you get a final form as a bonus.

Ratchet 3 and Jak 3 share similarities that both have incredibly unfocused storylines, some refinement of mechanics over the second, and a later spin-off that focuses the story on one point and feels like a true sequel to the last game. Although, I still think Ratchet 3 is a fine game (it was one of my most played games on the PS2), but it definitely feels inferior compared to 2 when revisiting it.

Great video! subbed!

Better late than never finding this one. Great video!

Damn this game really takes me back to when I was a kid like when I see this I really feel like I'm at the house on a Saturday afternoon after just watching cartoons and then I boot up th PS2 and play for hours till night time

Came here expecting to hate the video, but that was quickly turned upside down. Glad i gave it a shot, agree with most things here, though going commando have and will prolly always be my fav r&c game

Great video! I don't agree with everything you said, but you had some good points. I look forward to your next analysis.

When I think of Ratchet & Clank 2, there are plenty more funny moments that come to my mind and "The computers are charging us " bit is not even one of the first ones. Of course there's "Just ask Billy" the slapstick moment in the beginning when Angela bumps her head on the open vault door still makes me laugh today, a simple slapstick moment that just works. I have no idea what the stalker girlfriend thing was about but I did laugh when Ratchet teased Clank about it during the prison break, just the way Clank looks at Ratchet like "shut the fuck up". I laughed when the Thugs for Less people arrested Ratchet "You're under arrest. Here watch this" You're right about the platforming though, other than the Joba dynamo section(which you only do once before they make a shortcut out of it), there aren't many platforming sections. There's planet Barlow, with its slingshot section. The planet with the giant robot boss fight has a platinum bolt with a dynamo platforming section, the desert mining planet has my favorite Therminator section, and I believe I named every platforming section of the game.

40:02 On UYA you can use the R1 button to shoot, you can jump while shooting and you tap "triangle" to quickly change your weapon. All those things that made the combat so easier were invented either on going comando or in RAC3

rac 1 combat isnt puzzle approach, it is just that because of limited combat design manuvers

Ngl the whole “I’m wasting exp by using my favorite weapon even though it’s fully upgraded “ has never really been a thing with me. If anything I have the exact opposite problem were if one of the upgraded weapons becomes too good and it sets an impossible standard of effectiveness for the rest of the weapons I won’t even buy most later weapons. Up your arsenal’s first gun at its final upgrade in particular comes to mind with how it’s charge shots allow you to move around in a circle and just destroy everything making it by far the strongest weapon at clearing crowds in a game where 90% of the weapons ( including the game’s ryno which it compares very favorably to the rynoicrator for a challenge mode only gun being compared to the starting gun). Nothing else competes barring vs bosses so i end up with like one gun for boss dps the deployables and that’s it for the guns I end up having and it’s not really fun using them for so long so up your arsenal honestly is below size matters for me because of that which is sad because i know I’d love it if the starting gun didn’t just invalidate most the other ones

After replaying the PS2 games and rift apart almost back to back I gotta say rift apart is perhaps the best Ratchet & Clank ever. This is a big achievement as usually new games of age old franchises don't get it right. Kingdom Hearts 3 is an example that comes to mind there.

We can actually analyze Ratchet's personality change with mbti. He's an ESTP who developeds his Fe and Ni. Basically being more emphatic and wary of the consequences of his actions

The first Ratchet is the best in every regard

do you prefer the ps3 version

Coming in to share my largely uninformed opinion about why the game started to decline in terms of edge: Insomniac got bigger, and so did the working staff on the game. Specifically, some time along the way the game stopped being outlined and largely written by the developers but instead by hired professionals on the part of Insomniac. This started with the third game, Up Your Arsenal, if I remember correctly-and that was the first sign of a marked decline in the game's original identity. Beyond the rush to get the game out the door in one functional piece, the overall story led a very paint-by-numbers premise: 'a mad scientist threatens to end the world as we know it, so the once-heroes assemble an unlikely super-squad of friends and bumbling allies to spearhead the charge against the mad scientist's army of goons and destroy the super-weapon'. Compared to Going Commando's 'a washed up has-been seeks to reclaim his glory by saving the galaxy from a crisis he manufactured, so the newest heroes in town must stop him' or the OG's 'a crazed and greedy chairman seeks to profit off the exploitation of the galaxy's resources towards a cataclysmic end, and a duo of unlikely and begrudging heroes have to save the day', it doesn't quite have the same bite. I really do think this is because the writing team didn't quite understand the premise of the earlier plots and instead stuck to a plot that, for the most part, worked. It was zany and made for an amazing villain presence in Dr. Nefarious, but the overall story lacked much emotion on the part of the player and felt more like watching an action sci-fi B-movie. That, of course, brings up the obvious contradiction in Ratchet: Deadlocked, and I can't say I have a definitive answer... but my thought is that it's mere coincidence. Much like how the commentary on celebrity status and showbiz in general is done in Up Your Arsenal, I think it was a product more of mere chance or of outside influence than a spark of genius from the writing staff. In the nitty-gritty, we still see elements of a rather overdone plot even by the time the game came out and a lack of impactful emotional moments. It's only in how Gleeman Vox (and to an extent, the Vox news crew) acts on-screen that makes up the elements of a decent commentary on TV sensationalism in all aspects as well as the core critique of consumerism and merchandising that's been mellowing in the bowl since the first game. The Future series presents inklings of a larger world beyond the heroes but doesn't do well to actually generate pervasive mystery or tell of deeper lore in any one point. It's universe-spanning ocean that's ankle-deep. While I enjoy the concept of making the Ratchet and Clank universe a bigger thing and as it is it makes an amazing playground for fanfiction, the original story suffers as a result and I think that was what the remake and Rift Apart were meant to fix... but Insomniac, well-intentioned as it is, isn't the same company. It hasn't been since they felt the need to completely overhaul the logo. It now lacks any sort of spice to it at all in order to make it as palatable as possible and... well, the ultimate end result of that is a saltine cracker. It's just another of Playstation's special series of interactive movies. It happened to God of War, it happened to Uncharted. Insomniac's Spider-Man as always been interactive movies if you'd ask me... it's tragic, but at least the original Ratchet and Clank games are still there.

The camera in this game is about the worst crap I have ever seen! Its the hardest enemy in the game and nothing else will get you killed nearly as often as the camera.

A true critique

When is the next video? Thanks

23:46 you wouldn’t complain about all the weapons not having specific applications or variant’s in a Doom game or an FPS. They’re all useful and fun to use, no need to make them some kind of strange gimmick.

Whens the next episode?

I personally didn’t enjoy 2 for some reason I don’t know what it was. Slow weapon level up, annoying ship mini games , bad aiming mechanics , some bullet spongy bosses, terrible story , too much backtracking in order to progress forward

21:49 He does change face, all the PS2 games do that when you pull out certain guns, he still does make that devilish grin in the sequels, they balanced his character to be aggressive without pushin' it too far which always worked well with the edgy tone of those games.

Why exactly does this video have so many dislikes? Great channel in my opinion.

they still look great, but i could never get into this series...the story didnt click with me. i always prefer jak and dexter and sly.

You copied what gamingbrit said word for word

baffon scrambling 40 minutes about how rac 1 combat is better than 2