Presentation
Since its beginnings, Ratchet & Clank has rested on a rather immediate pleasure: exploring colorful planets with an arsenal strange enough to turn every encounter into a little experience. Rift Apart keeps that formula while using the PlayStation 5 technology to change the speed at which the game can switch place, situation, and sometimes reality.
Dimensional rifts are at the center of this evolution. Some allow instantly pulling the character toward another point in combat, while others serve to chain several environments without interrupting the action. A few planets even directly exploit superimposed realities, giving the technology a function that goes beyond mere graphical improvement.
This new scale also introduces Rivet, a Lombax from a dimension dominated by Emperor Nefarious. Her story echoes Ratchet's without simply replicating it, notably through her relationship with Kit. The two duos let the story address trust and the fear of hurting others while staying in the light tone of the series.
The heart of the game nevertheless remains familiar. Platforming, exploration, and third-person combat chain together around a deliberately extravagant arsenal. Weapons grow in power as they are used and often have a behavior unusual enough to encourage regularly changing approach.
Rift Apart therefore does not try to reinvent Ratchet & Clank. It rather shows what this formula can become when certain technical obstacles stop slowing down its staging and pace.
Key Takeaways
- Rift Apart uses dimensions as a real movement and staging mechanic, not only as a narrative element.
- Rivet becomes one of the main playable characters, with her own reality and a particular relationship with Kit.
- The arsenal remains at the heart of the experience, with weapons that mix efficiency and absurdity.
- The game preserves the traditional action-platformer structure of the series, despite its technical ambition.
- PS5 technology directly serves certain transitions and environment changes, particularly thanks to fast world loading.
- The adventure stays accessible, without turning its technological showcase into an experience reserved for series veterans.
PANACHES Review
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart impresses above all by the speed with which it can change its mind.
A world can disappear to make way for another, a rift can instantly change the character's position, and a sequence can chain several environments without that little break that would once have reminded the player that the console had to prepare the next scene.
This fluidity gave very concrete form in 2021 to the still abstract promises of the new generation.
Insomniac nevertheless stays rather wise in its use of this power. Not all rifts upend the game design and some of them mainly serve spectacle or movement. Behind the demonstration remains a very recognizable Ratchet & Clank game.
That is probably the right call.
The arsenal keeps the absurdity that keeps the series from looking like a traditional shooter. A weapon can be effective without needing to look credible, and discovering what it does is sometimes as fun as actually using it.
Rivet works according to the same logic of continuity. She brings enough personality not to seem like simply Ratchet in another dimension, without forcing the game to abandon everything that made its historic duo work.
The story stays light and some directions are easy to anticipate, but this simplicity fits the project rather well. Rift Apart does not need to turn Ratchet & Clank into something else to justify its existence.
Its success rather comes from its ability to use a new technology without letting that technology become the game's true hero.
The dimensions, the SSD, and the staging impress. But a few hours later, what you still remember are the planets, Rivet, the absurd weapons, and this feeling that the game can change scenery almost as quickly as it changes jokes.
Good to Know
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was released on June 11, 2021 on PlayStation 5.
- The game is developed by Insomniac Games.
- Rivet is a Lombax from a parallel dimension and is one of the main new playable characters.
- Rift Apart is a solo adventure and remains accessible to players unfamiliar with the whole series.
- The PS5's SSD plays an important role in the fast transitions between environments and dimensions.
- A PC version, developed with Nixxes Software, was released in July 2023.
