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Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart |OT| Next-gen just got riveting....

GymWolf

Member
You know I am not a fan of wasting precious GPU resources on RT stuff. I am perfectly fine with Forza Horizon 5 not using RT and focusing on increasing graphical fidelity instead. I dont know if you saw my posts in Metro Exodus threads but sub 1080p just to do RT GI in a last gen game is a gigantic waste of GPU flops.

However, there are times where ray traced reflections add depth to an image. To me, it's no different than having dozens of NPCs and extra detail on screen. It just livens up the image. I typically dont even pay attention to the reflections and view them up close like Alex does. I just take in the atmosphere like I usually do for good looking games without reflections. Spiderman Miles had a lot of indoor areas that had reflective surfaces and it was incredible fighting in those areas and seeing how dynamic the environment felt despite the lack of destruction.

And that dynamism is what I want out of next gen the most. I dont care if its destruction or how NPCs realistically react or weather or lighting shifting, I want games to feel alive, and RT reflections help make that happen in ways screenspace reflections just cant.

But I will concede they are not needed in every game. Forza Horizon and Horizon Forbidden West look just fine without it. Forza is doing fully dynamic lighting without needing to do RT GI. RT is just a means to an end and I am fine with games that use their GPU power elsewhere.
I guess that it's a matter of taste.

I was super ok with spidey at 60 frame with fake reflections because the action was so acrobatic and fast paced that i personally didn't notice the fakeness.

Kinda the same with ratchet but i left the rtx on in some more slower areas or during exploration (still, didn't cared much tbh)
 
Oh you know what...I totally spaced checking the time on PSN. I know that PSN tracks ALL time you have the game up and running. So if you're sitting at the menu for an hour....it still registers that hour. It' s the total time that application/game is open on your console.

Thats really stupid. The tracking is pointless then.
 
I just start the game today. It look amazing and plkay really well at 60fps rt mode. However, i felt that they are sort of dishonest about the portal/rift. The only part where the rift look super amazing is during the setpiece scene; and those are not playable section, they are effectively same as cgi/cutscene with in game graphic etc. I find it hard to believe it can only be done on ps5 super fast ssd. The portal that appear during normal game play is no different from like portal from Portal.
 

LostDonkey

Member
Finished the game recently. Great fun, weapons are very funny, almost reminds me of Sunset Overdrive in some cases, more than the first game.

Visually fantastic, played through in fidelity mode and never missed a beat even in the heaviest scenes.

Didn't enjoy the virus or clank missions/puzzles, think there was no need for them other than filler and they broke the flow of the game up too much.

Solid 7/10 from me.
 

makaveli60

Member
I just start the game today. It look amazing and plkay really well at 60fps rt mode. However, i felt that they are sort of dishonest about the portal/rift. The only part where the rift look super amazing is during the setpiece scene; and those are not playable section, they are effectively same as cgi/cutscene with in game graphic etc. I find it hard to believe it can only be done on ps5 super fast ssd. The portal that appear during normal game play is no different from like portal from Portal.
You will see a couple of levels later that they were not dishonest at all. This game is a proper nextgen game that could not run on last gen machines. Unlike DS, that could with some downgrades like resolution.
 
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Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
I’m blown away here. One of the best looking and best designed games I’ve ever seen. I’m playing with my kids and for them it’s like watching an animated movie since there is Swedish voice acting 👌

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That cablecover position triggers me so bad.

also agreed on the portal stuff.
It does look rather underwhelming
 
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Con-Z-epT

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
My beef is they claim it can only be done with sony ultra fast ssd.
XSX could also do this that is for sure. Maybe it would take 0.3sec longer or would be the same with proper optimization.

Same goes for a PC with corresponding hardware.

I think the whole marketing speech for this is more a comparison to the last generation of consoles and not to compare the XSX for example.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I just start the game today. It look amazing and plkay really well at 60fps rt mode. However, i felt that they are sort of dishonest about the portal/rift. The only part where the rift look super amazing is during the setpiece scene; and those are not playable section, they are effectively same as cgi/cutscene with in game graphic etc. I find it hard to believe it can only be done on ps5 super fast ssd. The portal that appear during normal game play is no different from like portal from Portal.
keep playing. there are several boss fights where they teleport you from one world to another. they mentioned that these type of portals will be limited to setpieces way back when the game was first shown last year. so if anything they were too honest.

there are also a couple of levels where they load new levels in and out at a press of a button.
 

bender

What time is it?
keep playing. there are several boss fights where they teleport you from one world to another. they mentioned that these type of portals will be limited to setpieces way back when the game was first shown last year. so if anything they were too honest.

there are also a couple of levels where they load new levels in and out at a press of a button.

The portal mechanic is so neat and it is disappointing it was used so sparingly. I know R&C has never been hugely focused on puzzles, but imagine the possibilities. Using it mostly for pocket puzzles and quick warp points in combat arenas makes it seem half baked, especially when you compare it to the few set pieces that make you think "what if".
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Ok guys, I'm trying to finish up all collectibles before doing the final mission. I know I'm missing a gold bolt from the underwater section of Cordelion, but how the hell do I get back there? To that specific part of the level I mean. I just can't figure it out.

Edit: I figured it out, you have to warp from the ship. This level is really poorly designed IMO, given that you can't really go through it a second time
 
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RoadHazard

Gold Member
I just start the game today. It look amazing and plkay really well at 60fps rt mode. However, i felt that they are sort of dishonest about the portal/rift. The only part where the rift look super amazing is during the setpiece scene; and those are not playable section, they are effectively same as cgi/cutscene with in game graphic etc. I find it hard to believe it can only be done on ps5 super fast ssd. The portal that appear during normal game play is no different from like portal from Portal.

Except it lets you walk through into a completely separate level, not just to another part of the same level. It's pretty different.
 
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Con-Z-epT

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
Ok guys, I'm trying to finish up all collectibles before doing the final mission. I know I'm missing a gold bolt from the underwater section of Cordelion, but how the hell do I get back there? To that specific part of the level I mean. I just can't figure it out.
Just play the level again i guess?

 

Con-Z-epT

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
Nope, you can't. That's what I was trying to do, but the warp crystals etc don't exist the second time through. Turns out you have to warp from the ship.
I mean the level is not exactly the same anymore but you can still reach all the part you need to find the gold bolts.
 

Kilau

Gold Member
Not just by going through it, no. It's impossible. You have to use the warp pad by the ship, which is what I was missing.
There is at least one crystal outside still you can jump to by the gold bolt. You can ride the elevator down and do the level like before with obvious changes.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
There is at least one crystal outside still you can jump to by the gold bolt. You can ride the elevator down and do the level like before with obvious changes.

Again, no. You can't get through the level again this way. Believe me, this is exactly what I tried. You can go down the elevator and do that part of the level, but then you just reach a dead end with no way to progress any further. There are no warp crystals to get out of there like there are the first time you go through it.

This. No need to use the warp pad RoadHazard RoadHazard

Incorrect.
 
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Shmunter

Member
Samsung and LG seem like providing garbage IQ in game mode then. Sony TV's tend to go more towards IQ in gaming with slightly higher input lag.
True. Had Sony, got Samsung, noped the hellout of there back to Sony. There is no difference in Sony Game Vs Movie apart from not being able to enable motion interpolation junk.
 

FunkMiller

Member
What an absolutely brilliant game. Thoroughly enjoyable all the way through, with a decent story, fantastic level design and some great character work.

Is it a massive leap forward in terms of gameplay and innovation? Probably not. But as an example of what the Ps5 can achieve in its infancy, it’s a roaring success.

Huge fun that left a smile on my face.

9/10.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
There's the platinum.

A fun game that looks absolutely amazing and does some super cool things with the fast loading etc - the first game I've played on PS5 that truly feels next-gen - but in the end it's another R&C. It won't be making any GOTY lists for me, but it was one hell of a visual spectacle.

8/10
 
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Kuranghi

Member
I'm in the underground lab and its been good so far, the graphics are excellent and HDR is fantastic but its not nearly as good as I hoped tbh, but I think its just because I've played every other Ratchet game so its a bit tired gameplay wise for me. I find the puzzles brain-dead easy and the challenge in general is really not there to me, I normally play games on Normal but I had to bump it to the highest difficulty to make it not too easy.

I'm at the bit with the creature ("Juice"?) and its really bizarre, I went in a room and no one said anything and there was no cutscene and I was smashing some stuff and I realise the monster is right there in the room, skulking around, but if I get detected it just kind of wanders over to me, it was like some scripting was broken it was just so underwhelming :lollipop_sad_relieved:

I'm not really in a good place mentally right now so I'm just being too cynical, but I'm finding this quite disappointing compared to the PS2 and PS3 games. Don't want to keep being so negative on it so I'll get back and finish it now but exploration is really rubbish too, no challenge in finding anything really, I don't know why I'm so down on it because if I think back to the PS2/PS3 games its not like they are that much more complex, but something is missing/different and its not drawing me in gameplay wise.

:pie_thinking: I love the graphics, the animations, the environments, the new enemy designs and most of the new weapons are great, the PS5-powa stuff is really cool but its similar to a feeling I get in 3D Super Mario games where it shows you an idea and then doubles down on it and I often want it to "triple-down" to give me a bit more challenge before moving on but it doesn't, I know thats because of the target audience and they fear bloat but in R&C:RA I feel like everything doesn't even go to step two in terms of complexity its just stuck on the "level-one" part of each puzzle/exploratory effort.

Medium sadness on this one, but as I say I need to finish it and come back with more thoughts.

Here are my final critical thoughts on the games, mostly the stuff I don't like :rolleyes::

The variety of minibosses is rubbish yeah and there are many other issues when compared to older Ratchet games but I've never been too critical on these games as long as I'm having fun, but there is one thing about this game that really sapped my enjoyment of it:

The puzzles are so deconstructed/simplified they basically solve themselves via process of elimination, I feel like they are trying really hard to copy Nintendo's platformer philosophy of "don't overcomplicate things" but while Nintendo takes concepts to "level 2" before moving on to something else (I'm thinking of the rocket mini stages in Super Mario Odyssey as an example), stopping before upping the complexity to a point which could frustrate more casual gamers Insomniac seem to just be stopping at "level 1" complexity and it constantly makes me go "oh thats it done then?".

The pocket dimensions and just general placement of gold bolts in this one were bordering on rote for me most of the time, its not as bad but similar in Miles Morales imo. It feels like they would rather just remove it altogether because their heart isn't in making simple but satisfying puzzles and they put it in to pad it out/they think its expected. With 3D Mario most of the time the solution is obvious but executing it is the challenging part, and I think thats makes for a good puzzle design just like what Ratchet is doing but Mario has this miniscule extra level of challenge that makes it so much better for me personally.

Summary

My feelings about it are super mixed, on one hand I find the graphics & animation and a few cinematic moments really amazing, top tier work, but other cinematic moments were almost shite, like they had an intern do that part or they just had to time to bring it up to the same level as the rest of the game. The clank puzzles are brain-dead compared to A Crack in Time and the exploration/gold bolt placement is 98% rubbish.

The reuse of minibosses is crap and I found the difficulty in general really bizarre, certain enemies died really easily to L5 weapons (even without all raritanium upgrades) so I kept turning it up until I got to a point where it felt more challenging but then I would sometimes get stunlocked and killed in 2-3 seconds or certain enemies had what felt like way more health than the rest of them and werent fun to fight without abusing the helper weapons like Mr. Fungi and the Topiary Sprinkler.

On the other hand the series has always had that kind of difficulty where as long as you keep moving, manage the crowd and ocasionally dodge you'll be fine, enemies die quite easily but there are a lot of them so its hectic at times. Its always lacked high-skill based play and is more about just keeping fire up and combining the helper weapons with the guns, but this entry did make fighting medium sized enemies more fun/involved, so thats good.

Oh I almost forgot, one of the worst things in the game that really brought it down for me is how the scripted dialogue lines trigger and the audio design outside of the sound effects/world sounds, those are fantastic. I know the game has spawning and clipping bugs galore but those were minor niggles compared to the game repeating dialogue over and over (I'm not talking about when you respawn and it repeats), playing the dialogue early when it makes no sense for the situation and just generally how hard the dialogue was to hear during firefights, I missed so much of that and only turning the whole audio presentation up on my receiver would make it audible enough in those situations, but that makes the already too loud in the mix gun noises and "portal grappling" deafeningly loud. I don't think these things are bugs, its just rubbish work.

They sometimes made the same joke three (3) times in a row within 20 seconds and it wasn't funny the first time so that grated as well, here I mean specifically the "bone-goons" part near the end.

The jokes were pretty good at times but mostly not even as good as the decent parts of the old games, select jokes were great though and had me laugh out loud. The writing/cutscenes were sometimes really weird, like the bit with the Fixer robot, I can't tell if its just bad writing made to fit the context of the action/situation afterwards or if its just an intensifying of the cloying route they started down with Ratchet 2016, even when I've set up my expectations to "this is a kids game/this will be cheesey as hell" I still find myself groaning and rolling my eyes. Its like they have a list of issues they want to put in the narrative but they spent nine (9) weeks making the list but only nine (9) hours writing the actual dialogue/script.

I have a feeling we'll find out this had a rushed development later down the line and they cut a lot of content to get it out. So much of it is brilliant but then an equally large part feels like its been done by the B squad. I really wasn't trying to be super critical when I played it either, I literally went in with "this will be a fun time where I dont need to think too much, with regards to gameplay, plot and characters" and I'm still really disappointed compared to A Crack in Time.

The story and characters just don't have time to breathe and you can't get to know them so I ended up not caring about them at all. Miles Morales has many similar problems to this game for me but I still felt the production values were consistently higher in MM and it felt way more "epic" than RA. I don't know how you can fail to make a game with limitless possibilities (from the different dimensions being mixed aspect) so not epic tbh, it was quite disappointing in that regard.

Wow, I'm sure no one is going to read all this but I had to get it out since no one offline would want to hear it :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
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Kilau

Gold Member
Again, no. You can't get through the level again this way. Believe me, this is exactly what I tried. You can go down the elevator and do that part of the level, but then you just reach a dead end with no way to progress any further. There are no warp crystals to get out of there like there are the first time you go through it.



Incorrect.
I don’t know what to tell you but I did it. I missed the gold bolt and the spy bot down there first time and went back through the level, under water part too, everything. There are crystals in the lab to switch back and forth. I did use the warp to ship when I got what I needed and left.
 

Shakka43

Member
I don’t know what to tell you but I did it. I missed the gold bolt and the spy bot down there first time and went back through the level, under water part too, everything. There are crystals in the lab to switch back and forth. I did use the warp to ship when I got what I needed and left.
You are correct, I went to get the gold bolt back after I had finished this planet too.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
I don’t know what to tell you but I did it. I missed the gold bolt and the spy bot down there first time and went back through the level, under water part too, everything. There are crystals in the lab to switch back and forth. I did use the warp to ship when I got what I needed and left.

There literally were not any crystals down in the lab for me. Very weird then!
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
The portal mechanic is so neat and it is disappointing it was used so sparingly. I know R&C has never been hugely focused on puzzles, but imagine the possibilities. Using it mostly for pocket puzzles and quick warp points in combat arenas makes it seem half baked, especially when you compare it to the few set pieces that make you think "what if".
Yep. It's ultimately disappointing despite being a truly next gen mechanic. I get that this is a launch title, but they definitely could've done more. And not just with the portal mechanic. I dont see this being talked ahout in GOTY conversations and while not every game needs to be a GOTY contender, I think Insomniac needs to treat Ratchet like they do Spiderman. It just needed more of everything, more side missions, more setpieces, more areas to explore, more challenges, more abilities, and dare I say more heart. I remember watching the ending of the first Spiderman game and thinking this has a better ending than any spiderman movie. Ratchet doesnt even come close to that.

Challenge mode is basically NG+ with a bolt xp multiplier that is a gimmick rather than an actual mechanic. Sony games have been leaning into RPG mechanics for a while now with GoW, GoT, and Horizon letting you min max your armor and equipment, and while ratchet doesnt need to have those RPG mechanics, there needed to be something here to give it a bit more depth. RE8 has a shorter roughly 9-10 hour campaign and yet mercenaries mode is very popular on youtube with several gaming channels dedicating weeks to covering it. That's an example of a mode providing depth without ape-ing current RPG trends.

P.S I hated making this post because i really do love the game. I love that insomniac is so productive, but you can see pumping out games so fast comes at a cost. It definitely has that what could've been feel to it.
 
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bender

What time is it?
P.S I hated making this post because i really do love the game. I love that insomniac is so productive, but you can see pumping out games so fast comes at a cost. It definitely has that what could've been feel to it.

Great post. I enjoyed every second of Rift Apart. I wish Sony had more games that were as light hearted.

The mechanic might just be a bad fit for the design goals of R&C which has always been a pretty straight forward game. For the Golden Bolts, I wish they would have ripped off the secret Moons in Mario Odyssey via the painting level warps.
 
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Getting the plat. What an absolute joy. I rank it above the first spiderman and miles morales. This feels like the ratchet and clank game insomniac always wanted to make in the ps2 era. 10/10
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
New update for the game targeting 40fps in fidelity mode on a 120HZ displays.
Love it. Got a 120 hz display. I tried Cyberpunk at 40-45 fps and it felt way smoother compared to 30 fps. I chalked it up to VRR but PS5 doesnt support VRR. Apparently 40 hz really works well with 120 hz displays for some reason.
 

Con-Z-epT

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!

Version 1.002 Release Notes​


New Features
  • Added new stickers
  • Added the ability to disable the Phantom Dash VFX
  • Added the ability to disable the Phantom Dash VFX in Photo Mode
  • Added the ability to toggle armor on or off while in Photo Mode
  • Added color backgrounds to Photo Mode
  • Added 120 Hz Display Mode, which reduces input latency when using a compatible display. In this mode, the frame rate target for the Fidelity graphics mode increases to 40 frames per second
  • Added "Skip Cutscenes" as bindable option for the D-pad
  • Added the option to disable the level up message and slowdown
General Fixes & Polish
  • Addressed an issue where a Glitch challenge could be played twice resulting in players being unable to complete one later
  • Addressed an issue where white cubes could appear in the opening cinematic
  • Addressed an issue where POIs could disappear.
  • Addressed an issue where characters could appear blurry in Photo Mode when the camera is very close.
  • Addressed an issue where the game could freeze during the grind rail tutorial.
  • Addressed an issue where killing Grunthors with Trudi would not count towards the Extinction Event Trophy
  • Addressed an issue where some Grunthors would not count towards the Extinction Event Trophy
  • Addressed an issue where the weapon wheel UI could become stuck on the screen
  • Addressed an issue where deployable weapons would stop attack pixelized enemies.
  • Addressed an issue where the RYNO would appear to not damage enemies.
  • Addressed an issue where the Weapon Vendor text was illegible in Retro Mode.
  • Addressed an issue where the camera could become stuck on Blizar
  • Addressed an issue where multiple environmental objects would not load on Cordelion
  • Addressed an issue where the player could become stuck after completing the Clank puzzle on Sargasso
  • Addressed an issue where some Zurpstones would not longer appear on the map if the player leaves the planet.
  • Addressed an issue where Rivet would fall forever after respawning on Blizon
  • Addressed an issue where Clank lines would play incorrectly while at Zurkies
  • Addressed an issue where Goons could T-pose while dying
  • Addressed an issue where a section of rail would not spawn after respawning on Blizar
  • Addressed an issue where the game would appear very dark if Photo Mode was activated very quickly
  • Addressed an issue where some jumps would not be possible if the Glide Toggle was enabled
  • Addressed an issue where the player could fall endlessly during the Nefarious fight
  • Addressed an issue where changing the Graphics Mode setting while starting a Challenge Mode game would start a normal game instead
  • Addressed an issue where glove weapons would appear incorrectly in Photo Mode
  • Addressed an issue where certain Photo Mode filters could remove anti-aliasing in the main game
  • Improved stability
  • Various additional fixes and improvements
 
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