/v/ - Video Games

Deadlock is very different from the previous games, but is definitely worth playing. It's not as edgy as it seems as a glance.

The later games are easily forgotten in both tone and game mechanics.

Deadlocked was great, don't let other people fool you. Unfortunately it doesn't have the amazing MP it once had.

I thought Future and A Crack In Time were good gameplay wise. Crack has really fun time puzzles.

Of course my ranking would be UYA > GC > 1.

Deadlocked is forgettable but acceptable

>>16115035

I don't feel UYA sucks ass but it has that "focus test" stench and reused MP assets in SP so there's obviously some corporate decision that made the game worse than it could have been.

ToD is not like UYA but the switch to PS3 wasn't great on the series as it suffers from fairly huge framerate issues, the game isn't as great as GC but it does have it's moments, it has that "new team tries to ape the old style but doesn't quite get it" feel

Crack in Time has those puzzles which are pretty neat but again it has that UYA feel rearing it's head

>>16115095

>>16115098

decent portable games of ratchet and clank but I always feel there's something missing but I can't quite pinpoint it.

>>16115035

If you disliked the random segments the third game had, play deadlocked for maximum action and EDGE

>>16115136

>Deadlocked

>Maximum edge

It's just a black paint coat and some dark music over your usual R&C, it's not fucking Shadow the edgehog.

I do agree for the action part though.

Deadlocked/Gladiator takes what UYA wanted with the focus on combat and goes wild with it. Level design is fairly linear and isn't much to talk about, but the combat is excellent and outside of the B9 Obliterator every weapon is a joy to use. It's a shame that a few tank the framerate like the flail.

>>16115410

>Dark music

You mispelled sick beats

>>16115171

Kind of shame they had to change "4-Play" to "All 4 One."

>R&C 1 is a great start. More platforming focus and a better story than most of the franchise.

>Going Commando expands greatly, introducing the EXP system, Challenge Mode, and more control options. My only "complaint" would be that it moves a little more toward shooting than platforming, and I personally prefer platforming. But this game hits a good balance. It also has really good minigame type challenges, like 3D spaceship shooter levels that do a good job of having you freely fly in space, where no direction is "up." There's also some hoverbike levels that do a pretty good job at feeling like Podracer or something.

>Up Your Arsenal tacked on a multiplayer mode which meant having to tip the balance toward shooting rather than platforming. It also means the game ends up being shorter, with simpler levels, including a few levels that are just multiplayer maps and not nearly as fun as properly designed single player levels. The EXP system is expanded, with each weapon leveling up multiple times rather than just once, but honestly it doesn't make a big difference.

>Deadlocked is a spinoff meant to be a shooter with light platforming elements rather than a platformer/shooter. Multiplayer is again a focus. That said, at least here it commits fully to what it wants to do, and it's good at it. Don't get me wrong, the single player is still great. The weapon system is expanded with weapon mods, which would come back in some later games. Overall I wouldn't say it's as good as the main games, but it's the best spinoff, and the one that plays closest to the main games.

>Size Matters is Ratchet on PSP. Want Ratchet but handheld? Here it is. As expected on a handheld at the time, it's short and not quite as complex as the other games up to this point, but for a relatively early PSP title, it was very impressive. Remember that seeing 3D games on a handheld was still a very big deal. This does feel very much like Ratchet, just smaller.

>Secret Agent Clank has you play as Clank and has light stealth elements, but really it plays pretty much the same as the rest of the series. That said, it's vastly expanded over Size Matters and kind of makes Size Matters feel like a demo by comparison. It's not nearly as hampered by being handheld, but it's not the best in the series either. It's a good entry in the series.

>Tools of Destruction is the first PS3 game. It ditches the attempts at multiplayer and is again more focused like Going Commando was, but with a lot of expansion to make it feel "next gen." The graphics are great, the worlds are big. The story starts trying to build a larger multi-game arc here, and some people complain about that. I don't. I like it. I like the stories from the old games too, but it's all good.

>Quest for Booty is really not a full game. It's standalone DLC for Tools of Destruction. It plays like that game, and it's fun, but it's super short. It would have benefited immensely from Challenge Mode and the easy to implement extra content that comes with this (more weapon upgrading and such). This is the only game other than the first to lack this. It's an early example of DLC, let alone standalone DLC. Luckily you should be able to find it cheap. Later budget entry Into the Nexus came with a code for this for free. It was only released on disc in Europe, so I imported that for cheap. It was like $15 when new, so it's pretty cheap now. Doesn't even really count as a real game though.

>A Crack in Time is a main entry and is what you've come to expect from those now. The graphics have a cel-shaded look sorta, which some people like, but I kind of prefer the more pixar-esque Tools of Destruction look. You actually fly from planet to planet now, exploring space and finding not just major planets with full levels, but smaller ones with just small challenges or collectables. And you get to listen to the radio while you do it, like Grand Theft Auto. That's fun. However, it always bugged me that you only fly on a flat plane, instead of flying in 3D like the spaceship levels in Going Commando. Anyway a lot of people seem to say this is their favorite, or at least say it's better than Tools of Destruction. I like Tools of Destruction better, but this is still really good. Oh yeah, the Clank levels in this are the best in the series and I'd happily play a whole game of them.

>The Ratchet & Clank comic takes place here. It's written by the guy who writes the game and it's actually pretty good. It ends up being a prequel to the next game, explaining stuff that otherwise goes unexplained, but each can be enjoyed by itself if you don't know the other exists. Just mentioning it here since it's canon and actually adds a lot to the next story.

>All 4 One is a multiplayer spinoff. But rather than being a third person shooter like Deadlocked, it's made for four player co-op one-screen action. It's alright if you have people to play through it with you. Surprisingly, the single player does a pretty good job at making it feel like the main series without actually changing the gameplay much. But with fewer people, when the camera follows just you like normal, and your AI partner is just Clank, it feels kinda close to the main games. Not quite the same though. And not quite as good. I might say it's the worst in the franchise up to this point, but it's alright.

>Full Frontal Assault is a tower defense spinoff. It plays like the regular games, but all the levels are more like multiplayer arenas, kind of like Deadlocked, and you're always defending towers and setting up defenses. It was released as a budget title, cheap even when it was new, and came with codes for the Vita version of the game, and the PS3 version of Deadlocked, which made it a good deal, even though it's short and probably tied with All 4 One for worst game. I mean it's still alright, as long as you don't go in expecting a regular entry.

>Into the Nexus was again a budget title, but plays like the main series, and is much longer than Quest for Booty, which you could be forgiven for assuming this is going to be like. Really, it's the last game before the movie and reboot, and, a little subtly, tries to serve as a finale. It tries to wrap up some plot points, but doesn't get to all of them. Still, the last level really puts a nice cap on the series. This feels like one of the main entries, and a good one at that, but it's just a little bit shorter than them. But it was sold for cheap even when new, so it's okay.

>The Movie is among the best video game movies out there. Unfortunately that's not saying much. It ends up feeling incredibly generic, which is unfortunate because the story it's adapting, from the first game, has legitimate twists and characterizations that would worked well in the movie and not felt generic, but they ditched those aspects. That said, it's not awful, it's just incredibly forgettable.

>The 2016 remake is a remake of the first game. It's a combination of levels straight from the first game, sometimes expanded, as well as new levels. Unfortunately, it doesn't include all the levels from the first game, and the ones it omits I'd say are some of the best. The new levels that replace them are mostly boring hallway shooter levels. General improvements from the sequels, such as the controls and EXP system, are included, but I wouldn't say it makes up for the missing levels. The story adapts the movie so it's not as good as the original game's story. That said, the framing device is brilliant and makes me forgive the game a little. Qwark, from the main universe, saw the movie and claims that it's inaccurate, so he tells the "real" story. Of course Qwark is a massive bullshitter, so his version isn't accurate either. If you've played all the other games in order, it will hopefully have been long enough since the first game that you don't feel how this is a downgrade. Otherwise it's okay. It's some new Ratchet content that does play the same as before. Also, it's filled with collectable call backs to previous games. That's kinda fun. The Insomniac Museum is shit, though, and I don't get why they even brought it back if they were going to make it so crappy compared to the old ones.

GC=ToD>1>ACiT>UYA=ItN>DL>SAC>SM>2016>A4O>FFA>QfB

>>16115700

The titles of the individual issues of the comic are all rejected titles for the game. So things like 4-Play, Friends with Benefits, etc. The comic is better than the movie.

>>16116104

Cool, from what I had gathered the only games I really had hopes for were tod and cit anyway. Tod being similar to gc is promising.

Up Your Arsenal is pretty sloppy. The multiplayer gave a lot of problems for the developers and they wound up reusing a lot of that content for the single player and it goes without saying the games are a lot better with the two branch level design it's known for with side challenges and secrets and a strong series of shooting and platforming challenges along the way.

>>16115035

hm; i haven't played UYA since i 100%ed it years ago

maybe i should go back and give it another try; it did feel largely the same as going commando did, and it felt to me like more going commando, except i liked the whip

>>16119787

The other anon saying they used multi-player arenas for some levels explains a lot. There's a lot of levels that just feel completely disjointed where you just show up and go forward until the end without ever really understanding why. The moon level gave that feeling the most. There's also multiple planets where it's just a series of arena style missions you select from a menu rather than an actual level.

There's a few good levels but most of this game just screams cash grab to me.

>>16115052

Deadlock was different from a gameplay perspective but much closer to the original narrative than the third game, and even the second. The first game was largely a satire of corporate greed and consumerism, where the later games in the series become exactly what the first one was making fun of to begin with. I'll take the arena-based gameplay with the gaudy humor and cheesy writing over the might-as-well-be-arena-based gameplay and terrible humor of the later installments any day.

>>16115035

The series gets worse after the PS2 games OP

Okay I'm back after playing a good bit of Tools of Destruction. I'm not a big fan of the new art style but it's not terrible. It's got that thing where I get dizzy from playing it that some games give me but I've mostly adjusted to it after a few hours. I think the game feels a lot like UYA but with better levels. It's definitely better than UYA but still not as good as GC. I'd also rate it above the original game.

GC > ToD > 1 > UYA

>>16115035

The series doesn't get better or worse with the PS3 games, it just gets different.

A Crack In Time is my all-time favorite R&C game.

>>16123315

How about actually playing games for yourself instead of getting your opinions fed to you by e-celebs?

>>16124900

i forget which ratchet and clank game but they do become 30fps which makes the game half as good

>>16119999

>muh story

Don't get me wrong, the story was always a fun part of these games, but it's not enough to make me say I prefer the one with different gameplay. Also, Going Commando has corporate satire front and center, just about as much as the first game.

People get triggered over the PS3 games trying to do more lore stuff, but I don't mind. It still keeps the humor, but yes perhaps a little de-emphasized. Not by much, if anything. That said, I don't think they actually had better stories, either. I still say the first two games did have the best stories. Especially since the first game is the only one where Ratchet has an actual personality. In all the other's he's literally a professional superhero, and his personality reflects that. The second has some pretty good twists and turns in the plot, though, so that makes up for the more shallow characterization.

Latchet and Crank? Shitty games with ugly Western Character designs and guns.

I'm seeing talk of multiplayer. Did the ps2 have multiplayer? I didn't have internet as a child.

>>16132100

R&C 3 had multiplayer, the ps2 definitely had multiplayer.

>>16132100

Deadlocked and Up Your Arsenal had multiplayer, in fact UYA at times feels like the singleplayer was dialed back for the multiplayer component, since a lot of the levels feel like, or are, multiplayer maps.

>>16132015

Let's face it, story wise Going Commando is king by virtue of BIG LOMBAX TITTIES

>R&C1

Fun game, feels a lot like a Spyro game but with more linear levels and weapon variety.

>GC

Great game with a great mix of platforming and shooting, doing it far better than any game before (and arguably since), probably the best in the series although there are some annoying difficulty spikes.

>UYA

Great controls and weapons are still fun to use, but the level design is pretty weak and linear compared to the others. Had some good multiplayer though.

>Deadlocked

Basically becomes a third person shooter with platforming elements, but it's by no means a bad thing because the levels are all fun and well-paced compared to UYA, and it might have been the best online multiplayer game on the PS2 besides SOCOM 2, and it was even the basis for Resistance: FOM's great multiplayer. Not to mention it has good couch co-op but the framerate takes a hit from it.

>SM and SAC

Fun little games that feel a bit more like R&C1 and GC, but their level design is pretty basic and the pacing isn't as fun and bombastic as the PS2 games.

>ToD, QfB, and ACiT

They're generally better than UYA, but not as good as the first two games. Worth checking out as long as you keep somewhat tempered expectations.

>FFA and AFO

Spinoff games with different gameplay styles, never really got into them but they're not outright bad games.

>ITN

This one's a lot like the Future games and it's surprisingly pretty good, considering how late in the PS3's life it was released.

>PS4 Remake

A good game by PS4 exclusive standards, with controls and game feel that falls mostly in line with the PS3 games… but it doesn't hold shit to the original. Level design is simplified somewhat, music is replaced by generic movie score crap, writing is far less witty and entertaining and there are some cringey, unfunny jokes that just don't work.

If you liked the third person shooter aspects, you may like the later titles, if you liked the platforming aspects, you will likely be disappointed, there's puzzles sure, but the mix of the platforming movement and shooting, it's much more toned down in the sequels

>>16132100

R&C 3 had multiplayer and the PS3 trilogy collection brought it back, it was really good on full servers, but I'm pretty sure the servers for the PS3 one are dead and I don't know if you CAN host for the PS2 one if you still have a network adapter

R&C3 online might be fucked I think it was Developer hosted no end user dedicated servers

>>16133869

Good summary, as far as I'm concerned. I played the games up until Size matters and then played the ps4 remake with a friend. The writing of the newer titles look like ass compared to the older ones, so I never really gave them a chance.

>>16134109

Kind of a shame, honestly it had some great, fun multiplayer that channeled Conker's Bad Fur Day in a way. Deadlocked was obviously better but UYA's multiplayer doesn't deserve to be forgotten.

>>16132048

In Japan, Ratchet has giant eyebrows because apparently the Japanese love giant eyebrows.

>>16132100

Non-slim PS2s needed a network adapter to go online. Up Your Arsenal and Deadlocked had significant focus on multiplayer, especially online multiplayer. Deadlocked also has pretty good co-op in the campaign though.

The Ratchet & Clank Collection for PS3 included UYA, and Deadlocked was also remastered but only released digitally. Both of these had online again, but of course those are dead now. And that's why you should never ever support online games. Every single player entry in the series is as good now as it ever was. The online ones are now impossible to enjoy in their entirety.

>>16132123

>Tools of Destruction is fine but nothing special, I feel like the weapon balance is really fucked and half the weps are borderline useless in later stages.

Honestly, this is something I almost always feel in the series. The regular Blaster or equivalent is good for almost everything, until you get the one that turns the enemies into animals and doesn't take ammo, which is always overpowered as long as you're not a bitch and can get in kind of close.

This is why the EXP system is such an improvement over the first game. It gives you incentive to use all the weapons. I always end up deliberately using my shittiest weapon just to level it up. But that extra challenge adds some fun.

>>16134194

>caring so much about writing

stupid. You're doing yourself a huge disservice and missing out on great games. The writing is honestly very similar throughout the whole series. They do try to introduce some lore elements in the PS3 games, but it's not a huge change. Also, those elements aren't even important in all the PS3 games either. Go play Tools of Destruction right now.

>UYA

>Quack-o-ray

>murder everything in the arena by turning them into flaming ducks that lay exploding eggs

>most rounds end just because enemies will spawn directly into an egg and die

Good times.