#2 - Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

 

This is my absolute favorite screenshot of mine from this game. I love it so much, I actually had it as my desktop background for a while. Just so much energy and action in this one shot! It was a satisfying scene to play through as well.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was an extremely fun game to play. Not only was the gameplay enjoyable, but the cinematics seamlessly blended into the game, both visually and interactively.

I always tell people that games are interactive stories for me. I don’t play games for a challenge or to do a mind-numbing repetitive task (coughMOBAcough). I want a good, rich story to enjoy, with at least some limited control over the plot so it feels like I’m an active part of it.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart did an excellent job with that, bouncing back and forth between Ratchet and Clank separated in a parallel dimension, and their dimensional counterparts Rivet and Kit trying to separately help them reunite and stop Doctor Nefarious and his dimensional counterpart, Emperor Nefarious.

I actually enjoyed Rivet’s story much more than Ratchet’s, so most of my screenshots are from her gameplay. She lives in a world where Emperor Nefarious has already conquered the galaxy, so it’s a dark and futile landscape. I love alternate-reality/parallel dimension/what-if stories, and this really scratches that itch.

The facial expressions of all the characters are so expressive, too! During cutscenes, I would sometimes forget I’m playing a game. And it didn’t just end with cutscenes; the characters would continue to emote and interact with their environment throughout the gameplay, so it didn’t feel like jumping from a cutscene to the game and back again. Most of my screenshots are during cutscenes though, because I was too enthralled with the gameplay to remember to stop and take some nice pictures.

For a few more story screenshots, here’s the (abridged) conversation between Ratchet and Rivet upon their first meetup.

 

Also, here’s a (spoiler-free) scene of Rivet finding out who took her arm in the past. The range of emotions she goes through, from surprise to anger to fear, is so raw and emotional! This game had its silly moments but also knew when to play it serious, and the animation really pulls its weight with the facial expressions. Such a great game!