In addition to the unfailing nostalgic attachment we feel for the franchise, we also expect a lot from Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart for another good reason: it is a true PlayStation 5 exclusive, not a 'a cross-gen like Spider-Man Miles Morales or, even worse, God of War “Ragnarök”, Gran Turismo 7 or Horizon Forbidden West which weren't even released. With Demon's Souls and Astro's Playroom, Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart can therefore boast of being entirely dedicated to Sony's new hardware: for all owners of the machine, this is necessarily an undeniable argument. Two responsibilities of Rift Apart therefore arise: to prove the good capacities of the white monolith and to extend a saga, seemingly nothing, put on the sidelines for a long time now. 
IN THE NEXUS
Insomniac Games knows how to talk to its fans, that's undeniable. And while the 2016 installment wasn't part of the saga's official timeline - it was a re-imagining of the very first game - Rift Apart is an integral part of the official narrative. The story therefore takes place several years after Into the Nexus (little adventure published in 2013), in a period when Ratchet and Clank are somewhat at a standstill. Considered heroes - and rightly so - by the entire galaxy for having saved it more than once, our friends no longer have any such task to accomplish. It is in this early retirement that Clank decides to repair the dimensioner, the gadget at the center of the Future trilogy, to allow his best friend to find the lombax and finally reconnect with his past. Obviously, things don't go as planned and the indefatigable Dr. Nefarious, particularly drunk with constantly losing, grabs the object to find a parallel dimension in which… he wins all the time. What he does, not without some collateral damage since the item is damaged and the space-time completely turned upside down, dimensional faults opening on all sides and sowing chaos through the solar systems. Our favorite duo then finds themselves in a parallel universe, the very one where a Dr. Nefarious is visibly the absolute dictator, and is separated by the force of circumstances. Alone, Ratchet is then assigned a new mission: to fix this big spatio-temporal mess, return home and, above all, find Clank. The latter indeed finds himself with Rivet, a lombax who is none other than the female double of Ratchet from another dimension. The base, what. 
MIRROR, MIRROR
It is therefore on this basis of duality that the whole story of Rift Apart will write its story: throughout, we will come across well-known characters from the saga - Squid McMarx, Rusty Pete, Captain Qwark and all the rest - but however in new versions, coming from another universe, with another name and another personality. Rivet, which is clearly the great novelty of this new component, is the mirror version of Ratchet: she is an accomplished loner, operating in the resistance against an all-powerful Dr. Nefarious, and she has never known recognition. She will also be playable, making her the very first female character in the franchise to be able to be controlled. Before moving on to the whole structure, the gameplay and tutti quanti, it therefore seems essential to conclude on this scriptwriting part, something which is not easy since we certainly would not like to spoil you: know that while being rather effective , the scenario of Rift Apart also remains a bit agreed and lacks a bit of bombast.
The incessant battles of the adventure are by far the most successful of the entire saga.
All the characters are not the best thought out - including one, very important, which we had trouble hanging on to - and despite some good ideas, as well as a writing that certainly remains the most recurrent in the saga with in- regular games (which is not to displease us), we would have liked to take a little more eyeful, reconnect more with the origins of Ratchet, and have a more fundamental story in the R&C lore. And despite the endearing charisma of Rivet, which we clearly hope to see again in the future, Insomniac Games has not given much pride to the new characters, preferring simply to introduce another version of the already well-known heads of the series. . In general, and we will tell you again later, we feel that a general policy has been chosen: to minimize many development costs by using the same certain elements multiple times. Despite our slight disappointment at this level, the story of Ratchet & Clank is nonetheless pleasant to follow, full of good humor, small references to old games and, even if the humor is not as twisting that we would have liked, impossible to deny the spirit specific to the saga, devilishly well respected. This is after all the main thing. 
RIFT APARTMENT
The regulars of the franchise will be able to tell you without difficulty: its thundering action is clearly one of its spearheads, and Rift Apart is certainly no exception to the rule. This is also the first thing that jumps out at you, just after its visual rendering to die for: the incessant fights of the adventure are by far the most successful of the entire series. However, the recipe is frankly not revolutionized: we find ourselves faced with a muscular TPS giving access to a wide range of more or less delirious weapons. In terms of new features, we have a few abilities to unlock gradually, such as a dodge that will allow us to “dash” forwards, backwards or to the sides, whether on the ground or in the air. There is also the lanyard, allowing you to teleport to certain predefined places in a combat zone in the most beautiful of effects, so as to take our enemies by surprise. Another element also modernizes the gameplay: the use of the DualSense's adaptive triggers. Here, it's not just about an additional feeling (and what a feeling, nomdidiou!) but indeed about a new option to play: certain weapons react differently according to your pressure on the trigger. For example, the plasmomitrail - the first weapon in the game - has two firing modes, more or less rapid depending on the pressure exerted. Same for the double-shotgun, where you can use one-shot or a wild double-shot (but not necessarily necessary for small enemies, causing you to lose ammunition).
No doubt, Insomniac Games has largely gotten its hands on the previous Spider-Man and it shows immediately with ultra-spectacular sequences.
It is, suddenly, the first time that a video game offers us such a feature and it is necessarily appreciable: it does not revolutionize the gameplay but still optimizes it a little. And above all, combine this with a myriad of other effects and you get a truly amazing feeling, controller in hand. The haptic vibrations of the controller turn out to be wonderfully well exploited, referring us directly to those of Asto's Playroom, with the slightest vibrating step in a corner of the controller: we almost have the feeling of having a kind of surround effect entirely physics, for anything and everything, including the many gunfights. The same is true for 3D audio, which is rather sharp, and the use of the DualSense loudspeaker, which is very recurrent. For a game like Ratchet & Clank where fights are essential, it's a real strong point, you can take our word for it. Note also the presence of a few platform phases with wall races, swingers or slide-rails, the latter falling within a very, very large level-up in terms of staging. No doubt, Insomniac Games has largely gotten its hands on the previous Spider-Man and this is immediately felt with ultra-spectacular sequences straight from Hollywood, a first in Ratchet & Clank, which we feel must proudly point out. 
SIZE MATTERS
Then, there is all this arsenal which obviously does a great job, as always: the saga has always made it its figurehead and, once again, the different weapons of Rift Apart prove to be varied and very effective. Some completely barred guns allow, among other things, to immobilize the enemies by covering them with plants or transforming them into ice cubes; to have a mushroom gunner buddy (yes, you read that right) or to electrify his enemies by creating several chains. As it is used, each weapon will level up until it reaches its final evolution, at level 5. You can also manually improve each lethal item with Raritanium, significantly upgrading certain characteristics, while unlocking others. However, it is clear that everything remains very, very classic for a Ratchet & Clank and that the formula does not break three legs to a lombax. Above all, the gameplay has chosen a rather questionable bias: the playability of Ratchet does not differ in any way from that of Rivet, and this is a point of view that can divide. Absolutely all the skills, gadgets, weapons, moves that we unlock for one will be usable with the other, while maintaining their level of experience: a totally shared progression justified a little in a hurry, and which leads on a certain shortfall in our view. This was precisely the opportunity to offer two different gameplay and we end up, finally, with two perfectly identical characters, even putting on identical armor (yet very masculine for the most part). 
Except for the screenplay, therefore, Ratchet as Rivet turn out to be identical. Among the nine planets proposed, each one is dedicated to one or the other: for example, one will be able to traverse Sargasso only with Rivet, Ardolis only with Ratchet, and so on for the various worlds proposed. And since we are talking about the planets, it is true that we would have liked to have more of them and minimize the forced returns on some of them. Fortunately, the levels are the result of a well-thought-out level design – we think in particular of, sometimes, the possibility of switching from one dimension to another in a flash of a second thanks to the SSD of the PS5 – and of an absolutely artistic direction sublime that fills the eyes. The adventure is clearly colorful, despite a heap of reused assets everywhere: as we said above, we still feel that Rift Apart may not have had such a huge budget as we imagined. For example, there are many characters, enemies or weapons from Ratchet & Clank 2016, sometimes in a slightly abusive way. The excuse of dimensional flaws also allows here to place enemies that have nothing to do with certain environments, a bit like a means of filling, not very serious but a bit hazardous. Similarly, we find countless times the same enemies and mini-bosses, the latter being simply renamed, and it is necessarily a bit regrettable since we would have really liked 100% new blood. We reassure you nevertheless, the whole is traversed with an undisguised pleasure, the game falling under really impressive technical efforts. 
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LOMBAX IN THE WORLD
Because if there is one point on which Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart bluffs, it is on its almost irreproachable plastic: Insomniac Games has gone into overdrive here by offering environments with pastel colors and spectacular details. The worlds feel organic, some cities are just awesome, and there are some really good ideas that are unmistakable. The Californian studio has also put a bewildering collar on the particle effects: the action teems with details for absolutely everything, even during clashes ultra-charged with information. At no time does the fluidity of the game weaken and the machine runs in a frankly exemplary manner. Ray-tracing is also having a small effect, with rather confusing reflections on the different surfaces; as for the 3D models, it's hard to blame them for anything as we get closer to the real animated film, even in-game. And note that the three modes offered - "fidelity" in 4K and ray-tracing at 30fps, "performance" in 4K/60fps without ray-tracing and "RT performance" in dynamic 4K at 60fps with ray-tracing - are all three completely reliable. Only small technical complaint to make: we often experienced collision problems from enemies (something apparently resolved since the last update) as well as Ratchet / Rivet, getting stuck in the background. Same thing for the rare aerial phases, which we must admit are not the most successful. 
ANOTHER LITTLE HOLE
Finally, there remains an important point to address, and not the least: what about the content of this Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart? This new galactic epic is based on the same principle as the previous ones: a campaign to complete with collectibles to recover. We therefore have pieces of armor hidden in “pocket dimensions”, mini-levels with unique and rather nice level design concepts: these skins will allow certain passive skills (such as a percentage of resistance against such type of enemies, an increase in the rate of bolts recovered, etc.). It's just a pity that there aren't that many and that these famous assets don't feel strange... not in play. and additional orbs and teddies (come on, why not). Finally, we note the famous gold bolts which will allow certain more or less fun cheat codes, ranging from simple cosmetic elements to real cheats, such as unlimited ammunition or infinite life. The problem is that the set is really too easy, in particular thanks to a recoverable gadget at a time which removes almost any difficulty. And the game itself not being long, including side quests, we end up with a 100% game over, in normal mode, in just twelve hours (in our case). A very skinny lifespan despite the constant pleasure, and it's not the combat arena, shy and skinny, or the new game + that will complete the purchase: indeed, the latter only allows you to mount weapons already acquired at level 10 (instead of 5 as a reminder) but offers absolutely nothing more. And as long as you have already collected all the gold bolts, you will have already unlocked some ultimate cheat codes that we would have thought much more relevant if they were to be won elsewhere, for example by finishing the game in its difficulty maximum or after new game +. Fortunately, the pleasure during the entire game is very clearly present, and that is the main thing, somewhere.
