Rift Apart has a surprisingly deft approach to dealing with mental health topics among its entire cast in ways that feel honest and deep, and it’s all wrapped up in this exciting, bright, and bubbly adventure. Ratchet’s internal struggle over whether he actually wants to find the rest of his catlike lombax race looms large, while Clank’s own sense of self-worth in the face of injury is moving. That’s not to say the headlining duo gets the short end of the intergalactic stick. While it’s a little disappointing that Rivet doesn’t get her own set of moves, it at least means you don’t have to worry about upgrading and equipping the two protagonists independently when you land on a new planet and are automatically switched from one to the other. Where her story goes and how it’s intertwined with Ratchet and Clank’s quickly makes her a vital part of this series’ DNA. But Rivet isn’t just a gender-swap she’s a distinctive personality all her own, with unique wants and hopes, including trust issues that come from years of fighting without a parallel Clank by her side. A resistance fighter against Emperor Nefarious in her previously unseen own universe, Rivet is a strong-willed do-gooder, and you can certainly see the shades of Ratchet in her characterization. It’s through the exploration of the multiverse that we see the debut of Rivet, a playable parallel of Ratchet who proves to be one of Insomniac’s best-written characters ever and yet another memorable performance from voice acting veteran Jennifer Hale (known for female Commander Shepard, among many others). I didn’t know I needed to see Ratchet’s fur in such glorious fidelity, but the more advanced animations and 4K textures allow the entire cast to be more expressive than ever.
It’s not just the varied vistas that frequently stopped me in my tracks, it’s the little details – like the gears moving on the familiar Buzz Blade weapon – and the sheer variety of them. Back in the day we used to see “Ratchet and Clank looks almost like a Pixar movie” comparisons with Rift Apart, it has kept pace with much of the work in recent hits like Incredibles 2 and Soul (though Pixar’s pre-rendered animation definitely has an edge in certain scenes). Insomniac has used its cartoony color palette to create a dazzling array of interstellar locations, like the densely packed metropolis of Nefarious City or the lush greenery of Sargasso that benefit from impressive use of ray tracing reflections. That’s achieved despite the fact that this is the prettiest PS5 game yet, and one of the best-looking games I’ve ever played. Some loads are cleverly hidden behind smart cuts and cutscenes, but for all intents and purposes, Insomniac has delivered a seamless adventure from start to finish.
Whether you’re jumping through rifts to a new location on the same planet or an entirely different one, or switching characters, I never noticed so much as a hitch, pause, or stutter.
That sensation of never slowing down is also thanks to the spectacular load times, which are, as promised, practically nonexistent. I'm completely okay with sacrificing some of the visual effects on my Challenge mode run thanks to how well the higher framerate keeps up with Rift Apart's controlled chaos. And while I've only gotten to spend a bit of time with them so far, the Performance and Performance Ray Tracing modes are even smoother at a steady 60fps (watch our Rift Apart Performance Review below for direction comparisons that highlight the differences).
Rachet and clank rivet series#
Ratchet has always been a series about exploration and combat, and thanks to the dip-free stability of the 30fps Fidelity mode, the latter in particular has never felt so good. Whether you’re new to swinging Ratchet’s wrench or a veteran of the DreadZone, Rift Apart’s mix of third-person shooting and platforming is immediately easy to understand.
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