So.. this is a recent update? (Slight spoiler alert)
linky
May just be a rumor, but if not- Grrrr .
One of the things that makes R&C great is that it has a legitimately good storyline- and when it gets cliched, it usually has the sense to parody itself or the plot a bit. It's good at avoiding sappiness (especially for a video game plot) which is what gives the few "emotional" scenes in the storyline their power.
I'm not seeing that with this, at all. It looks like a lame insertion by some Hollywood hack who wants to genericize the plot to increase its appeal to new audiences. Cheapening the whole thing hugely in the process.
The last thing this franchise needs is to lose its storytelling ability, humor and sense of self. Things like this chip away at it in a big way. Then it'll just be another generic action-platformer for kids and preteens with some interesting weapons.
Or maybe Ratchet is just a bit of a flaky prick like in the first game, and we all get to laugh at amusing innuendos and flirts, as it should be.
I'm not usually one to complain about romantic interests, but it's like a different love interest every game. I wish I had some of Ratchet's skill.
Must be the ears.
The idea of Ratchet as a flirt who has casual romantic encounters is the best for the series, IMHO. It leaves in a great deal of humor potential and avoids casting Ratchet as too childlike a character (unlike just making him focused on weapons and not looking twice at a female, which is another proposed solution to the problem).
Writers dancing around censorship to make jokes adults get and kids don't is a terrific source of humor that the series was previously known for.
There are alot of problems associated with Ratchet having a long-term romantic interest, although they're not unsolvable. I like Ratchet's evolution as a character throughout the series, it's good storytelling (albeit it chopped up a bit between games).
At the end of the Future series, he's behaving like a fairly mature grown (Lombax?) in his early 20s. Some humor, some seriousness, some internal strife, makes sense. In the earlier trilogy he's a snotty teenager slowly growing up and becoming a better person, which also makes sense (and is quite funny).
I'm a writer, and the storyteller in me says there is nothing wrong with having a "RatchetX___" plot. But again, the earlier it's placed in the storyline that has already been established in the games, the more lame and cheap it is, and the more destructive it is to Ratchet's development as a character.
I'm not the biggest fan of TalwynxRatchet, but at least she's not a cheap hack of a character. They could possibly make something between them without ruining the plot, and it appears they intend to in the Future games' canon anyway. Not what I would do but I don't see it ruining the series. Cora, on the other hand….