Thread: Yet Another R&C Plot Thread....

Hi all, I've been a lurker the past few days after rediscovering my favorite games during a couple of weeks off work. I hadn't played any video games for years and went straight back to it, running through the PS2 trilogy and the future trilogy in about a week and a half. Yeah, I do tend to binge-play a little bit.

All this quick catching-up on the story made me curious about where it was headed, and I've spent a more than a few hours catching up to the games and the upcoming film on this forum (don't you just love unpaid leave? :rire.

Having run through all the games and seen all the cinematics within a short period, I've seen R&C evolve quite a bit, but I'm somewhat worried about where the "franchise" is headed.

If possible I'd like this thread to be a general discussion on where the entire franchise is going rather than a narrowly focused one that's only about one game or one movie, etc.

So, the biggest things that popped out to me, worry-wise, are:

-The nature of the PS4 reboot/remake. There's so much potential here. I saw someone mention the updated PS2 version of Tomb Raider, and to me that's the most optimistic case. A game that took all the elements that were great about R&C1- the balance of platforming and shooting, the challenge of using limited weaponry compared to later games, and the excellent storytelling- would be a huge boost to the series since us twenty-somethings that played it when we were kids are not the only audience for Insomniac now.

-The characterization of Ratchet in the movie. Part of the power in the serious half of R&C1's story was Ratchet's transformation from a selfish, sarcastic teenage jerk to a still-sarcastic kid who has a good heart, is somewhat less of a jerk and does the right thing. Making Ratchet a Dudley Do-right from the beginning misses the point of the story and reduces it to a far lower and more cartoonish level. Because I played the games all in a row the past few days I liked seeing Ratchet's transformation through the storyline; a big part of the overall story is Ratchet growing up. A more heroic, serious Ratchet is a great character, but starting off with him as a cloying whelp who then becomes an intergalactic badass cheapens the whole thing.

-"Cora"'s probable purpose in the film. As plenty of others have said on here, Ratchet's love life should stay out of this movie. He's 15 at the time, for God's sake. This is where we should be getting our dose of sarcasm, puns, and amusing innuendos, which should continue uninterrupted until the future plotlines start and he begins to mature a little bit. Just like his characterization as a good guy instead of an antihero, it has its time and place, but the first plotline where he's a pent-up, orphaned, and lonely teenager whose only desire is to leave his backwoods planet is emphatically not it. I have my doubts about long-term "romantic" plots within this series too (Talwyn), but that's another kettle of fish. In order to keep some of the spirit of the series we should see Ratchet at most in a casual relationship, especially given how it would make Clank a fifth wheel at least some of the time.

-What is it with all the spinoffs? Size Matters was fun, and I get Secret Agent Clank, but I'd rather have a longer, tighter game in the main series and wait a couple years between R&C releases to be honest. IE- DL, A4O, FFA.

-The effective retconning of the 2nd and 3rd games in the future trilogy through ignoring them. There's nothing more than passing references to the PS2 titles in the new trilogy, and no mention of how they got to Polaris from Solana, the pheonix, the old q-force, Angela Cross, gadgetron, megacorp, etc. I understand making the series accessible to newcomers, but there are better ways than completely ignoring the entire story up to that point. See most film sequels for a better example.

-The character modeling. Everyone except Ratchet generally looks better over time (Clank especially has gotten way better) but Ratchet just isn't quite right since the future trilogy started. He looked alright in TOD but his modeling in ACiT was a little off (why does he always look angry?) and ITN was cartoonish and looked like they were going for "15-year-old ratchet in high-def". The movie looks alright though, as long as they don't make him stay that way if it is successful and spawns another.

How about your thoughts on the overall state of the series? What are you optimistic about, and more interestingly where would you take the plot in the upcoming movie(s) games or both?

This is a great argument and I can relate to several of your cases you've stated, simply because that's what everyone who truly loves this series should be nattering about! I wasn't introduced to Ratchet & Clank until I was almost a teenager, but it's been a very affectionate memory of mine and continues to be (when you take into consideration that I spent most of May sitting in front of the TV in the living room binge-playing Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal…. I adored the series so much that I even considered shooting for a BA in the arts to join the team at Insomniac once upon a time.

My biggest fears about this film is that it will appeal to the newer and younger audience of the fanbase. Ratchet & Clank was made back in 2002 and it's themes cater to the late-teens/twenty-something age group that I am proud to be a part of. The games were raunchy and rough at times (and hilarious), and Ratchet was no hero in the beginning. He was a kid, just like us back then, a product of the 90s with a horrible attitude to boot. It's because of Clank that he evolved into the lombax he is now - someone with compassion and empathy. THAT is precisely what I'm terrified the film with gloss over and forget about - the fact that it was Clank who was the hero Ratchet needed.

I'm not interested in any romantic sub-plots at all. They can skip right over that and give Ratchet some "Mega Plasma Shock Bomb Blaster" for him to drool over. If anything, give Clank the love interest - or better yet, Qwark. And he makes a fool of himself in his search for popularity. That sort of thing appeals to me.

Ratchet & Clank is a very precious thing to me and I truly hope they don't ruin it for the sake of a bigger audience or more money (which is, obviously, what they're shooting for). If they do mess up, they will get backlash, and they know it. They have - what - more than a decade of fans nervously chewing their fingernails and waving red flags, warning them to be careful.

Congradulations on being the first person to hate the ACIT model.

Wait, who's the deleted member?

Wait, who's the deleted member?

Perhaps a double account commenting on itself.

Congradulations on being the first person to hate the ACIT model.

Do I detect sarcasm?

I didn't hate the ACiT modeling, I just thought it was off somewhat. Ratchet's "neutral" expression was a real tic for me when playing, he always looked angry at something. I get what was being attempted- a "serious" warrior-like Ratchet, but it just looked off. Thankfully the cutscenes were better.

By the way, I know how these discussions are somewhat done to death, but that's basically all people have to do on here until another game or movie comes out. I'm just playing around with the storylines and such in my head, after being exposed to years worth of plotlines by playing the game for a couple weeks straight.