Ratchet & Clank

[odd nova]

Discussion for Ratchet & Clank!

[obsidian trout]

Any mods for this one? Or just run it vanilla?

[wispy mica]

I'm researching to see what reddit says about Steam Deck performance, HD vs PS2 emu

[obsidian trout]

Oh right there's a PS3 collection.

[wispy mica]

I know the Sly collection runs better than the individual games on Deck for some reason, but there are also some glitches with the R&C HD collection

https://gbatemp.net/threads/ratchet-clank-texture-pack-hd.661561/

[snow quarry]

I added a hd pack to the ps2 one and it runs fine on deck

[wispy mica]

Consensus for R&C seems to be PS2

[sinful ember]

god i am so excited to play this. gotta charge my vita and load it up

[midnight agate]

I was going to apologize for not getting us Yakuza but you know what, I love mascot platformers and this is one of the ones I didn't play growing up

I played mascot platformers in the 90s, sort of slid off them in favor of leaning harder into the JRPG side of things and gradually learning I no longer had the patience for them in the 2000s, and now I'm back to "actually yeah mascot platformers rule and I miss them"

[sinful ember]

there are a good bit of mascot and listened platformers that I always wanted to play as a kid but never was able to. like Taz Wanted. the original R&C is one of those too. I was heavy in Jak and Daxter, but never played R&C

I played Rift Apart and adored it. Time to see where the series began

[midnight agate]

People blast mascot platformers here but they were the shit

(I should say, people blast them in the channels. Obviously the voters love them. as they should)

(and before I catch hell yes I know they're not getting blasted for being bad but for being so overwhelmingly popular when people are trying to get games just a wee bit more off the beaten path in)

[steep snow]

Yeah wow the Vita version of this sucks, lemme rip my DVD to my Pocket Air

[sinful ember]

oh no don't tell me that

[steep snow]

I was immediately disappointed when I booted the game up on my vita 😭

[sinful ember]

that'd be a shame. i have an Odin 2 so I'm sure it'll be no prolblem, but I was looking forward to playing it on psv 😦

[steep snow]

Maybe you won’t have the same issues with it I did?

[sinful ember]

what's wrong with it?

[steep snow]

Just runs slowly and looks kinda bad. Vita also isn’t super comfy for the control scheme, have to hit the bumpers more than I’m happy about 😅

[midnight agate]

Before I log off to cook (will catch up when I get back): how does this one run on the RP3+? Is it one of the PS2 titles that does well on that chip, or not so much?

[wispy mica]

Yeah, according to reddit the vita and PS3 versions are some of the worst ways to play it

[long flicker]

I booted it up on my deck, ps2 vanilla and it’s running very slow. Is the HD pack supposed to improve that somehow? Or do I need to mess with other settings

[wispy mica]

The texture pack probably will not help performance 😅 that's a bit foreboding

[long flicker]

that’s what I figured, lol. someone else said it worked well on deck, so maybe it’s settings. I might wait on this one for now anyway

[dapper pendant]

I have it at 2x upscale and 60 fps on the deck

[steep snow]

I’m playing at 60fps at 2.5x upscale on the Ayaneo Pocket Air

Might drop it down to 2.25x because I am getting down to ~57 in more action intensive scenes

[wispy mica]

That's comforting!

[sinful ember]

anyone try it on an Odin 2 yet?

[wispy mica]

I think it runs well on Odin 2, since it just has more raw power than even the Steam Deck

[mystic zodiac]

I think I played this some on the Retroid Flip at one time

[woeful oyster]

Ok never played this one just the psp game

[solid jasper]

This game better be SO GOOD if it beat yakuza

[modest kelp]

Runs fine on odin 2

I have it at 3x resolution,no slowdowns so far

[lilac ferry]

Same here, I have been running it on my odin 2 and the ps2 version plays great

[modest kelp]

I missed out on this game, I started on the PS3, surprisingly so far this still holds up and feels really great even for the 1st entry

[primal veldt]

It's a good game. Though I generally prefer the second or third games over it. And have never played the PS3 Future series. Honestly still surprised Sony never got those ported to PS4, even as a super cheap "here's the three games with basically no adjustments" kinda port.

[torn sphinx]

Several years ago, I was playing the PS3 HD remaster and I got so annoyed halfway through, because of the very limited health, and no saves in the middle, that I just rage sold the disc. Kinda mad at myself considering how it so much more expensive to buy again now. I guess with savestates this should be a much better experience.

[ripe compass]

can you try locking the GPU clock to 1600 mhz? Sometimes it seems the deck doesn't adjust the clocks properly during emulation and it keeps it downclocked even though the game is not running fullspeed. I haven't tried it yet on my Deck though.

[long flicker]

oh ok, I’ll try that tomorrow. is that just an option on the right menu?

[ripe compass]

yep, one of the performance settings from SteamOS

I think it's "Manual GPU clock" or something like that and is disabled by default, enabling it will show a slider

[long flicker]

sweet, thanks! i’m still new to steam deck, so still figuring out what all there is to do

[high mesa]

Going with Vita for this. Still surprised how well the little guy runs this game.

[modest kelp]

They need a reason to sell that playstation classic catalog

[primal veldt]

Even well before that though. Just weird that they never ported them ever.

[terse temple]

I just played this, but my first time with the series was with the sequel when it came out 20 years ago. I remember the lack of strafing in the first game was really annoying. Interested to hear people’s thoughts on that.
Side note: Going Commando is an amazing game and should absolutely be played by everyone if you even slightly enjoyed this one.

[wispy mica]

^ I'm pleased to see a lot of opinions that line up with mine. Growing up, I played the sequel first and loved it. I had a hard time going back to the original game. I'm sure the same thing would happen if I played Sly 2 before Sly Cooper, but that's because Sly 2 is the best platformer ever made

[boreal verge]

Enjoying this so far. Not played a lot of playstation past PS1, so all new to me.
Playing on vita so not sure how much spit and polish over the PS2 there is, but regardless looks and plays great, looking forward to seeing it through....

Assuming it doesn't out stay it's welcome at any rate!

[terse temple]

Same. I loved the sequel and couldn’t finish the first game the first time I played it. Going Commando had that great progression system where even if you died your character and weapons were improving so you always felt like you were making progress. The first game lacks that and it makes it more frustrating.

[sullen mural]

https://tenor.com/view/wanda-ratchet-party-time-celebrate-tweaking-gif-5823491770728736220

[tepid shale]

any way to play this on ps5? or just ps2 and vita?

[modest kelp]

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/214653

I think that’s the remaster

[wispy mica]

I'm not sure if the PS4 remake is allowed, since it is different in pretty much every aspect

[sullen mural]

https://tenor.com/view/yakuza-kiryu-punch-wall-angry-punching-wall-gif-24793595

[wispy mica]

The game would be much more bearable if we could play it on PS4

[modest kelp]

Man it’s been awhile since someone ratchet my clank

[woeful oyster]

https://tenor.com/view/skillissue-skill-issue-gif-22125481

[solid jasper]

Is this the same as Jak and daxter

[sullen mural]

is clank the robot?

[fallow cape]

I think the Robots name is Donovan

[sullen mural]

Oh yeah, Donovan McBolt

He's Irish

[steep snow]

It’s more like Jack 2 and 3 than Jak and Daxter

But more linear

[sinful ember]

Jak 2 is GTA 3 with hoverboards

[snow quarry]

This is fun so far

[boreal verge]

Reminds me of the Lego games with the constant chings of item collections

[sullen mural]

This

[solid jasper]

Why didn't we vote for that then

That sounds sick as hell

[wispy mica]

I played the first couple of planets yesterday. It's fun, but Ratchet's controls are a bit annoying

[ionic umbra]

Played 3 levels, love it so far

[terse temple]

The controls are so much better in the sequel and beyond.

[wispy mica]

That's how I remember it

[sinful ember]

So far the Vita version seems fine. Looks okay, runs fine. The Odin 2 would be more comfortable, and the visuals would be sharper thanks to upscaling.. basically it would be better in every way lol. I’m wondering if I should switch over.

but if you don’t have a device that can run the PS2 version, but you do have a Vita, it’s definitely playable on Vita

[tender cosmos]

I'm having some graphical glitches on the character models. SteamDeck, Emudeck. Tried vulkan and opengl. Any other tweaks I can do?

It looks like Rachet has some odd lines going outside of him. Has spikes or something.

Ah fixed it. EE Cycle Rate must be under the 300% I had set. 100% works.

[tender cosmos]

Made it through a couple of worlds. This game is great so far. Everything solid. Camera, platforming, powerups, all good. Only con is that the enemies are a bit cookie cutter so far.

[sinful ember]

Switched to the Odin 2. the first two levels ran fine at 3x upscale, but the level with Big Al had some bad slowdown. I dropped down to 2x and so far everything seems okay. It still looks a lot nicer than it does on Vita.

I played through Death Jr a few weeks ago in anticipation of Halloween, and it’s funny just how similar that game is to this one. Death Jr is basically a straight ripoff of R&C.

[solid jasper]

I agree, I think. Does it also feel imprecise to you?

[sinful ember]

not who you’re asking, but yes. very imprecise. but i think that’s part of the charm, at least so far lol

[solid jasper]

I found it less charming during the obstacle course

At least it's hard to leap off a bottomless cliff (so far)

And you don't die instantly when you jump in the water. Gotta give em that too

[solid jasper]

Just so crazy that Mario 64 completely nailed 3d platform controls and nobody else ever got it right since then

[wispy mica]

There are plenty of other games by 2002 that had nailed 3d controls. In 2002 alone, Super Mario Sunshine, Sly Cooper, and Ty the Tasmanian Tiger both came out that nailed movement. Even before Ratchet and Clank was Spyro and Crash Bandicoot that also nailed it.

So yes, I think it feels imprecise. Ratchet struggles to turn in any direction, and has a slow acceleration to his running speed and doesn't turn well and seems to slip forward when I stop pushing on the stick.

And the camera is a slippery mess from 2002

Obviously the gameplay is pretty good, but the moment to moment stuff makes it difficult to enjoy. It just didn't age super well in my opinion. The sequel fixes these issues and really builds on the foundation the first game made

[solid jasper]

I'm intrigued by this ty the tasmanian tiger. The only one of the above I've never heard of before

The slipping forward is killing me but I'm sort of getting used to it. Camera is balls though 😔

I want an omniwrench

[wispy mica]

Ty is one of my favorite games ever. Sly 2 is still my favorite 3d platformer, but Ty will also have a very special place in my heart lol. My father has worked at EA since before I was born, and it was their attempt at a mascot platformer that barely anybody remembers. I have a lot of precious memories of playing it, even before playing 3d Mario. He's an Australian Thycaline Tiger trying to defeat the evil Boss Cass (Cassowary)

[solid jasper]

Yeah that's a good start for a villain

[sinful ember]

you folks know you can change the camera speed in the options?

[wispy mica]

It's not the speed, I have it turned to max. It's the fact that it just doesn't move well and has the same kind of slipping

[dapper pendant]

it's not the peak of 3d platforming but I haven't had too much issues with it. you get a double jump and a glide. L resets the camera behind you. otherwise, it feels like a ps2-era camera.

[sinful ember]

It’s got the worst double jump i’ve ever used 😅 but otherwise yes, it’s basically perfectly fine

[ripe compass]

Seems to run pretty well on the steam deck for me. I’m about 1h30 min in, playing at 4x resolution docked to the TV with the hd texture pack and it’s beautiful. Love the minimalist UI this game has.

[steep snow]

I think people glaze SM64 way too hard, I don’t think the controls are anything special compared to even newer Mario games, and there are plenty of other platformers since with controls that are as good or better

[steep snow]

Still love this game though, what a nostalgia trip

[tender cosmos]

"I could be the next Skid McMarks"

[solid jasper]

I mean obviously I disagree, but maybe I'm just getting old 😢

Still talking about a game from 1996 like nothing has improved since then

This game is growing on me though

I can't believe you're frozen in place while you wait for your wrench to come back

But the helipack is a big improvement

[sinful ember]

SM64 is the best game ever made don’t @ me

[solid jasper]

Well that's the thing I actually don't like the game as a whole as much as I like the controls

[wispy mica]

I lot of speedrunners would definitely disagree with this. The consensus I often hear is that Mario's movement and sudden acceleration combined with mastery of levels has created one of the best 3d speedgames.

[steep snow]

I think it’s just the game that got popular first and got people the most familiar the fastest ¯_(ツ)_/¯

And I also don’t really care what 0.0001% of people who have played a game think about the controls, I’m not a speedrunner, that doesn’t matter to me. Just like SSBM has great controls (to the people who are really into it) but for most players is harder to get into and less fun than like, Smash Ultimate

[solid jasper]

Oh wow clank gets an army

[ripe compass]

Yeah he does. This part was pretty fun.

[solid jasper]

Oh my god there's soap shoes in this game

Why was this a thing

[novel mist]

Space Channel 5 was a Retrobit game starting the week of March 18, 2023.

[solid jasper]

Ooh

[steep snow]

Got my favorite weapon

[tender cosmos]

The Rilgar drowning section sucks.

[solid jasper]

This worth?

Also I'm kinda getting super into this game

[steep snow]

It’s the best weapon in the game bar none once you have it, and the ammo is cheap too

But you have to grind a lot to get it

There’s a bolts exploit I can share if you’re interested

[solid jasper]

Uhhhhhh sure, go for it

[steep snow]

During the hoverboard race there’s a platform with crates you can land on, and at a short interval they respawn

So you can just idly farm bolts there

[solid jasper]

Yess I love idly farming

Thank you

[steep snow]

The big problem is you can only do it once, ever

If you go back into the race after that, those boxes will stay gone

[sinful ember]

are you playing on a RP4P? how’s it run?

[solid jasper]

Yes. I haven't noticed any issues on performance mode, 2x vulkan

[steep snow]

https://www.neoseeker.com/forums/3711/t174858-infinite-bolts-trick/

A better explanation

From ‘03

[solid jasper]

What a time to be alive

[sullen mural]

Won the skateboard race

This is a very early 2000s game

[solid jasper]

Yeah it doesn't really transcend the era at all

Kinda takes me back 😿

[tender cosmos]

The skateboard race was a rough spot. AIs hitting bomb crates without a scratch. Course was ok though.

Going to pause this one for a bit. After powering through Ape Escape, this is a bit similar. Fun, but kind of grindy.

[modest kelp]

That’s weird I have it at 4x and I have no slowdowns on my Odin 2

[sinful ember]

yeah i realized i was using opengl instead of vulkan. switched and haven’t had any issues since

[modest kelp]

I’m surprised I didn’t pick this up when I had a ps2, I was stationed in Germany at the time l, think I was just too busy at the time to enjoy my ps2, all I can remember playing is Jack and daxter, and GOW

I’m enjoying it so far

[steep snow]

I'm playing it at 2.25x on my Pocket Air and it's running mostly fine, a little bit of slowdown. I might have some configuration in Nethersx2 wrong I dunno

[modest kelp]

Ratchet has aged poorly, clank on the other hand still looks marvelous

[modest kelp]

Man eff that hover race

[solid jasper]

Alright hover race time for me too

Hope this bolt trick doesn't take me days lol

[solid jasper]

Tough to land on this platform

[tender cosmos]

The nice part about the hover race is that you can turn in the air. The bad thing is that you have like 3 crashes before you can't win. If Rachet is in the air, L and R tilt the board, but if you land while pressing them, you crash. Not sure what they do. Pressing back on the d-pad is almost an instant crash as it instantly veers Rachet off the map or into a wall. Rachet also slows down if you aren't constantly hitting speed boosts. So good luck. Took me about 8 tries to get through.

[boreal verge]

Just tried the hoover race myself, not a fan

Phew, done it

[solid jasper]

Yeah I don't appreciate that the CPU can run into explosive blocks with seemingly no detriment to them

Also: ||betrayed by|| captain qwark!!

[fallow cape]

Can't wait for the Mario Kart 64 Highway level PTSD to kick in when I get to this section!

[solid jasper]

Haha I actually didn't find it too too bad

Jeez there's always gotta be a racing game in gotm tho

[boreal verge]

Yeah, not sure if anyone else experience was similar, but I couldn't catch a break, crashing into everything, constantly restarting, then out of nowhere did an almost perfect run.

Feel like if I hadn't hit that one run, I might never have done it!

[modest kelp]

I just saved after every lap that I was in 1st place

[high mesa]

The racing in the sequel is so much better. Thankfully, ||there's only two races in this game to beat.||

[solid jasper]

I liked that it was purely hitting the boosts

[fallow cape]

Almost race time. Got to decide if I'm going to legitimately grind bolts for the RYNO or give up achievements and use the exploit

[solid jasper]

Other racing games I feel like require me to know something about the operation of a car that I just don't know

[solid jasper]

From the document homie linked it looks like you're supposed to do it after the race when you have two certain items

Although there may be a way to do it during the race idk. I didnt

[fallow cape]

Ah well I suppose I got some more time to think on it.

[solid jasper]

Yeah it says you need these things

[modest kelp]

I mean if your going to use an exploit for bolts, might as well use a cheat for unlimited bolts

[solid jasper]

Satan I rebuke thee

[modest kelp]

https://tenor.com/view/meme-elmo-fire-gif-26388239

[modest kelp]

Man ratchet is such a dick to clank in this one

[solid jasper]

I think he's mentally about 13 years old

Just waiting for him to get honey trapped by some hot alien babe

[steep snow]

https://tenor.com/view/rivet-gif-21346513

[solid jasper]

Oh my god it happens doesn't it

[steep snow]

¯_(ツ)_/¯

🤫

[modest kelp]

https://tenor.com/view/ratchet-and-clank-nick-astalos-nick-astalos-ratchet-and-clank-insomniac-insomniac-games-gif-16819086

[novel mist]

Déjà Vu was nominated for GotM in June 2024, but didn't win.

[sinful ember]

Queen

[modest kelp]

I can say some of the soundtracks are not hitting for me on some of the levels, feels like I’m back in 2000 again and that whole matrix techno era is back..not a fan tbh

[modest kelp]

This part right here…this part sucks worse than the hover race

[solid jasper]

Oh I haven't been there

Or I don't recognize it. I hated the part with the rising water

[solid jasper]

Oh a bomb factory, I'm sure every safety measure is strictly observed there and it's a breeze

[modest kelp]

It’s def not OSHA approved

[solid jasper]

Ratchet, get out of there and lawyer up bro

[modest kelp]

…another hover race section

[ivory edge]

Are you actually supposed to win the hoverboard race?

Because if so, I’m trouble. I don’t get this at all. I’m dead last in the retroachievements leaderboard for it. lol.

[solid jasper]

Yeah you gotta

That's quite an achievement though. Lot of people in the world

[ivory edge]

I’ve improved to second worst. 1388 out of 1389. 😆

This race absolutely sucks.

[modest kelp]

Wait there’s retroachievments for this game?

I have no idea how to activate achievements on NetherSX2

[wispy mica]

For the longest time, Retroachievements were only supported in RetroArch. Only recent PCSX2 releases support it on PC

[ivory edge]

And steam deck.

I’m not loving this one. It’s been enjoyable enough until now, but if I struggle through this race much more, I think I’m gonna bail and play yakuza 0 instead.

[modest kelp]

Ahh makes sense, I’m on my Odin

I took a break and I’m playing banjo kazooie for the 1st time

[idle wharf]

Banjo Kazooie is such a good game

[modest kelp]

Even better with this 60fps hack

[ivory edge]

Took a break and then was able to beat the race. You do have to be nearly perfect. And now I fear there are more of them, since the prize is for the hoverboard.

[modest kelp]

Only one other one

[ionic umbra]

I never find any gold bolts and it kinda bothers me

[tender cosmos]

The race was the low point for sure. I took a break after it too.

[ionic umbra]

Ugh, the game doesn't save before the boss room 🤢

[primal veldt]

iirc the race was especially bad on Vita

I think I just got unlucky or something in that replay, but something about it felt way more brutal than the PS2 version.

[ivory edge]

Never played any of this series before, but what this game really needs is a targeting/lock on button. Targeting things in this one isn’t very good.

Hoping that is fixed in later entries.

[modest kelp]

And completed

Now to ape escape

[ivory edge]

And the frequency at which infobots are stolen is alarming. Nobody has any method of secure communication in this world. 😆

[modest kelp]

I think me and rapid are the only ones to complete this game so far?

[ivory edge]

I’m working on it. Last for the month for me though.

[steep snow]

I think that’s the case for 2 onwards

2 is a big step up for controls, if I remember correctly

[primal veldt]

I decided to work through Ape Escape before Ratchet & Clank

[ivory edge]

That’s good. Biggest complaint by far. Glad it’s addressed.

These segments remind me of overlord.

[modest kelp]

What are you playing on?

[ivory edge]

Jumping back and forth between moonlight on my pc and steam deck. I’m sick in bed. Hopefully for the last day.

[ivory edge]

That picture is my tv / moonlight.

How does one get up there? This is Batalia, after using the magneboots.

Is it a secret or am I not meant to get up there? lol.

Guess it’s just a fire effect.

[terse temple]

Strafing and lock on were added to the sequel which is a leagues better game in every respect

[ivory edge]

Raritanium is a pretty great name.

[ivory edge]

The turret part was not great, but I really liked the fighter ship but. That was fun.

[ivory edge]

Alright, made it to planet hoven and I need a break. Orxon with Ratchet was rough. This game has some strange checkpoints. Sometimes they are very frequent, and other times they are very, very spread out.

[modest kelp]

Save state for the win

[ivory edge]

I lose the gold borders on my achievements?! Never!

I do like to experience the games how they were on original hardware as much as possible too, so there’s that.

[modest kelp]

You lose gold borders if you use save states? I guess I’ll never get a gold border

[ivory edge]

Yeah. That’s hardcore mode. No loading from save states or rewind.

And the achievements have a gold border, like this.

[modest kelp]

I’ve seen those I though cheats were the only thing not allowed

[ivory edge]

Oltanis was frustrating, but also kind of fun. I found 3 / 4 gold bolts, which like doubles the amount of gold bolts I've found. They are hidden really well most of the time, it seems.

[ivory edge]

I am going to be over the 12 hour HLTB for this game though. It is taking longer than I thought.

[ivory edge]

Got the bolt grabber. That should have have been a reward like 9 planets ago.

[steep snow]

Yeah, the gold bolt search definitely kept me occupied as a kid, and I was very against looking them up unless I scoured everything I could before doing so

[sharp sage]

After the end, we can still find those gold bolts right?

Aka FREE PLAY

Just got the copter for gliding

[ionic umbra]

PCSX2 must be the most often updated emulator, every time I open it to play Ratchet there's an update

[ionic umbra]

That water section was so much harder than the race

At some point I left ratchet in the water to die, cause I knew I won't make it, and something bugged and I wasn't taking damage from drowning :v

[ivory edge]

Finished the second hoverboard race last nice.

[tender cosmos]

Is it better than the first one?

[ivory edge]

Maybe a little? There’s a shortcut and the track is less complicated I think, so overall easier? You also have a boost mechanic with tricks now. But, I can’t really say it’s much better. The core is still the same and I’m not a fan. Easily the worst parts of the game for me so far.

[tender cosmos]

Cool will get back to this one after the weekend. The time to finish Popful Mail is now 🍿

[short drift]

Just got to Kerwin. I think my memories of this game are intermingled with that of Jak and Daxter

Haven't played either since probably the VHS release of Return of the King.

I remember the weapon arsenal being fun

[hard garnet]

These games got better when they started letting you earn weapon exp. Bar go up, endorphins go up.

Also I really could have used a third thumb to keep on the right stick. The second my thumb moves to the buttons the camera is moving away from where I want it.

[ivory edge]

Really, the problem is a the lack of a targeting system. Iether giving as a crosshair on the screen and operating like a 3ps or having a lock on / change target type system would be a big improvement. I'm not sure if there is one I would prefer over the other, but the system of sometimes a reticle appears and sometimes it appears over an enemy, but if you twitch slightly or the enemy turns their head, it will move wildly off target and you miss horribly is garbage.

[steep snow]

I'm glad we're out of the "Finish a level but don't have enough money so go re-play it" era of game design

[ivory edge]

made it to || Ratchet's home planet again. || I'm guessing this is the end game? Seems close to nearing the end.

[short drift]

I couldn't tell you. I never finished the game because my sister spilled chocolate milk all over the disc 😡

[ivory edge]

Chocolate milk ruins cds? You can't just wash it off?

[short drift]

It does if you leave it on the disc lol

[ivory edge]

https://tenor.com/view/i-am-so-confused-antman-gif-18662710

You could probably still wash it off... lol. use a soft microfiber cloth, buff that thing... it should be fine.

[short drift]

this is what we had at our disposal back then

[ivory edge]

oh no.

[primal veldt]

Alrighty, with Ape Escape and 1943 done, time work on Ratchet & Clank.

Currently installing an HD texture pack

[steep snow]

I had one of these it rocked

[primal veldt]

I completely forgot you could move with the DPAD

[ivory edge]

last boss giving me some trouble. I think I have the strategy down for him, just need to play it when I'm full alert and awake instead of in the wee hours of the morning and trying to play quitely. 😆

Again with the stupid checkpoints though. Kind of tired of redoing that last bit before the boss when I need to put the game away and load again. Really should save when you finish the || giant clank bit right before drek.||

[primal veldt]

Honestly, that's the kind of stuff I use save states for.

[ivory edge]

Yeah, I would… but I feel confident I can do it without them. Just a minor nuisance.

[primal veldt]

Even silly stuff, like in Ape Escape ||Where if you die against the final boss you have to walk a small path with no threats outside I guess being super clumsy and falling into the pit, I set a save state right in front of the final boss instead|| lol

[ivory edge]

Oh really? That’s a bit of an odd one too. I beat him first try, so I didn’t know.

[odd nova]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFJqOlYaJbs

(note: I'm being silly here, this is not an actual jab at you or anyone who uses save states character)

[sharp sage]

Few questions.

1. Is RYNO useful? 150k bolts sound insane
2. I just met Qwark and otw to his HQ, will the game end soon or I'm still far away?

I think I just finished every mission in every planet possible, well unless the gold ones

[tender cosmos]

The bolts are taxing. Devastator is another 2K. Let's go over here to get more, buy bot for 2K. Now need more. Breaking every box I can find and still not enough.

[odd nova]

I'd almost recommend people not to buy things until ||you get the upgrade that drastically decreases prices from Gadgetron||

[sharp sage]

There is such a thing?!

[tender cosmos]

Would like too, there's this tank in the way 😜

[sharp sage]

Oh man....

[odd nova]

There are some worth buying early though. The best of which probably being the Blaster and the Devastator. And FWIW I forgot that upgrade was even a thing so I did the same as all of you lol

[sharp sage]

Blaster was saving my skin time and time again

Blaster is the MVP

[odd nova]

Blaster is easily my second favorite weapon behind the Devastator

Though the wrench and bomb glove can easily deal with most of the game for you, minus maybe the last 3rd or so

Pyronator is also really good for dealing with swarms of low level enemies that your wrench can't get you through without taking hits

[tender cosmos]

Liked the pyronator so I can sweep an area. My aim isn't great.

[odd nova]

If aiming was better in this game the Pyronator would be worse, lol

[sharp sage]

Yup this is it, usually I just circling the slimes

[odd nova]

Don't forget you can throw the wrench. It really is the best weapon a lot of the time lol

And the jump + attack does the equivalent of 2 wrench swings so jump + attack was a lot of my main move in a lot of scramble situations

[tender cosmos]

This is huge as many of the enemies are two hitters.

[rustic galleon]

Close to nopeing out of this at the assault course planet

[tender cosmos]

Yeah, I'm not sure how long this one is. They did a decent job of a fun story and mechanics and then there are parts that are exceptionally tedious.

It's unbalanced a bit.

[rustic galleon]

Having checked a walkthrough I think I'm about half way

[ivory edge]

I’m at the end, but I think I’ve spent more like 16 hours than the advertised 12. HLTB bad data again.

The Ryno is very strong and easily the best weapon in the game. It makes the final boss almost trivial from what I’ve heard. But that 150k grind will take hours, even with the racing course glitch. I’d rather just beat him with blaster/devestator/visobomb.

Tesla claw is also pretty great later on. It’s like the blaster but auto switching targets and doesn’t miss. Large ammo pool too.

[steep snow]

Tesla claw is my favorite once you get it

I also really like the suck cannon for any swarms of small enemies

[tender cosmos]

Is the health fill only when traveling to other locations? Thought it would heal if I just went to the plane.

[ivory edge]

The health fill is a permanent health increase. 1 extra hit for the first one, and 3 for the second one, for a total of 8 total health after fully upgraded.

[tender cosmos]

Landed on Orxon. Abusing save states to get to that point. Think the idea was to allow a lot of death/respawn cycles in this game. The health orbs are spread out pretty far apart.

[ivory edge]

That is probably the most punishing part of the game, as far as checkpoints go. I think I struggled with that part the most. Both paths are difficult, long, and healing is scarce.

[solid jasper]

"switch off your nerd circuits"

[ripe compass]

I hope I don't run out of bolts before I beat the final boss... It's so stupid that I think there is a chance I might soft-lock myself just because I might fail enough times to no longer have ammo

[ivory edge]

Don’t save after fighting him. If worse comes to worse, you can reload and beat the now somewhat easier level kind of quickly and get to him again, all your bolts intact.

[ripe compass]

If I save and load, does it load at the beginning of the level, or at the point where I saved? (before the boss fight)

I have around 7k bolts now... damn

[ripe compass]

Welp, ran out of bolts

and loading the game puts me at the start of the planet... I'm NOT doing that again. Gotta use save states. Fuck

Might as well go all the way at least and use save states in-between his "phases"

[ripe compass]

Done. Enjoyed the game minus the final boss.

Took me 12h 30 min. But I spent like somewhere between 1-2 hours just on this final boss

[ivory edge]

You do have to redo the planet, but half the enemies are gone and no || giant clank|| bit again if you saved after that. So save there, and then if you lose all your bolts, you can get back to the boss in just a few minutes, really.

But congrats. I may go the save state route too eventually.

[ripe compass]

Ah, okay. That’s not so bad then. I took my sweet time sniping the enemies with the devastator and really didn’t want to go at it. I did use savestates though, don’t think I’ll redo it now

[solid jasper]

If I'm at the bomb factory, how much longer is the game?

[rustic galleon]

That sounds like " how much more of this do I have to do" 🤣

[solid jasper]

You're not wrong

Beginning of this game is pretty good. End of this game... Would be better if checkpoints weren't invisible

Everywhere I go everyone wants my money

It's messed up

[tender cosmos]

What are the things on the ground with the antenna with red ball on the top?

[steep snow]

You get an upgrade later called the Sonic Summoner

Use it on those

[solid jasper]

Oh my goodness I think this woman wants to have sex with clank

[tender cosmos]

Just finished bomb factory as well. The game was interesting as a "select the right weapon for the right enemy" game. Now it's more of an ambush around every corner game. The weapon select pausing the game would help. I'm not good at this one. Keep getting hit from cheap attacks where the enemies are off camera.

They have, recently, added a lot of later modifications to progress. The pacing of this is slowed by only having enough bolts to do the minimum purchases and then running into additional 2,000 bolt costs additions that are required to progress.

If they tweaked this game to be easier on health and have everything cheaper, it's more how I would prefer. I'm just trying to blow through the game though. As is, this is kind of a grind.

The level design is good. This is a game I think is better played and then put down for a bit and then picked back up.

[ivory edge]

I always had enough bolts to progress everything along. I did spend a little extra time in each area being sure to break open all the boxes and even use the metal detector once I acquired that. I never needed to grind bolts, until I wanted the tesla claw or ryno.

[solid jasper]

Yeah I think you put it into words very well. I didn't like it that much at first but I now think most of the fun is in the platforming, whereas the game has gone in a combat focused direction that it isn't well equipped for

Now I'm just longing for another clank level. Put ratchet in the backpack

Oh, gotta hand it to them for NOT making the resort a water level actually. I was expecting it given you get the O2 mask there but nope, subverted. I have a feeling this is one of those series that probably gets better as the devs get feedback and figure out what they're good at

Oh my god thats right they made a whole clank game, secret agent clank

I knew it, these guys know what's up

[boreal verge]

Once I got a bit further in the game, I stopped using the quick weapon select and just used the pause menu. Quick select really needed at least a slow down

Not finished yet, but not far to go. It's funny, for a game I'm enjoying overall, I'm having a hard time picking out the level i disliked the most

[fallow cape]

The game keeps insisting I need the Devastatior for things that the blaster works fine for. First the big flying ships then the force field generators. Not going to trick me into wasting my money before I snag that discount!

[runic path]

About to start this one. Any tips before jumping in? I’ve never played a ratchet game before

[tender cosmos]

Know which weapons work the best with each enemy. I completed all of the tasks on the planets before moving forward. That seems a good route.

[fathom pebble]

Guys

Do I really have to win the hooverboard race to progress in the story ?

[tender cosmos]

Yes, it's possible, have to hit about every speedup.

[fathom pebble]

Oh god… is gonna take me a couple of hours lol

[tender cosmos]

I ended up savestating every lap. It's rough

[boreal verge]

Every stage I get past, the next is more frustrating. Playing on vita so don't have the luxury of save states

[fathom pebble]

Hahahaha thanks for the tip lol

[fathom pebble]

Pretty much what’s happening here man hahaha I’m like. Every planet I go gets significantly harder

[boreal verge]

I found focusing on hitting the boosts helped, don't worry what the other racers are doing too much

Getting towards the end now I think. Not looking forward to the final boss mind

[tender cosmos]

Now they give me a device to order ammo on demand...... I think they played a bit to much Resident Evil before building this. Resources are too scarce. It's getting a lot better twards the endgame. Time to decide on buying 3 energy or play around with the other weapons. If they were less stingy with the bolts, this game is way better. So many things going for it.

[sharp sage]

Hover board race... is awesome....... NOT!!!!

I knw this a bit out of topics, but what do u guys think about the movie?

[solid jasper]

Bizarre that there would be a movie

Lmaoo I can rent it for 59¢ on prime video

[ivory edge]

I had no idea there was a movie. I’m sure it’s bad.

[solid jasper]

For a series that seems so early 2000s it's strange that the movie came out in 2016

Something out of time perhaps

Development hell victim?

Oh it won a Canadian award for sound editing

Rock on

[sharp sage]

There is 2016 version

I haven't watched

Thought I was going to pool some opinions

[solid jasper]

I'm renting it. No way it's so bad I'll regret spending 59€

59¢ I mean. 59 euros would be... Sad

[sharp sage]

Don't push it

[tender cosmos]

The movie follows this game a bit IIRC. Not a terrible watch.

[solid jasper]

Maybe I can occupy my son for an hour and a half with it

He likes to pretend to play this game with me

[ionic umbra]

It's weird that you can't buy health

[wispy mica]

The movie released alongside the remake on PS4, and the studio was always working on a movie for Sly Cooper, that even got a trailer. Unfortunately, after the Ratchet and Clank movie flopped, the Sly Cooper movie was put into development hell and doesn't exist anymore.

I actually watched the R&C movie on opening day. It was my first date ever, little 16 year-old Cash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbXEKZVonko

[solid jasper]

I know right seems to work fine irl

[primal veldt]

I always forget how slow moving the camera is in old 3D game.

Even setting it to fast and it's like molasses.

Modern games you have spoiled me.

[steep snow]

I forgot how much of a dick Ratchet was in this game

[solid jasper]

He's trying to get his dark side force powers

[sullen mural]

Jet fighter time

[tender cosmos]

Well, made it though with save states. That last boss solidifies that this game wants you to play it for a long, long time 😂 .

There's still about 50,000 worth of weapons I didn't buy too. The boxes, they haunt me. Take away the grind and this is a great game. Replayability is high too.

Health refills when traveling to other planets, but not if Rachet just visits the ship

[tender cosmos]

Close to 12 hours with save states so not sure the overall time to get through this one. The All PlayStyles is 15h58m. Would say that's closer for those picking this one up.

It looks like the HLTB of 10 hours came from the PS4 version https://howlongtobeat.com/game/35859. The 2002 version has higher numbers https://howlongtobeat.com/game/7585.

[ivory edge]

I was right around 16 hours I think. Seems about right.

[primal veldt]

Currently grinding bolts on the race track

[primal veldt]

I'm at 140,000 bolts, started at about 10,000. This takes forever lol.

[tender cosmos]

Going for the big guns 🙂

[primal veldt]

Yep

[solid jasper]

Ya I've spent 0 nonmandatory bolts for the past two hours of game and I'm at 20,000

It's depressing

[dapper pendant]

damn, is that grind necessary or just nice to have

[solid jasper]

Nice to have

It's for the BFG

[tender cosmos]

The 100K+ grind is nice to have... still, that amount only buys the one weapon. If the goal is to get them all, I think it's over 250K.

I needed 10K for ammo on the final boss. May have done that incorrectly though

Leave no box unbroken.

[solid jasper]

You mean I can't wallop him to death

Guess I'm grindin

[tender cosmos]

Maybe, I couldn't figure it out. Used ranged weapons.

They increase the ammo price when fighting the last boss as well. It's pretty clear they want the player to spend time in the game.

I maybe collected 80K overall in my playthough. 30K for the heath upgrade and 10K for the devistator were the big spends.

[solid jasper]

Makes sense, I bet the ponytail business guy is selling you the ammo

[terse temple]

I started this yesterday and I have one dang sand shark left that I can’t find so Skidmark can get back to his ship.

[terse temple]

I’ve seriously combed every inch of that area and there is not one damn sand shark left. I may have soft locked myself.

[ivory edge]

I had the same issue. There one still out there. I’m sure.

[ivory edge]

He moves just as fast as you and tries to stay away. Even if you got close enough, you’d land a single hit and have to do it all over again. Weapons are much more effective, particularly the blaster, pyrocitor, and Tesla claw.

[solid jasper]

I keep hearing about this Tesla claw

I hope it is not a victim of the same upgrade specificity that plagues the rest of this game

[ivory edge]

Tesla claw is 30k, but easily the best non-RYNO weapon in the game. It locks on for you and doesn’t really miss.

[solid jasper]

Oh that is handy

[primal veldt]

I just use the bomb glove for most things, the flamethrower for large groups of weak enemies, and the little robot glove for groups of stronger enemies.

[ivory edge]

I wish ratchet had a better arm. The bomb glove just needs like 10 more feet of range.

[boreal verge]

The wallop glove Ive just discovered can smash the metal crates. Coming in handy for grinding some bolts, really want that 150k gun for the boss... Assuming I ever beat this damn 2nd race

[ivory edge]

Huh. I used the bomb glove. Wallop would have been cheaper.

[boreal verge]

Yeah, I started too, but thought I was probably only just breaking even!

[solid jasper]

Yeah I'm glad the game made me get wallop

I'm not glad it made me get the hydro pack. I don't want to swim faster. I don't want to swim at all!!

Where is the pack that lets me fly gracefully through the levels, alighting wherever I see a crate

[terse temple]

I just saved and restarted and it reset the counter. Hopefully this time I get all of them.

[steep snow]

NetherSX2 crashed and I lost all my progress from the last day or two, I’m back at ||Quark’s HQ|| 😦

I don’t know if I want to play this much of the game again for a point I’m gonna be honest

[primal veldt]

After all the horrors I saw about the race when I got to it it was fine?

[steep snow]

The race is certainly a mixed bag

[sullen mural]

where do you cash in skill points?

[ivory edge]

I could be wrong, but you don’t? I think they are just achievements. The gold bolts can be cashed in for upgraded gold weapons in a secret shop.

[sullen mural]

Oh lame

[ionic umbra]

I have to drop hardcore achievements for my sanity, 4 lives aren't enough for me

[fathom pebble]

Man i got stuck in a level where the water is rising and I keep drowning

[tender cosmos]

The lunge jump R1 + jump is your friend here.

[fathom pebble]

Wait what? There’s no “trick” or something? I have to “get gud” ?!???

[tender cosmos]

yeah, this part sucks. I was bashing it above a bit 😂

[steep snow]

One of the worst sequences in the game for real

[foggy girder]

I knew I installed cfw on my PS3 for a reason

[midnight agate]

all right anyone got tips for this infernal race

[runic path]

just started playing and finished the first two missions (relatively easy / tutorial missions) on the first planet. Firstly amazed how well it plays on odin pro 1 and it looks really great for a PS2 game.

One question i have - should i be picking up all the nuts and bolts?

[midnight agate]

infernal race complete, zoomerator acquired

[midnight agate]

Oh wow. Just reached Batalia and like

||I see what people mean now about Ratchet being a jerk, but I don't feel so inclined to judge him. He has every right to be angry, holy shit.||

||I'd be furious too tbh. I think the thing I'd do differently in his situation is not "the right thing" so much as "staying the course will get me my chance for revenge soon enough," but I don't blame him for pitching a fit||

[steep snow]

Started Going Commando since I don’t want to replay 1/3rd of the first game and it immediately feels so much better

[ivory edge]

Yes. Absolutely.

Game is expensive later on.

[sullen mural]

some of these mid-game levels feel like padding

[ivory edge]

I love how the sensors tell you some piece of equipment isn't on this planet... but they can't tell you what planet it is on. That was padding.

[tender cosmos]

It's always the one whose bot you find on the blocked path planet I think.

[sullen mural]

MECHA CLANK

[terse temple]

Exactly the same thing I’m doing.

[rustic galleon]

Good for grinding gears or whatever the currency is called later on

On the last level now, I don't know how many times I've given up on this.

As someone else said this is definitely a 'just get gud' game

[terse temple]

Going Commando is awesome and the progression is much more rewarding.

[boreal verge]

True, but also some of my favourite bits

Second race done. I can almost taste it now

Got around 30k bolts now. Not sure whether to try and grind the 150, of just get the extra health and go for it 🤔

Tomorrow's decision now anyway

[ivory edge]

Go for the extra health. I think it's the best upgrade outside of the RYNO. Tesla claw is also an option, which is quite good.

[rustic galleon]

Finished 😥

[ivory edge]

https://tenor.com/view/star-wars-at-what-cost-leia-organa-what-for-the-last-jedi-gif-26373223

[terse temple]

Did the first hover race in about 3 tries. Wasn’t as hard as I remember but this time I’m playing with official hardware (I.e. decent joysticks).

[runic path]

Is there health upgrades - 4 hits to death is ok, but would be happier with that additional health.

[ripe compass]

There are. You'll probably afford the first upgrade, but not the second. I think the first upgrade gives one extra hit and the second gives 2 more hits. But it's also much more expensive

[midnight agate]

the resort planet is kind of kicking my ass

tfw actually running out of flamethrower ammo and having to save and reload the level so I can buy more 😭

also wait

did this game get remade?

oh, PS4 only, nm

[rustic galleon]

I barely used that flamethrower once I got the 🥊 weapon

[midnight agate]

Wait what's the 🥊

[primal veldt]

That bolt grinding session was worth it for the double health alone lol

[primal veldt]

Probably the Walloper.

[midnight agate]

all right I'm bouncing off Pokitaru or whatever the resort is called

I'll deal with it later

[ivory edge]

It gives 3 more. If you buy both, you have 8 total.

[normal field]

I don't remember this game being this hard.

I got stuck on the toxic planet for like an hour trying to get past the guys in the ships that just unload on you no matter how far away you are.

[normal field]

Retroachievements supposedly freezes achievement progress if you use the infinite bolt thing on the race track. How else do they expect you to make that many bolts 😭

[ivory edge]

Lots and lots of mecha clank fights.

[midnight agate]

OK seriously I don't know what I'm doing wrong on the resort planet. Unless I really need to proceed incredibly cautiously with the blaster in every segment that isn't on a boat and unload with the flamethrower during boat gauntlets, but it is easy to run out of ammo and I can't restock without returning to the start

[ivory edge]

And it’s not supposedly, it does. I tried it for fun. Marks your save file permanently.

[midnight agate]

Oh I'm supposed to use the suck cannon fuck me I forgot that thing exists

[ivory edge]

Have you tried the suck… welp, there ya go.

[midnight agate]

This segment explains why it's in the game

[ivory edge]

Hold circle when empty to start sucking things in. Mash it when full to launch out fish missiles. Repeat.

[midnight agate]

I hadn't stopped to think that I have a subweapon with infinite ammo lying around

[ivory edge]

It’s one of the better weapons, just wish it could stick in some bigger enemies. It’s not obvious what is small enough.

[midnight agate]

Also it's easy to forget about it

[ivory edge]

On the boat segments, you can also hold r1 to crouch and then just spin in a circle without moving.

That also works win the pyrocitor too.

[midnight agate]

Oh, that's not a bad idea either

[sullen lagoon]

i just started this today and i have no idea how to get in the ship

[midnight agate]

The one at the start? If you haven't gotten Clank yet, you need to get him I think. Otherwise going around the outside of the ship until the triangle prompt appears?

[sullen lagoon]

I have clank and two infobots

I’ve completed the mission list for the starting planet

[midnight agate]

Well shit

In that case all I can think of is, yeah, fish for triangle prompt

Or... I forget what I did at that part

[sullen lagoon]

Oh wow, I missed the “enter ship” text

I thought the game told me to hit select to get in, but it’s triangle

I’m on my way to planet two. Thanks

[boreal verge]

Thought I may finish today but just the final ||mecha clank|| and then the boss and I'm done. Hopefully finished tomorrow.

[boreal verge]

Slow and steady does seem to be the way. More so the later levels

[mystic zodiac]

Rising water section in Blackwater City SUCKS!!!!

[mystic zodiac]

I did not like the hover board race either but expected that from comments.

[boreal verge]

All done, decent game overall. Platforming was pretty horrible, combat was pretty horrible, but the story and characters got me through

[runic path]

Made it to 4th planet. I am supposed to buy all the weapons? Like I didn’t buy the glove of doom weapon on 4th planet.

[sullen lagoon]

i eventually went back to get it later in the level

[idle wharf]

Alright, on to the third planet!

[dapper pendant]

made it through the first hoverboard race. took maybe 15-20 resets.

[midnight agate]

At some point I stopped buying new weapons unless I hit a rough patch

Also don't forget the Suck Cannon exists jus' sayin'

[sullen lagoon]

Planet 5 let’s gooooo

[tender cosmos]

This may be a me thing: did anyone else have issues walking off of platforms and dying? The camera seemed angled up a bit or not zoomed out enough. Could turn Rachet around and he would face the camera and the camera wouldn't swing around to the back. Adjusting the camera helped some, still, would walk off a ledge or two to doom every level.

[sullen lagoon]

All. The. Time.

I wouldn’t mind so much if you just respawned where you were

[mystic zodiac]

I’m on planet Orxon. How much more?

[ivory edge]

About 3/4 of the way to go, maybe? Orxon was the toughest one for me.

[boreal verge]

Not sure the planet name, but the only mission I didn't end up completing was the snowy planet, and there was a windy section with magnaboot strips. Had me tearing my hair out. Mostly me walking off the edge, a few time it just dragged me off the dge for no reason. Have up on it in the end, as luckily it wasn't a required mission

[runic path]

Made it to the hoverboard races planet. The space walk wasn’t my fave due to walk and falling off the ledge a few times. Camera usability in 3d platformers has come a long way in modern games

[runic path]

Hoverboard race kicking my butt. Is there a trick to win this?

[tender cosmos]

Hitting the speed boosts is required. The second one is a bit easier. Find a fast line. If the goal is just to beat the level, load a save after two mistakes.

[runic path]

Thanks that helped loads

I can’t outrun the flood

FFS

Is there a weapon or something I’m supposed to use to outrun it? I’ve tried like 10 times

[dapper pendant]

I long jumped through that part.

[tender cosmos]

R1 + jump

[runic path]

Geez thanks man. I was losing it but this helped again🎉🎉

[sinful ember]

https://youtu.be/jCYGG00NXsY?si=1PrdRSdjy02dl8s-

[dapper pendant]

when you first use the magnet boots, I get the sense the camera really wants you to fall

[foggy girder]

This game is fun but it's also really frustrating and surprisingly difficult at times.

If I'm at Hoven, how far into the game am I

[ivory edge]

A bit past 2/3 done or so, I think.

[idle wharf]

I think I'm roughly halfway? About halfway through the resort or so.

[tender cosmos]

There's a preference to looking at the pretty backgrounds over helping Rachet survive. In order to figure out the angles of movement, I had to turn a lot based on the camera control stick over the character movement stick.

[steep snow]

I am sad that I lost my progress because I would like to finish this game, I just don't want to replay ||Quark's Base|| to ||Pokitaru||

[dapper pendant]

Totally. I took that walk as slowly as possible. I think this month is also revealing to me just how bad some handheld sticks are compared to a full controller.

[sullen lagoon]

I’m mad at this game for not doing an introductory hoverboard race

[idle wharf]

Just throwing you into the fire, and needing to be near perfect to win, is cruel at best.

[sullen lagoon]

If it were even that simple. Apparently you need to do tricks to build up your boost, which you then need to manually trigger. That’s a whole lotta buttons to figure out

[sullen lagoon]

Apparently touching the back of my vita is tripping me up

[ivory edge]

I don't think you can do tricks for boost until you beat the first race, can you?

[sullen lagoon]

Well that explains why I can’t ever boost

Either way, something they could have been explained like everything else in the game

[ivory edge]

the races are easily the worst part of the game.

[runic path]

Just finished quarks hq. That was a long level. How far am I?

[sullen lagoon]

First race ✅

[mystic zodiac]

I’m around the same place and wondering the same. Have been hoping I’m halfway through since I thunk I’ve put in about 5 hours. But could be wrong and it just feels long

I think Liquid said earlier we are about 1/4 through

[idle wharf]

Great, of course there's an ice level

[ivory edge]

The ice level was actually kind of fun.

[runic path]

That sounds about right

[idle wharf]

It's been fun up until the slippery bits. Those three pads, followed immediately by the surprisingly frustrating three pads along the wall jump portion, had me frowning

[solid jasper]

Ugh

I hate myself for not doing this

[runic path]

took many many attempts before reaching out to the discord for help. and I did it on first attempt after doing long jump approach 🤣

[foggy girder]

I spent like an hour on that part and finally got it, then came here to see people talking about how you can long jump 🙃

[tender cosmos]

Did you do it without the jump? I tried that and no dice.

[foggy girder]

I did. After a million tries, somehow, and just barely lol.

[dapper pendant]

I clipped out of bounds and died

[ivory edge]

It's almost trivia with the long jump. I did it on my second try. First time shocked me and I wasn't prepared for it. 😆

[idle wharf]

Done! Pretty interesting game, I enjoyed it for the most part.

At least glad to finally get around to playing it

[primal veldt]

I was getting some slowdowns in R&C on Odin 2 so I think I solved it by changing EE Cycle Rate to 130% (1)

[ionic umbra]

This is probably first time ever I wish the game had less weapons. With how many gadgets are required for progression, weapons having limited ammo, and there not being enough ammo in the levels, I constantly need to swap gadgets/weapons on the wheel, since there isn't enough place for all of them, and it breaks the gameplay flow sooooooo much

[steep snow]

I generally don't run out of ammo because I use my wrench a lot

[dapper pendant]

This is the wheel I’ve been using. It’s served me well without change for a while (at Oltanis currently). Not sure how much more I’ll need to finish.

[ivory edge]

I think the game is really designed to be played through multiple times. You keep all your weapons you’ve purchased. It was just clearly designed to be played at least 2x through with the good weapons and such.

[primal veldt]

Yeah, between the multitude of weapons, the cost of the pricier stuff, ||the gold weapons||, the game is meant to be played over and over again I feel.

[mystic zodiac]

Starting Bomb Factory Hoven but low on ammo and considering going back to some early planets only use wrench and ammo and bolt farm…

[runic path]

Reached planet where you play as clank and he has to control bots. Lots of poison fumes. Any idea how far I am?

[mystic zodiac]

I think word is it is around(just over) 1/4

[ivory edge]

I think that's closer to 1/2 than 1/4. Like, once you finish that planet, I'd say your about halfway done.

[runic path]

Ok thanks guys. Hopefully enough time to get it done before month ends

[ivory edge]

Is that orxon, or is there one before that? Now I can’t remember.

[runic path]

its the planet after ive gotten the soldier hat or something

[ivory edge]

Pilots helmet? Yeah, you’re about half way.

[runic path]

sorry butchered that name

[primal veldt]

Was close to affording all the ||gold weapons|| you can get ||before you replay the game||

Only needed 1k more bolts and 3 more ||gold bolts||. Oh well, time to go beat the last level.

[midnight agate]

OK Gaspar is kicking my ass

No checkpoints? 😭

[ivory edge]

The checkpoints in the game are bad. Doesn’t end with Gaspar.

[sullen lagoon]

yeah, there are some checkpoints that feel okay. others are way too far apart

[runic path]

Getting the info bot on orxin and dealing with the crabs and missle ship with no ammo was a true test of patience

[midnight agate]

OK but seriously Gaspar is kicking my ass. This is kind of brutal

Not enough health pickups

[dapper pendant]

health fully upgraded

[midnight agate]

...Am I invincible if I make it into one of the turrets?

[dapper pendant]

is there a good way to grind bolts?

[sullen lagoon]

Hoverboard race?

[dapper pendant]

I guess I'll do the glitch

[normal field]

Finally finished Ratchet and Clank. It was way harder than I remember

[mystic zodiac]

I think there is a larger health bar in bottom left.

Just made it to Gorda

[runic path]

How must I beat those flying ships in hoven

They just out number me

[dapper pendant]

Finished. Took a lot of tries on the final boss. Used ||devastator + pda + a lot of bolts||.

Worst part of the game was being sent back to a checkpoint for missing a jump. Otherwise I liked it for what it is.

[mystic zodiac]

I had to focus on the helicopters and just hit the ship in the background while scrolling from one to the other. I save scummed that spot to get through it

Not sure that’s helpful

[runic path]

Ok let me try that

Thanks

[runic path]

Qwark defeated. The game is a lot harder than I was expecting. Always assumed it was aimed at kids. Enjoying it tho fun experience

[steep snow]

It’s solidly a preteen game, at least that’s what I felt when I played it the first time. The sequel titles confirm that to me

[terse temple]

My progress has been set back by household illness taking out my kids. Haven’t been able to play for a few days. Might have to bow out of this one and take my two points for the other games.

[woeful oyster]

Really enjoying this game. Just blew up a ship.

[sullen lagoon]

Yeah, it’s been on my list forever and I’m glad this finally got me to play it. There are definitely some frustrations, but there’s some satisfaction once I get through it that more than makes up for it.

I’m currently on vacation

[primal veldt]

I might even play Going Commando soon. I am glad I remembered to set my NetherSX2 memory card as a single shared one instead of each game having their own. Means save transfers are easier.

At least with Ratchet 1 I had played the Vita version like five years ago, before that I had only played 1 when it came out on PS2. It's been since those PS2 days since I've played Ratchet 2 and 3

[sullen lagoon]

As someone who’s playing these for the first time, what do you gain by loading your previous saves?

[primal veldt]

For Going Commando, the second game, if you own a weapon from Ratchet 1, you can get it for free, instead of having to pay for it. And in Up Your Arsenal, the third game, if you've beaten the second hover board race you get the Gadgetron employee discount.

There's also similar stuff for Going Commando to Up Your Arsenal.

[sullen lagoon]

Neat

I’m playing the collection on my vita so hopefully that just works

[formal forge]

I've just gotten to ||Planet Pokitaru||. Am I nearly done? I've never played Ratchet and Clank before.

[ivory edge]

Hmm. Gonna have to figure out how to do this for a folder based card.

[high mesa]

Random thought: I love how this hotshot mechanic is named Ratchet.

At least he wasn't named Spanner

[solid jasper]

What do the gold bolts do for me

Anything?

[mystic zodiac]

This game feels like a cross between a 3d FPS and a run and gun except it feels like it has the weaknesses of each without their strengths. I wish either I could more strategically take cover and fire or have a better auto aim to make it easier to run and gun…

[woeful oyster]

This game is great loving it so much.

[ionic umbra]

Auto aim is absolutely atrocious. At the beginning it doesn't really matter, but it sucks enjoyment out of the second half of the game.

[mystic zodiac]

Yea this was exactly my experience. Once I got to the point where everything seemed to shoot long distance and you couldn’t seem to either run up and attack or take cover and snipe. It just made defeating those long range enemies much more difficult than was enjoyable

It seems like the very expensive weapons or upgrade might destroy them with ease but I didn’t grind and get any of them so I don’t know the experience with them

[ionic umbra]

They clearly had no idea how to make the game challenging in a fair way, so they were like, 4hp for the 60% of the game, shit checkpoints, so you constantly have to rerun entire levels. And then scummy enemy placement, like you have to jump somewhere and some exploding fucks are hidden behind a corner, you can't know about them the first time so you just have to die and replay.

And then like the economy system is a massive tease, cause you see early the weapon for 150k, you know it has to be great, so you want to save for it, but now you skip half of the weapons and think, would it be easier with these weapons? And then they also put extra health for 30k to mess with you even more. Like Liquid said, it makes sense if you are to play the game like 3 times and just have things to work towards, but idk man, it ruins the main experience imo

And I absolutely loved the first half of the game so

[balmy nova]

I was here to say I started this game and I’m enjoying it a lot so far but… uh oh.

[midnight agate]

...I spent the 30k to buy the health as soon as I encountered the vending machine for it

Like just, not second guessing that shit. I had the bolts and I can't think of something higher priority

[dapper pendant]

I used the hoverboard race glitch to get 80k bolts before the last level. spent 30k on the tesla claw which I honestly didn't need. the rest went into buying devastator ammo. devastator/suck cannon were my primary weapons for the end of the game. if I was using save states, I wouldn't have needed that many bolts.

[woeful oyster]

I just shoot everybody long range in first person mode. Sounds like lots of skill issues

[ivory edge]

The Tesla claw makes the game play more like a run and gun and feels so much better. Worth the 30k imo. It’s like a lock on blaster. Totally worth it.

I loved the game at first. Around orxon my impression began to change. I still enjoyed it, but mostly think it has flaws that bring it down. I’m hopefully the sequel fixes most of my complaints. Still fun and I’m glad I played it. My favorite of the 3 this month.

[dapper pendant]

I tried run and gun with the tesla claw but those jet pack guys at the end kept getting me

[runic path]

Is there a trick to win the second hoverboard race? Kicking my butt. Do I need to finish it to progress the game to complete?

[mystic zodiac]

Have you been taking the shortcut and jumping through the blue circles on it? That made a big difference for me

Towards the end of the race there are three arches. If you go through them you can take the right path at the start/finish line that is otherwise blocked by lasers

[mystic zodiac]

When I did this I had to be very precise in how far away I was so that I could shoot one or two before they started shooting at me. Then take cover till they stopped shooting then get proper distance to again fps target a couple with devastator…..manageable but not very fluid or fun

[woeful oyster]

Idk I had zero problems with it. Compared to Ape escape. Which I think I broke my right stick playing

[ivory edge]

yeah, those guys you have to use one of the rocket launchers with, basically... or hide until they start to move, then pop out and shoot them with something, but it's not as safe for sure.

[runic path]

No ive missed them. I will watch a youtube playthrough of it. These hoverboard races are not fun = the AI feels like they cheating

[midnight agate]

I have to say. Just giving in and buying both health upgrades the instant you have the opportunity helps so goddamn much

I have so much more margin for error in these pain in the ass segments

[ionic umbra]

So I finished Drek's fleet. Is Veldin like actually last level, or will it have some part locked by some item available somewhere else?

[woeful oyster]

Tesla claw or R.Y.N.O. ?

[ivory edge]

Tesla claw if you don’t want to spend forever grinding bolts but will still face a challenging end boss. Ryno will make that final battle almost trivial, from what I understand.

[woeful oyster]

I am at like 128k right now. Might double back to get the RYNO

[ivory edge]

If you’re that far along, yeah, just do it.

I redid giant clank battle several times to get the boots for Tesla claw.

[fossil kraken]

oh hell, you can upgrade your health??

I just finished that marathon of a last boss fight with only my starting four 😭

(and no RYNO/Tesla)

[dapper pendant]

gg 4 health challenge

[fossil kraken]

lol now I'm wishing there was some sort of achievement for it, but nope...

[tender cosmos]

This is really impressive, should be an achievement.

[midnight agate]

all right, let's see what weapons I can buy

I've got the pyrocitor, blaster, and devastator out of the purchaseable ones

no glove of doom, mine glove, visibomb gun, decoy gun, walloper, drone device, tesla claw

I've got about 40k and the Persuader

apparently there were some sequences where things might have been slightly easier with the mine glove? idk

also I do have the suck cannon, 8 health, etc., so I don't need to save up for health anymore

any recommendations?

[dapper pendant]

blaster and devastator were my most used weapons. liquid's talked about how good the tesla claw is.

pyrocitor really does the same thing as suck cannon but worse

I never got any of the other weapons

[midnight agate]

tesla claw it is then I guess

also do I have to win the hoverboard race on the ||gadgetron planet|| or is this a sideqeust? I already beat the one in Rilgar

fuck me I do have to beat it don't I

[sullen lagoon]

https://tenor.com/view/jack-nicholson-yes-nod-agree-gif-11928667053720670991

[ivory edge]

but only works on small enemies, but doesn't require ammo. Not sure I'd say worse, but there are trade offs.

[ivory edge]

Visobomb is fun, since it's like the Nikita Missilse in MGS kind of. But you're vulnerable while controlling it.

[ivory edge]

It's easier than the Rilgar one though, thankfully.

[midnight agate]

Is it? It feels harder right now

[ivory edge]

The trick with the tesla claw is to feather shoot it. Just mash the button rather than holding it.

[ivory edge]

You get weapons to shoot guys. There's a pretty easy to hit shortcut. You can also do tricks and build a boost bar. It's a lot more forgiving than the first one. You can make some mistakes and still be okay.

[midnight agate]

All right. I'll keep at it.

and done. I didn't realize tricks were a thing, though I'm not 100% sure what they did

[ivory edge]

They fill a boost bar. You can then push ▢ to boost whenever you want, as long as you have a non-empty bar.

at least, I think it was ▢

I could be wrong on the button, but I think that's it.

[midnight agate]

Oh. I didn't know about that

but I guess it wasn't that hard, because I never had to use it

[midnight agate]

All right, I can finally buy upgraded weapons. at least the suck cannon, blaster, pyrocitor, and bomb glove. Considering which ones to actually get

granted, I'm right at the end and could probably beat it without an upgraded weapon

[ivory edge]

Upgrade health first if you haven’t done that.

[trim sluice]

I wish the bolt glitch didn’t mess up achievements. I have enough to afford the last health upgrade but I’m lacking several weapons still

[runic path]

What do the skills points do? And where does everyone buy health upgrades. I’ve just passed the second hoverboard race and I’ve only upgraded health once. I don’t have any bolts tho cos I bought Tesla gun

[balmy nova]

There are skill points?

[dapper pendant]

the same place you upgraded health the first time. there's a second upgrade available for 30k.

[runic path]

I’ve gotten two notifications for skill points but have no clue what it does

[runic path]

Aaah ok. Assumed it would be available as you progress in the game. Thanks

[balmy nova]

Weird. I don’t think I’ve seen that yet and definitely didn’t see any kind of skill tree in the menus or anything like that. I’m up to the hoverboard race planet, I think.

[sullen lagoon]

I think it shows up as a mission after you get the first upgrade

[ionic umbra]

Skill points tab unlocks after finishing the game

Not sure if they actually do anything, I had one and from description it seemed like an achievement type thing, it was for getting to the boss without getting damaged in a level

[runic path]

Planet veldin is nire impossible with countless floating rocket guys and ships and no ammo 😂😂

[runic path]

And done. Man this was a great game but it had some frustrating difficulty spike and didn’t like the ammo economy but slogged my way through those last two stages.

[woeful oyster]

I need to lock in to beat this. Need to bring Raritanium to the inventor

Please tell I am like 2/3 the way done now

[ivory edge]

I think they were just early achievements. They don't actually do anything.

[ivory edge]

They show up in the menu of new game+, with a checklist. You get retroachievements for accomplishing them too, but no real in game notification, as far as I remember.

[foggy girder]

If I'm at the second hoverboard race, ho far from the end am I?

[high mesa]

Towards the end, though the last three levels are quite lengthy and annoying.

[foggy girder]

Man I hate this race

I might not finish this one in time

[high mesa]

In that race, you should prioritize the shortcuts. If you get into both in all three laps, you should come in first. Rest is just getting into them and staying in without crashing or falling off.

[foggy girder]

There's multiple shortcuts?

I might be blind

[high mesa]

There is two. The first one is that little path you can jump onto from the ramp right after the first explosive boxes. It actually continues over the track itself into a pipe. The second one you have to unlock with the three gates right before the finish line.

[sullen lagoon]

I guess it’s time for the second race

[sullen lagoon]

I just earned a skill point?

[sullen lagoon]

I wonder what I did to earn it

[foggy girder]

Man, I literally had to bring my PS3 on vacation to finish the last like 30 minutes of the game lol.

Fun game, infuriating at times though

Those hoverboard races sucked

[sullen lagoon]

I think I’m going to run out of time before finishing

I’ve returned home, but the checkpoints become less and less generous

[foggy girder]

Oh you're like 30 minutes to an hour from the end if you made it that far.

[sullen lagoon]

Oh, that’s closer than I thought. Though I keep dying in the same place. Usually from stepping off an edge I didn’t see, but I’ve been here all day.

[sullen lagoon]

Okay, finally got through all that

Looks like it’s time for a fight

If this is the last fight, I’m way further than I thought and I’m much less worried about how much time I have to finish

[woeful oyster]

Done fun game over all some things could be frustrating. Overall great time with it.

[sullen lagoon]

I’ve died too many times to count on this boss. And it’s always the platforming

[sullen lagoon]

I quit. The number of times I’ve died because I thought I had the swingshot equipped and didn’t is embarrassing

[woeful oyster]

You're so close

Ratchet and Clank (2002) You’re a cat mechanic with a robot sidekick. Trying to stop a Zillionaire from making new planets. ||Five stars|| Also ||never meet your heroes.||

[sullen lagoon]

I know. But I’ve been there for 8 hours playing on and off

It’s very much me beating myself

I might’ve stuck with it in the olden days when we had until the next month started in the morning

[sullen lagoon]

Looks like I need to charge my steam deck before I get back to yazuka 0, so I’ll give this a little more time just to call it done

[fathom pebble]

for me its going on the backlog haha.. im like probably half way. I actually DO loved this game, but I'm taking my time

and yes it just get more challenging the more I advance haha

[crisp lily]

Alright, going alone with this one it seems

[high mesa]

glhf! What version you're going with?

[crisp lily]

Regular PS2

I did notice some slowdown on 3x on the Odin 2 in the second world, first time I've had slowdown on this

[high mesa]

I would imagine it gets worse further in when you get the really big guns dishing out lots of projectiles.

[crisp lily]

Might need to change some settings around

[crisp lily]

Game good

[crisp lily]

Slightly annoyed at getting to the end of an area multiple times, and having to leave the planet and come back later with a new item. It's faster the second time, but still a treck. Why not put the item gates at the beginning of those areas

[crisp lily]

That turret section was awful