Most Recent Platinum

[Caquis_1]

Platinum #30: The Witness

Difficulty: 8/10

Enjoyment: 10/10

Time: 2 years 1 month

 

Got this game when it was given away as a PSPlus title in 2019, I already knew a little about it and as I really enjoy puzzles decided to give a go. The game is really fun and challenging, took me like 2 weeks to finish it (I'll admit I needed some guides for some of the puzzles during the latest parts ) but when I reached the last trophy, the damn challenge, thats when everything changed. At first, I only did a few attempts, to get to know what I was getting into and after a few hours of failed attempts I decided to stop for the day. I was like that for the next weeks, playing a little every day, between classes and other games I played during that time to not get exhausted by it. A month passed and I was already getting tired of the music and as I couldn't get it still, I gave up completely and focused on other games. Once in a while I returned to try but I just couldn't force myself to play more than an hour, I was starting to think I would never get the platinum. Years passed and I only played once in a while, that is if i touch the game, there was a time I didn't touch it for like 6 months.

So, here we are today, 2 years after I got the first trophy of the game, I just finished COD: Modern Warfare (2019) as my platinum #29 and I was looking for the next game I would finish, so I said, why not finish the Witness. This was the first time I touched the game in a while, so I prepared a playlist, put the TV sound to the minimun and continue with my attempts, the first hour was basically remembering all the mechanics of the puzzles, by the second hour, I was getting to the maze constantly and just needed a bit of luck, third hour came and I was ready to give up, it was getting a little late and I was a bit tired. I said to myself, just do a few more tries and thats it, but it seems I wouldn't need more, got a lucky start and I was off, reached the last part with aproximately 2 minutes to spare, but I was still really nervous to fail, I could hear the song coming to an end and I was only missing a puzzle. Luckily, after my first failed attempt, I figure what was the correct path and got the trophy, after a long time, I finally finished the challenge. I really recommend this game to everyone who enjoy puzzles and also to someone who is looking for a challenge. 

[ACA5632]

Platinum #110: LocoRoco Remastered

 A Peaceful Planet

Unlock all trophies.

 

Difficulty: 6/10

Enjoyment: 8/10

 

This game was a ton of fun. But the process of getting the platinum turned out to be a lot more frustrating than I could imagine. Firstly the controls are very strange, which makes sense as it is a remastered PSP game. You tilt the entire world and move your Loco's through it, so you're actually never directly controlling them. The Loco's also do not stand still and if you leave your controller down to take a break your Loco will continue to bounce through the stage and likely get itself hurt and screw up your level progress. But the main difficulty surprisingly comes from the collectibles in the game. To get the platinum you need to get 100% of all collectibles in every level. There are 3 different types of collectibles that the game tracks for completion: LocoRocos, Mui Mui's (tiny men that show up 3 times throughout every level), and pickories (which act as the coins in every level). Now the game does track collectibles and you can see what you missed on the level select screen. That is except for pickories, which is by far the most plentiful collectible throughout the game. These collectibles are also the easiest to miss so it is very common to get to the end of the level and be many pickories short. Theres also not a lot of backtracking that is available within the levels, so if you miss a pickory in a section you likely will not be able to go back for it without restarting the entire level. This leads to a lot of frustration when attempting to 100% each level. There is one level in particular that requires you to make a series of perfect jumps while being moved inside a bottle. Now this does not appear to be that difficult by the looks of it. But because of the strange controls it becomes a nightmare to do this section. This part also relies on a small amount of RNG because your Loco might jump without you doing anything and you need to pray that this doesn't happen. I spent at least 4 hours trying this level over, and over again until I got it (level 3-4 for anyone interested). I did end up enjoying the experience overall but the frustration I felt definitely soured it a bit. Check this game out if you're into feel good games, but know what you're getting into for the platinum. 

[Darghel]

#111 Hail to the king! (Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World tour)

Difficulty: with cheats, it's a joke (yes, I used cheats, but more to that later)

Time to Complete: You can choose any level, including final bosses, so if you rush it might take a couple hours

Recommended: Yes, I guess, it's fast and easy

Total Score: 6/10

 

Duke Nukem 3D was one of my very first pc games I played as a kid, I must have played the shareware versions for years and I remembered the first episide like it was yesterday - no kidding, one of my first trophies was the speedrun of the first level, which took me about 2 minutes!. 

All this to say that I'm a huge fan of old duke 3d...but this port is just okay in my opinion. It's okay, it's nothing special, it adds the fourth episode (which megaton edition did too) and a fifth episode which I'm not sure what to say...I kinda wished they added Life's a Beach and Nuclear winter too, cause they're awesome!

 

As for the cheats, yeah the game has cheats and practically allows you to cheese through the game...which I did but in my defense I REALLY don't like lunar apocalypse and the shrapnel episodes, they're my least favorites of the bunch, so being able to pass through them was a relief. Even on pc I practically avoid them!

 

Bottom line, it's okay for a quick trophy but beyond that...meh, it's nothing too great. Definitely wasn't thrilled.

 

 

[Deluziion90]

#427 - Watch Dogs: Legion

 

Completionist

Get all other Trophies

 

Fun: 8/10

Difficulty: 3/10

Overall time: ~25hrs 

 

Another Ubisoft game double stacked. Playing the game again as Aiden(WD1) and Wrench(WD2) made the game a whole lot interesting as they are crazy overpowered to play in Legion. There weapons, skills and pretty much everything they have breaks the game. It was an easy game the first time I played it on PS4 but this time it was just a much more fun experience.

 

Also PS5 still rules! The game ran super smooth and I didn't encounter any problems, glitches or weird bugs.

Edited July 15, 2021 by Deluziion90

[JoaLoft]

 

#264 - Operation: Tango (PS5)

 

It takes two to tango. And two to play this game. Introducing: Operation: Tango. Or as my friend hilariously called it (because he forgot the title a week after we finished it): Double Flamenco. (LOL!)

 

Operation: Tango is a coop-only experience for two people where you're both reliant on each other's communication and descriptions to progress through six missions which all culminate into saving the world as the best and most badass duo of elite operatives. One player plays as the field agent who is usually infiltrating a building, dodging traps and trying to confiscate something secretly, whether it be an important clue, evidence or data. The other plays as the hacker who breaks into computer systems from a distance and helps out from the cyberspace by opening doors, giving instructions, guiding them on a map, and so on.

 

Vocal communication is vital; playing this without talking makes things needlessly complicated and is just not fun. Because the game is very forgiving with its checkpoints, there's room for error and laughing about how some important instruction went lost in translation adds to the enjoyment factor. There is still a lot of suspense at some points when you're racing against the clock, trying to avoid complete disaster. There's a real sense of achievement when you figure everything out together and complete the mission before you run out of time.

 

All six missions add something new to the table, one more unique than the other. The game has some replayability because the experiences from both sides are very much different even though the layout of the missions never changes. Adding on top of that: a significant amount of the puzzles are randomized, which means you can't rely on a clear-cut walkthrough to solve everything. I would've liked more missions though, but with this game gaining plenty of traction through the previous Plus line-up, I'm hoping this will spark a bigger and even more inventive sequel to be produced!

 

The game did freeze a few times with both coop partners, resulting in us having to restart the entire game even. And even when our ping was very stable, one particular puzzle where you're both trying to guide a little dot into a circle ended up going out of sync. These rare stability and connection mishaps may have been resolved by now, since a patch came out yesterday.

 

Big plus: only one player needs to own the full game. The other player can join and play the entire game for free with you from start to finish with a trial version, just like A Way Out does, for instance. if you have someone you can play this game with over the mic: play it. If you ever tried "Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes" and loved that game: play it. If you get upset very quickly, don't have patience or you don't feel comfortable talking over the mic, I do recommend you pass on this one. And even then, I still want you all to give this a go. It is surprisingly fun and I will be introducing it to more people on my PSN list whenever I get the chance.

 

Shoutout to my local friend and @Mayellie for saving the world with me, twice!

 

Most frustrating trophy - ...

 

NONE!

 

Being a pure coop experience with a good checkpoint system, you'll mostly be focusing on finishing all six missions as both hacker and field operative and hitting the miscellaneous trophy here and there.

 

Most of the trophy names are titles of James Bond movie titles, with a Mission Impossible one included as well. Obvious nods to the movie franchises that will have served as inspiration, no doubt.

 

Yet another very easy trophy list for a very fun game. Double win!

 

[Biertje373]

Platinum #36

Scarlet Nexus

 Woven Red Threads
Obtained all trophies.

 

Dificulty 2/10

Fun 9/10

Time: 72 hours

 

I've played quite a few games in 2021, from many different genres with many different stories, but none of them felt as personal as this one, I guess the timing was just perfect.

This game was a game that I only got interested in a couple of months ago after I saw a preview of it and I was like, let's do this! And I am so glad I did, this is not my GOTY, but man it's high on the list.

 

So let's start with the positives:

The story has a lot of questions, which made me very interested to play both routes and even though the final few chapters are very much the same, the stuff that led to these final chapters really kept me going.

The music is really  good, especially the battles against the other character (Yuito/Kasane) and the 2nd phase of the final boss.

The battle system was great, i had so much fun when I felt like I mastered it.

That artstyle is beautiful.

 The characters are nice, in the end I really got to know and like them.

I personally like the concept of time travel, sure they can make media confusing but something about it really intrigues me.

The enemy designs are so cool. 

 

There are a couple of negatives, but they did not take away my enjoyment of the overal game, but here they are:

The side quests are crap, I am glad that you don't have to do 30 in one playthrough because that would've really annoyed me.

While I do like the characters, there's one trope that has really gotten on my nerves, the "I have feelings on the MC but I won't tell"-trope isn't my cup of tea.

 

There are probably more positives and negatives but I am not giong to force them, like I said I loved this game and it my most personal platinum.

I will put the reason here, but I'll put it in spoiler tags because it's a bit of a serious topic:

Spoiler

 

8 years ago I found out that my dad has dimentia, of course over time he was going downhill, so on the tuesday before the game came out he had something happen which was bad for him. So the day after this game came out he passed away, the week leading up to the funeral was one of the toughest times I've had in a while. I had to take care of a bunch of stuff, which was very exhausting.

So of course during that week I did not have a lot of time to play the game, both because I was busy and because of my mental health. But I knew that when I finally found the time, that I wanted to get this platinum, as a part of closure.

 

And here is my platinum screenshot, I really like it:

 

Edited July 14, 2021 by Biertje373

[Sardavanua]

#191 - Rime

 

 

The end is a new beginning

 

 

Dunno what to say about this one, got mixed feelings about it. The game was unique, that I can say and it had an interesting story that only really makes sense once you've seen the actual ending of the game. Rime also has one of the most relaxing atmospheres I've ever seen in a video game, it kinda felt like meditation at some points, but at the same time the game managed to constantly frustrate me for some reasons. The controls felt too clunky and a sprint button was missing in my opinion. The platforming didn't always work properly too, which is a freakin shame considering the potential this game had. Maybe it was just me and I might have played the game with the wrong mindset, I dunno. But at least the game got better over time, everything past chapter 2 felt way more enjoyable. That's probably because there's no giant prehistoric bird chasing you around half the map lol. The puzzels themselves were easy, but not too easy, sometimes you had to think around one or two corners and I really enjoyed that. Trophy wise the game was easy too, just get the collectibles and you're good to go.

 

Difficulty: 2/10

Time spent: ~10h

[ASMODAIOS344]

 

 

 

Platinum 28# and overall trophy 5000#

[Isle-of-Miku]

"King of Cans"

60 Seconds!

 

Only took me a million tries each to get the last few Trophies  

[MissShake]

 #65: Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! 

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! Platinum
Good job! Completed all tasks!

I was pretty sure I wouldn't be giving this a look. It's the "meme game," after all, why on earth would I buy THAT? Well. My sister gave me a PSN voucher specifically so I would buy Doki Doki, so I really didn't have a choice. I streamed it for my friends and boy oh boy did I make myself look like the coolest, bravest person on the planet... I'm lying, I was freaking out all over the place. I definitely see why this game made such an impression back in the day, but it feels like just a bit of the oomph was lost due to the transition to consoles. Still worth a look though, especially if you didn't get on the hype train back in the day like me.

[dieselmanchild]

3 hours ago, Sardavanua said:

Rime also has one of the most relaxing atmospheres I've ever seen in a video game, it kinda felt like meditation at some points

Well said. This is exactly what I loved about it and what really elevated the game for me. 
 

Along with RiME, there are a few other games I’ve played such as Journey and Fe that have that same wonderful quality. They all share the same sort of calm, relaxing nature and vibrant beauty that creates a very cathartic and moving experience that is unlike anything else.

 

Games like this also kind of reminded me of the fact that a game can be so much more than just a video game. Games like this function as more of an emotional experience or a great work of art, tapping deep into the player’s feelings rather than thoughts, and allowing one’s senses and emotions to guide you on your journey. Connecting with those emotions and providing such a sense of peace and tranquility is probably the reason why the memory of these experiences lingers on in my mind long after playing these games. ?

 

Congrats on your platinum by the way.

[Viscera1900]

 #306  -  Doki Doki Literature Club Plus

 

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! Platinum

"Good job! Completed all tasks!"

 

Enjoyment: 8/10

Difficulty: 1/10

Completion time: 17 hours (in game) / 1 week, 6 days

 

Heard so many good things about this game, so I decided to buy it day 1. It's mostly a VN game which I'm familiar with and it was a good read, especially when you reach Act 2. The platinum trophy was unobtainable until today's recent patch for this game. Being a VN game it's a very easy platinum trophy to achieve and can potentially earned much faster if you decide to skip everything. But since this was my first time playing it; I didn't do that.

 

 

 

[x7251]

 #54 - Mass Effect 3

 

[Omelette Paradise]

 #491 - Takotan

 

 

A fun shoot-em-up game that reminded me of 16-bit SNES games of the past.

 

Loved the pixel art and the soundtrack.

 

Enjoyment: 9/10

Difficulty: 2/10

[mangio_tanto]

 

 Hypnospace Outlaw 

 

I needed a change of pace after grinding in NieR and Berserk: Band of the Hawk and well, my wish was granted with Hypnospace Outlaw.

Nothing better than go back in an alternate 1999, browsing pages and reporting illegal activities, copyright infringements and other shady things happening online.

 

Puzzles are too easy in the beginning and really hard in second half of the game. Sometimes you have to be lucky investigating the right page, or you have to think outside of the box to close the case. But believe me, it is really satisfying once you do it.

If you used GeoCities, Napster, and remember how slow was Internet in those years, or feared/laughed at Y2K bug, this concentrate of 90's nostalgia is definitely for you.
If you don't, it is surely a different experience. You'll love or hate this game.

 

Also, you can buy a virtual cute hamster with wings you have to feed and take care, while it will poop everywhere on your desktop.
What else?

[Marvy_G23]

All Evidence Collected
Complete every challenge the city of Oakmont has to offer.

[Tactical-Uav]

#62 - Dead Island

 

 

Was really enjoyable replying this game on the PS4 even if it was rather frustrating at times.

Edited July 15, 2021 by Tactical-Uav

[SerpentSeed]

93... Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland.

[percy547389126yv]

#847 Tower of Balloons: Otterrific Arcade

[percy547389126yv]

#848 Wagamama High Spec

[Viper]

 #239

Rebel Galaxy

All Trophies Collected

 

This is one of those games that was fine at first...but severely over stayed it's welcome long before I was finished due to a couple needlessly overly grindy trophies. 

 

This game also sparks a strange balance of being fun and you almost can't get enough of it...and being bored to tears and extremely repetitive. It's quite strange. Saw a lot of posts from PS4, Steam and Xbox players that all say this games "opens up after you leave the first system"...no, no it does not! It's is literally the same thing over and over again the entire game. 

 

The story is interesting enough for you to keep going, as you have this mystery to unfold about an AI you pick up. But you quickly learn that the story is really only a handful of missions long...everything else is you going from station to station picking up job after job after job to get money so you can upgrade your ship, in order to get the mission difficulty to go down (it ranges from Very Easy, Easy, Average, Hard, Very Hard), which is based on the level of components you have attached to your ship (from Mk1-6), just so you can get to that next step and actually survive...and even that doesn't help after awhile as you have to buy bigger ships (yet slower which makes things more tedious) so they can have more weapons attached, which in turn costs MORE money, so you have to do more jobs to compensate. And it's all naval based combat, so you fight on a 2D plane in space, while turned to the side so your can fire broadside weapons. Admittedly when you do get your ship kitted out with all new stuff and more stuff, and you see how fast you just obliterate the competition, it's very satisfying...until you hit the next wall and have to repeat the whole process again. 

 

Like I said, it's a weird level of fun, where you might be bored and annoyed but you almost can't put it down...but with a little more variety this could have been an amazing game. I'm glad it's over though...trying to kill 20 Pirate Lords (which are RNG based when they show up) and killing 2500 ships just made it a drag in the end. I'm not even sure I want the sequel at this point...even though I hear it might be a bit more my speed as it's dog fighting rather than Naval combat, but a break from this is needed first.

[Rick_Sanchez]

Pltinum 263

Fun: 9/10 (3/10 looking for rare materials)

Difficulty: 4/10

Nier Replicant is a beautiful remaster that brings a few quality of life changes that assists you with using most of the magic spells. It has beautiful updated graphics, new scenarios not present in the original game, and a few new weapons. A good amount of trophies are story related and beating act 2 bosses fast which is easier on later playthroughs when going for the rest of the endings and completing quests as well as upgrading your weapons. The million gold trophy is easily earned with buying almost nothing and completing all the quests you come across then selling materials till you get the gold then reload your save to keep the materials. The ending that deletes your save is still required but you can earn a new ending which will bring your deleted save back. All in all this is a beautiful remaster and you shouldn't skip out on it if you love action RPGS.

[darkwat3r]

#64

All trophies obtained - Obtained all Horizon Zero Dawn trophies.

Good game with a great story and an easy platinum. Like with most open world games it is a bit grindy with the collectibles but not to bad. Overall an easy and enjoyable game to 100%. 

[Cpt-Redding]

KNACK

Platinum  #81:

 

Difficulty: 4/10

Rating: 6/10

Time to Platinum: 50 hours

 

Best trophy:

Professional Intruder - Collected the clear crystals in Chapter 4-2 without being detected by the security robots.

Worst trophy:

        Crystal Relic Master - Unlocked all upgraded Knack characters.

 

Finding games to play with my girlfriend or for her to play became a little difficult after finishing the LEGO Harry Potter series until we discovered she enjoyed platformers and went on to smash the Spyro Collection, Crash Bandicoot and Ratchet & Clank but i quickly started running out of games. Enter KNACK, which had sat in my Library for years after picking it up on PS+ many moons ago and before you knew it she had completed it 2 or 3 times. Now while i do not have a 100% completion record i do try and plat what i can and here we are.

 

KNACK is your fairly standard platforming game as you play a small robot/golem created from ancient relics that power the world and embark on a quest to stop the goblins, uncover Viktor's plans for world domination and save humanity from the secrets of the relics. Nothing spectacular or groundbreaking in its design, gameplay or story and not a game i would normally play but it is enjoyable to play and has a nice variety of enemies, locations and level design that keeps the game fresh. Of personal favourite is the stealth level in Chapter 4, as it sees you sneaking through the shadows collecting relics and dodging security robots, in a very Sly Cooper-esque way and is a refreshing break from the more linear "beat up everyone from point A to point B" levels that do make up a fair part of the game.

 

The game is actually surprisingly difficult at times for a platformer too, nothing like Killzone 2 on Elite or Dark Souls, but for a game i assume is aimed at kids, it can be quite punishing. Otherwise, one other minor gripe, many chapters begin with you flying to a new location and in doing so you lose all the relics you gained in the level and as a result you get considerable smaller. I get why for story and gameplay purposes, but it did get a bit repetitive at times and you quickly miss being the size of a small building and smashing through cities and mountains. 

 

In terms of the platinum journey, completing the game on Very Hard, even with the best character or "Knack" is at times a tad difficult but otherwise the game is more just grindy, with the gems needed to unlock these characters locked behind in game loot boxes or "treasure chests". You need x number of diamonds, emeralds and so forth to unlock each character and the 10 diamonds needed for the best version of Knack took 3 full playthroughs to find and that is excluding the Very Hard playthrough after as Diamond Knack is almost a requirement to complete it. 

[DrBloodmoney]

 #465

 #598

 

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

 

The latest in the Ratchet and Clank series, Rift Apart represents more than simply the next entry in a storied and revered (and very long-running) series of games, but also has a more symbolic status, as perhaps the first PS5 game to truly give a glimpse of the visual capabilities of the new console.

 

Visuals are the absolute high-point of the game, and there is no need to mince words here - the game looks astounding. 
This is not simply a case of saying "This game looks good" to other regular players of games. 
This isn't even in that more rarified realm of "Hey, come and look at this" getting shouted by gamers to their less-game savvy family members. 
This is on the level of random family members stopping in their tracks as they walk by, and asking "What are you watching... wait... are you controlling that?"

 

The expression "Like an interactive Pixar movie" is about as tired a meme as gaming has ever heard, but at this point, in looking at Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart, it has become hackneyed in a new way - the term is now both tired and inadequate - the game doesn't just look like a Pixar movie - it looks better than most Pixar movies.

The visual fidelity, smoothness of animation, lighting, and textures are on a level I have not seen in console games before. I think an argument that this is the best looking console game released on any platform up to this point would be tough to counter - and as a technical showpiece of the graphics of the console, the game is unparalleled.

 

Unfortunately, beyond the visuals, there is little else positive to say about the game, in the context of the series it represents.

While Rift Apart is a marvellous looking game, and a towering achievement in that area, in virtually every other aspect, it falls well short of the games that preceded it, and the bar set by the series generally.

 

Narratively, the game is fairly middling. Once again, Ratchet is feeling useless and bored without a nemesis to fight (that happens often to poor Ratchet, who I have to assume suffers from some form of Lombax-ADHD!)  When, during a victory parade celebrating one of the duo's many galaxy saving adventures, Dr. Nefarious once again tries to seize power, this time using a stolen invention of Clank's - a Dimensionator - to find a universe in which he is already victorious. In doing so, he accidentally damages the fabric of space-time, causing multiple dimensions to bleed into one another, and finding a dimension where he already rules (as the separate Emperor Nefarious,) and - crucially - where Ratchet's counterpart, a female Lombax named Rivet, works with a resistance, attempting to bring him down. 
Clank ends up travelling with Rivet, Ratchet finds a new Clank-a-Like called Kit, and the pair divvy up the levels as the player hops from one pair to the other, working to repair the damage caused by Nefarious, and defeat both version of him.

 

It's not the weakest plot a Ratchet game has ever had, but it is close. Thematically, there is very little here in the way of the satire the games have come to be known for. Gone is all the "consumerism run amok" or environmental concerns of previous games, and instead, the story is largely one following simple character-specific themes of friendship and forgiveness. These are fine, if a little simple for the series, but where it really falls down is in the lack of comedy. Ratchet games have traditionally been hotbeds of funny lines and scenes - here, there are not as many as before, and they land far less often. The game features almost no input from Captain Quark (The low-hanging, yet often best fruit of the Ratchet comedy troupe,) and Rivet, who comprises half the game, while genuinely likeable, is never given even a hint of comedy to work with. The french-accented Pirates are the closest stand-in for the comedy, but rarely if ever actually draw a chuckle.

 

The switching between characters mechanic is interesting, but ultimately frivolous - and entirely a narrative hook. There is no material difference to how the Ratchet and Rivet control, and in fact, both have access to the same purchased weapons, sharing both upgrades, and even things like ammo count, so really, playing as one or the other is a simple palate swap. Personally, I found Rivet's relationship with Clank to be the more compelling of the two parings, but would have liked to see her receive some kind of different move set. (This would not be difficult to account for, as each paring has their own distinct sets of levels, and levels cannot be accessed by both characters, so I see no reason why both characters could not be more distinct, and have more character specific level designs.)

The game is relatively short, and features only a handful of planets - fewer than half the number on show in some previous games. Artistic design is fun, however, there does seem to be a slight lack of variety across the worlds, and a very visible reduction in the exploration scope within each level. 
Each planet is generally either very much a 'tunnelled path' or a wide open plane, neither of which is peppered with the usual level of secret areas and nooks and crannies to be found and explored. Indeed, in no previous R&C game has it been more apparent that a 'style over substance' approach has been taken to the level design. There is a constant feeling that exploration is being stymied by the game, as ledges that should be accessible are guarded by invisible walls, chasms that should be traversable result in instant falls etc. The game does not want the player to expose any lack of visual fidelity, and so, refuses to allow the normal level of 'poking and prodding' at the environment. After a certain point, this does tend to teach the player to simply give up exploring, and simply follow waypoints. There is a slight lack of technical polish to the game also - while everything looks great, I found I often 'glitched' between two objects, resulting in wild camera swivels, or Ratchet / Rivet being trapped inside geometry, or simply falling through it. the game is well checkpointed, so this was never a gamebreaking issue, but is something of an immersion-breaking one.

In the majority of R&C games, simply playing the story, without deviating from the main path much, would generally net the player around 30-40% of the secret collectibles (gold bolts / Raritanium etc.) This means there is inherent repeatability, in the sense that returning to previous levels to explore is a key component of the games. In this case, however, I finished the game with near 90% of the gold bolts, and having almost fully upgraded all weapons, without any additional backtracking than what was required by the primary narrative. That meant that, while amazing to look at, the scope for enjoyment of the visuals, by re-exploring the levels is dramatically lessened. 

 

Enemies are fairly varied, and fun to fight with Ratchet / Rivet's array of goofy and fun weapons, however, they do seems to have returned to a less nuanced version of AI than previous games had reached. Enemies rarely flank or take cover, and instead, simply swarm at the player, meaning combat tends to simply be a case of running backwards, firing indiscriminately, Borderlands style. 

 

All in all, the game is certainly worth playing - and the visuals alone are enough to give momentum to a playthrough, and drive the player forward, but it is a little disappointing that visuals are the sole thing doing so, in a series which has, generally, had both top notch visuals, and a lot of other things going for it. Here, the visuals are a massive step forward, but everything else takes a back seat to them, ands results in a short game with little to no replay value. 

A bit of a disappointment - however, with the visuals now proven, I am extremely hopeful and excited for whatever the next PS5 Ratchet game will be!

 

 

(Review originally posted HERE)

Edited July 15, 2021 by DrBloodmoney