About Ratchet and Clank

Or: How I Earned my First Platinum Trophy

Never before had I played a game based on a movie, based on a game, which is a remake of that game on which the movie serves as a reimagining. It sounds complex but the gameplay and story were really easy to get into and immediately won my heart.

Never before had I also gone through a Platinum run of a game. And even though that too sounded complex, it turned out to be something I am fully capable of doing.

I do believe that Ratchet and Clank was the perfect game for me to complete for the first time. Psnprofiles rates it a 3/10 on the difficulty scale and since it requires approximately 25 hours to complete, it felt perfect for someone who then thought of himself as the biggest noob of all time. Maybe I was going to complete it or maybe I was going to fail spectacularly at a game recommended for everyone above the age of 10. Back then, at that moment in my life, I needed something to remind me that I wasn’t a complete failure. Something that would show me that if I tried just a bit, I could do anything. And I mean anything.

It took me 40+ hours, I’m not gonna lie! Not sure what I was doing all that time but, like I said, I was a completely different gamer back then.

Needless to say, I loved every second of it!

…

Well, except maybe for that 28th attempt at the Faster than a Speeding Amoeboid trophy on the Rilgar Hoverboard race! But it was all worth it at the end and felt much more rewarding because of its difficulty.

I was new to the franchise but seeing that this was Insomniac’s 15th game starring Ratchet and Clank, it seemed obvious that the team behind it had been having tons of fun designing them! I’m not sure how fans of the old school games feel about this reimagining of the franchise but to me it was the perfect mix of stylish animation, goofy dialogue, heartwarming story, over the top weapons, ridiculous fourth-wall breaking nods aimed at its reboot status, and incredibly fun combat. Looking deeper into the game, I’d even say it’s an easy to understand criticism of modern consumerism, media control and propaganda told in a satirical tone.

Story-wise it’s great but it’s the gameplay where this game actually manages to shine the brightest. IT’S SO FUN! The high-speed rail grinding, the magnetic boots tracks, the jetpack areas, and the bonkers weaponry can make the player laugh even in the most intense action-packed moments. During the prologue, Ratchet is armed with only his awesome Omniwrench but over the course of the game, new weapons become available, and most importantly - upgradable. You can transform your enemies into sheep, pixelise them or force them to dance uncontrollably to disco tunes with the Groovitron! You can even do all of that at the same time! If that doesn’t sound like the most fun times with weapons a person can have - the weapons can be upgraded into even crazier versions of themselves by spending Raritanium or just using them until they level up! My personal favourite was Mr. Zurkon if not for the damage he dealt, for his hilarious threats and taunts.

“Death is too stupid for Mr. Zurkon!”

“I shall let you live, little alien… Psych! Mr. Zurkon lives only to kill!”

Alongside this is the well-written, fast-paced, Star Wars-inspired, whimsical, and energetic story of an unlikely friendship that blooms amidst a galaxy on the verge of war. The charming characters serve to explore the themes of achieving one’s dreams, finding one’s place in the world and what it means to be a hero. All of that while blasting their way through comical bosses and enemies on multiple beautifully designed worlds in a maelstrom of destruction where bolts fly magnetically towards Ratchet more intensely than even the projectiles of his opponents’ weapons.

While it might be fun to blow everything up, it feels really refreshing when the game allows you to take a breath and solve the puzzles during Clank’s missions. As a defective murder machine, the little robot is not very good at fighting and so whenever he squeezes into tight places where the other characters can’t follow, it’s up to him to open locked doors or rearrange a set of platforms for them to go through. I very much enjoyed solving the puzzles with Clank. Just like the ones for the Safecracker trophy, they don’t require a genius level of intelligence but feel very satisfying once they click and come together!

If not because it's one of the most charming, creative and rewarding adventures on the PS4, I think this is a perfect game to complete for several other reasons. Collecting all 28 Gold Bolts gives the player access to a lot of stuff! There's behind the scenes concept art, awesome new outfits for the characters, and... cheat codes. I can’t even remember the last time I got those in a PlayStation game!

Completing every holocard set for the trophy Super Trader revealed characters from the previous games and provided more clarity on the current story! Not to mention how witnessing every enemy’s individual dance for Death by Disco was absolutely hilarious!

Step by step, upgrade after upgrade I unlocked the trophies until finally, just as I completed the game in Challenge Mode, my first ever Platinum trophy popped! It might’ve been the fact that it was named The Hero of Heroes or how much I enjoyed the story and its climactic ending but I felt ecstatic! It took me way longer than expected and things proved to be more difficult than they should have been at times but I overcame that and for a moment it felt like I could conquer galaxies! Looking back, it was one of the most meaningful gaming experiences of my life, as it completely changed the way I play games.

This is an absolutely gorgeous adventure comprised of great storytelling, hilarious dialogue, and nuanced jokes that could be appreciated by gamers of all ages, be it Trophy Hunters or casual players. The little details in the character models or how the light reflected from certain surfaces give the game a lot of artistic value and provide more depth to it.

I honestly can’t recommend it enough - both as an iconic game for the PlayStation 4 and for the start of anyone looking to begin their Trophy Hunting journey as it set me on mine, igniting the flames of a passion I never knew existed inside me.