Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time Retrospective & Development Deep Dive

Caps at 45 FPS
2010s console plebs: Is... is this the fabled 60 FPS? It must be!

I worked on Thor love and thunder (and afew other movies) as a set builder, and I feel the meaning of the word ‘crunch’, the threats of losing a job if you don’t work 6-7 days a week on 12hrs days, and then to sit down at the the cast and crew screening, only to see sets and entire plots removed from the film, sets we spent months building. It’s hard..

Thor love and thunder could honestly have a ‘snider cut’ with how much they removed. Hard times.

Love it!!!!!!!

That ending went like 😢😢😢😢NOO CLANK! To 😂😂😂😂😂😂Boogie woohoo! Yippee yay yo!

Wait there is a radio in the game😂. I just finished it

I have played the game for the first time last week and I was so disappointed with it. I have waited for years to buy it with the question where the lombaxes are and the whole story and plot didnt answer it and instead made something we didnt even need. now i hear they worked under crunch again i can understand but it still sucks

So you do think it's a shit game then.

I first played this after beating Rift Apart.
It was cool, I liked the new things they were trying with space travel.
But eeeehhhh, it really does feel like it was missing some things.

I found your Ratchet Retrospective series around the same time I was going through the games again. I was really excited to get to this game again since, while not my favorite overall Ratchet, it was still pretty high up there. Even just a few years ago when i played it last, it was still up there for me. This time though, I've found its near the bottom of the list for me. I'm not sure what it is, be it the music, weapons, graphics or level design, but the fact remains that it's just not not working for me anymore.

MoSt PlAyErS cAn'T tElL tHe DiFfErEnCe is console moron talk about FPS.

this video reminds me of bioshock infinite, when one of the devs says "we cuted two games worth of content" that made my heart breake

I really hate the idea of Angela just being swept under the rug. She has a similar (at first glance) story of ratchet from the going commando we think she’s from Grelbin or at least calls it home a horrible moon in a neighboring galaxy to ratchet. Thinking about it logically another Lombax getting shipped off makes some sense and she ended up in a random place like ratchet did. I’m hoping she makes a comeback also because I’m a fan of her VA. Don’t get me wrong I like rivet, but I still like Angela

I think up your arsenal is by far the best.
Something felt wrong about crack in time like they wanted way more than they could handle. I’m not talking about crunch I genuinely mean they started adding stuff with no clear vision what it would end like. Like someone just said “wouldn’t this be cool” and just added it. It was still a good game but I definitely liked the gameplay of the previous installments way more. The story was probably the best

Space fighting in ps2 games felt better

In the end of the day, Crack in Time's issues boil down to every single R&C game - Insomniac needed no more than a year more to make the game perfect.

im currently doing a playthrough of every r&c clank for the first time, ive been watching each one of your videos covering the game i just finished to see what the general opinion on a game was after i finish it to see if it lines up with mine, watching this one made me realize how deffirent my opinions are about the franchise compared to others,
the 2 favorites, a crack in time and up your arsenal are my least favorite games for what they go for, a crack in time i dont feel controls as well as past entries (alot of that comes from the lack fo the long jump) and up your asenals lack of platforming in favor of combat sours that game for me, the platforming has always been my favorite part of these games. honestly my fav game in the franchise is still probably the first one even with the improved controls of its sequals, the more metroidvania aproach to its level design i feel was at its strongest in the first game. granted i still havnt played into the nexus or rift apart so we will see what i think of those, but it has been intresting comparing my opinions to yours after i finish each game

It’s my favorite of the Future games.

This game could have been much more. There are a lot of good ideas that never really congeal into a truly great game. It's just good, not great. Not as good as the PS2 games whatsoever and not as good as Tools which retains the classic formula and does it well enough.

This and R&C 2002 are still the best for me.

This game will always be my favorite

So I've been binging these videos as I play through the series again, and holy shit you've conditioned me to say "Clank is always right" with you. It's against my will at this point ✊️😔

I don't care what anyone says, Orvus' ending quote will always make me tear up.

"And remember, the universe has a WONDERFUL sense of humor! The trick is...learning how to take a joke! Hehehehe..."

I loved a crack in time, was so good

You know how sonic is said to have had a rough transition to 3D. Ratchet had a rough transition to HD. Only difference is that ratchet didn't kill the console he was on unlike sonic

You never got around to the Lombard incident

A crack in time really just clicked with me, like every single part of it. From the gorgeous environments, the interesting space content, the dialogue that just hit all the right notes for me, the gameplay mechanics, exploration, art style, combat, clank mission, even to the stylish little comics it had. This for me was R&C's perfect form, I would of loved another one like this game.

Well. I finished this game for the first time and can confidently say out of all the PS3 games -- this is the best one. Don't get me wrong, your criticisms are absolutely warrented. For me though, at the end of the day this has the best gameplay, story and fluff to win my vote.

My interpretation is that time portals are stable but the clock itself is dangerous because it physically changes the fabric of time

It just occurred to me, if Azimuth is supposed to teach Ratchet how ot fight like a lombax, why does he only teaches him the hoverboots? The new wrench and "launch the wrench while moving" mechanics coul have come from Azimuth, giving him a new wrench with new abilities, incouding the magnetic stuff.

I really love your R&C videos, pleaaase never stop making them

I'm surprised to see so much reference to this game being heavily praised. I remember the PS2 games being juggernaut's and some of the best games on the system, while I remember the PS3 games clearly being budget titles that took a back seat while other series and studios were more dominant on the system.

I like how you spend an hour pointing out these games failures and shortcomings and still end up liking them. unlike other video essays which are just,"Oh, you like this thing? Well, here's a three hour long video pointing out everything it does wrong and why you shouldn't like it."

This is my favorite game of all time and Almost every complaint in this video I find very valid. The only thing I have to say in response to most things is "that's ok, I disagree and very much enjoy this part." Although I will say I think the space combat is best here, not in spite of the 2d plain but because of it. It helps simplify the gameplay and make it easy to play and develop I imagine. I never liked the space combat in any of the other games too much, they ranged from "kinda good but too drawn out" in TOD to "I hate controlling this" in going commando's case.

Edit: also I don't quite get why it's a big deal that a chunk of the weapons are behind the arena? Maybe it's just me but I don't ever play through an R&C game without doing every arena challenge. Do people ever skip over that part of any of the games?

To me, the series topped with this game. The great story, the space and planet exploration (unique to this game!), the Agorians (and the Battleplex), the space radio, not to mention Captain Quark's character development coming full circle (the first game where he finally becomes an actual hero). There's just so much to name! I adore this game.

Sigmund playing that recording BROKE me. His whole character is pretty tragic. He seems like he was made out of a trash can and left as a worker at the great clock while Clank was created more in his fathers image to become a time god. Like… bruh… Sigmund was definitely the second favorite of 2 sons… but he loved his father so much. He lived with him and despite not having all the chosen one crap did everything he could. He had to watch his father go on some mission to go after his other son and never come back. I feel like giving him that one poignant moment just wasn’t enough

One thing I'd love for Fixman to do, is to (if he's allowed of course) let the community finish what he and the team had started.
Let young devs come in and mod the games.
Hell, hire those who make the mods the team likes

I am wondering how much it would cost Insomniac if they were to polish and remake the Future Saga into what they actually wanted it to be?

Sigh If only I was a billionaire, I'd actually give them the offer of spending a few years on it.*
*The time they need to finish it without any crunch/no more than a 40 hour week at most

Hey, I dont know if you included this in the bug section;
But if you hop back to a previous planet in a previous when the story wants you to go forward, it plays the Clank intro for that section
Example;
I went back to Zolar Forest after Axiom, and had to sit through the cutscene with Nefarious catching Clank, stunning him and letting him be.

Turned on my PS3 and played this game again after watching this and I can confirm that it’s as amazing as I remember it.
I encourage all of you to play it again for yourselves and come back and share your experience

My biggest gripe with Ratchet and Clank: Future is it just kind of lacks "nice" characters, and Orvis is really the only one here.

You know what I mean, characters like the named Galactic Rangers and Big Al who tend to break away from the corporate commentary and over-arching plot by always being nice and supportive of your adventures just because you're their friends. The Galactic Rangers in UYA going from giving you supplies to "buying you a Map-O-Matic as a gift for helping them" was a nice warm thing that these games deserve more of and Orvis being a goofy old man and struggling to get a good recording with Sigmund in his first appearance because he keeps laughing is the kind of thing that makes a good side hero.

Sigmund's plot, ironically, is the only one that's deserved in this whole fucking subseries, if only because you can imagine what a life with Orvis must have been like.

When I think of ACIT I see a miss opportunity to be a better game seeing so much great content cut makes me sad and wished Insomniac actually took their time as much as I love ACIT I have to agree that this game could of been a lot better than the one we got to play

First things I think of are the villains

I started playing recently because i got spoiled long time ago and I feel just by Gameplay that It is amazing , It seems amazing there is a BIG difference in R&C tools of destruction and this one un Gameplay mechanics and physics

I'm a sucker for gladiator-style arena combat in any game, and for all of ACIT's faults, it has the best arena combat in any Ratchet game.

This one it's a mixed bag to me.

It's boring at times, and not very compelling however I can't hate the game. I like Into the nexus a lot more.

Crazy how watered down and bland the writing became during the PS3 era, taking itself so seriously trying to be a Superman origin story. Was so much more compelling during the PS2 era.