Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal Analysis | When Everything Everywhere Goes Wrong All at Once

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

That's the last time I'll be using that clip for the intro, I promise

[@GTARazer]

20:45 You can actually! If you have the Suck Cannon equipped, swing the wrench and then hold Circle, it starts sucking things up again even if it's partially full.

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

WHAT

[@williamkelly5689]

Yeah i just played a few hours ago. Its true

[@saltyshrimppasta]

Between this and Going Commando, I'm convinced that one of the designers at Insomniac made a few weapon upgrades intentionally suck to discourage you for using it as a crutch.

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

Yeah, some of the upgrades are really weird

[@shadowfreak1101]

One thing about the N60 Storm that wasn’t mentioned: It’s actually semi-automatic. So if you rapidly tap O/R1 to fire it, you can shoot faster than just holding the button down (depending on how fast you mash). But when it’s upgraded to the N90 Hurricane, it becomes fully automatic, so this is no longer the case.

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

Oh damn really? I never realized!

[@GeorgePerakis]

The reflector's shield bounces ANY lazer fired at you away or back to whoever fired it. That includes the lasers the bipod enemies fire at you.

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

Yeah, I think I said that though? There's only the mech enemies that shoot refractable lasers, aren't there, or did I miss something?

[@GeorgePerakis]

@@FromHerotoZeroYT I was watching your gameplay and you were getting shot at by lazers while trying to level Agents of Doom, and you weren't pulling out the reflector, so I thought you might not know.

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

Oh yeah, you're right in that I didn't know at that point haha. I discovered it by accident on my second playthrough I think

[@aboringknight1177]

I have the afternoon completely free, so what better to spend it than binging all three videos? Just started it, but probably it's another banger

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

Hahaha, thank you for spending your free time watching my silly little videos. It's very appreciated and I hope you enjoy them :)

[@aboringknight1177]

@@FromHerotoZeroYT bro you top tier KZbinr imo, can't count how many times I've seen the Rayman or the Metroid retrospectives

[@elchar3577]

There's a way of resume the sucking from the suck cannon. But i doubt its intentional, you have to use the wrench and then hold circoe again and it will resume sucking. The gsme never tells you that though so i assume its a bug

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

Probably, yeah, but thanks!

[@BAIGAMING]

1:23:00 I'm surprised you didn't like the vidcomics, yeah they're not that good, I didn't mind them too much since they let you skip them on challenge mode. Did you watch Mike and Tony's developer commentary on the game? That's actually what happened. Tony was a huge fan of Megaman and originally the vid comics were much harder, to the point where many other developers had to yell at him that he can't make them so hard because people have to get through the game they're just going to quit if it's too hard, so he toned them down. Same with the electrolyzer puzzles and other puzzles too in R&C2, I know for sure with electrolyzer puzzles if you purposely press the wrong button before it it gives you the original harder version of it that Tony made.

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

Haha yeah I did watch the dev commentary but funnily enough I wrote that Megaman line before I got to that episode

[@doggobunni]

Ive been searching for a critique of this game that explains why it isnt hitting for me when so many declare it their favorite or the peak of the series. Im glad lots of stuff was mentioned here that i dont hear talked about. Honestly there were a few things i think were just a bit exaggerated, and some other problems that almost seemed like you missed the "real problem" for something adjacent to it (especially with the weapons), but thats probably because we like different styles of playing these games. Though overall this is a great video and is super helpful getting me to think about why i don't think i like this one compared to the first 2. You said it can feel bloated with stuff it didnt need, but i almost feel like this game feels empty or stale i guess. So maybe thats because of all of that underdeveloped stuff that gets stale fast that makes it feel empty, im not sure. It is weird to be so critically analyzing these games i played so much as a kid, and it is a bit sad to realize i may only barely like this game now, if even that. Idk great video, definitely gonna check out the other 2, especially interested to hear your issues with 2. Based on how you talked here, my guess right now is 1 is your favorite, but i really enjoyed this

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

I think most of what you're saying comes down to a different point of view, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you think the problems stem from, especially when it comes to the weapons since that's what I spent by far the most time on, but also why you percieve the content as stale instead of bloat! Glad you liked the video!

[@doggobunni]

​@@FromHerotoZeroYTOof I kinda went ham but oh well (Part 1/2) All the weapons that are new iterations on a similar idea or just the same weapons from previous games are mostly so boring to me, even if they may be more powerful. I think this is partly because I think I like the sound design for the weapons in the previous games better, but mostly they aren't functionally different enough to feel fresh for me. That's why I think the few truly new weapons are mostly my favorite in the game, despite how many of them have pretty huge flaws. I think I would've rather had less weapons but have them all be new to make the gameplay loop more distinct. I'd say the fact that so many weapons are reused from Going Commando makes it feel like I'm using the same strategies or even playing the same game again because the weapons have the same uses. I think the roster also suffers from lass varied weapon strengths and ammo counts. I feel like the range is smaller and kinda concentrated around the 20-30 ammo count. The bouncer now has the same ammo as the nitro launcher, and there's 2 less very high capacity weapons without the Tesla Claw (which I do find useful in RAC2 despite not being as strong as RAC1). Even the RY3NO is at 35, compared to the RYNO ii with 100. Which you could argue didn't match it's damage with it's ammo count, but it was very easy to miss and waste ammo if you merely held down the button. And of course Zodiac down at an appropriately meager 4. It feels like too many of the same damage archetype for me. The Shock Cannon is probably the weapon closest to feeling new because of the beam, but it just makes me think it would've been cooler to have that idea as its own weapon. I honestly like the Chopper better than the disc gun. Having to stop while on the ground was a very huge weakness, but for me it was really satisfying to dodge and find a gap in a large enemy's attacks to spam blades at them and be rewarded with the coolness of the many rebounding blades dealing pretty good extra damage and on some enemies all the damage you need. The disc gun requires walls and ceilings to work properly, but even then it doesn't ricochet very much so it feels functionally the same as the rocket launcher, as well as damage-wise. The plasma whip is super cool but I think it suffers a bit from the direction this game was going. The fact that lock-strafe is supposedly the optimal or intended way to play this game is bad for it since it forces strafe on the whip even though it's melee, which vastly limits it usefulness and fun factor in that mode. I found out lock-strafe even forces you to strafe when you select the hypershot. It also feels like I don't get to use it as much as I want to because you don't get rushed very often and most of them are the little guys which are a non threat to the whip. The spitting hydra might be my favorite, despite how weak it is for so much of a playthrough and the low ammo count not matching the low damage during that time. I just truly like the concept and the design. But it's kind of the opposite of the whip in that it's easier to aim in lock-strafe mode. It feels like some of the weapons are a bit torn between being made for third person mode and lock-strafe. The lava gun is powerful and unique mechanically but is pretty close range, so I feel like you have a lot less opportunities to use this one as well because of the less common melee range threats in this game. It's also most fun to use without strafing, jumping around and spinning but in lock-strafe mode that's completely mute. The Rift Inducer is cool but maybe a bit too powerful for me and honestly the sound effect hurts my ears a bit sometimes. Maybe if it had less ammo I might like it more? The flaming flying duck from the Blitzer easily makes it the coolest version of the morph weapons, and I actually want to use it, but it still suffers from being the same weapon for the 3rd time. And sometimes it's maybe a little too easy to morph some enemies and doesn't always feel as rewarding because of it. I think the shield charger is not really fun for me cuz it takes away the consequence of getting hit, preventing stagger. And it takes even more hits than in RAC2 I think. Maybe if it had a weakness of breaking fast (by having short invincibility frames) if many enemies melee attack you for example, or maybe if it only blocked projectiles it might be more engaging for me. But the shocking property it has renders most of the enemies that melee you non-threats. I also don't like it because it also further reduces the situations where you can use the Whip, Nitrogen gun, or the Blitzer without it killing the enemies before you can. I barely like the infector enough to say it's a pseudo-favorite just based on the idea and the few times it works properly and effectively, but it's completely stunted by how glitchy and finicky it is. It also suffers from the lacking sound and visual effects. Feels like they weren't able to develop a really cool idea to be as satisfying as it could've been, almost certainly due to a lack of time. Just as many issues seem to stem from.

[@doggobunni]

​@@FromHerotoZeroYT(Part 2/2) And honestly I think lock strafe mostly ruins the little fun I can have with the game. I'd say it does overall lean towards being made with lock strafe in mind, due to enemies with the high ground having an even higher ground in this game to the point most weapons are completely useless in third person mode with the most extreme examples of high up enemies. (Lock on mods mitigate it a bit, but the camera can get awkward sometimes in 3rd person) But it also isn't 100% made for it either, considering 3rd person is the default. In RAC2 the high up enemies were difficult to lock on to but by design in a good way. I'm realizing now I think I like the third person combat way more because it feels much more integrated with the platformer side of the game. You have to time your attacks with the peaks of your jumps to hit them with certain weapons. Not to mention you have more depth with your movement because you can choose between more freedom by jumping without strafing or the rigid jumps of strafing for more accurate aiming. I think playing through the game again in lock-strafe I was required to jump to dodge a lot less and any high up enemies were actually a joke to shoot at with the precision and player control of the reticle. I'd say lock-strafe is smoother in many ways in the 3rd game, but at the cost of both difficulty and the integral role jumping plays in 3rd person. Feels like a totally different game. I'd say the lack of tools most enemies have to deal with you in this mode is another factor. I haven't gotten a chance to play Deadlocked yet since my very few attempts as a kid. Hopefully I can soon and I'm interested and optimistic to see if it amps up the difficulty in the appropriate ways to make lock-strafe combat feel more deep and fun. I think this game feels stale to me for a few possible reasons. Orange feels too prevalent in this game even though it doesn't actually feature as a dominant color for that many of the levels, but most are pretty concentrated in the early game, and they don't have quite enough distinct ideas in them to feel varied enough. I don't actively dislike it, but I also think the reason the HUD gets dull is because there's literally no secondary or tertiary colors like in the previous games. And the different shades of orange aren't different enough to feel like different colors even though they technically are. I'm not sure on this, but I think there might also be less variation in the lighting or time of day between planets. But I think the biggest flaw to the level set is the reused locations. And honestly I don't think this version of Metropolis is as much of a downgrade as others think, but even so it's just the fact that we've already seen it before that makes it so difficult to enjoy. If it was drastically changed for a wordbuilding or story reason, I could totally get behind it. I actually didn't remember Aridia was also reused at first, probably because it feels the least faithful to the original without adding any flare to it here. Florana and the last four regular levels in the game are probably my favorites even though they mostly lack the paths I love from the previous games. I've decided linear levels don't break the Ratchet experience from that alone, but I think here they feel less consequential (despite their more distinct world design compared to a lot of the other planets) because you spend so much time in many of the least interesting levels since they tend to have all the ranger missions. Ratchet 1 and especially 2 do have some annoying gameplay elements. And by comparison I'd say nothing in 3 is actively annoying for me, but I think I almost prefer having those bits. The turret sections were so unresponsive, I've disliked the ship sections in 2 for the longest time, partly for similar reasons, and the infiltrator is usually a tedious trial and error non-puzzle. But the extra gameplay elements in 3 almost feel empty in comparison. The hovership is also annoying to hit enemies with, though only because of fairly predictable bullet travel instead of a difficult reticle sensitivity and small targets. But at least the ship in 2 had more mechanics like boosting and some pretty cool different weapons actually. The hacker is not trial and error and can be the most difficult gadget of the trilogy, but only in short moments. Between those, you're either waiting for more nodes to appear or for the next of many stages to start. I almost prefer the infiltrator in a sick twisted way cause I wouldn't say it's ever boring for me. And if you focus hard enough, a lot of the required instances of it in the main story of RAC2 can be done in one attempt if you react fast enough to dead ends as you see them. I'm pretty sure it gives you a small amount back on the timer when you back out of a dead end fast enough. And honestly that's pretty satisfying every time I manage to do that. And as for the tractor beam and therminator, it was actually kind of insulting to my dumb kid self how much simpler the puzzles were then I remember, but I'd say there's more depth to them overall than the refractor. You really did put it best saying that you can't fail or mess up, which you could a little bit with the ones in 2. Clank sections are still tricky for me to judge. They're probably just as basic mechanically in all three games, but even though they don't drag nearly as much as they could before because of Clank's much faster movement, I think I maybe prefer his sections before because it was actually pretty difficult to platform at times with his slow and restricted movement. And I guess maybe you don't wait as long for each action your bots can do in 2 compared to waiting for Scrunch to scale the bars especially. So I'd say in many ways there's less content here than RAC2. Less truly new weapons, less weapons period, less gadgets, less gameplay refreshers, etc. There's probably less that has the potential of being outright bad or annoying in this game, but there's also way less really great stuff and overall most of the stuff that is here is more ok and boring on average. So yeah I've mostly written all this because of being frustrated at not knowing why I don't love this game. Honestly I might look back at these observations later and think I was dumb for missing or misjudging something, but this seems to be why I think the way I do about RAC3. Once again gotta say great video that was super helpful for my own sanity aside from being very interesting.

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

When you say weapon strengths are you referring to damage output or use cases? I'd agree that most weapons can be used in almost any situation which makes you not need to switch weapons until the enemies vastly outscales them in HP. Ammo count is a good point which I didn't even consider. I think it's a good thing that there's not an overwhelming amount of ammo on weapons though. While it can be annoying if you're trying to upgrade one specific weapon, I think how it forces you to switch them around to conserve ammo and think a bit more tactically is a good thing. This is a moot point because of how similar most of the weapons can be and how the game forces you to change it up by not scaling the first weapons properly though. I also think the ammo count for the weapons is overall not very well scaled tbh. They really did the Plasma Whip dirty. One of my favorite weapons. Just too bad they had to include it in a game that focuses more on ranged combat than more of a even mix like the two previous ones. Your point about how a lot of the weapons aren't lock-strafe friendly is very good! I think the first 4 versions of the Shield Charger is the most boring addition to the entire game, and you're right, it does last too long, but I think the Tesla Charger is awesome. It helps negate a lot of the "unfair" enemy placement and you usually won't upgrade it from the Shield Charger until you're well into your first replay. It also lasts for a shorter time since the zapping drains it. Don't get your hopes up about Deadlocked/Gladiator. The way I remember it is that they're utilizing lock-strafe to an even lesser degree than in 3. It's been a while though. Planning to start that playthrough over christmas. You're spot-on about the HUD. How did they think brownish orange was a good choice??? I think the worst part about the location re-use in 3 for me is that they're nothing like the originals. Like, they don't even use the themes properly. It seems they reused the names just so that they could present the players from previous games with something familiar to artificially raise the stakes, but then when you arrive there's nothing that looks like you imagined it would. Also, ffs, this takes place in an entire GALAXY. Why re-use something at all??? Some of the gameplay elements from 1 and 2 were kinda annoying, yeah. I think 3 goes a step too far to the action side in comparison, but on the other hand, thank god there's no infiltrator puzzles lol. I really wish they'd bring back some more platformer elements though, it's what made 1 and 2 so unique. Anyways, thank you so much for the elaborations! It's comments like this that makes me want to make these videos! I also got a lot out of this myself, which I'll be sure to try and integrate in the Gladiator vid :)

[@Coyotebible]

I mever brat the final boss as a kid

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

Yeah, he can be brutal

[@christophermartin240]

Your own script that I'm assuming you wrote is shown to be wrong on very simple facts by your own screen captures of what I can only assume is your own gameplay and your own editing. You state the prices of multiple weapons and on screen at the same time as you're saying these things is an image of said weapon at a sizably lower price. It makes the idea of watching an entire three hour piece a bit difficult to get behind when something like that is so obviously apparent.

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

I also say that the prices on screen are the discounted prices from the Gadgetron employee discount, I'm pretty sure. Anyways, it's just 10% wrong and to drive in the point I was trying to make about the obscene prices I used the original non-discounted ones! Could probably have been clearer about that though, but that's the reason there's a discrepancy

[@Jay-tf2bx]

Promo-SM 🤔

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

Sorry, I try to stay away from shitty scam sites 🤔

[@imamradilicu]

great video, but most of the takes are bad tbh

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

It'd be interesting to hear you elaborate on what you thought was bad

[@tabreezsiddique]

And this right here best sums up the overall issues of this game! That while so many fans appreciate it for being that full package the first two games failed to be, we on the other hand lament the fact that this game's EXCELLENT story and Gameplay improvements came at the cost of, for us, that explorative nature that those first two games gave us! 🥸🥸🥸

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

Yeah, I think UYA is the one that plays the best out of the trilogy and while I think the story as a whole is better in 1, it's worth noting that it feels more like a narrative here. They could have made this the ultimate RaC experience but instead they decided to focus their efforts on "side content"

[@tabreezsiddique]

@@FromHerotoZeroYT Which honestly makes the game feel like it has less content than the other two games honestly.

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

Hahaha yeah, ironically

[@tabreezsiddique]

@@FromHerotoZeroYT Me favourite points you bring up are the ones on the Infector, RY3NO and Neffy, primarily because these are the few things out of so many that Miharu absolutely enjoys about the game, so it makes me imagine how pissed she'd be if she ever saw this entire video! 😂😂😂

[@FromHerotoZeroYT]

WHO THE F**K LIKES THE INFECTOR???????