Ratchet & Clank's Unsolved Mystery is Now SOLVED

For as long as Ratchet and Clank has been speedrun, we’ve been trying to find Pokitaru Skip. For many years, though, the skip remained an impenetrable barrier that taunted even the greatest of the community’s strat hunters. That being said, significant progress was made in the late 2010s, solving 6 out of the strat’s 7 necessary parts. It was at this point that ThaRixer released his video essay “Ratchet & Clank’s Unsolved Mystery”. This video would go on to amass nearly 1 million views, sending a shockwave of new interest into the trick.
This video is a spiritual sequel to Ricky’s video. In the last 4 years, there have been significant changes in Ratchet speedrunning. This has led to making Poki Skip not only possible, but overall faster than any other existing strategy. In this video, I’ll be going over all the discoveries that made this possible, as well as the next impossible challenge facing the RaC community.
Link to Ricky’s original video - • Ratchet & Clank's Unso...
Link to my full 4 hour vod of hitting Any% Poki Skip - • The World's First Any%...
Editing by ZeskyWheat
Scripting, recording, and editing assistance by me
Special thanks to ThaRixer for the intro voiceover and his blessing to make this video
As well as pentali and cank2 for all their assistance in finding information and correcting my mistakes
Video credit to cank2, pentali, fear_sr, sneepyy, and suibom
___
Twitch ➤ / xem92
Twitter ➤ / xemmypoo
Discord ➤ / discord
TikTok ➤ / xemmypoo
Patreon ➤ / xemmypoo

[@Xem92]

JOIN MY PATREON! NEW CHANGES AND CONTENT PLANNED FOR YOU GUYS

[@ThaRixer]

Never doubt the minds of glitch hunters and speedrunners to figure out the impossible. I knew position 2 would one day be reached, but I did not foresee Poki Skip actually becoming viable and faster in runs. All the new camera tech changed all of that. The future is bright and the book is still being written for RaC1. Great video Xem & team

[@hkillerpr]

Im here waiting for you're next video to come out x'D

[@djtoxicdhg]

Will you ever do videos agen on games thats not jak3???

[@kerakhunter-b3n]

Something I had learned a long time ago. It's usually worth it to learn knowledge like that because once the road gets paved, then it gets perfected. That perfection can never happen learn the tricks necessary to do it. Once I heard about poki skip I figured eventually it'd be found in runs somehow. I was not expecting the camera to have a hitbox though (honestly, how did the devs not realize a literal collision box would impact gameplay? It might even accidentally impact casual gameplay due to it blocking shots).

[@Lux_Parallax]

I was actually waiting from this video from you. Not shocked to see you here first though :)

[@FlyinFinn]

Your content is definitely why this channel came up on my feed

[@99sonder]

Finally, after all these years Clank is no longer shackled by being 5'11

[@FelisImpurrator]

Real short king hours

[@rileyk3197]

Just watched Ricky's vid 2 days ago, asked if it ever got solved, someone replied with the link to this vid while I was at work today. Just got home and I'm about to watch. So excited.

[@Veralos]

Insomniac Dev 1: Should the camera really be a physical object? Insomniac Dev 2: Meh, nobody will ever notice. Speedrunners 2 decades later:

[@bigCHICKENATOR]

RIcky's video was one of the first speedrunning related videos I watched ever, seeing a video like this come out today is really cool to see!! I'm so excited to watch it

[@jorenliegeois]

hi cicken

[@OminousGlareOG]

Chonkennn

[@iHATEemeralve]

the green video

[@OminousGlareOG]

​@iHATEemeralve what did Emeralve do to you :(

[@icen2755]

certified hood classic

[@Malurth]

14:35 "but due to the hard work of a few runners..." ...and one madlad programmer who made camera collision affect the game state 😂

[@alexstewart9592]

It probably has collision so that walls and the like can block the camera and keep it from clipping. The fact that other things can be affected by the camera is unlikely to get reported as a problem by playtesters, because under normal circumstances the only thing it is likely to do is block shots from off-screen enemies, and NOT getting shot by something you couldn't see isn't exactly easy to pick up on - remember, the explosive rounds of the ship blocked by the camera in this video aren't the norm, and most projectiles won't show up on-screen if they hit the back of the camera because the resulting hit effect isn't big enough to reach the front of the camera.

[@Kenionatus]

@@alexstewart9592 And to some degree it's beneficial if players don't get hit from off screen. Less unfair feeling deaths.

[@lydiasteinebendiksen4269]

Which they kept up for several games... absolute chad

[@FelisImpurrator]

Also the utterly ridiculous amount of actual working collision in the level geometry you're not supposed to ever get to. Oh, yeah, let's just make this random ceiling pipe a grabbable ledge.

[@Rory626]

Isn't that just from reusing objects though? So they're recycling it from somewhere else meaning it would be more odd if they took away the collision? ​@@FelisImpurrator

[@mason8909]

This was literally like a legend when I used to be in the rac streams all day. Asking streamers, "you think poki skip will ever be done?" Most said no. So cool to see this. Hope youre doing well Xem.

[@Dt_8499]

I'm not shitting here, I discovered Ricky's video yesterday, and got instantly hooked to the speedrunning strategies. Low and behold, the mystery that had been going on for years, has been solved 24 hours later. Awesome video man.

[@feargames4270]

5:57 LOOK MAH I MADE IT! Sick video mate, glad to see all of this documented!

[@Xem92]

Fearge

[@f4irb4nks57]

I remember watching ThaRixers video when it came out and was so intrigued by the concept of the skip. Now that its complete puts a smile on my face, Ratchet and Clank 1 is truly such a special game. Great video as always Xem

[@joaolazaro3381]

The greatest unsolved mystery is still "One of Nature's Mysteries" but great video XEM!

[@PedrosquixD]

It was a banana 😂

[@Wandergirl108]

Camera collision. Fucking CAMERA COLLISION. It's ingenious! Heck, blocking the rocket fire with the camera in and of itself blew my mind. I just…the ways these games' designs and mechanics can be twisted to any purpose is incredible. I am speechless.

[@orangeknight4322]

It's 3 am currently and I was just about to go to sleep, then this appears on my recommended and I literally gasped then cheered with joy

[@lachlancarmichael-whyte9174]

Currently getting ready for bed and can’t help but watch this

[@djtwister1424]

So glad to catch this straight from stream. Can't wait to see how the vid goes. Amazing editing so far in the first few minutes.

[@NanaKyoto]

Glitch hunters and speedrunners can achieve anything, so long as they set their mind to it.

[@nchldmn]

History in the making

[@FelisImpurrator]

He's called Cank because he refuses to take the L

[@cank2111]

You right!

[@mardan2876]

Sequence breaks in speedrunning are probably my favorite. You just tell the game "nope!" and go your own way Banger video also!

[@DanielHarveyDyer]

I feel sorry for The Guy, his resort is getting ruined and nobody is coming to save him.

[@edmundwoolliams1240]

Thank you Xem! I watched your VOD on this (admittedly I skipped until you were successful on each proxy), and ThaRixer's video on this, so it's so good to have some closure on it. Seeing Clank in Ratchet's part of the level is like discovering a new part of my childhood game 😊

[@Striker10able1]

Jak Speedrunners will claim this video is fake

[@TheSalamanderMenace4]

incredible discovery. This is the heart and soul of running games, weird ass tricks youd never think of doing

[@Skrillfreak]

Camera collision is an insane strategy here

[@Kaiwala]

I SEE ORXON IN THE THUMBNAIL AND I AM SO HYPED LETS GOOOOOOOOO POKI SKIP REAL?????

[@RabbitEarsCh]

Absolutely insane. I was watching you do this live and I still struggle to believe you made it. Effort is rewarded!

[@VinceMouse]

Casual Players: "Wow, that's an annoying bug." Speedrunners: "Only for the weak."

[@Krozbot]

im so honored to be featured in a xem video (im in the stream chat for life 30 seconds towards the end of the video lmao)

[@ScottE-2]

Did not think we'd have something like this solved so soon. Great editing man.

[@Dvalarogg]

Absolutely nuts that this trick is actually a timesaver. RIP The Guy (in NG+), we'll never forget the "eyy:s" we shared.

[@Vanaroth14]

My two fav speedrunners writing history hand in hand

[@LexClone5]

let it be known the cameraman is always the most powerful being in any universe, capable of breaking reality and tanking missiles without flinching

[@psychotic__spoon3243]

I’m not saying this to be a suck up or anything, I genuinely mean this. Xem puts some of the most quality vids out I’ve ever seen, the passion he puts into his content is insane. EXTREMELY underrated ❤

[@theploot8230]

I thought this was a secret hunting video and didn't expect it to be related to speedrunning.

[@Xem92]

Nowadays, most of the juiciest content you'll find in Ratchet is speedrunning related :3

[@lucasnothere2008]

This is actually amazing. I haven't been keeping up with the Speedrunning scene of Ratchet, but I always hoped this would happen. Great job to everyone who figured this out, and good luck to Xem and all other runners to actually pull this off in a run.

[@limemil]

Watching this a day after I saw the original feels like finding out there's a new season of a show that i just binged coming out today. thanks

[@ecliipse996]

Spent ages trying to help find the method for this on my own, but this is amazing

[@CovenJinx]

I remember watching Ricky's vid back when it came out and the whole idea blew my mind. I was always such a big fan of the R&C series, especially the first 4 games, that speedruns of it have always been a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, but I often don't have time to catch them if they don't show up on my YT feed. My legitimate reactions to the midpoint of this vid about the discovery of camera clips was to spam a discord with my friends with my disbelief. The fact that Poki skip is real, and valid, and may one day be legit for Any% makes me so fucking proud and excited. This is huge news. I can't believe it's finally happened.

[@Buccers16]

Great work again Xem!

[@Fatty_A]

I quit running this game about the same time the "new" veldin 2 strat was found. Where you walloper instead of doing the sideflips. It's insane to see how far the community has come, I'm definitely going to have to pick this game back up and grind some ng+

[@juto1234567]

This video is amazing great job Xem!

[@Blazer765YT]

The speedrunning community is insane. What a great vid Xem

[@InstaSim6]

This is genuinely insane and props to everyone for working so hard on trying to find a way to skip Pokitaru 😊

[@username8511]

This is an awesome follow-up video. Looking forward to the next one in 4 years where we dont need ratchet at all to beat the game.

[@Yarharsuperpirate]

Sometimes speedrunners don't look for tricks because it could be a viable strat for runs. Sometimes they look for tricks just because they can

[@bobbermcbobbing6743]

Literally searched ThaRixer's channel yesterday to see if he had posted this for no reason other than my brain just decided to bring it up, my god

[@yanntal954]

Damn dude I've been waiting for these for so many years without even realizing it! Time really flies and I'm also happy that this is actually fast as well 😁

[@Relentlezz41]

I remember being part of one of these streams. Brutal! Good stuff Xem

[@TheThe-1326]

Well done vid Xem, shorter ones are great for you too. In years to come the Poki skip will be even better but the OG Gaspar and Pokitaru will always be there (e.g. for All Checkmarks).

[@konosk8302]

Let's go xem, and team, keep pushing out these bangers! Loved every single second of this video, great stuff! ❤

[@lightrage5058]

Brother, in 15 minutes of video, i've had goosebumps for at least half of it, and got excited like very, very few other times in my life. Good job, to you, and to everyone, for being true pathfinders. :')

[@killertrip10]

I literally got into this rabbit hole three days ago, and learned it got solved yesterday. Crazy, lol.

[@primetimeturner_YT]

i just saw Ricky's video about a week ago - to see this now was a huge welcome surprise. i love ratchet and clank

[@liovina4257]

I love ratchet and clank soo much, this is amazing to see

[@BasicallyGoblin]

Oh my god, this is insane. Poki Skip has been a talking point for so long. I've told friends who knkw nothing about these games about Poki Skip

[@Doom43211]

I haven't clicked on an RC video that fast EVER! SO excited to see how they solved this puzzle.

[@jacobobobo4404]

8:26 i was there! such a fun day. so excited watching homie finally reach position 2. this will go in the annals of history

[@zerocell2657]

This is so cool, never would've expected it could even have the potential to be more than a meme strat with how things were looking!

[@HnTr_VDH]

GODDAMN Xem. 0:20 you shotgunned nostalgia right into me with that horn from the SSX Tricky soundtrack!

[@Xem92]

I one tapped my own brain by randomly remembering it last month 😁

[@nobodysbusinezz]

this is so cool. I am so stoked to see that this is possible. love this community.

[@andyp257]

I clicked this video at relativistic speeds. That video by ThaRixer is one of my favourites by him and I'm so hyped to see the route becoming a reality

[@vulpesvitriolic6293]

i JUST watched ricky's vid like two days ago, how wild that this gets posted so soon after!

[@RagingBigfat]

Thanks for the video man. And thanks for the yung xem glimpse

[@jacobayala1913]

Yall done turned R&C Into breath of the wild im here for it lol

[@thomasmurrell9832]

DK64 Speedrunners when they see another game utilize camera zooming to clip through walls: 🎶 HERE HERE HERE WE GO! 🎶

[@salty4life]

And to think it would never be solved, next thing we discover how to replicate that Super Mario 64 skip

[@spookyskeleton9816]

One of my fav childhood game, these are so interesting to watch

[@Spikeawe]

I just re-watched Ricky's video yesterday for the first time in 4 years due to it randomly being in my recommendations. Then I see this. Weird

[@JesziePVP]

The amount of malding today was incredible

[@hariman7727]

I only found out about the quest for Poki Skip a few weeks ago, maybe a month. And all of a sudden, it's possible.

[@khezoboi]

I love that youtube Recommended me Rixars video about the greatest mystery, and then this uploaded

[@PlatinumROB_91]

Great video Xem!

[@ltms_7851]

I AM GONNA CRY THE SPIRITUALFOLLOWER OF THARIXER VIDEO

[@crazybunnyproductions7287]

I quite literally thought about this YESTERDAY after not having ratchet on my mind for a few years!

[@XavielArt]

I always like this analysis type of videos

[@nosnackz]

I watched that video yesterday. Crazy that this game and Mario 64 are kicking it this well

[@franck_6711]

When I learned that Poki skip was finally found I plugged back in my PS3. I’m still trying to get familiar with the earlier planets first but I can’t wait to try those new strats!

[@bradenlarson9146]

The tv screen noise at the start legitimately hurts

[@damos_k]

I used to pray for times like this... Literally insane

[@jeffs1571]

Wow, saw the previous vid for the first time 2 days ago. Interesting that this got solved so soon after I saw that video

[@T-M-P680]

I have been waiting for this for ages

[@NxtGenerationZombies]

I typed into google ratchet 2016 to see if it was worth playing the ps4 remake. This was recommended as the 3rd video in the list. What a treat! I remember back in 2021ish watching that great video about the unsolved mystery. Iconic stuff all around. Might play the the og one now on the ps2.

[@Xem92]

Yes, play the og one. Do not play ps4. You'll thank me later.

[@maestrofeli4259]

I love you xem but I kinda wished this was a therizzler upload

[@Xem92]

Well too bad, you get me or you get nothing

[@DowaHawkiin]

lore accurate Secret Agent Clank

[@lilacocto9103]

This sort of reminds me of the same feeling I got when I discovered the Infinite Bolt glitch in R&C1 as a kid.

[@xardiodrack1798]

I was not expecting to see that in my recommandation

[@Reeces_Pieces]

Can't wait to see this strat in an any% run

[@juripfeifer7970]

what makes Rac1 so good for speedrunning that insomniac made so many out of bounds objects solid, so u can actually ledge grab or stand and walk on them.

[@AvonNabors]

U make video essays look too easy man, getting better n better

[@geordangullock9223]

I swear to God, we're gonna be seeing Construction Site Skip soon!

[@fkCase]

Ricky x Xem best duo ever

[@TheScottymo]

Woah, 9 hours? How did I catch this so fresh?

[@XRADU97]

I remember spending hours and asking Pentali about stuff, and NEVER I could reach infobot spot #2, few months later magic happened, new clank strats, new proxies and boom Poki skip was finally real asf Poki skip story is now fullfilled, I can't wait to see it integrated and mandatory in future runs!

[@wingedangel6030]

I think Pokitaru will take this very personally.

[@starward0997]

U using obani gemini ost in the beginning win me 🎉

[@Xem92]

My favorite ost in the entire series

[@jereolin]

great video, watched it on stream while watching it here.

[@Game_Hero]

Orxon, especially Clank section, has always been my personal favourite due to how atmospheric it was. Is there anyone else for which it was?

[@couldbe_koral6972]

great vid. I always love to see a fresh xem vid.

[@xNFR]

what a video!! damn well done

[@kkimberling]

I want to see a TAS run with any% Poki skip so bad now

[@diegomedina9637]

Lore development we didn't know we needed in 2025: