Insomniac Games have released a new gameplay overview for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart during the PlayStation State of Play presentation.
The new gameplay trailer a few days ago confirmed the alternate dimension female Lombax is called Rivet, and that she is a resistance fighter against her far-more-successful equivalent of Dr. Nefarious. . Planets from older games will also be appearing with new twists thanks to the dimensions falling apart; including Sargasso and Torren IV.
The new trailer shows some returning characters, such as Ms. Zirkon now being the weapon vendor. Mr. Zirkon and the whole Zirkon family had previously been a weapon players would summon in battle to blast away at enemies. The unseen “Phantom” may also be Skid McMarks, a none-to-bright hoverboarder in Rachet’s dimension.
We also see Thugs-4-Less have returned (after rebranding themselves as Goons-4-Less), but they come from Ratchet’s dimension; having been thrown into the other along with Ratchet, Clank, and Dr. Nefarious. We also see what could be the alternate dimension version of the Kerchu, who seem a lot friendlier than their “one of the most hated species in the galaxy” originals.
Gameplay has introduced new movement abilities for Ratchet; wall running, dashing, and air-dashing; all for exploration and evading enemy fire. Rivet is also seen dashing, and it seems any weapons Ratchet buys are also available to him. As previously reported, the Dualsense adaptive triggers can allow for alt. fire modes, depending on how far the triggers are pushed.
It seems Rivet’s levels will be more akin to past Ratchet & Clank games; crash-landing on (alternate dimension versions of recurring) planets, and progressing through linear puzzles and encounters. Ratchet seems to promise a more open-world experience. Or rather, open worlds.
The Rifts can be used to not only move the player quickly across the level, but into warped pocket dimensions, and entire new levels. During a boss fight, it is explained that Ratchet is not just sent to an arena that resembles another planet; it is the entire level (thanks to the PlayStation 5 SSD). It may be likely that this is how Ratchet will travel between worlds, while Rivet will have to find spaceships.
Along with the aforementioned open areas; other upcoming features include Dimension Clank puzzles, Glitch Challenges (where you control a small spider robot and blast foes), arena challenges, aerial combat (notably shown as on the back of a pteradactyl rather than a space ship), and Gold Bolts to collect.
Armor also returns, now divided into head, chest, and boots. We also see the “Collection Bonus;” which seem to be passive abilities that affect damage given and dealt, along with EXP and Bolts collected. This does not seem to be tied to the armor (all of the abilities shown seem to be active as the armor sets are switched), but may be earned as it is collected.
Finally, the game boasts a photo mode for the first time in the series (complete with adding light sources), and accessibility options. The latter, including color blindness and ways to help differentiate the player and enemies from the background, will be detailed in a later trailer.
You can find the PlayStation State of Play trailer below.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart launches June 11th on PlayStation 5.
