I love seeing deep dives like this. Hurt my heart to see them talk down to Deadlocked though. I feel like the themes set by the previous stories, as well as the fun of the gunplay really peaked there.
I gotta be honest, I never actually liked the direction the series took in the PS3 years, and judging from the comments, I'm not the only one. I don't think they are bad, quite the contrary: the game are really good, it's just that they were so different from the previous one in terms of tone and atmosphere. And I don't think it's a matther of "exhausting options": Size Matters was a perfectly good game in the vein of the very first episode, with elements from the others. To begin with, I can't comprehend where did all this "lore" matter come from. No one wondered where the Lombaxes where, they just wanted to meet more and see them interact with the protagonist; that's why they were sad to see Angela disappear from one game to the other. The same almost happened in Deadlocked with Sasha: at the beginning it's hinted a relationship with her, in the end we can see Ratchet flirt with an alien from Aquatos. The issue wasn't the lack of a lore or realistic background, but the lack of continuity between games, which was actually something fan could get over with, because we'd see the plots mainly like the driving forces for the individual episodes, not attempts to write a universe. Ironically, it's when they tried to tie everything togethet that it got worse, not just because they didn't manage to answers these popular questions, but created more plotholes in what tried to be a more cohesive work, and the characters suffered from it. We didn't need to know that Clank was predestined to become a timelord: the fact that it was a thoughtful, yet naive, defect birthed by a sentient computer to oppose a ruthless business man was compelling enough. We didn't need to hear that Ratchet was part of a exctincted race, expecially when we know that it's not true or never acted conscious about it, not even in the game where it's the main topic! On the subject of atmosphere, while i recognize that Insmoniac makes some of the best looking games and I'm glad that the animators hard work is being recognized, to the point that they'e being called the"Pixar of videogames", I really don't like the artstyle and tone. Ratchet has become, literally and metaphorically, too soft. What started like an adventurous teen (I guess?) who kicked ass and took names, has become kind of a whiny Goody Two-Shoes, (especially in the reboot)... almost like it was made only to sell plushies. And don't let me start on Captain Qwark fate (may his glorious butt chin forever rest in peace)! As a matter of fact, I don't blame Insomniac and its writers: from what they told in this video you can see when Sony's and corpos' decisions influenced the route the franchise took, making it as safe and one dimensional as possible, to the point that they completely abandoned the hilarious satire that permeated through the PS2 epoch. In the end, there's nothing we can do about it. Games studios are known for having incessant comings and goings to their staff from one entry to the other, so continuity it's an hard goal to achieve (that's why the OTHER platfom featuring a plumber managed to avoid such critics, since it barely has any plot). At least I'm grateful that the series kept its quality in terms of gameplay.
It's crazy how they see my favorite Ratchet & Clank game as a total series misstep. Deadlocked is a crazy addicting shooter game that is so fun to mess around with weapon mods and eviscerate enemies in the most fun ways. I still fire it up and just play the Endzone challenge in the Battle Dome and mow down THOUSANDS of enemies by setting up shock-modded turrets and a napalm loaded Silencer. It's cozy to me, like comfort gaming.
58:28 The specific engine elements being shared were rendering components, specifically for the purpose of streaming. What this means is that models and textures would have low-resolution versions at large distances, but would then blend into the higher-detailed assets as the camera got closer to them! It was a big part in making massive levels like Metropolis possible. Also worth noting that Ratchet and Jak did NOT run on the same engine, they just shared components back in the day.
Pretty much! A great place to spot this is the final platform of Geyser Rock, taking you back to the Warp Gate. Enter First-Person Mode, and you can see the gate morph from a pentagon shape into a spherical one. Another spot in R&C is in Metropolis, on the long bridge to the train station where the mine dropper is. The textures on the building at the other side of the bridge will phase in one-by-one as you get closer.
TJ seems like a nice guy. Unfortunately I think R&C script isn't very good after 3, namely the ones he wrote like Future and the 2016 reboot. The "soul" of the characters got washed away and they seemed more like characters pretending to be Ratchet, Clank and Qwark. Maybe TJ is a good writer but got tunnel vision for unifying and organizing the mythos, and ignored the theme of a scifi hyperconsumerist comedy that doesnt take itself seriously in favor of some grand space opera like Star Wars that takes itself too seriously
I think TJ hasn't been able to catch a break since starting apart from Into The Nexus, especially the future trilogy where he was given an already half made game and the task of unifying the entire lore. Like he said he didn't even know what the next game would be when he wrote ToD, QFB was an extra game to make up for overpromising on ToD, then when TJ could mostly do his own thing I think ACiT was one of the best (including the radio stuff). A4O and FFA were spinoff games, then when we finally got another mainline entry, ITN was pretty good I thought; felt like a PS2 game on the PS3. The original story for ITN was going to include the lombax society but that got cut short for time. Then he got hamstrung by the movie writers. Now he didn't write for Rift Apart, although his 'Lore Bible' probably had an influence.
To give him the benefit of the doubt, Tools of Destruction gave him a bad springboard. He was brought in partway into development, was given all the new characters to work with and was just told “figure it out, we have a basic idea we want”
Yep. I agree he's been handed real rough projects to write for, but even when plots or pacing aren't fully in his control, things like dialogue and character direction are. And his choices are really uninspired. I don't think he understands why people liked R&C in the first place and keeps insisting we accept his vision of the characters and world... why Insomniac seems to think he's the only writer they can hire I don't understand. He ironically keeps tossing grand sweeping mythos and plot points in the air and keeps undercutting his attempted seriousness with shallow, childish characterization. R&C went from a game for all ages to just a game for children.
Gage Sanderson you should check out devs play the director plays their game and discuss the development and loads of awesome stuff they did spyro, ratchet on ps2 jak rayman 2 definitely deserves a look
I'd like it if they went back to the roots of the first R&C trilogy instead of a ret-con of Ratchet being a luvuble Disney-esque character like in the remake of R&C1. Our main characters went through strife before they became buddies. And there was always comedy but it wasn't always kid-friendly. The Future series lost a lot of that magic.
From the sound of it a lot of the "ret-conning" was due to keeping up with the movie studio's rewrites, so their hands were kinda tied there. The Future series wasn't always "kid-friendly" either, but I do agree that it feels off somehow ... just a bit too scripted and schmaltzy.
most of all, the early titles stroke a good balance of serious and comedy. The world and the environment was serious and there were actual stakes, but with good jokes and comedy moments. But if everything's a joke, you can't bring back the seriousness.
Funny how they go on about developing your heroes, when the PS4 game has basically no character development for Ratchet or Clank. Or how they brag about their animators work on PS3 just for there to be like 2 (actually animated) cutscenes in the recent game, the rest being stiff, lifeless dialogue dumps. I hope this means the next game will have a proper story / animation. What I hope for the most from the next game is that it runs at 60fps and offers a true lock strafe mode so I can jump with L1. Cannot believe that basic feature wasn't in the last 2 R&C games. Oh and the music. Michael Bross aint bad, love his work on Oddworld, but for R&C, David Bergeaud's soundtracks are God tier. Really hope he's on the next game. Overall fantastic panel, love the series to death and love Insomniac to bits. Informative and humorous.
Hi Evan/Odd. I don't completely disagree with you on the character development in the PS4 game, but during the talk we explicitly mention that the reboot was produced in tandem with the movie, using its scenes for content and its script as a macro template. I wrote the first draft of the film two years(ish) earlier, but the final script didn't have much of what was initially there. So my point about character development stands. As for the 2 cutscenes and the "rest being stiff, lifeless dumps," I am not sure what game you played - but on top of Rainmaker's cutscenes there were almost 25 minutes of high-quality animation, and another 20 of programmatically-driven (but still solid) designer cutscenes. I don't know what your animation background is, but you must be one of the finest in the history of the profession if you think the animation team at Insomniac has ever delivered subpar work. Your snark is noted - I just wonder if it's justified? Have a nice day!
First off, I wanna thank you for even acknowledging my comments. You're a huge inspiration to me and the world building of R&CF is what inspired me to take on writing. I understand that the game was a product of the movie, so the writing specifically isn't a huge issue in the game for me as that's more of a movie complaint. It is still disappointing that "Ratchet & Clank 2016" the game that should have established these characters didn't do that very well, but I understand why it happened. My point about the cutscenes was referring to the in-game ones (animations by Insomniac Games and not Rainmaker), learning that the parallel developments didn't go 100% explains that issue as I understand animation takes stupid amounts of time and dime. But for example, the Blargian Snagglebeast cutscene is beautifully animated. Most of the other cutscenes featured characters standing awkwardly and not making eye contact. I just feel like the animators would have been more present in R&C's first PS4 outing, so I was disappointed by the fact. I had no idea they were programmatically animated, I know that stuff is extremely difficult, so kudos to the team for making something presentable out of it. My snarks with the story / animation stuff wasn't meant to be taken super seriously, more of a playful jab. I actually have much bigger issues with the other things I mentioned (framerate, control layout options, etc), but I know those things aren't in your jurisdiction.
Thanks Evan. :) And fair enough - my response isn't intended to invalidate your opinion; it was simply to add context. Ask any writer or animator what they like the best from their own work and odds are they'll respond with a list of things they wish they could change instead. We're always trying to improve, but that doesn't mean the basic pillars of the talk don't hold true. But as an independent contractor I am AMAZED by what that team was able to accomplish in such a short period of time. Be well!
How lucky to get a comment from TJ himself but if i can help at all. IG has commented it's very unlikely any of there new game's will run a 60fps. IG rarely comments on the composer but stated he was simply busy.
The best part of R&C 1, 2, and 3 is the fact that you weren't supposed to take anything seriously. The lore aspect of newer games is a total turn-off for me for that reason. I don't want to understand why, I just want some well-written comedy that jabs at current norms and trends, and a fun gun/platformer game to go with it. Characters were shallow because the focus wasn't on the characters, but the action and humor. If i wanted a movie i'd watch a movie. This doesn't mean worldbuilding is bad. In fact, I enjoyed how we would get small hints here and there. It was never the focus, it just kinda... appeared as necessary.
I personally Think the Series has endured because of the three first games. Every buy is a hope for visiting that same nostalgia, and it’s almost there - but not quite.
The only two that really matched it for me was Tools of Destruction messy story aside and A Crack in Time. The rest were almost there but missing the classic controls and camera that made the first three great. I was so disappointed that the remake lacked the classic controls and camera it makes it bad compared to the original. Not that I think the remake was bad I think its a good game average Ratchet game at best.
Story sucked, but the character dynamic was EVERYTHING. The actual organic budding relationship between the 2 with a clear 3-Act structure. And then they decided to completely destroy that with a shit remake that just made them friends the moment they met and Qwark's plot twist being even dumber than before.
13:30 This is so beyond me. Ratchet 1 was the only game where the relationship between the protagonists actually grew. And how does "too sarcastic" or "snarky" equal a lack of depth? For many games that followed it rather seemed that Ratchet became just an extra in the story of other people. When you dig into the post-mortem and developer commentaries of the PS2 titles, this talk comes across as nothing else than surface-level self-promotion. 18:44 what a piece of bullcrap. No word was lost that they re-wrote the story 3 times, envisioned the game as vehicle-combat and made it an arena shooter as a last-ditch effort. And Qwark being an own bullet point? Oh please, he's a perfect example for the trope of Flanderization. 40:47 I'm shocked. They only think about the resolution of their antagonist at the very end of production cycle? 41:40 Ouch, this is so cliché and meaningless that it hurts. At least now I know the name behind all this.
See, that goodbye moment was perfectly fine, great even, but it’s effectiveness is built on years of chemistry that ole TJ over here didn’t actually write and will happily downplay when it suits him.
@@ClovissenpaiDotR "For children" doesn't mean it has to be shallow and crap, in fact, "children's" entertainment should be more thought out to teach them timeless lessons while also engaging older audiences. This "who cares, it's for kids" mindset that you have there is the reason why standards for entertainment have been gradually dropping. It's about making something GOOD for the sake of it being good, not just to pander to trends and make money. Who doesn't like a well-written, thoughtful story? For the record, I never enjoyed TJ Fixman's influence over the series during the Future saga. His notes in this video seem like a bunch of buzzwords. They're all talk and no bite given how the PS2 games had more natural dialogue, better character development (even if it was simple), and a less cliche discount-Disney style, as well as the fact that his attempts at worldbuilding and lore were mediocre at best. The only thing I liked from him was the introduction of Azimuth, but otherwise every other character he brought on, like Talwyn, Tachyon, Cronk, Zephyr, etc. were ultimately unimpressive and forgettable. I'm glad he's no longer a part of the series and hope that the new writers from Rift Apart onwards can learn from his mistakes, as well as the mistakes in RA, and make an even better sequel.
Up Your Arsenal is my favorite. I also loved Deadlocked, though I never got to finish Going Commando. The reboot still had some entertainment value despite all its flaws. I never played the future series so I can't speak to that.
The fact that Imsomniac Ganes think the rebuild if the franchise in the future saga, changing the core if the story... Ratchet was a normal Guy and Clank a defect war robot, Imsomniac thought that Ratchet will be the lady of his legendary faces Who saves the Galaxy and Clank will be the literal todo of time. I think año of R&C games never has the power of the first game.
Great panel that has taught me a few things about gaming and the series, one is how views change over time. People and critics hated old ratchet but older fans now really miss what they knew and the basic development. Deadlocked was indeed viewed as a misstep, fans at one point flat out refused to buy it, nowadays it's viewed as one of the top games. in my opinion a failure has been up until the reboot is failing to bring in newer fans, do to lack of advertisement, so hopefully that change's in the future. In my opinion, All4one strongest element was it's story and character. At some point, Ratchet does need a break but I hope for one more series end on ps4 to end on.Super sorry to hear how the movie was changed from how you wrote it TJ.
"People hated old Ratchet" Dude became a mascot overnight but the first game had flaws and Ratchet being a ass with a poor matching VA was one of them. Going Commando is where the Franchise became great and that came a year out from a game that was well recieved and beloved at the time.
I have the honest to God goofiest grin on my face just listening to how these games got written and OMG seeing one of my creative heroes (Fixman) speak on the process itself. Bliss...although I'm still miffed about what they did in the PS4 reboot (SERIOUSLY, what did you DO to Ratchet!?) it's very cool to hear them speak about their process. ^-^
TJ Fixman >w< No, you're most awesome. Still breaks my heart that a majority of your original draft didn't make it into the movie (or game from the looks of things). Think you'll ever disclose what could have been?
Posting the whole thing feels like bad form, but every so often I post a scene or page to my Twitter. Maybe one day that will change, but for now it's the best I can do! Cheers -- T
Yes... I was surprised by how this guy talks bout how he wrote the 2016 game, and all that.. I mean, do you think he knows there are a bunch of youtube videos with thousands of views complaining about his "reboot"??
maybe should have brought the people that cared about the PS2 era and not the talentless hack that is Fixman and whoever the other guy is. Hearing them speak about R&C 1 hurts my soul.
54:59-55:12 Looks they never did figure out the right pacing back in ToD because in the 2016 reboot, no one definitely shuts up in that one. There's a reason why Ratchet & Clank don't talk during gameplay in the PS2 games. And for all the shit they give Deadlocked, it DID(the PS2 version not the PS3 remaster) strike a decent balance with in-game dialogue even though Dallas, Juanita, Merc & Green(your combat bots), and Clank would all have spots where they would talk.
no offense but why did they hire a QA guy to be writer? the original trilogy and especially the first game has way better writing and universe because it's organic, loose and funny. Rachet writing doesn't need systemic sci-fi lore
they originally had a different writer for the ps3 games but he left halfway through development and because t.j had a writing background they put him onto the project and he had to make do with someone elses work which is probably why some characters seem off because they were half baked characters that t.j had nothing to do with
Une très longue conférence sur ma licence préferer !! Je suis plutot content de comprendre qu'il va avoir une suite au jeu de la ps4. Par contre j'aimerais savoir pourquoi insomniac games n'as pas fait de jeu sur Alister Azimuth ? Car, c'est la cléf de voute de toutes la licence à mon humble avie. Avec un jeu sur ce personnage on aurai pus voir le système lombaxiens en profondeur grâce au protagoniste, l'ascension de Perceval tachyon et la chute de ce peuple. Il y a aussi le fait qu'alister azimuth meurs à la fin de a crack in time qui me chagrine car avec ces deux lombaxes la licences aurais été différente ! Le fait que Clank ne reste pas au centre de l'univers pour proteger le temps, que Ratchet à la fin de Nexus ne retrouve pas les siens et qu'il soit le seul de son espèce à rester en vie... Et la liste est longue mais je m'égare. Je pense qu'on verra Ratchet et Clank pour la prochaine ps5 ! Je pense avoir fini d'ecrire mon roman sur ce jeu. Désoler et merci d'avoir lue jusqu'au bout. Bonne continuation.
15:17 RaC uya i have some small criticism about the kinds pf reflection... there wasn't anymore really much exploration we did not many times got branching path levels where we had options to really explore and decide which direction we should go so we ended up with really linear map designs don't get me wrong i love every title in the series but RaC 3 was way to overrated and would've got more critics nowadays with ideas like full multi-player map recycling and to the platforming/combat balance I think the only real platforming aspects came in the arena Planet and at florana the story was among its best maybe the best with such an iconic villain the arsenal was just godlike but the Lancer Syndrom kicked again really hard. Overall i wish insomniac would have taken the time back in the days and don't had to go for yearly releases but again they did a crazy good stuff with refreshing the formula with every following entry can't think about many series that just were able to raise the stakes 3 times in a row
PS5 : Ratchet and clank are in space, in their ship, The Ship has a problem and they lose the control of it, they drop on a planet, that would be Ratchet Species planet ( Might think of it more like a GTA ) : Are his parent Alive, how ratchet will react by discovering his own planet ( Big Towns , flying vehicules ) will he fall in the trap of searching at all cost his familly, or just more likely , just being his own self pretty more detatched ? ) ' please don't make him search for his familly like those bullshit movies, is his planet conquered by another alien species ? , is it a multicultural planet ( Mass effect 1 / 2 cities ) ( Cowboy Bebop kind of story ? might be good too) , it is just 5 seconds of thoughts.
The original Ratchet & Clank games were absolutely top-notch, but just lost so much of the impact of the gameplay and game design in a lot of little ways. Things like the sound design, screen shake and visual effect from weapons so much as FIRING. The graphics and physics got better, but they softened/watered down everything else. I never laughed more than once per game from the PS3 series onwards, and that's fucking depressing. I quickly forgot most of TOD and ACIT. They've never improved them since- in fact, I could argue they got worse. They don't even dain to aim for 60fps anymore, which is beyond pathetic.
"Ratchet was too much of a jerk" No, he really wasn't. All of his character development was removed in the remake, and the story is lesser because of it.
he's a failure as a creative director and no one wants to work with him anymore. you'll notice he's not the creative director on the new R&C. that's how much he's hated. to save face he's been moved into a different role in the company.
I love seeing deep dives like this. Hurt my heart to see them talk down to Deadlocked though. I feel like the themes set by the previous stories, as well as the fun of the gunplay really peaked there.
What do you expect from the guy that didn’t actually work on it?
Well it was a strange little collection of battle arenas, you can't make the epic seem epic if you call everything epic
@@hahayou6405
So was Up Your Arsenal.
@@APinchofBazel lmao you high?
@@hahayou6405
Why would you edit your post to pretend you don’t know exactly what I’m talking about?
Best game series. Best Lombax. Best robot. Best everything.
Agreed
I gotta be honest, I never actually liked the direction the series took in the PS3 years, and judging from the comments, I'm not the only one.
I don't think they are bad, quite the contrary: the game are really good, it's just that they were so different from the previous one in terms of tone and atmosphere. And I don't think it's a matther of "exhausting options": Size Matters was a perfectly good game in the vein of the very first episode, with elements from the others.
To begin with, I can't comprehend where did all this "lore" matter come from. No one wondered where the Lombaxes where, they just wanted to meet more and see them interact with the protagonist; that's why they were sad to see Angela disappear from one game to the other. The same almost happened in Deadlocked with Sasha: at the beginning it's hinted a relationship with her, in the end we can see Ratchet flirt with an alien from Aquatos.
The issue wasn't the lack of a lore or realistic background, but the lack of continuity between games, which was actually something fan could get over with, because we'd see the plots mainly like the driving forces for the individual episodes, not attempts to write a universe.
Ironically, it's when they tried to tie everything togethet that it got worse, not just because they didn't manage to answers these popular questions, but created more plotholes in what tried to be a more cohesive work, and the characters suffered from it.
We didn't need to know that Clank was predestined to become a timelord: the fact that it was a thoughtful, yet naive, defect birthed by a sentient computer to oppose a ruthless business man was compelling enough.
We didn't need to hear that Ratchet was part of a exctincted race, expecially when we know that it's not true or never acted conscious about it, not even in the game where it's the main topic!
On the subject of atmosphere, while i recognize that Insmoniac makes some of the best looking games and I'm glad that the animators hard work is being recognized, to the point that they'e being called the"Pixar of videogames", I really don't like the artstyle and tone. Ratchet has become, literally and metaphorically, too soft. What started like an adventurous teen (I guess?) who kicked ass and took names, has become kind of a whiny Goody Two-Shoes, (especially in the reboot)... almost like it was made only to sell plushies. And don't let me start on Captain Qwark fate (may his glorious butt chin forever rest in peace)!
As a matter of fact, I don't blame Insomniac and its writers: from what they told in this video you can see when Sony's and corpos' decisions influenced the route the franchise took, making it as safe and one dimensional as possible, to the point that they completely abandoned the hilarious satire that permeated through the PS2 epoch.
In the end, there's nothing we can do about it. Games studios are known for having incessant comings and goings to their staff from one entry to the other, so continuity it's an hard goal to achieve (that's why the OTHER platfom featuring a plumber managed to avoid such critics, since it barely has any plot). At least I'm grateful that the series kept its quality in terms of gameplay.
It's crazy how they see my favorite Ratchet & Clank game as a total series misstep. Deadlocked is a crazy addicting shooter game that is so fun to mess around with weapon mods and eviscerate enemies in the most fun ways. I still fire it up and just play the Endzone challenge in the Battle Dome and mow down THOUSANDS of enemies by setting up shock-modded turrets and a napalm loaded Silencer. It's cozy to me, like comfort gaming.
58:28 The specific engine elements being shared were rendering components, specifically for the purpose of streaming. What this means is that models and textures would have low-resolution versions at large distances, but would then blend into the higher-detailed assets as the camera got closer to them! It was a big part in making massive levels like Metropolis possible. Also worth noting that Ratchet and Jak did NOT run on the same engine, they just shared components back in the day.
Pretty much! A great place to spot this is the final platform of Geyser Rock, taking you back to the Warp Gate. Enter First-Person Mode, and you can see the gate morph from a pentagon shape into a spherical one. Another spot in R&C is in Metropolis, on the long bridge to the train station where the mine dropper is. The textures on the building at the other side of the bridge will phase in one-by-one as you get closer.
TJ seems like a nice guy. Unfortunately I think R&C script isn't very good after 3, namely the ones he wrote like Future and the 2016 reboot. The "soul" of the characters got washed away and they seemed more like characters pretending to be Ratchet, Clank and Qwark. Maybe TJ is a good writer but got tunnel vision for unifying and organizing the mythos, and ignored the theme of a scifi hyperconsumerist comedy that doesnt take itself seriously in favor of some grand space opera like Star Wars that takes itself too seriously
I couldn't agree more. I will never understand his obsession with captain Qwark.
Could it be that this is his own projection into the game?
@@ImaginaryNumb3r mate Captain qwark is my favourite character and that's thanks to the lines and voice acting
I think TJ hasn't been able to catch a break since starting apart from Into The Nexus, especially the future trilogy where he was given an already half made game and the task of unifying the entire lore. Like he said he didn't even know what the next game would be when he wrote ToD, QFB was an extra game to make up for overpromising on ToD, then when TJ could mostly do his own thing I think ACiT was one of the best (including the radio stuff).
A4O and FFA were spinoff games, then when we finally got another mainline entry, ITN was pretty good I thought; felt like a PS2 game on the PS3. The original story for ITN was going to include the lombax society but that got cut short for time. Then he got hamstrung by the movie writers. Now he didn't write for Rift Apart, although his 'Lore Bible' probably had an influence.
To give him the benefit of the doubt, Tools of Destruction gave him a bad springboard. He was brought in partway into development, was given all the new characters to work with and was just told “figure it out, we have a basic idea we want”
Yep. I agree he's been handed real rough projects to write for, but even when plots or pacing aren't fully in his control, things like dialogue and character direction are. And his choices are really uninspired. I don't think he understands why people liked R&C in the first place and keeps insisting we accept his vision of the characters and world... why Insomniac seems to think he's the only writer they can hire I don't understand. He ironically keeps tossing grand sweeping mythos and plot points in the air and keeps undercutting his attempted seriousness with shallow, childish characterization. R&C went from a game for all ages to just a game for children.
The RaC series should have followed the tone of Deadlocked.
15:30 My artwork is in a GDC talk. O_O (Banjo Kazooie, with a bit of contribution to the Crash Bandicoot by Sean Hicks)
This was great. I love hearing more about the development of my favorite game series.
Gage Sanderson you should check out devs play the director plays their game and discuss the development and loads of awesome stuff they did spyro, ratchet on ps2 jak rayman 2 definitely deserves a look
Also check out uselesspodcasts' Developer Commentary series!
@@edmundblackadder2292 link?
I'd like it if they went back to the roots of the first R&C trilogy instead of a ret-con of Ratchet being a luvuble Disney-esque character like in the remake of R&C1. Our main characters went through strife before they became buddies. And there was always comedy but it wasn't always kid-friendly. The Future series lost a lot of that magic.
From the sound of it a lot of the "ret-conning" was due to keeping up with the movie studio's rewrites, so their hands were kinda tied there. The Future series wasn't always "kid-friendly" either, but I do agree that it feels off somehow ... just a bit too scripted and schmaltzy.
most of all, the early titles stroke a good balance of serious and comedy. The world and the environment was serious and there were actual stakes, but with good jokes and comedy moments. But if everything's a joke, you can't bring back the seriousness.
Funny how they go on about developing your heroes, when the PS4 game has basically no character development for Ratchet or Clank. Or how they brag about their animators work on PS3 just for there to be like 2 (actually animated) cutscenes in the recent game, the rest being stiff, lifeless dialogue dumps. I hope this means the next game will have a proper story / animation.
What I hope for the most from the next game is that it runs at 60fps and offers a true lock strafe mode so I can jump with L1. Cannot believe that basic feature wasn't in the last 2 R&C games.
Oh and the music. Michael Bross aint bad, love his work on Oddworld, but for R&C, David Bergeaud's soundtracks are God tier. Really hope he's on the next game.
Overall fantastic panel, love the series to death and love Insomniac to bits. Informative and humorous.
Hi Evan/Odd. I don't completely disagree with you on the character development in the PS4 game, but during the talk we explicitly mention that the reboot was produced in tandem with the movie, using its scenes for content and its script as a macro template. I wrote the first draft of the film two years(ish) earlier, but the final script didn't have much of what was initially there. So my point about character development stands. As for the 2 cutscenes and the "rest being stiff, lifeless dumps," I am not sure what game you played - but on top of Rainmaker's cutscenes there were almost 25 minutes of high-quality animation, and another 20 of programmatically-driven (but still solid) designer cutscenes. I don't know what your animation background is, but you must be one of the finest in the history of the profession if you think the animation team at Insomniac has ever delivered subpar work. Your snark is noted - I just wonder if it's justified? Have a nice day!
First off, I wanna thank you for even acknowledging my comments. You're a huge inspiration to me and the world building of R&CF is what inspired me to take on writing.
I understand that the game was a product of the movie, so the writing specifically isn't a huge issue in the game for me as that's more of a movie complaint. It is still disappointing that "Ratchet & Clank 2016" the game that should have established these characters didn't do that very well, but I understand why it happened. My point about the cutscenes was referring to the in-game ones (animations by Insomniac Games and not Rainmaker), learning that the parallel developments didn't go 100% explains that issue as I understand animation takes stupid amounts of time and dime.
But for example, the Blargian Snagglebeast cutscene is beautifully animated. Most of the other cutscenes featured characters standing awkwardly and not making eye contact. I just feel like the animators would have been more present in R&C's first PS4 outing, so I was disappointed by the fact. I had no idea they were programmatically animated, I know that stuff is extremely difficult, so kudos to the team for making something presentable out of it.
My snarks with the story / animation stuff wasn't meant to be taken super seriously, more of a playful jab. I actually have much bigger issues with the other things I mentioned (framerate, control layout options, etc), but I know those things aren't in your jurisdiction.
Thanks Evan. :) And fair enough - my response isn't intended to invalidate your opinion; it was simply to add context. Ask any writer or animator what they like the best from their own work and odds are they'll respond with a list of things they wish they could change instead. We're always trying to improve, but that doesn't mean the basic pillars of the talk don't hold true. But as an independent contractor I am AMAZED by what that team was able to accomplish in such a short period of time. Be well!
How lucky to get a comment from TJ himself but if i can help at all. IG has commented it's very unlikely any of there new game's will run a 60fps. IG rarely comments on the composer but stated he was simply busy.
The best part of R&C 1, 2, and 3 is the fact that you weren't supposed to take anything seriously. The lore aspect of newer games is a total turn-off for me for that reason. I don't want to understand why, I just want some well-written comedy that jabs at current norms and trends, and a fun gun/platformer game to go with it. Characters were shallow because the focus wasn't on the characters, but the action and humor. If i wanted a movie i'd watch a movie.
This doesn't mean worldbuilding is bad. In fact, I enjoyed how we would get small hints here and there. It was never the focus, it just kinda... appeared as necessary.
I really hope they would make more serious games in future and will raise its popularity again
Your wish has been granted
@@ProjectGamerYT let's see how it turns out then maybe
@@ratchetthelastlombax3639 its great, rift apart is a Top 2 ratchet game IMO
Rift Apart appeared
@@playerback77226 year old comment lol but yes
I personally Think the Series has endured because of the three first games. Every buy is a hope for visiting that same nostalgia, and it’s almost there - but not quite.
The only two that really matched it for me was Tools of Destruction messy story aside and A Crack in Time. The rest were almost there but missing the classic controls and camera that made the first three great. I was so disappointed that the remake lacked the classic controls and camera it makes it bad compared to the original. Not that I think the remake was bad I think its a good game average Ratchet game at best.
I'd play Deadlock over most of the newer games
Aside from A Crack in Time I agree. Deadlocked solos most of the PS3 games and modern games.
Quite unfortunate all the titles we got after the original series were absolute tremedously bad, this talk confirms they lost their ways
“Mom, I love *FOUR PLAY!”*
12:46 actually the first game had the best story, best and most logical story flow and best characters and voice acting.
Story sucked, but the character dynamic was EVERYTHING. The actual organic budding relationship between the 2 with a clear 3-Act structure. And then they decided to completely destroy that with a shit remake that just made them friends the moment they met and Qwark's plot twist being even dumber than before.
13:30 This is so beyond me. Ratchet 1 was the only game where the relationship between the protagonists actually grew.
And how does "too sarcastic" or "snarky" equal a lack of depth? For many games that followed it rather seemed that Ratchet became just an extra in the story of other people.
When you dig into the post-mortem and developer commentaries of the PS2 titles, this talk comes across as nothing else than surface-level self-promotion.
18:44 what a piece of bullcrap. No word was lost that they re-wrote the story 3 times, envisioned the game as vehicle-combat and made it an arena shooter as a last-ditch effort.
And Qwark being an own bullet point? Oh please, he's a perfect example for the trope of Flanderization.
40:47 I'm shocked. They only think about the resolution of their antagonist at the very end of production cycle?
41:40 Ouch, this is so cliché and meaningless that it hurts.
At least now I know the name behind all this.
See, that goodbye moment was perfectly fine, great even, but it’s effectiveness is built on years of chemistry that ole TJ over here didn’t actually write and will happily downplay when it suits him.
More importantly why were people judging a 3d platformer made for children for the depth of its story?
Totally agree here. Well said.
@@ClovissenpaiDotR "For children" doesn't mean it has to be shallow and crap, in fact, "children's" entertainment should be more thought out to teach them timeless lessons while also engaging older audiences.
This "who cares, it's for kids" mindset that you have there is the reason why standards for entertainment have been gradually dropping. It's about making something GOOD for the sake of it being good, not just to pander to trends and make money. Who doesn't like a well-written, thoughtful story?
For the record, I never enjoyed TJ Fixman's influence over the series during the Future saga. His notes in this video seem like a bunch of buzzwords. They're all talk and no bite given how the PS2 games had more natural dialogue, better character development (even if it was simple), and a less cliche discount-Disney style, as well as the fact that his attempts at worldbuilding and lore were mediocre at best.
The only thing I liked from him was the introduction of Azimuth, but otherwise every other character he brought on, like Talwyn, Tachyon, Cronk, Zephyr, etc. were ultimately unimpressive and forgettable.
I'm glad he's no longer a part of the series and hope that the new writers from Rift Apart onwards can learn from his mistakes, as well as the mistakes in RA, and make an even better sequel.
@@maphyx ok lol
I actually really like QfB's Ratchet's suit
Up Your Arsenal is my favorite. I also loved Deadlocked, though I never got to finish Going Commando. The reboot still had some entertainment value despite all its flaws. I never played the future series so I can't speak to that.
The fact that Imsomniac Ganes think the rebuild if the franchise in the future saga, changing the core if the story... Ratchet was a normal Guy and Clank a defect war robot, Imsomniac thought that Ratchet will be the lady of his legendary faces Who saves the Galaxy and Clank will be the literal todo of time. I think año of R&C games never has the power of the first game.
I remember playing halo 2 and ratchet deadlocked around the same time and no wonder why they felt similar
I'm feeling that this two focus too much on the future saga and forget what makes the original trilogy unique
I agree with you. Rac on the last two consoles were so disappointing for me
"I'm a little teapot"'s not public domain?!
Ratchet Deadlocked was good! You take that back.
Great panel that has taught me a few things about gaming and the series, one is how views change over time. People and critics hated old ratchet but older fans now really miss what they knew and the basic development. Deadlocked was indeed viewed as a misstep, fans at one point flat out refused to buy it, nowadays it's viewed as one of the top games.
in my opinion a failure has been up until the reboot is failing to bring in newer fans, do to lack of advertisement, so hopefully that change's in the future.
In my opinion, All4one strongest element was it's story and character. At some point, Ratchet does need a break but I hope for one more series end on ps4 to end on.Super sorry to hear how the movie was changed from how you wrote it TJ.
a new writer would seriouyl breathe new live into the series as well
"People hated old Ratchet" Dude became a mascot overnight but the first game had flaws and Ratchet being a ass with a poor matching VA was one of them. Going Commando is where the Franchise became great and that came a year out from a game that was well recieved and beloved at the time.
One of my favorite game, simply because the story telling and universe is amazing ! Similar to Guardian of Galaxy btw :)
Does anyone have the link to TheGamingBritShow commentary on this?
I'm looking for that too, I remember being in the livestream but I'm not sure if it's deleted or just unlisted
@@TerrorOfTalos It would be unlisted as TGBS tends to do that but it may be in your history still. If you find the link then please share it.
You mean this video? th-cam.com/video/3kD_QhYgIA4/w-d-xo.html
Did you ever find that vid? Im interested too
@@Clodi95 Sorry, never found it. Not even on his patreon.
Up your arsenal was my first ratchet and clank game. But nefarious used to scare me when I was a kid
I have the honest to God goofiest grin on my face just listening to how these games got written and OMG seeing one of my creative heroes (Fixman) speak on the process itself. Bliss...although I'm still miffed about what they did in the PS4 reboot (SERIOUSLY, what did you DO to Ratchet!?) it's very cool to hear them speak about their process. ^-^
You're too kind. :)
TJ Fixman >w< No, you're most awesome. Still breaks my heart that a majority of your original draft didn't make it into the movie (or game from the looks of things). Think you'll ever disclose what could have been?
Posting the whole thing feels like bad form, but every so often I post a scene or page to my Twitter. Maybe one day that will change, but for now it's the best I can do! Cheers -- T
I can live with this...*still kinda salty about Kronk and Zephyr from Into the Nexus*
PS2 Ratchets have better stories and characterization
Yes... I was surprised by how this guy talks bout how he wrote the 2016 game, and all that.. I mean, do you think he knows there are a bunch of youtube videos with thousands of views complaining about his "reboot"??
The future games and nexus have also great stories & characterized
@@BensyBens no
about that Crate document tho.....
i love that game
R.I.P. Girl With Stick RPG
9:20 gex was chatting to the player since the ps1 you gotta admit
maybe should have brought the people that cared about the PS2 era and not the talentless hack that is Fixman and whoever the other guy is. Hearing them speak about R&C 1 hurts my soul.
Sigmond was Nathan Drake? Wtf!?!
27:44 LMAO I wanna read that O:
54:59-55:12 Looks they never did figure out the right pacing back in ToD because in the 2016 reboot, no one definitely shuts up in that one. There's a reason why Ratchet & Clank don't talk during gameplay in the PS2 games.
And for all the shit they give Deadlocked, it DID(the PS2 version not the PS3 remaster) strike a decent balance with in-game dialogue even though Dallas, Juanita, Merc & Green(your combat bots), and Clank would all have spots where they would talk.
awesome!
no offense but why did they hire a QA guy to be writer? the original trilogy and especially the first game has way better writing and universe because it's organic, loose and funny. Rachet writing doesn't need systemic sci-fi lore
they originally had a different writer for the ps3 games but he left halfway through development and because t.j had a writing background they put him onto the project and he had to make do with someone elses work which is probably why some characters seem off because they were half baked characters that t.j had nothing to do with
What 7 other comments? I don't see any no matter how many times I reload the tab
15:52 Genre change.
Une très longue conférence sur ma licence préferer !! Je suis plutot content de comprendre qu'il va avoir une suite au jeu de la ps4. Par contre j'aimerais savoir pourquoi insomniac games n'as pas fait de jeu sur Alister Azimuth ? Car, c'est la cléf de voute de toutes la licence à mon humble avie. Avec un jeu sur ce personnage on aurai pus voir le système lombaxiens en profondeur grâce au protagoniste, l'ascension de Perceval tachyon et la chute de ce peuple. Il y a aussi le fait qu'alister azimuth meurs à la fin de a crack in time qui me chagrine car avec ces deux lombaxes la licences aurais été différente ! Le fait que Clank ne reste pas au centre de l'univers pour proteger le temps, que Ratchet à la fin de Nexus ne retrouve pas les siens et qu'il soit le seul de son espèce à rester en vie... Et la liste est longue mais je m'égare. Je pense qu'on verra Ratchet et Clank pour la prochaine ps5 ! Je pense avoir fini d'ecrire mon roman sur ce jeu. Désoler et merci d'avoir lue jusqu'au bout. Bonne continuation.
16:44 this is the point where they address the point only to make everything else worse.
15:17 RaC uya i have some small criticism about the kinds pf reflection... there wasn't anymore really much exploration we did not many times got branching path levels where we had options to really explore and decide which direction we should go so we ended up with really linear map designs don't get me wrong i love every title in the series but RaC 3 was way to overrated and would've got more critics nowadays with ideas like full multi-player map recycling and to the platforming/combat balance I think the only real platforming aspects came in the arena Planet and at florana the story was among its best maybe the best with such an iconic villain the arsenal was just godlike but the Lancer Syndrom kicked again really hard. Overall i wish insomniac would have taken the time back in the days and don't had to go for yearly releases but again they did a crazy good stuff with refreshing the formula with every following entry can't think about many series that just were able to raise the stakes 3 times in a row
PS5 : Ratchet and clank are in space, in their ship, The Ship has a problem and they lose the control of it, they drop on a planet, that would be Ratchet Species planet ( Might think of it more like a GTA ) : Are his parent Alive, how ratchet will react by discovering his own planet ( Big Towns , flying vehicules ) will he fall in the trap of searching at all cost his familly, or just more likely , just being his own self pretty more detatched ? ) ' please don't make him search for his familly like those bullshit movies, is his planet conquered by another alien species ? , is it a multicultural planet ( Mass effect 1 / 2 cities ) ( Cowboy Bebop kind of story ? might be good too) , it is just 5 seconds of thoughts.
Lol Sonic was never put on the back shelf or put in hibernation. Sonic games never stop
cool
they need to bring back armors and remove the goddamn kid friendly story
So will they make more ratchet and clank games
I hope so.
MunkeyChips wish they would take over jak and daxter
They did ps5 game!
The original Ratchet & Clank games were absolutely top-notch, but just lost so much of the impact of the gameplay and game design in a lot of little ways. Things like the sound design, screen shake and visual effect from weapons so much as FIRING. The graphics and physics got better, but they softened/watered down everything else. I never laughed more than once per game from the PS3 series onwards, and that's fucking depressing. I quickly forgot most of TOD and ACIT. They've never improved them since- in fact, I could argue they got worse. They don't even dain to aim for 60fps anymore, which is beyond pathetic.
"Ratchet was too much of a jerk"
No, he really wasn't. All of his character development was removed in the remake, and the story is lesser because of it.
I want more ratchet and clank, Spyro the dragon, and sly cooper games you guys take to long
Spyro is with activision and sly is sucker punch
he's a failure as a creative director and no one wants to work with him anymore. you'll notice he's not the creative director on the new R&C. that's how much he's hated. to save face he's been moved into a different role in the company.
Why would you say that he did a great job.
"failure as a creative director" not even close
did you two work together?