S1: The Flow[est] State

Even with a robot strapped on this just feels right.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Released 2021, Developed by Insomniac Games, available on PlayStation 5.

During my sophomore year of college, when millennials were the hippest demographic, Insomniac Games released Ratchet & Clank, a cartoon experience that was as fun to play as it was to watch. Games of the purely platform flavor were no longer in fashion and Insomniac Games had a vision for something different. They began attaching combat to the foundation that Mario built to great effect.

The games put you in control of a furry Lombax - Ratchet - in a silly, squishy, Looney Tunes-esque science fiction galaxy. The series arms you with absurd weapons, such as grenades that force enemies to dance, guns that do things like launch sharks, and standard laser rifles. The game is equal parts platforming while holding down the trigger to shoot things.

Nineteen years is a very long time to have a game on your mind as a studio (and I say this as someone who has spent 16+ years developing The Sims) and in that time, Ratchet has snuggled up with puzzles, focused intensely on combat, had a slight brush with baditude, and has put forth massive monsters and scavenger hunts to find every collectible.

All of that is lovely and they've really refined a formula over the course of sixteen iterations, up to the latest entry, Rift Apart. But every single feature in every one of those games fades into the background. It becomes a blessed white noise, because my hands have fused with the controller. I’ve entered a perfect state of being within the delicate dance that is Insomniac’s marquis character.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a gorgeous showpiece for the PlayStation 5 that’s a blast to play. But, it is also a shining beacon of flow state. Scratch that, it achieves The Flow[est] State.

Flow +1 = Jumping is Always Fun

I think the first tool they wield to push you into the Flow is something that seems rather counter-intuitive for a platforming game, which is that you will rarely leap to your death. Typically, platforming is practically defined by hitting the jump button at the correct time in order to surmount a hole. Not so in Ratchet.

Jumping is primarily a means of traversal, not a challenge unto itself. You will ping pong between parallel walls to ascend to the top. You’ll leap from smaller boxes to bigger boxes to reach a new platform. You’ll jump to dodge enemy bullets.

You’ll also jump during the game’s iconic grind rail sequences where you leap between parallel tracks to dodge futuristic trolley cars, enemies, or mines. Even then, hitting a trolley car results in a physics defying smack in the face that leaves you on the rail. You have to really screw up repeatedly to fail these sequences.

The surprising reality in all this jumping is that the jump button will almost never be correlated with death. It’s purely a positive interaction.

Flow +2 = Twitch Between the Variety

Variety is the spice of life and Ratchet & Clank is damn near over-seasoned. You can jump, double jump, jump and add a rocket, float, run along magnetic walls, grind on the rails we mentioned previously, and do most of the above paired with combat.

So, the game must feature these traversal mechanisms prominently in its obstacles, right?

The game’s challenge is in the combat, not the platforming. By declaring the jumping as Just Fun, it frees the developers to feature it with reckless abandon throughout every level. The game doesn’t have a “The Floor is Lava!” level, but it might as well, as you’ll rarely go more than a few seconds without hitting the dopamine button to jump.

Nobody is forcing you to do so, it just feels like the right thing to do. You will jump, recklessly crash into a pile of boxes with hover boots, or just run along magnetic walls while blasting away at enemy robots simply because the game makes it so easy and cool to do that instead of standing still in shooting.

Their primary mechanisms are shooting and jumping, but jumping’s role is one of silly pleasure. There’s always this push in video games to ensure every mechanism is tightly woven into a richer core experience, but I somewhat feel like Insomniac invested half their budget in just bouncing around like a sprayed roach and it is fantastic.

The game is filled with things that break. This means crates primarily, but also machinery, pottery, and assorted fauna and such. The game has perfectly measured the distance between jumps such that if a box is in reach, the next one is always one hop away.

Sure, there are bullets incoming, but instead of “bullet hell,” this is “bullets, what the hell!”

It reminds me of playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater endlessly and getting lost in some combination of the soundtrack, grinds, and more kick flips than are technically possible.

Flow +3 = Perfect Feedback

Good controls are essential for a game like this, and this one feels great. I think some would argue it’s a bit loose at times, but that looseness won’t cause you to fail a sequence. Ratchet & Clank has always had controls akin to a pair of beloved sweatpants. But now, Rift Apart really takes advantage of the PlayStation 5’s haptic feedback.

My favorite example is the magnet wall. Running along it somehow evokes the sensation of running your hand through a gentle waterfall of coins. It has the perfect sound to boot and you find yourself craving more magnetic walls to appear so you can let your mind wander even deeper.

Jump, boost, shoot, whack. Ooh! Coin waterfall! You won’t even know it’s happening, your mind will just send signals to your heart that it’s content.

Flow +4 = Supplemental Content is Roped In

Finally, while Ratchet & Clank is packed with collectibles, the developers resist the urge to prioritize pixel hunts and instead encourage non-stop exploration with their Mountain Dew mechanisms. As you jump, and smash, and bolt, and hear the joyful tinkling of the coin waterfall, your eyes will dart looking for Golden Bolts and obfuscated balconies.

You never need to stop and watch your steps. You never need to look up a guide. The items can be found, you can keep moving, and you can make your way to them. Furthermore, they’re purely opt-in, with minor rewards affixed to the collection of these Bolts. Insomniac is confident that their jumping is fun, so providing even the mildest incentive to jump more is therefore more fun.

Smash, leap, bolt, and depart. It’s just a ballet for idiots and it’s such a fantastic way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Now, we’re at full flow.

(As I wrote this, I was reminded of Lupe Fiasco’s “Kick, Push.”

“So he kick push kick push kick push kick push coast
And away he rolled jus' a rebel to the world with no place to go”)

The One Cool Thing

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a mix tape of playful mechanisms blasting on a playground with slides that connect to seesaws within reach of swings and all protected by generous cushy astro turf. It prioritizes relaxation, joy, satisfying feedback, and isn’t afraid to let its big focus - platforming - sorta just be a fun thing.

Rift Apart will get you into the Flow[est] State and once you’re there, it’s difficult to put away.

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Season One Finale

This post concludes Season One, which means in two weeks I’ll design/pitch a video game that somehow incorporates all previous One Cool Things. These include:

• The Constant Companion from God of War

• A Playable Foreshadowing Device from Resident Evil 7

• Reconsidering the Standard in The Last of Us

• Personnel Progression from Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

• Flow[est] State from Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

This is an experiment and I’m curious to see what emerges. I’ll be honest in that I somewhat curated the games in Season One to be somewhat cohesive, but I have no clue what the game will be.

Subscribe to receive the next Game of the Year in your inbox on the morning of March 25. I’d also love to hear your pitches in the comments section. I’d love for this to become a fun community moment as this blog (hopefully) grows.

I’m starting to plan the game schedule for Season Two now. If you have feedback on season one or games you’d like me to cover, please comment!

Currently Playing

I’m smitten with Elden Ring. For the first 5 hours or so, I found myself anxious before every play session. I kept expecting an armored shoe to drop. I’d hit a boss that was impossible or couldn’t find a way to level and progress. But, that hasn’t happened and I’ve become some combination of a.) more skilled at the game and b.) more powerful within its RPG confines, and c.) the game is incredibly generous with options to progress at your own pace. I’ve played for over 20 hours now and I’m so far from finishing it, and nowhere near bored. I’m not sure when I’ll be playing something else.

I wrote a review as a bonus post last week, in case you missed it.

Holiday Game Recommendation

March 11, 2022 is National Funeral Director and Mortician Recognition Day. You’re expecting me to recommend a spooky game, but I refuse to be that predictable. Plus, we’ve covered zombies a bit extensively in Season One.

Instead, I recommend Rise of the Tomb Raider. Funerals + Tombs! Get it? It is available on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation (usually heavily discounted). Don’t scoff at its age as I played it in 2021 and still enjoyed it immensely. Rise was my favorite of the three games in the trilogy. It refines the hiccups from the first game, but doesn’t get so wrapped up in itself like Shadow. Rise provides the perfect mix of light exploration and light combat.

Creator Corner

I read an article at The Verge about an open-source video game engine for making simple, pixelated experiences. The article will introduce it better than I can, but I thought it was a fun piece about the value and possibilities of games, a great indicator of the ever-expanding world of development, and potentially a way for you to tinker with ideas you might have.

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Thank you for reading! If you liked what you read, please subscribe and share, but also, let me know what you think about Season One. No need to flood us with comments about the quality of the editing. We agree that Joshua is despicable.

Edited by Joshua Buergel