81. Ratchet & Clank (Insomniac, Playstation 4, 2016)

Since I just finished Doom II, I wanted to play something that actually had a story, since I've been playing so many arcade games. I ended up settling on Ratchet & Clank, which is a remake of a 2002 Playstation 2 game also by Insomniac. I played through and enjoyed the first 3 Ratchet & Clank games as they came out: the cartoon graphics and interesting weapons drew me in, and the gameplay loop of upgrading weapons kept me coming back.

All of that has returned in the remake, and weapon upgrading is much more in depth now, though I think I prefer the simplicity of the original. That said, there are more new weapons in this version, so overall I have to hand it to the remake. As I play through, I realize something: I think maybe Ratchet & Clank was never a top tier action game. I remember being vindicated by Ratchet & Clank 3 getting a 10 out of 10 in Game Informer, and these games have a lot to like, but the action is a little too focused on the cartoony to pack much of a punch.

The fact that this is a remake (and movie tie-in) to a game that I played 18 years ago is kind of wild. Certain characters look exactly the same, while others have been drastically redesigned. All of the animation / character designs / voice work is good, but not amazing. I can remember review of the game saying "it's like I'm playing a Pixar movie" but I would say it's more like a late 2000's Dreamworks.

4/5, Better than the original, but still just "good"