Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart (Zero Punctuation) 

That edited before upload part was bloody gold. Yahtzee, my go-to reviewer, you get a like simply on that alone. Thank you for all you do for the consumer; a don't take the piss critic is what this world needs. Also, respect to sony for being honest. More than can be said for 97% of anything corporate in the world. The funny thing is I would have normally just passed this installment, because I only buy the best in this sea of content, but now I'll simply wait for a good price because of this video.

Also...I'm sure you find an irony for the people that actually sign up for a $2 membership, but watch all your content. The plug...I can imagine. RU-vid/escapist told you to do a thing; you said fine, meanwhile saying in your mind "Take the piss."

@@akaicedtea6236 The whole world is captured by an industry that won't even throw a pissed-on biscuit in the cage, let alone acknowledge human beings as people. So yeah, I respect a little humanity. Humanity is trash; if you haven't read any history or watch current events. But at least truth, as ugly as it can be, I can respect. That's one reason I love Yahtzee; He delves into the worst of the worst. If the worst a product has doesn't bother you, then you only have the good to look forward to. An informed consumer is a powerful consumer.

@@akaicedtea6236 Buying free content to save a month of waiting, or not looking for other content, are not the actions of somebody that is smart about their money. Yahtzee is great, but he doesn't know me, or I him. He owes me nothing, and neither I him. But liking and sharing is free to me and somehow gives him coin. Also, I can compliment him and thank him with honesty he can appreciate because I'm not just some fanboy praising like a 12-year-old girl swooning over a pop star. He gets an attaboy, and that is it, more than us boring people will get.

@@akaicedtea6236 If you buy content created by somebody you are a consumer. We all are consumers. That is the definition of 'division of labour'; yah know, the crux of civilization.

can someone explain the"snatchet" joke? i don't get it.

@@azzzanadra Snatch is slang for ladybits.

@@NotHPotter Hoo boy.

If they had to? Is that a threat? They have to send him code instead of buying one?

@@polymathicheretic5068 You might want to reread the original comment.

Didn't seem like he hated it much, just didn't think much of it aside from the review code thing.

@@sunlitsonata6853 What is there to hate except for the attitudes of the Sony marketing guys? Its a platormy-puzzly-shooty game with mild humour. The game is just kids entertainment but the corpo guys treating it as some sacred experience whose every "review" must be "approved" is truly disgusting

@@x265_hevc5 word

@@x265_hevc5 I was just responding to the idea of Yahtzee "ripping the game apart" when he didn't do it that much. There are several Yahtzee videos where he rips games apart to a sharp degree.

why did I hear this in his voice

Unless it's just sad.

"Let's all laugh at the industry that never learns anything, tee hee hee!"

For another lovely example check out the sponsored game grumps tony hawk video from this week. The terms they made them agree to were so ridiculous it's practically unwatchable.

Key word being “almost”

@@shawnrobertson844 as unwatchable as their dead space 3 vid?

Logic being that RU-vidrs love getting free stuff and basically make money on hype? You can't build hype by being critical about something, because then you're the party pooper. Just look at Sword & Shield for a quaint example.

I think they are trying to make an example of him. Which is a bit like trying to make an example out of a regenerative immortal, masochist who can breathe in the vacuum of space and underwater. In that it ultimately doesn't work and he's probably getting off to any attempt you make.

Peak sales period has already passed so they no longer care how harshly he reviews it at this point. It's all about the day one hype these days

@Marcello "Unprofessional"? hah. You have managed to one up a Sony Exec in the saying stupid things contest, that's no mean feat.

I highly doubt the suits have any logic at all.

On the one hand, I totally get that giving out products for free isn't required and they only do it to get publicity. So it's well within their rights to only hand it out to people who will speak well of them. On the other hand, that's what commercials are for. You want unabashedly dishonest positive coverage, release it yourself. Being selective on who you give review copies to some degree is practically required, but drawing that line strictly based on who will kiss your ass is obviously a big problem for customers in the game industry and a totally understandable reason to be upset.

@@anthonybowman3423 that still implies that either they think that yatzy never gives good reviews or that they know their game sucks. Either way the fact that they did that makes you think about the other reviewers and why sony didn't ban them too.

@@anthonybowman3423 I think it's reasonable to be snarky about Sony's motive, it's obviously for business reasons. I don't think it's reasonable to be upset. Sony spent tens of millions of dollars developing a piece of entertainment and it's their literal job to try and sell copies. They have no ethical, legal, or moral obligation to send a free copy to reviewers early. They have no obligation to try and present an objective view of their product, or to enable someone to do such, particularly when the tone of that person's content is generally negative for comedy purposes.

Though the fact this says Nintendo has somehow been cool with it surprises me a bit.

@@dragondance8604 I would argue that the intent of sending out review copies to select good reviewers is specifically to deceive their customers about the quality of their product. Intentionally misleading people about the product you are selling IS unethical. Full stop. Commercials are fine, because we all KNOW commercials are going to be biased, but games journalism comes with an expectation of being honest. Which is the legal reason for why videos online have to tell you they are sponsored and commercials don't.

Right? We could have had a story about Ratchet realizing there is nothing special about him when all lombaxes are mechanical geniuses.. so the adventure is him dejectedly planet hopping to stop the villain of the week while Quark and Clank are trying to help him find his spark. Things can come to head with act 2 having Ratchet have a revelation and actually start developing some new character traits.. instead of just reacting to what the universe throws at him, have him be active in events. Act 3 and the finale have the gang plan to head off the villain only for the plan to go to pot when it turns out the baddy is a bigger threat than planned for. Or idunno. This was something I just spitballed off the top of my head.

@@sintanan469 Ratchet never thought he was special, so that’s not even a slight on the character. He’s just some guy who wanted to do his own thing, but got wrangled into saving the Galaxy by a talking trash can.

It's almost like angela isn't a thing to these people!

@@shawklan27 If I'm not mistaken, Angela and the original three games are in a different timeline to the current games.

@@Nebula.Dragon They're not; at least not according to any official sources. Angela is simply an awkward continuity error that Insomniac can't decide whether to acknowledge or not.

Even after all this time, Yahtzee is finding new ways to make us all laugh 😂! That is the brilliance of the guy!

@@DrSauce Plus Into The Nexus' beta name was Into The Nether Regions.

I don't think "ripped a fart" is a real pun and certainly not an intentional one. Compare it to "Going Commando" or "Up Your Arsenal" - they weren't exactly subtle.

What could they do? Fractured but whole was already taken.

@@Robert399 Sounds very intentional to me. As he said in the correction, it's a spoonerism, ie some consonanta and/or vowels are switched between two parts of a phrase. Although in most cases, it's the beginning of two words that are switched, here it's the p sound in the middle of "ripped" getting switched with the f at the start of "fart". I think it's because it's not both beginnings of words that Yahtzee called it "pseudo-spoonerim", but afaik that's actually not a requirement - just the most common kind that's also not uncommon for people to accidentally "construct"

Tlou2 game of the year has even more meaning when you hear stuff like this. But, I mean... reviews that are essentially paid for are accepted and still make money. So are Sony the problem.

Remember John TotalBiscuit Bain?? ... yeah he would have gladly continued to rip the games industry a new one ... im glad Yahtz has kept up the much needed cynicism and pantsing of companies that try and pull stupid shit in the wake of TotalBiscuit's death back in 2018 ... we do indeed need more like both of these gentlemen -- RIP TB ... you are still sorely missed after 4 years

At this point, I don't see why anyone in the industry bothers with manipulating reviews. Withholding review codes from unfavorable reviewers just leads to inflated, overhyped reviews in mainstream outlets... which leads to everybody ignoring reviews from mainstream outlets, making the whole practice pointless. Remember the whole stupid Gamergate thing back in the day? My reaction was, "Even if all that's true, and it's probably not, you should have realized a long time ago that Kotaku reviews are unreliable. How is *this* the straw that broke the camel's back?"

@@Dc-alpha I wouldn't be surprised if Yahtzee shitting over TLOU2 is the reason they are withholding review code from him now.

@@brianmckee2267 Nah, the people handing out review codes would need a discerning intellect for that. If it got much further than snarky man bad and never likes any game I would be shocked. Though it would fit my personal world view more your way

ESPECIALLY with bum jokes, he takes his bum jokes VERY seriously.

Especially since he does have plenty of positive reviews. Then again that depends on the game being good and not bad, or in this case just bland.

He may be a sarcastic git, but he doesn't blindly hate on games.

@@armorfrogentertainment neither does he heap praise on literally anything at the behest of the publishers though, which I expect is their problem.

RU-vid has member emotes??

@@rainbowevil he praises what he likes about a game and criticizes what he doesn't. He's a brutally honest reviewer. Which definitely isn't what publishers want. 😆

Of hundreds of reviews, Yahtzee has positive things to say about at best 3-5 games. Seriously, do people actually buy games based on reviews from Yahtzee? If that would have been the case, we would have at best around 5 games in our collection.

@@main_stream_media_is_a_joke Yahtzee does point out a lot of flaws in games, but that’s just his kind of review. Anyone who is looking at reviews to base their purchase on should be looking for multiple critics’ viewpoints, not just one. Besides, I’ve always seen Yahtzee as harsh but fair. It’s not like he makes up the things he says, they’re all legitimate concerns to discuss.

@@flameshana9 I think Yahtzee puts it best. “If you really do enjoy a game, then my opinion shouldn’t matter in the long run”, or something along those lines

@@tylervirts9064 Fair points. I freaking love Yahtzees absolutely brutal takedowns of the festering pile of bull wank that most of the mainstream/artyfarty games are. I wouldn't have it any other way. The fact that Sony executive actually thought that Yahtzees reviews are a threat to their "Halo" 9+ games is laughable. These people seem to be living in their safe bubbles...away from ANY criticism. I buy and love quite a few games and then come here to see how Yahtzee will tear a new one. I have yet to regret buying a game that Yahtzee pisses on.

@@main_stream_media_is_a_joke I sometimes do, in case I'm uncertain. But usually I can't since he rarely even reviews games I consider buying (he is mostly about large comapny and indy develped games reviews, while most of my games are from small to mid sized companies that he tends to ignore).

The PS2 games actually had a rapid-fire missile launcher called the "RYNO" which was an acronym for "rip ya a new one".

@@PrinsaVossum every R&C game has had a RYNO

@@SamoIsKing Well except for Deadlocked (Ratchet Gladiator to the Brits). That game had "The Harbinger" as it's super weapon.

@@supergoron1 The one that calls down orbital strikes that turn every enemy in front of you into molten slag? Loved that thing.

The RYNO 8 in rift apart is called the "Rift Ya a New One". It calls down orbital strikes of dimensional goodies (including a few cameos) so rest easy... they did use that joke

If they had an ounce of self awareness, they'd do that. If you're going to be a massive video game corporation, at LEAST lace the anti-consumerism with a little self deprecating humor

What it's that caterpillar doing to that die?

Never say neveeer

And all over whether or not something was a bum joke

I think the correction was a further joke. Especially given how weak the suggested spoonerism is, the joke about needing a correction for it is funnier because it's so unlikely.

I'm pretty sure it's just a lame pun on drift apart?

Half of them.

It was me. I wanted to make sure he got the humor across because quite frankly the quality of his butt jokes have been declining over the last several videos and I'd rather have my family jewels ripped apart and put in a deep fryer before I let him quit improving his writing.

I enjoyed the one where it ends with something like, “Americans don’t like don’t things after the novelty has worn off. That’s why we stopped at bombing Japan twice.”

I'd rather not look behind another man's beef curtains.

@@infinitypilot ;)

The original really didn’t have much personality to begin with. Its characters were mostly forgettable, lazy cliches. I guess you could consider them satire? The dialogue was uninspired, even the stuff you might consider “risqué.” It was just fourth wall breaks and the occasional “wink wink nudge nudge” gag. Likewise, the characters and what little story there was never came together to form anything cohesive. Even the levels mostly just consisted of repetitive night cities and day forests. Overall, the game hasn’t aged well, and writing has never been Insomniac’s strong suit.

@@VideoGuy232 have you played the game somewhat recently? It's pretty good. There is much less dialogue but it delivers more character and plot instead of wasting time doing "jokes", usually surrounded by 3 seconds of "awkward" silence. Theres good character development for Ratchet as well, as he realizes Clank is a friend he can rely on. It's all bare bones, but it's very efficient. I havent played the new game though, so I'm basing my observations off of the remake vs the original.

It's the TABS battle royale syndrome. The satire becomes a beloved alternative to what it's satirizing

@@VideoGuy232 the R&C games are very much a play on tropes. The dialog are the best parts of these games....at least the first 3 games. The first game isn't all that great, but the 2nd and 3rd definitely are. Story was not something Insomniac is concerned with. It was well-known that Insomniac was more concerned with making their games feel and play as enjoyable as possible while Naughty Dog was more concerned with plot (which I disliked about NG because sometimes they take it too far and their videogames turn into boring slog with popcorn cinema plots). I haven't enjoyed a modern R&C game since. It feels like they are hesitant in making changes to the core gameplay even though the game's concept if perfect for experimentation.

I've played them all and the first straight up has the best level design. Notice I didn't say levels, that's really up to you but RC1's design has the main path down the center and two branching paths that will either be gadget focused or weapons focused. It's a good balance

Wtf

Let me give it a shot for this one: ''Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart' is lacking some crass quips from the old PS2 era, but I wouldn't know, because I'm judging by the covers. The plot, setting, and characters aren't compelling, and the writers seem to have run out of ideas. But at least by recycling old gameplay, and keeping the same continuity, the developers are actually managing to keep alive a long running series that by virtue of staying the same, is doing something different from the homogeneous mass that the rest of the game franchises are inexorably heading towards. Also, Sony are jerks who don't want their customers to hear wot I think about their system seller ahead of release date'. TL; DR? Bland, but serviceable.

@@3mpt7 the shadow dash and rift tether have actually evolved the gameplay for me a solid 8/10

@@shockvalue5086 Neat. Trying to translate ZP's video into some sort of coherent review, though. Unlike Yahtzee, I don't have access to a PS4 or PS5, so I haven't played the more recent instalments. The PS2 and Ps3 era games I have played.

@@3mpt7 yh i cannot deny the fact that the ps2 classics are better i grew up on going commando

He paid it a compliment for being up it's own bum, but still managing to resist the pull of the cesspool that is most AAA video games from the major publishers, remaining fun and simply adding a new feature people would've liked in the last one, while overall being more of what previous games were, which isn't anything amazing but is certainly a better track record than some other franchises. It's something designed to satisfy the players who enjoy Ratchet and Clank games and no real fans of the series are likely to get upset about that.

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement

I miss the inferno tounged Yahtzee :(

This is the reason I say a reviewers opinion on anything shouldn’t matter over ones preferences

In fairness, A Crack in Time on PS3 was actually pretty good. It did more for the story element and added new mechanics which require you to solve time related puzzles as Clank. You also saw some ACTUAL character development by splitting up Ratchet and Clank so they can stop talking about their super friendly bromance for a few hours and make some strides in their own regards. It seems like they had the right formula with that game: outside of their comfort zone while still maintaining the familiar feel fans love. Shame it doesn't get more recognition since all of the other games are just sort of the same thing over and over. Good, but so goddamn similar.

And issues a correction.

its because *HE’S NOT RACIST, OKAY?*

Knowing sony they would probably release on PC without old hunters,and some months after launch a the game with the old hunters dlc but don't sell it alone.

I wish they would, because that game stutters like mad and it's one of like... three games I bought a PS4 pro for.

Yes, I really hope Sony gets the message

the idea of boardroom full of japanese executives all trying to workshop "snatchet" is amusing

@@br2k wouldn’t be Japanese anymore with Sony closing a bunch of branches over there but I find that image pretty funny to imagine

@@theemptyones7212 Sony HQ is in 港区 so prob a lot of 日本人 there

Some of them even being the designers and writers of Insomniac Games, themselves

Fan art is effective and often free marketing. A good modern creator should know the power a fandom will hold. Just look at My Little Pony.

@@Montesama314 Not a good idea to let Deviantart write your story and design your character unless you want the game to get the banned from everywhere AO rating

Look, kid, I get you're like 16 and just learned about capitalism from Prager U, but I don't give a fuck about corporations. I want good products, with reviews that are accurate. Sony could attach a clause that says that reviewers must give it a 10/10 or they don't get a review copy. And I would argue that is unethical since it cheats ratings. But by the same merit, restricting access to only those that will give you a 10/10 is equally unethical for the same reason. Ratings become toxic and useless. Do you want to live in a world where every product only has 10/10, 5/5 reviews? So no, I'm not living in some fantasy world, I'm living in a world where I care about my money going to something worthwhile, and reviewers are a means to identify that, good and bad. So take your corporate sucking mouth, and keep it out of my face, thanks

@@PainasaurusRex I'm not saying it's a good thing. I don't give a fuck about them either. But it's fucking stupid to be like "oooh you know if I were running a multi-billion dollar company that was beholden to its shareholders I'd be good and honorable and risk bad reviews because it's the right thing to do". Shonen protagonist shit. Real life is trash.

​@@rushi5638 First step to fixing issues to to admit the problem. Second is to start thinking of ways to improve. What you don't do it go "Well that's how it is so why bother to change?" is the absolute worst mindset to have and the exact mindset the corporations want you to have.

Broke: Rift Apart Woke: Ripped a Fart

Bespoke: It's curtains behind the Iron Peak.

@@Dethmaster64 funny part about it is that he basically did that joke in the link between world review. I can totally hear him in my head saying "rift apart more like ripped a fart"

Same

You'd probably have to contrive a character switch or multiplayer thing to pull that off to keep the pace going though, and All 4 One was unmitigated garbage. I bought some bullshit special edition that came in bulletproof plastic sealed so tightly I could barely even cut it open with scissors to play it.

i watch ZP now more than ever .... was also a huge fan of the Co-optional Podcast before TotalBicuit passed away about 4 years ago and his wife drove his legacy into the ground

@@sinswhisper9588 Wait, what happened.

@@xXLostSymbolXx in 2018 John TotalBiscuit Bain passed away from cancer ... after his death his wife Genna Bain tried and failed to take over the company and legacy he had left her .... October 2019 was the last Co-optional Podcast -- which she had been slowly changing to a podcast that was no about games and the media and industry involved -- shorlty after that the remaining co-optionals (including Crendor) ceased communications with her for personal reasons they dont have to disclose ... and now she just hangs out on twitter and not really doing much else

@@sinswhisper9588 Damn. Pretty harsh on someone who had to deal with the passing of her husband. She didn't drive his legacy into the ground and I think it was pretty clear her heart just wasn't in it. It wasn't her thing. It was TB's. She also got hounded literally the day after he passed by people saying that TB owed them money. Should ease up on her.

@@orbbb24 Yeah, it's not exactly easy taking over a personal brand, especially if you weren't integrated into it beforehand. He may have been his wife, but that doesn't mean she's TotalBiscuit. Crass as some may find it, I think TB should've thought a little harder about who would actually take care of that stuff and how to keep his family fed, aside from just throwing the whole thing at her. Kinda like if Grant's oldest kid just took over the King of Random channel after he passed away.

I was all "What about Angela from Going Commando?"

@@clarehidalgo I think she gets mentioned on one of Rivet's levels. So Angela is officially a dimension jumper. And I think one game had Ratchet meet his father.

Probably. It's not exactly at 1983 levels/dynamics, but I hate so many AAA games I try, I'm way more inclined to believe a strong pan. I know I don't agree with Yahtzee about much re: games, but for the crucial $60 first month sale? Yeah, Yahtzee probably not helping.

The guy at Sony who decided to add a games whitelist to VitaTV, and then discontinue the fucking thing when it flopped instead of removing the whitelist which was the main cause of the poor sales: Yes.

They already look like assholes with their price increases.

@@Jim-Bagel I just said why. Or are you one of the defensive fanboys that ignores real criticism and makes up their own agender?

its not just lately remember the shadow of mordor review guide

They have been doing it for a while difference is that the people they are doing it on have more resolve and will to say no and to hold a standard that corporates are not used to so they are just adjusting to it

More like the opposite. They become so risk averse that now they even start to barricade any unwanted reviews

@@nonamepasserbya6658 It’s not mutually exclusive to be full of yourself AND risk adverse; they are not opposite concepts. Triple-A game companies ARE getting really full of themselves, they have been for years as they manage to openly break laws everywhere and not get put into the ground. (Anti-crunch laws, workers rights laws, anti-abuse laws, circumventing gambling laws, etc.) Meanwhile, many Triple-A companies have become increasingly risk-adverse. For an example: Why is Marvel’s Avengers a generic always-online looter-shooter (with no shooting) action-RPG (with the RPG elements being extremely light, like three steps down from Diet Pepsi) with a shit story and boring characters when the license it’s made from is known for over a decade of rich stories and extensive lore through movies, companion comics, and TV shows? Simple, risk adversity. These types of games are supposed to consistently sell well and hook whales to make boatloads of money with only a token update every few months. It also takes a certain level of egotism to not just deny review copies to game’s critics, but to tell them “We don’t like your tone, buy it yourself.” Normally, publishers withholding review copies will just not respond to reviewer requests, issuing complete radio static. Instead, companies (or at least Sony) are openly stating that they’ve got a curated list of corporate good boys, and the people they’re denying are not on that list.

@@donb7519 ah yes, that should've been one of the earliest red flags

I'm still trying to understand this joke. (non-native english speaker here)

Snatch is another term for vagina. Combining Snatch and Ratchet makes Snatchet- a girl Ratchet

8 minutes

multitasking.

And not always for good reasons.

We had a female lombax since the second game

Female lombaxes don't have tails man rivet is a man

Review guides don’t tell you how or what to review, basically just a summary of what’s in the game.

Your making up your own story. There was no control, they just told him to buy his own copy. Quite how thats 'controling editorial' escapes me, but this is the net, so if making stuff up feels good, someone will go for it.

I mean you say that but doom 2016 had a review embargo

Watcha mean?

It's weird. I checked the channel and the post went up at the same time it always does but I never got a notification. I had to come here and look for it manually (Edit) Oh wait, now I got it. Just 22 minutes late

@@theescapist I also didn't get a notification for the community post, I stumbled into the video after rewatching last weeks review.

Yea, I don't understand RU-vid's notification system and have just stopped relying on it at this point. We're gonna hopefully be making some updates to the website soon that is going to solve this problem (can't go into more details yet till I get things approved). Honestly the best way to be notified about Early Access content is joining the Discord and "ahem" not muting the Early Access channel notifs lol.

@@theescapist some history to that I assume?