Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time Retrospective & Development Deep Dive 

You're not done yet, time for the R&C SPINOFFS RETROSPECTIVE: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jSui8W1f-z4.html

I love how mature Ratchet looks in this. He looks really grown up, the best design in the series. Easily my favorite R&C.

I tell you, turning Azimuth into the final boss instead of nefarious was an amazing plot point and one of the most gut wrenching climaxes in a video game. The fact that Ratchet has to fight his father's best friend, and potentially the only remaining other Lombax is just heart breaking. It gave me huge Superman vs Zod from Man of Steel vibes. Such a fantastic story

The confrontation with Nefarious at the beginning is one of Nefarious’ best moments because it manages to keep him menacing while also letting him ham it up and be funny. “And constructed in the EXACT CENTER OF THE UNIVEEEEERRRSSSEEEE! Give or take fifty feet.”

"Whats the first thing that comes to mind when you hear Ratchet and Clank a crack in time?" Well... "Give or take 50 feet." Just a weird extraneous detail that everyone seems to add.

"Say hello to..." "Not the Hyper Sonic Brainwave Scrambler" "...THE HYPER SONIC BRAINWAVE SCRAMBLER"

My biggest disappointment with this game is that they dropped Talwyn's arc. Her story is directly related to the Lombax plot thread since her dad was last seen with Angela Cross and knows about the Dimensionator. I was sad to see that she didn't appear in Rift Apart.

If there’s one thing about Crack in Time I love without any hesitation, it’s the RYNO V Who doesn’t love a weapon that’s a mini gun-rocket launcher that plays the 1812 Overture as you fire, destroying everything while laughing like a maniac?

“What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time?” “He does not understand that being a hero is 45% strength, 60% bravery and 10% raw intelligence” “That’s 115%!” “You’re welcome!” I always loved Ratchet and Qwark’s banter in the games, it leads to funny interactions. :)

Ngl. I cried a little when Clank repaired the Dimensionator to be a good friend cuz he remembers what his closure did for him.

"There are worse stories of this era of Insomniac that I still can't tell" is such a sad line to say. I really do get how you feel when saying that as I have a friend who worked for Insomniac and the brutal crunch culture that was there alongside a bunch of other questionable things from that time may never be mentioned to anyone but a few close friends that already know all the problems that were going on. People working to the bone, working themselves sick and beyond.

I can't thank Insomniac Games enough for making such amazing games like Crack in Time, but at the same time, I can't help but feel sorry for the developers. I am sure people can wait a few more years for the release of these games. They got the ambitions and they got great ideas, and if they chose to put more time on them, I am sure there won't be as many issues or that they had to remove contents. Still, they exactly how to deliver a good games, even today.

Despite how much I STILL like A Crack in Time, I can see where you're coming from. There is SO much this game, heck, this entire Future saga, could have made which simply was restricted by so tight deadlines (It really sucks that "Super tight un-changable deadlines" always seem to be one of the big issues in most franchises I love). Still, there's just something about this game. Perhaps the atmosphere, the fantastic ending, I dunno, something about this game that forever has engraved into my heart whenever I think of Ratchet. Regardless, this was a fantastic video and can't wait to see what else is in store in both the franchise's future and this retrospective's future as well!

I think one of the reasons this game is so fondly remembered is the ending. The last battle and two boss fights is R&C firing on all cylinders gameplay and story wise, one of if not the absolute highlight of the series. Many years since my last playthrough it's my main memory from the game.

"Yeah, it's good. But it could have been so much better." That's a frustratingly common theme among these games.

From what you’re saying, Acit definitely feels like it was in a Crash Twinsanity situation where it didn’t have enough time to reach its true potential, regardless of that I feel what the game did offer are the things that make me consider my all time favorite video game title out there, though I totally understand why you personally didn’t as much, and I’m completely ok with that.

Here it is, my favorite game in the series. Personally I think this game did the whole separating Ratchet and Clank concept way better than Rift Apart, and I prefer this games portrayal of Nefarious as well

Sigmund playing that recording BROKE me. His whole character is pretty tragic. He seems like he was made out of a trash can and left as a worker at the great clock while Clank was created more in his fathers image to become a time god. Like… bruh… Sigmund was definitely the second favorite of 2 sons… but he loved his father so much. He lived with him and despite not having all the chosen one crap did everything he could. He had to watch his father go on some mission to go after his other son and never come back. I feel like giving him that one poignant moment just wasn’t enough

The thing that immediately comes to mind is definitely the space exploration. No other game in the series (or otherwise,) replicated the feeling that this game in particular gives me when flying through space.

I'm glad somebody other than me gave this game's closing line of dialogue the recognition it deserves. Contrasting it to Azimuth's line earlier in the game, it's such a great quote that has lived in my head rent-free for the better part of a decade now. It's that whole "make something good out of a bad situation" mindset that has helped me a lot throughout the past 2 years of COVID craziness. I may not site the line on a regular basis, but it's a quote that I whole heartedly feel resonates with me very strongly.

The funniest thing remains how they shot themselves in the foot regarding Angela Cross, as one of the radiostations mentions her disappearing with Max Apogy, and then confirms that she is infact a Lombax. They could have easily made a comment of Angela being from a closely related species, or a species that just looks similar to the Lombax. If i recall correctly they had never confirmed her to be a Lombax before this game so it wouldn't directly contradict anything to claim that she isn't a Lombax.

It's refreshing to see someone critique A Crack in Time so honestly. Ever since I first finished the game and visiting the Insomniac museum I felt like I missed out on a great game. A great game that never got made because Insomniac didn't have the time to make the game they wanted to make. There is some cruel irony to a game that's about time not having enough time to be fully developed.

Watched the video in one sitting. I really enjoyed how in-depth it was, and you gave some new perspective on the game; I didn't even know the frame rate was around 40fps during combat. In the end my opinion (that A Crack in Time is amazing and the best in the series) remains unchanged considering how much this video actually reminded me of its high points, but even for that alone this retrospective was great.

Now i'm super excited to see what you have to say about All 4 One, Q-Force and Nexus, the series' most confusing and scattered games

I really liked A Crack In Time. It laid a lot of great ground work and a tremendous foundation that they could build off of. I loved the story but I totally feel you on the "what if they were given more time" because it certainly was swinging in the right direction, it just didn't reach the finish line in some occasions. Even with that said, A Crack In Time is in my top 4 favorite Ratchet and Clank games (Rift Apart bumped it out of my top 3)

Honestly, if there's anything I've learned from this series, it's that the devs deserved a fucking raise and some sleep, for God sakes. I remember really vibing with CiT when I was younger, so seeing it put under a very critical microscope like this was definitely eye-opening for me. At least Rift Apart was eventually able to cash in a good chunk of the checks of the Future series, without all the crunch (seriously, Imsomniac is putting out critical darlings like crazy, how in the blue hell do they do it without pushing themselves too far?).

Dude I will never get tired of listening to you analyse my favourite game series of all time

I absolutely loved this game and hope they remaster it next year for the 20th anniversary like how the HD Collection was remastered 🙌🏼

While it’s not a big thing, I think it would have been cool to have the cracks in time happening for a while and Azimuth has been using them to save people in this galaxy. That way you can do more with the time travel and cracks in Ratchet’s sections, and it would give Azimuth’s story even more emotional resonance, as he believes he can go back and save the Lombaxes and ignore the consequences since he’s been doing that for other people. It would make his tragedy even stronger as he’s been able to revert other people’s pain and mistakes but never his own

Oh man you have no idea how much I love these rac retrospectives. They are simply top-notch icing on a delicious nearly 2 hour long video. Literally just watched the whole thing in one setting. How much would I have to pay you for a straight video discussing Nefarious and how his constant inclusion in the series has affected fans over the years because that is a video I'd happily pay to have made. The doctor would be such an interesting thing to discuss.

26:54 I loved the constructo weapons even if mostly for the concept. Replaying the game recently I had to intentionally hold off on using the weapons much until later into the game just so that I could taste the mods. Yeah, I was going to play challenge mode a couple times anyways, but still. *I always have to comment this as well, but I think that they could potentially fix the problem with using maxed weapons. Have there be a mechanic that saves some of the XP obtained from a given enemy if the weapon can't hold it, with it visually placed into a bar (with a limit of course) under the weapon icon that is shared between all weapons. Any time an incomplete weapon is used (it gains XP like normal as well) it takes a portion of the saved XP from the aforementioned bar; amount being based on a percentage of the enemy killed. So a stronger enemy will sap extra from the saved XP bar to keep you from draining it on swarms for balancing. So the excess XP is effectively recycled into newly used guns naturally* Maybe it's not a great idea, but I figured that it would address the problem that is never wanting to use a maxed weapon because you feel like you're wasting experience. At least with this type of system I wouldn't feel as bad about maxing weapons like the constructo guns, because if I do then chances are I'll never use them again. I do have to say that while I don't think that anything like this is in the new RaC, I won't have the chance to play it for who knows how long and I'm not about to look anything up about the game, just a disclaimer. I'm curious if anyone has thoughts on this idea and if it sounds silly or not, just for the fun of it.

I love this game so much, the nostalgia of this game gets me every time. I grew up playing this and it will always be my favourite game ever made. Everything about this masterpiece is perfect and I truly thank insomniac for this gem 💎

Ratchet and Clank will always have a special place in my heart. I grew up playing the originals on the ps2

Another instant certified hood classic to add to my list of classics.

''Whats the first thing that comes to mind when you hear Ratchet and Clank A Crack In Time?'' Pirate radio And then everything else with this masterpiece of a game.

I think the best generalization for this franchise I've heard hits it right on the head at this point. Ratchet and Clank is the equivalent to comfort food in video games. And I'm sure all the fans want to see it reach for higher and become something that truly no one should even miss out on, it's also refreshing. We've seen franchises evolve and change over the years and in some cases it wasn't for the better and lost those core fans, while Ratchet has, for the most part overall, remained the same. Tools, Crack in Time, even Rift Apart, all still feel in some "spiritual" way the same as the PS2 trilogy. There are differences for sure that have had mixed reactions from the fanbase, but I'd argue the core of Ratchet and Clank is still there just covered in different flavors each time the devs tried to change things up. Should fans expect more? Absolutely, at this point Ratchet is one of Sony's longest running franchises and to still be comparable to a PS2 game is odd. But the gaming industry has also devolved to the point where getting access to a player's wallet has become the primary concern of 3rd party publishers, instead of making even a good or pretty decent game, that having that odd sense of consistency, without the bs monetization methods were drowning in for a lot of big releases, it's a weird comfort.

Ah, yes, the game that started off the fandom's seething dislike of the franchise's more cinematic music direction. Even today you can still find people desperately begging for David Bergeaud to return, even though I don't believe he's done any video game compositions since 2014. (Niels Bye Nielsen, his collaborator, worked on the current Hitman trilogy.) And they ignore that, aside from the pirate-based tracks, his compositions in Tools of Destruction were much weaker, even compared to the stuff he did for the PSP games. FWIW, I really enjoyed Boris Salchow's score. It was nice to finally get a Ratchet & Clank game with a real orchestra backing it. I think part of the problem is the bad sound mixing which mutes the music on the default settings. I do wish Insomniac had given him another chance with Ratchet & Clank, but after hearing what Mark Mothersbaugh put together for Rift Apart, I hope the Mutato Muzika team return for any future installments!

dude i wish i could just comment and chat during the videos, its so nice to learn more about the development process of these games and how that made what we played, and as someone who just finished his first run of the game i totally agree with you in your opinions on it. great vid keep up the good work man

This has been one of your best Ratchet and Clank retrospectives. You argued your points well. A Crack In Time is a very, very close 2nd to Ratchet and Clank 3 as my favorite game in the series. I was so hyped for this game in 2009 and it did not disappoint. I loved this game's story, it's graphics and voice acting, to name a few things.

Still my favorite in the series. I'm always amazed how fast this one came out after the last two

The Golden Bolt "say it with me" joke, as of this video, officially has received more closure and payoff than Insomniac gave Ratchet

Just in time seems more appropriate for a title because I was definitely in need of another fair essay video such as this one. While I can appreciate what specific channels such as cinema wins/sins do(I am sure they are wonderful people), I honestly do not like either of them very much as I think that is equivalent to having tunnel vision. They are only looking at one side of the metaphorical coin and I think that mindset is rather limiting. Channels such as yours are what I seek first, as I enjoy seeing the ups and downs. What worked and what did not. It is that balance between the two which I enjoy so much, that of which I think you did brilliantly here. It also helps that I have no emotional tie to this game as I missed this era of ratchet simply due to my circumstances and age growing up, but I am glad to see these games and what they did/didn't do from a more neutral perspective. At some point, I will go back and try the ones I missed for myself, but in the mean time these well made videos will do. From some cold hearted schmuck, thank you again for making these. I hope the holidays go well for you and I'll be there bright and early for when the next one drops!

I never really played Crack in Time as much as the other ps3 titles (not including spin offs only played A4O with friends) and i always heard it was held in such high regard by everyone. Hearing your opinion on this can really give you two sides of the story and gives me a more fresh look to look at these games. Also knowing that his game was the shortest developed game is really weird, never expected that, especially since the leap in technology was huge from ps2 and ps3. And hearing that the Qforce was a big part of this game in the beginning breaks my heart. The thing I never liked about Ratchet and clank games is how they suddenly forget big characters exist from the lore. I loved the Qforce in UYA and I will continue to beg for them to come back in some sort of way. Also, talking about UYA and I might be the only one says this, I really miss the Galactic rangers (not the gross ones from the remake :P) But anyway great video, I was waiting for this for a long time and the waiting paid of, It is a high quality video! and I cant wait for future projects (Ratchet and other games) as a side note: watching the gameplay of both ToD and CiT really make me appreciate what the ps3 could output when dedicated developers were programming for this system.

So here's a very funny train of thought I had as a kid. As soon as I saw Ratchet Deadlocked for the first time, I imagined what the opening scene would look like. Keep in mind I have autism so this setup may sound weird and coincidental. It starts off with Clank trying to escape via ventilation shafts from some evil force in a factory. This is also the only time Clank is playable. Once he gets out in the darkness, he gets zapped by said force and the title shows up, shifting back to Ratchet in a more desperate tone trying to get his friend back. Yes. This scenario my 8 year old self came up with, as a way to try and justify Clank not being on Ratchet's back in this game, just so happened to be eerily similar to the opening of a Crack in Time. There are obvious differences but holy shit I was not expecting this!

Amazing. This review is just amazing. Despite all the missed opportunities, for me this is THE game for PS3. This game met all my expectations back then, all the gameplay and the story just left my jaws on the floor. Although I pretty much agree with you, that the story left some questions unanswered, but somehow I still felt that this game is complete with Alister's story arc. For me, Nexus was a bit disappointment, because I thought that will be the game, where Ratchet finally meets the other lombaxes. Somehow I feel, that Insomniac is just scared to make that move.

Insomniac: The most accurately named studio on earth

Well probably gonna binge the entire retrospective again as i love these videos, just you going out of your way to be objective and say things as they are and how you see or saw them. Is a breath offresh air, great job Mr Bolt. Truly an amazing series you got here.

My rose-coloured glasses make me unable to see anything negative about the future trilogy. And a Crack in Time will always be my favourite. I must have injected hundreds of hours into this game and it will always be a special part of my childhood. Edit: After watching the entire video, while I agree with everything that was said, I think that with how little time they had, they still made such a big impression on me as a kid and I really commend Insomniac for that. I agree that it could have been more, but... for me, it has always been enough and I look back fondly.

"what is the first thing that comes to mind?" Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture Finale.

Honestly the first thing i think of when i hear a crack in time is clank levels

I am going to comment early on and say that this is my second favorite game next to going commando. The reason that going commando is at 1 is because it was one of my first games ever, and it is one that I can go back to and play over and over again. Nostalgia really hits home for me, but I think a crack in time is the best one tbh. I think the villains are hits, the humor works well, the weapons are overall pretty good, and I love the ability to explore in space. It gives me freedom to do what I want. I’ve probably put 300+ hours into a crack in time, beating it 100% on the hardest difficulty and getting the plat trophy on two accounts. It may not be the best game of all time, but it is certainly one of the most enjoyable that I have experienced

Turned on my PS3 and played this game again after watching this and I can confirm that it’s as amazing as I remember it. I encourage all of you to play it again for yourselves and come back and share your experience

I'm so happy that I stumbled onto this channel and have been making my way through these fantastic retrospectives. Insomniac is my favorite studio, and Ratchet and Clank my favorite gaming francise. Getting to learn the absolute pressure this phenominal studio was under for each and every game while making such a massively important franchise in my life has been so stellar. I cannot complement the work you've done here hard enough at the Golden Bolt, man. Crack in Time is, no contest, my favorite in the franchise (followed by 3, Rift Apart, 2, and Deadlocked), and watching this retrospective has been so interesting and wild. I never realized playing it back when I was 19, how shallow and flat it was compared to the previous games in the franchise. But by that point, I had played every game in the franchsie and was neck deep in my love for it. It was a stellar expereince when I played it a dozen times back in the day, but now at 33, its definitely time to give it another run to see if I love it just as much as I did then. Once again, really appreciate your outstanding work and humor throughout these retrospectives. Really looking forward to finishing this essay series!

To me, the series topped with this game. The great story, the space and planet exploration (unique to this game!), the Agorians (and the Battleplex), the space radio, not to mention Captain Quark's character development coming full circle (the first game where he finally becomes an actual hero). There's just so much to name! I adore this game.

A crack in time really just clicked with me, like every single part of it. From the gorgeous environments, the interesting space content, the dialogue that just hit all the right notes for me, the gameplay mechanics, exploration, art style, combat, clank mission, even to the stylish little comics it had. This for me was R&C's perfect form, I would of loved another one like this game.

This is the game that made me realise just how good of a villain Dr. Nefarious is. It's takes a bit of reading between the lines, but think about what his motivation is in every game he's appeared in. He always manipulates his goons by claiming that he has plans that will help them all. In RAC3 he announces a robot uprising to the Galaxy, and in CIT he tells his goons he wants to rewind time to make them all victorious against heroes, and in Rift Apart he wants to go to another dimension where he's victorious. What do they all have in common? He claims that he's doing what he's doing will help a large number of people/villains, but instead, he only ever plans to be the dominant one who stands above everyone and everything else. His greatest strength is his ability to manipulate and lie to a large number of people to follow him. Basically, it's like he's an expert cult leader or something

22:43 "But instead a plan of revenge" Me: "Vengeance? You think I went through all this trouble for mere vengeance? And they say I'm egomaniacal."

Really appreciating these retrospectives. This was actually one of my favorite games in the series for a long time, but the sheer amount of cut content I only learned about later does sting. It's almost as bad in that regard as Crash Twinsanity.

35:15 “teleporters are for bitches” This made me laugh hard. Thank you!

So I've been binging these videos as I play through the series again, and holy shit you've conditioned me to say "Clank is always right" with you. It's against my will at this point ✊️😔

I Downloaded all this Radio songs and i hear this when i drive at night to Austria from Germany. Its Beautifull

I think I have to say something. I know it's a bit of a stretch, but Ratchet and Clank A Crack in Time is my all time favorite game of all time. I've played it 100% so many times and ended normally much more often that I can't even remember exactly how often and I love everything about the game. Even if it is very minimalistic, I love the space combet. The moons are a great refreshment between shooting. I never noticed the FPS and I don't care much about FPS as long as it's at least 30. You can't deny that the game has flaws and weaknesses, I can even see that with nostalgia, but I love the game todzdem. i even replayed the game about 3 months ago and still love it as much as on the first day. And no, that's not because of the nostalgia, Ratchet and Clank 2 or Going Comando as it is called in the USA was my first ratchet game and that's what I really don't like today. I understand your opinion and I think it's good too. But for me it's an incredibly good game. I don't really care about the technology behind the game, the main thing is that it's fun and that is absolutely what makes it for me. PS. I'm German, I'm sorry about the spelling

Nice to hear someone put to words the way I feel about Crack in Time, it's definitely not bad, but it's not on par with the very best Ratchet and Clank games imo. Great video again bro.

I never liked Ratchets design in TOD compared to the ps2 era games, and then they did it, with ACIT they fucking nailed it, his design is perfect, he looks all grown up, and then... yeah, why did they stray away from this design, its so good.

My favourite game in the franchise, followed closely by Up Your Arsenal and actually Rift Apart. I really hope this classic gets ported over to modern consoles sometime!

Fun fact: Lord vorselon is actually teased in tools of destruction in a speakerphone announcement when in the prison level saying his prison sentence is up or something similar to thst

This one. This one is one of my favorites in the series. Something about it is so special

I gotta say, I appreciate the effort to follow through on not just an in game analysis, but investigations into the development background of these games. Definitely can't look at Insomniac the same way, but more appreciative of the efforts they are hopefully making to avoid those same mistakes.

I'm glad you feel the same way I did about the Ratchet sections of this game. For the most part, I feel it was underwhelming compared to previous games, which was a real shame considering that Clank's parts were some of the best in the series.

The honesty and depth of this essay was top notch, great stuff as always

I really enjoy how you incorporate your own journey and feelings into your videos

When it comes to Ratchet's silence most of the time when he's with Azimuth, I actually always found that really compelling based on my own experiences. I'm a pretty shy guy, I don't like conflict and I like pleasing others. That's caused me at point in my life to get stuck in toxic relationships with friends and partner, relationships where I had doubts and qualms but I was too hesitant to actually SAY something about it because I was afraid of losing those relationships. And I see that EXACT behavior from myself reflected in Ratchet here, having doubts, being worried about Azimuth's obsessive behavior, but being unable to speak up against it outright. Azimuth is the only other Lombax Ratchet's ever met (shut up), he knew Ratchet's family, he's basically the uncle and father figure that Ratchet's never had and we have to assume he's WANTED for his whole life. And not only does he want to take that role for Ratchet, he has a plan to not only reunite Ratchet with Clank, but ALSO get Ratchet's family back! And he so certain it will work and has such a strong, overbearing personality, that it just puts Ratchet into this quiet, submissive, follow-the-leader mindset, something that I empathize with and see because I've BEEN there. It doesn't matter how headstrong Ratchet usually is, he wants this relationship and he's too afraid of losing it to speak up, so he's just quiet and concerned about Azimuth, and I think for people like me who've been in that situation, that speaks (pardon the pun) more than enough for Ratchet.

A few months ago I decided to play through the entire mainline ratchet series (minus the ps4+5 games) which included playing ACiT for the first time since 2011, and I do agree that it isn’t as good as I remember. It is however one of the most memorable games in the entire series with awesome concepts and amazing characters. Definitely some missed opportunities and it doesn’t have the best gameplay of the series, but what it does well it does really damn well imo

This game was ahead of its time

Thank you. All I can say is thank you. Thank you for doing all that you do. This is what I want from criticism. This is what I need and want from RU-vidrs like you. I love this game to death, but you made this so entertaining and explained why so eloquently that I cannot help but applaud you sir. By the way, when you get the chance can you do a breakdown of one of my other fave games of all time (which you named-dropped in here): Super Mario Galaxy This is critical art. And I appreciate it so much.

I said "thats pretty cool" before the fake audience did

0:05 I think of all the fun times I had playing this game with my sister when we were younger, good times, good times

I remember playing this at my relatives house. Now, their tv is massive, with surround sound that made your atoms vibrate. Playing a Crack in Time, it was insane: You heard EVERY gunshot, at a very high volume. Enemy gunshots, as well as my own. The sound that plays when you enter a new area was to me, a statement. I had entered a new world. Maybe I'm biased, but Crack in Time was the best intro to Ratchet and Clank I could've had.

So glad your getting promos on the videos man. Maybe this means more videos "wink wink", keep it up and continue grinding!!

I honestly had no idea about any of the background stories of this game. To me this always felt like the most complete R&C game. My favourite alongside going commando and up your arsenal. So I am really surprised to hear all this.

They made this game IN 10 MONTHS???? WHAT??? That’s the most surprising thing I’ve learned after watching this video. I actually replayed this game around a year or so ago using the streaming service on PS4, I had fun with it for sure and overall I still think it’s pretty good but it’s not as badass as I remember it being when I was a kid. This is a great review, I had no idea insomniac had such horrendous development cycles and enormous crunch. It really upsets me tbh. If they can do this in 10 months I wonder what they could’ve done had they been given like 3 years and a much larger budget for this game in particular, I think it could’ve been an incredible experience overall. Jesus man.. 10 months? That’s just insane, I’m in disbelief at that and how hard they must’ve worked their fingers to the bone rushing the game out the door. Hats off to them for what they did accomplish in that time frame though! Stellar video, I love your ratchet retrospectives and this one did not disappoint! I know I’m a bit late but better late than never :P

this was the first game on played on ps3 and was the reason i moved onto the ps3 when i first booted up the game and watched intro and started playing i was absolutely blown away by it all from visuals to just how gameplay felt to me this game has a very special place in my heart so thank you for an amazing review and intresting information about its development

Honestly this game is my favorite in the series, but I love hearing new perspectives on how people feel about it because most of the people I know love this game (the others having never played it not being PlayStation owners) so to hear your perspective on it, what with pointing out the flaws and all, is refreshing.

I always thought Clank's time powers were tied to the scepter and the clock, giving it to Sigmund, he can no longer use them. In ToD he had them, but he also had the Zonis to assist him. My take is that he can only use those powers as long as he's got some form of direct or indirect link to the clock.

The honest truth is that I think your rant towards the end was more than valid, especially in hindsight. See, you said that you played the game much later after the game was released which will give you a different perspective than to those of us who played the game back in 2009 and didn't see just how the series was gonna go after. Seeing where the series went after ACIT and how there was no real big follow up since then, your rant totally is understandable and I'm sure more people do understand and even agree with your sentiments toward the game. I think it's safe to say that what you said about how dumb it was to make Clank a time god, most fans will agree with you, I know I certainly do and even back when I played the game in 2009, I wasn't completely behind that decision of making Clank some magical time altering robot. It was just WAY too much to take after having to go with the plot of Ratchet being the last lombax even though we had Angela who really got shafted big time. But as annoying as it was, I was willing to take a sigh and just go with the Ratchet being the last of his kind plot but then they had to do the same kind of "much bigger than they realize" situation with Clank as well and that lowkey was my breaking point for most of the reasons you had being against it. It just opened the floodgates to all kinds of BS that would ruin the allure and appeal that Clank had of just being a regular robot who was able to overcome his programing (him being defective) and helping Ratchet and becoming a best friend and hero while being ordinary. The time magic thing was just too much to take and even more so that they never even bother to utilize it in the later games for understandably obvious reasons. So believe me, you're not alone in being absolutely annoyed at that write-in, many fans weren't keen on that decision. ACIT is a tough one for me because it had some really great stuff in it. It had a much more memorable soundtrack (imo even though I still vastly prefer the classic trilogy music hands down), the graphics were gorgeous, some of the worlds were neat to explore, I actually enjoyed Zoni hunting in the space hub, the combat was solid enough, and the story id have me engaged where the ending with Clank reuniting with Ratchet always gives me the sharp feels. But the game really could've done a bit more like including Talwyn & Angela, having the Valkyries have a little more time, and having a few more reference callbacks to the OG games as well as a lot of the things you suggested. It's sad to hear that the employees were so overwoked and rushed that they still weren't able to fit in all that they wanted to create the game they envisions but I still have to give them many props that what we got while not perfect, was still passable enough. Nevertheless this was a really cool retrospective and I'm glad you were able to get through with it despite having to acknowledge some growing pains and hardships that you felt the game had.

🎵Got to go Crack in time 🎵 But seriously I love these games

So this game is basically just another one suffering from the 'ol "Sonic Adventure" Syndrome! The game has so many problems, but we are all blindsighted, because of either nostalgia, or bias. This video sure was an eye-opener, and further solidifies Rift Apart as My favorite in the series!

43:25 Yes they really need to give more hints on that. maybe call the name of the Planet you repair. I played the Game multiple times and never noticed this awesome detail. I just thought it is like the one Gold Bolt on Oltanis-Orbit in RaC1. Yeah the door opens when you revisit the "Planet".

I think the number one thing I miss from Acit that isn't present in any other ps3-ps5 gen game is the moon exploration, that stuff is one of the pinnacles of this game

These videos are so unbelievably good. Well researched, informative, strong analysis. Also for me, nostalgic. I watch them every time they come out. You are awesome.

I was rewatching the tools of destruction video and you POST THIS THANK YOU

Hello, currently binging through your retrospective of Ratchet and Clank, and funny little fact, this game is my first ever exposure to R&C. Besides my next exposure was Going Commando, they are games that I thoroughly enjoyed the first time I played them. I loved everything I've seen from A Crack in Time, and even knowing the stuff that has been going through in this retrospective, I love this game with all my heart. It's my bias kicking in, regardless of the circumstances of knowing what you said and good job on doing that, it's good stuff learning the behind the scenes. This will still by my favorite R&C game of all time. While I would've loved more from it, it'd be something if some sorta more development would be done and added to it, it'd make me happy to see it all fleshed out had things weren't crunched.

My favorite game in the series so far (haven't played Rift Apart, but feeling like that will take the throne). The plot was more matured, deeper, but still plentifully goofy and funny. The visuals were very nicely polished, the scripting of dialogue and the voice acting, all of it was pretty on-point. 2016 beat it mechanically (and visually) but Crack in Time felt like the best plot by far to me, a close second from Nexus. Not perfect at all, nothing of this world is perfect, but a very awesome experience. I definitely see a lot of the points here, most of the time I'm pretty forgiving of the faults in games so I'm generally not bothered by little things. The things that irk me most are plot holes, because I'm a big story/script guy. But with the complexity inherent to designing mechanics and the results of time constraints, I rarely feel bothered unless it leads to some real brokenness in the game. Nonetheless, Crack in Time is still my favorite, it turns in a serious direction but doesn't take itself too seriously. I think the best way to make a fantasy/sci-fi story is to make one with serious subject matter, but still make it lighthearted enough that we are reminded of its fantasy. And there are various ways of doing that. But it's late, and I feel I've worded enough, so I'll just wrap up by saying, I like the game, and R&C will always have a little plot in my heart.

Just finished this video. I definitely respect this game and the people who busted their asses to put it all together. Projects like this really shouldn’t be rushed. There really is no need especially when they were teasing it like it was gonna be the end of things. The end is something you should take time with. It would be one thing if we couldn’t look at this museum and see what could’ve been, but we can, and it is a little disrespectful to the thing that they created to not see it through. Sadly though, I’m pretty sure this happens all the time. I think if there are true fans, people who really respect a series, they can wait a little longer in between years to see games get produced and see the best they have to offer

I love the Radio Stations in A Crack in Time Pirate Radio, Deep Space Jam and Electric House

Ratchet and Clank AciT is my favourite game of all time, i agree and disagree with alot of what you said but this video was clearly insanely well researched and put together very well so kudos to you TGB, this games story has yet to be topped for me (havent gotten to play Rift Apart yet) and after playing the games in a row i dont think ill ever understand the weird superiority some people say the OG Saga has compared to the Future Saga but thats just my opinion really.

Unanswered questions was one of my big takeaways from this game as well. After playing I thought for sure we'd be getting more games that would delve deeper into the fate of the Lombaxes, and that maybe we'd even get to meet Ratchet's parents. I still remember my disappointment when Into the Nexus was real short, and then I found out the next game was a reboot of the original. Crack in Time is still one of my favorite games though. I think I subconsciously fill in a lot of the cracks in the game while playing

Wow. This video actually helped me realize what exactly it is that has made me feel so conflicted about this game, since I first played it in 2013. I always felt so confused about and alone in my opinions regarding this game that it's actually strange to hear someone else put them into words. Wonderful video as usual!

I just saw this was uploaded, can not wait to watch it. ACiT is my second or third favorite in the series(basically tied with UYA but behind GC). I am excited to see what you have to say because throughout this series I have disagreed with things for sure but it is awesome to hear another perspective.

Binged all your videos happy to see a new one right as I’m out of content to watch