I’ve never actually played a Ratchet and Clank game before; yeah, I know it’s a really big series, and being a fan of platformers (although not, of course, a bigger fan than I am of JRPGs), I probably should have picked one up before now to give it a whirl. I didn’t, though. After the all-encompassing sea that was Star Ocean, though (haha! See what I did there?), and before that, the fifty-plus hours I spent traversing Tales of Vesperia left me needing something a little lighter to cleanse my gaming palette. Ratchet and Clank is proving to be just the thing.
I’ve been kind of half-heartedly playing a bit here and there of R&C in the midst of the other stuff in my systems, but the bigger games just kept sucking me back in, so now that I’m devoting my full attention to it (or as full as my attention gets, anyway), I am happy to report that I’m thoroughly enjoying the game. There’s just something about beating the crap out of robots with a giant wrench that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Although I mostly only use the Combuster gun-wise (and the Predator gun is quite fun as well), it’s nice to have a wide variety of shooty-things available to me, and since ammo is plentiful, I can mess around with different stuff pretty much freely. I also have to say that it’s a nice little change to be playing something in which I feel like I’m making quantifiable progress pretty much every time I pick it up, as opposed to Star Ocean, where managing to find three blue roses was a good session.
Not that I’m busting on Star Ocean, mind you. As of last writing, I’d finished the main storyline, but I hadn’t finished the post-game content. Well, as of THIS writing, I still haven’t finished the post-game content, but I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’m not going to. I ploughed my way through the first of the two bonus dungeons, arriving at the final boss with Edge at level 102 (yep, 100 is apparently not the max level… I wonder what is?), and I just got smacked. Like, it wasn’t even close. I had zero chance. Rather than pumping more time into grinding levels so I could go on (and we all know how much I looooove doing that), I decided to call it quits on Star Ocean. I feel like I accomplished all I needed to, and I’m not disappointed with my experience overall. I certainly feel like I got my money’s worth.
Right now, the only other game I’m really playing is Henry Hatsworth; I finally got around to playing it on my shiny new DSi (well…. shiny is a metaphor in this case, as the actual finish is matte), and yes, as promised, the increased screen size is very nice. I’ve still only managed one more level’s progress since last time, but at this point in the game, I feel like that’s pretty much cause for celebration. This bitch gets HARD towards the end. It’s a challenge that I enjoy dealing with, though, regardless of how many times I may scream POPPYCOCK! Hey, he says it, why can’t I?
Recap:
Current backlog total: 118
Now playing: Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3); Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure (DS)
New games added: Docomodake BOING! (DS); Afro Samurai (360); Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom (360); Growlanser: Heritage of War (PS2); Tomb Raider Anniversary (PSP); Astonishia Story (PSP); Ys: The Ark of Napishtm (PSP) (Come on, there was a buy 2 get 1 free sale!)
Games completed: Star Ocean: The Last Hope (360)
