#Ratchet and clank rift apart rivet movie
#Ratchet and clank rift apart rivet series

So how does all of that character work translate into the gameplay and design of “Rift Apart”? Rivet’s character design quickly garnered the adoration of fans, and that’s no accident. Although independent, charming and quick-witted, Rivet is also vulnerable, just one battle away from losing it all. She’s on a mission for good, to protect herself and the innocent inhabitants who are tormented by the Emperor Nefarious and his goons.”īasically, she’s “a scrappy little punk,” Thompson goes on. Sure, she might not know the best way to act in a social situation, but she sure as hell isn’t shy. “Despite her tough exterior and perceived coolness, she’s never cynical, dark or cruel. “As we would be passing her off to different animators, we made a concerted effort to also figure out who she isn’t,” Thompsons says. Thompson and Mee describe the Rivet players will meet as a character shaped by her tough efforts to survive in a dark dimension who hasn’t let those experiences rob her of her optimism and compassion. With the core that they’ve already built in Ratchet in mind, Thompson describes the kinds of questions she and Mee would ask each other early in development: how did being a lone wolf in this dangerous world affect her? Is she awkward when she gets the chance to socialize? Ratchet, he goes on, is always looking for the positives, which was reflected in Rivet. But “we finally kind of realized that what was magical about seeing alternate dimension versions is how true they are to their core character,” he says. Smith admits it would’ve been easy to “go ‘Terminator'” with Rivet and have her try to blow away Clank as soon as she lays eyes on him (although he does say Rivet isn’t jumping to trust Clank right away). Simply put, Rivet has probably seen the darkest scenarios that the world of “Ratchet & Clank” has to offer. In fact, Rivet lost her arm in her battles against Emperor Nefarious, as he’s known in her dimension, and she doesn’t even have a trusty sidekick like Ratchet does in Clank. Nefarious - but in her dimension, Nefarious wins. Rivet, like Ratchet, is a fighter for good against the forces of Dr.

“And in particular, what would Ratchet’s life be like if he didn’t have a Clank?”Ĭourtesy of Insomniac Games A Scrappy Survivor

“What would a different dimension of Ratchet and Clank be like?” Smith says. It got them playing with the idea of seeing what the characters and their lives would be like if different choices were made.

#Ratchet and clank rift apart rivet movie

As they continued to hammer out how that would impact the world of “Ratchet & Clank,” Smith cites a surprising influence for the direction the game ultimately ended up taking: the 1946 movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” in which an angel shows a man what life would be like if he never existed. Smith and his team already had the thought early on to introduce the idea of different dimensions and a device that could transport anyone to a different dimension.

#Ratchet and clank rift apart rivet series

With a series that has spanned nearly 20 years, 16 games and dozens of beloved characters and plots, Insomniac faced one particular issue.Īs Smith puts it: “How do you thread the needle with such a long-running franchise of getting old players, who know all the ins and outs and can tell you about the past characters and backstories, with the reality that many of the people who will play this game weren’t even born the last time we did a full-length game?” In the media preview event for “Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart,” which releases for PlayStation 5 on June 11, Mee and lead animator Lindsay Thompson revealed much more about the mysterious Lombax, and creative director Marcus Smith elaborated on the making of the new protagonist in a subsequent interview with Variety.