Trivia / Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

• Development Gag:
  • Angela Cross's lack of a tail caused widespread confusion whether A) she was a Lombax and B) whether female Lombaxes have tails. Word of God answered yes to both, and displayed some regret for not giving her one. Rivet not only has a tail, but it's much bigger than what the males have.
  • Captain Quantum's design is based on an early design for Captain Qwark◊.
  • The Drillhound looks an awful lot like the Revolverator from the first game, which was cut from the final game due to the developers not being able to implement it well. It also appears to take some design cues from the Hound of Doom, a weapon cut from the second game Going Commando that was meant to seek out enemies when fired.
  • The design of Emperor Nefarious takes some cues from early Nefarious concept sketches◊ made for Up Your Arsenal.
  • Fizzie◊ has his OverCharge branding covered by both the prototype Fizzco emblem and an OverDrive logo modeled exactly after the original OverCharge logo from Sunset Overdrive's reveal trailer.
• Dummied Out: Thanks to the game's PC port we've learned about a number of things cut from the final game:
  • An early model for Rivet labeled "Ratchette."
  • These videos show off a number of unused and unfinished weapons:
    • The Sheepinator, Predator Launcher, Fusion Grenade, Mr. Zurkon, and Proton Drum (renamed "Thumper") in their PS4 incarnations were all set to reappear. The former being cut also explains the absence of a traditional Forced Transformation weapon in the game, whereas Mr. Zurkon ended up getting replaced with the very similar Mr. Fungi.
    • A grenade weapon called the Volcanic Eruptor, which would create a giant magma spout upon hitting the ground. The weapon appears to have been cut late into development, as an also cut pre-rendered preview video intended for the weapons vendor shows that it was basically fully functional and had a finalized weapon icon.
    • A weapon called Schrodinger's Gun, which would've launched small, termite-like creatures which would latch onto and swarm enemies. The weapon appears to have been cut relatively early on as it lacks textures and the ability to damage enemies, so its full functionality is unknown.
    • The MagmaMissile, which used the Combuster model as a placeholder. This weapon would've functioned similarly to the Vortex Grenade from Into the Nexus, sending out a projectile that would suck enemies in for a short time before launching them back outwards.
    • The Cutter, which appears to have been intended as another wrench swap.
    • The Dimensionator. It's intended functionality is unknown as its code currently uses the Enforcer's weapon data, but it's likely that it was cut in favor of the RYNO 8.
  • An unfinished cutscene which depicts a Nefarious City news report informing citizens about the Emperor's interdimensional conquest. It was likely replaced by the cutscene in the final game where Emperor Nefarious himself announces his conquest starting with Ratchet and Clank's dimension.
  • An early version of the Nefarious City level.
  • A cut level which resembles Blizar Prime but with the Morts from Sargasso.
  • A hub containing all of the pocket dimension levels in the game as well as an Infobot and a CraiggerBear, likely used for debugging purposes.
  • A planned boss fight where the player would've fought both Nefariouses at the same time. It even contains unique voices lines from each character as well as the health bar text denoting them as "Nefarii." It's intended placement is unknown (the video loads them into the arena for testing purposes), however it's possible that it was meant to be part of the final level as the game tells you to "Reach the Nefariouses" despite only Emperor Nefarious being fought.
• Executive Meddling: According to a number of Insomniac employees, management was heavily pushing for the female Lombax character to be named "Rachette." Eventually the developers managed to persuade them into naming her something else, with her final name becoming "Rivet."
• In Memoriam: The CraiggerBear collectibles were created to commemorate Craig Goodman, a long-time Insomniac employee who passed away from brain cancer in 2019. He alongside past developers Dan Johnson, Steven Kirk, and Michael Kuehl receive special stickers in the game's photo mode and are listed in the credits as "Eternal Insomniacs."
• Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition: There is a Digital Deluxe Edition for the game that includes 5 armor sets, a sticker pack for the photo mode, 20 raritanium for upgrading weapons, and a digital app containing a soundtrack and an artbook. Fortunately, Insomniac allows players to upgrade from a digital/physical standard edition to the deluxe edition within the game itself.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Qwark is voiced by Scott Whyte instead of Jim Ward for this game, due to Ward having suffering both COVID-19 and Alzheimer's.
  • The reimagining aside, Skidd is now voiced by Jess Harnell in this game instead of Neil Flynn.
  • Richard Steven Horvitz replaces Sam Riegel as Zurkon Jr. here.
  • Rusty Pete also has his voice actor replaced, as noted by the absence of Wally Wingert in the credits. It's not known who his replacement is as the credits do not list the character by name, however from the sound of Pete's voice it's almost certainly Jess Harnell.
• Pre-Order Bonus: Pre-ordering the game grants players the Carbonox armor for Ratchet and Rivet along with the Pixelizer. However, unlike the pre-order bonuses of several prior installments, these are not exclusive pre-order only items; they are simply unlocked at the start of the game as opposed to having to earn them in-game...sort of. While the Pixelizer is unlocked straight away, the way the Carbonox Armor unlock works is a bit strange.^explanation Technically the early unlock is for the "Classic" armor from Going Commando with players collecting the "Advanced" armor throughout the game. They are visually identical, however the Classic armor doesn't grant a set bonus and has unique flavor texts referencing Going Commando. Acquiring the Advanced set pieces overwrites the Classic ones, replacing the flavor texts with new ones referencing how much better the new set is and granting a +20% bolts gain set bonus for getting them all
• Promoted Fanboy: The game's lead writer, Lauren Mee, started out as a young fan. Shortly after release day, she posted◊ an old photo of herself playing the first game as a child, dating all the way back in 2002.
• Reality Subtext: At the beginning of the game, Ratchet points out that it's been years since their last adventure, and he starts to worry that they're washed up. This is a possible nod to the So Okay, It's Average response the franchise began receiving after the release of A Crack in Time.
• Role Reprise: Including the 2016 Reboot...
  • Jess Harnell returns as Skidd McMarx.
  • Marc Graue is back as Mr. Zurkon, or "Zurkie", in this case.
  • Ali Hillis returns as Mrs. Zurkon, at least of Ratchet's dimension.
• Rule 34 – Creator Reactions:
  • After the teaser for the game dropped online, one of its designers, Xavier Coelho-Kostolny, made a tweet about Rivet. The tweet later gained a reply from Sol Brennan, saying they were well aware of how quick Rule 34 of the character was going to be created. A couple days later, the tweet was deleted.
    Xavier: Even though a lot's changed since I was on the project, I'm very happy I was able to contribute in some small way to the Furry Awakening that's going to happen when the new Ratchet & Clank drops.
    Sol: We absolutely knew the porn that it would spawn. And this fueled us more.
  • That same day, former Insomniac employee Sam Maggs, a writer who led an earlier draft of the story, also posted a tweet saying "I've already seen her naked, the Internet has done it's thing in record time, god bless".
• Sequel Gap: Rift Apart is the first Ratchet & Clank game in general since Ratchet & Clank (2016)^note 5 years prior, and is the first entry in the main series since Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus in 2013^note 8 years prior.
• Trolling Creator: Before her name was eventually revealed to be Rivet, the staff at Insomniac had been coy about the name for the female Lombax. It came to a head during Gamescom's Opening Night Live; when Geoff Keighley jokingly asked the game's director Marcus Smith if she might be named "Abby", he got a literal shrug as a response.
• Troubled Production: While Rift Apart's overall development allegedly went very smoothtly, developing Rivet turned out to be quite the ordeal with a small controversy coming out of it. Sam Maggs claims she did most of the work making Rivet who she ended up being and constantly had to fight back against executives who wanted the character to be more of a stereotypical Gender Swap of Ratchet (corraborated by dev Sol Brennan), to the point that she would yell "Lombax Tiddies" during any discussion of her design. Additionally, she claims that the game's lead designer Mark Stuart had a problem with her and intentionally took credit for her work. However, Laura Adams — who was an intern at Insomniac during the game's pre-production — disputes Maggs' claims to the character, saying that Maggs' was the only person who had an issue with Rivet's breast size (with her outbursts on the matter making the other employees uncomfortable) and that creating the character was a group effort, even stating it was developer David Kim who named Rivet, not her. The one thing both sides agreed on was that they constantly argued with management to not name the character "Rachette." Either way, Maggs would eventually leave Insomniac entirely due to creative differences and Rift Apart would be heavily rewritten, to the point that Maggs received no credit in the final product.
• What Could Have Been:
  • A multitude of content ended up leftover in the game's files. See Dummied Out above for details.
  • Insomniac confirmed that they considered a title similar to "Rift Ya A New One", but dropped it.
  • When designing Rivet, developers debated over whether or not she should exhibit more stereotypically feminine aspects, like wider hips and visible breasts. Additionally, Insomniac management initially wanted her to be named "Ratchette" to make her a more obvious Distaff Counterpart to Ratchet.
  • Rift Apart's initial story outline was drafted by former Insomniac Games writer Sam Maggs, who also helped in creating Rivet. Maggs departed from Insomniac before the game entered full development, and the story was heavily rewritten into the final product as we know it. It is currently unknown what Maggs' story was intended to be like.
  • Before development began, Insomniac considered making Rivet and Kit drastically different from their counterparts. Concept art from the game's digital artbook shows some of these potential designs:
    • Several pieces depict Rivet with mystical powers, implying she was intended to be magical unlike Ratchet. Another shows her in a tribal outfit and a spear, potentially intended as a Development Gag to the I-5 / Girl With a Stick game that became the first Ratchet & Clank. One piece depicts her as a hulking brute on par with the Agorians, while another shows her as a very short Lombax riding the back of a robot.
    • Kit was initially not going to resemble Clank at all instead taking cues from the first game's infobots, while a different piece shows her as a rabbit-like robot with one enormous arm.
  • The original HUD as shown in early gameplay demos was meant to be a lot more detailed and stylized, with Ratchet's health represented by a digital heart as opposed to the generic "+" used in the final game.
  • The vendor preview for the cut Volcanic Eruptor weapon reveals a small bit of dialogue that was cut from the final product, showing Clank was supposed to be hesitant about getting back into the action:
    Clank: Being shot at by our arch-nemesis while he tears our reality into pieces?
    Ratchet: Us getting back together!
    Clank: Are we "getting back together?"
    Ratchet: We're back together now!
    Clank: This was just a parade! And now we must focus on stopping Nefarious from unleashing more energy^note The video cuts off here before the dialogue can finish.
  • The working title for the Topiary Sprinkler was the "Salad Tosser."
  • An early storyboard for the cutscene where Ratchet, Clank, and Dr. Nefarious end up in Nefarious City shows Rivet witnessing them falling out of a rift, explaining how she ended up finding Clank.
• You Sound Familiar:
  • Scott Whyte had voiced some minor extras in the 2016 reboot previously before succeeding Jim Ward as Captain Qwark here.
  • Robin Atkin Downes provided the voice of Captain Slag in Tools of Destruction and Quest For Booty as well as Dr. Frumpus Croid in All 4 One prior to taking on the role of Emperor Nefarious.

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