YMMV / Ratchet & Clank: Life of Pie

• Broken Base: The quality of the short. Some fans believe it to be a good comedy short even if it's not up to the general standards of the franchise, while others believe it is yet another large mistep for the series that rivals (or even surpasses) the film's lack of quality. A third camp says that while the short itself is not great, it's at least an improvement over the film.
• Character Rerailment: Ratchet, Qwark, and Nefarious greater resemble their game counterparts than they did in the film, with Ratchet being a more reckless hero, Qwark being a narcisstic buffoon, and Nefarious being more of a Large Ham Mad Scientist.
• Epileptic Trees: The purpose of the short itself:
  • A number of fans speculate that it's intended to be a pilot for an upcoming Ratchet & Clank cartoon series, as the short takes on a very light-hearted and silly tone akin to a Saturday morning cartoon and because it could possibly tie into the upcoming Rift Apart. The latter part of the theory became invokedJossed, however, when it was confirmed false by Sony.
  • Others speculate that it's actually a rejected pilot and that no such series is coming based on the fact that the copyright year says the short was finished sometime in 2019 and because it was released on a Canada-only streaming service with virtually no marketing for it. PlayStation themselves confirming it to be unrelated to Rift Apart and non-canon to the games only lent more credence to this theory.
• Funny Moments:
  • At the start of Dr. Nefarious' showcase of the Portalizer, his robot minions begin "applauding" with Flat Joy. Until he shoots one of them. Then they're enthusiastic.
  • Qwark expresses how keeping the galaxy safe is what he does best, just before hitting a rocket sled and making it fly off into the distance, causing an explosion further into the city while sounds of screaming and crying can be heard. This is never brought up again.
    Qwark: Come on, citizens! Nothing to see here!
  • Captain Qwark once again takes credit for the heroic act of the day.
    Qwark: It's safe to come out now, citizens! Captain Qwark has saved you all once again!
    Ratchet: Yeah, thanks for saving us from a problem you created!
    Qwark: (completely sincerely) You're welcome, citizen!
• Heartwarming Moments: At the end when Ratchet reveals he grabbed Clank's coupon from Nefarious' space station, saying he didn't forget about why he wanted it. Clank is moved by the gesture.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Life of Pie has Dr. Nefarious wield an Interdimensional Travel Device to try and use the unimaginable horrors of other dimensions to benefit, something his canon-counterpart would later do in Rift Apart using the Dimensionator from the Future Saga.
  • At the end of the short, Nefarious is defeated by Ratchet opening a portal and unleashing a tentacle monster upon the doctor. Flash forward to Rift Apart and the main cast employ nearly the exact same plan to defeat Emperor Nefarious.
• Older Than They Think:
  • While Ratchet acting like a bit of a Jerkass comes a bit out of left field, especially coming from his Wide-Eyed Idealist portrayal in the reimagining, it is not the first time as he has been portrayed as such as he acts more like his incarnations from first game and Size Matters.
  • Clank acting significantly more hostile and mischievous towards Ratchet threw many fans off as he's normally portrayed as the more level-headed and logical half of the duo. However once again the short's portrayal is more similar to how he acts in the first game, where he was just as hostile towards Ratchet as Ratchet was to him.
  • Even the Denser and Wackier surreal nature of the short is not a new direction for the franchise, as the Ratchet & Clank: Bang Bang Bang! Critical Danger of the Galaxy Legend manga series had a very similar tone 16 years prior.
• Quirky Work: Is one for the franchise at large — The main crux of the plot hinges on Ratchet wanting to visit a pizza dimension solely to avoid having to get a pizza from a restaurant he doesn't like, which eventually leads to Qwark entering said dimension with the intention of becoming it's spokesperson where he instead angers its sentient pizza-topping inhabitants by eating them. Yeah.
• Win Back the Crowd: While the quality of the short as a whole is contested, many fans at least appreciate that it tried to work in more of the surreal humor, weapons, and character interactions the series is known for in comparison to the 2016 movie.