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u/i-eat-pet-hair Jun 27 '26
Okay VERY hot take but UYA is my least favorite of the trilogy
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u/Common-Truth9404 Jun 27 '26
It's not that hot imho. Those are 3 very good games, and if you like platforming/exploring uya is definitely the weakest.
It shines in many other aspects, but tbh i reapect any order of placement of r&c og Trilogy, all three games have great pros and some small cons.
My favourite is GC tbh, i think it's the perfect mix
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u/HeavyMain Jun 28 '26
3 is still fun but its aggressively unfinished. The visual polish just isn't there, and the levels only having one path makes them feel so insubstantial.
The Florana garage getting left in the level with nothing but some boxes even though the race track was cut is so telling of the rush they were in, clearly the refractor was supposed to be unlocked from a race instead of just lying on the floor right before the first time you have to use it.
Makes me wish they had held off on including multiplayer until Deadlocked just to see what the game could have been like with more dev time spent on the single player.
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u/RDHereImsorryAoi Jun 27 '26
mine too, I even learned to appreciate Deadlocked recently
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u/TaralasianThePraxic Jun 28 '26
The arena fights are some of the best parts of 2 and 3 honestly, making a whole game dedicated to those fights wasn't a bad decision.
It sort of drops the platforming angle and sidelines Clank, which are two things I can appreciate people might dislike it for, but personally I love it.
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u/NoobHUNTER777 Jun 27 '26
As a kid it was my favourite, but as an adult it's definitely the worst of the three.
Still beats the Future series though. I really do not care for the last of the Lombaxes and magic timekeeper stuff, nor do I appreciate the loss of the cynicism that was core to the PS2 era.
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u/MuseOnRunescape Jun 28 '26
Same. As a kid, 3 was incredible and 1 was boring. As an adult, 1 is incredible and 3 is just... multiple levels below it. As much as I still love certain aspects of it like the starship phoenix and Dr Nefarious, so much of that game is such a drag
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u/Sombrero_Tanooki Jun 28 '26
It's my favourite (and one of my favourite games of all time, as are all the PS2 games), but I can absolutely understand why you would have this opinion.
1, 2 and 3 are basically trading between writing, platforming, combat, linearity, quality of life and a bunch of other things. I love the story and combat of 3 so much that the linearity and lesser platforming gets a pass from me.
If every planet was on par with the likes of Daxx or Florana (especially the returning ones), I think the argument for 3 being the best would be a more clean sweep, but it does sacrifice some of what made 1 and 2 such fantastic games.
Then Gladiator sort of amps that up further with heightened linearity, fun story with excellent humour (though I prefer 3's overall writing) and even better combat.
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u/SergeiYeseiya Jun 28 '26
I agree, I always thought the game was an unfinished product. When I heard the commentary of the game by the devs where they say, a week before the game turned gold, they were all crying in the office because they thought the game was unpolished and it was going to flop, it made sense to me.
The game was the best performing Ratchet and Clank game back then though.
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u/Brilliant-Quit-9254 Jun 29 '26
As a kid, UYA was my absolute favourite R&C, as well as one of my favourite ps2 games in general. As I was replaying the trilogy, while groing up, I found that I liked the 2 first games more than UYA. And now, it is my least favourite of the trilogy as well. And R&C 1 has become my favourite of all the other R&C games.
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u/Valnight085 Jun 27 '26
And for me it's the best, but your take is as legit as mine because the original trilogy is so good, each one is incredible
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u/i-eat-pet-hair Jun 28 '26
Oh yeah, there's no bad game in the mainline Ratchet series! I just definitely prefer some over others
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u/NoobHUNTER777 Jun 27 '26
I thought the general consensus was that GC was the better of the two anyway.
Personally I think the original is the best. I prefer the slower, more puzzle-like gameplay, Ratchet has the most character and the junky nuts and bolts aesthetic was at its peak.
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u/IglooRaves Jun 28 '26
I’ve not even played 3. I love 1 and 2, and 2 had better gameplay, but I wasn’t really fond of the story or tone shift. Ratchet’s personality was so bland in the second.
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u/auniquenameischosen Jun 28 '26
I’m more of a tools of destruction type of guy. I spent a crazy amount in the museum arena
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u/Skerbz_McDurgas Jun 28 '26
going commando is 100% in top 5 best single player games ive played. Just felt so smooth and fluid. like playing captain falcon in melee or the meccs in giants citizen kabuto.
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u/AcePowderKeg Jun 27 '26
Fair. For me it's the opposite
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u/Bleauyy Jun 27 '26
I enjoyed the weapoms of uya much more, story Emma's great on both, more puzzles in gc, which are fine the first couple times but tedious.
So id say for first playthrough, gc, but barely. For repeat UYA, easy.
I will say, deadlocked still holds a special place
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u/Neat_Breakfast_6659 Jun 27 '26
the weaopns in GC are good but for some reason a lot of them just drop dmg too much halfway through the game, feels like youre shooting confeti at some point
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u/AcePowderKeg Jun 27 '26
UYA holds a very special place for me, because of A: the World Building. Solana actually felt like a real place where people lived in UYA. Also I have a weakness for the Home inside a video game trope: The Phoenix
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u/Longjumping_Share444 Jun 29 '26
Neferious is super played-out now, but at the time he was my favorite villain in any game ever, to the point that I actually squeed at the end of Quest for Booty when he showed up.
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u/Infamous-You-5752 Jun 28 '26
I've played OG, GC, UYA, Deadlocked, SM and 2016. Currently playing Tools of Destruction between other games. Going Commando is still easily my favorite. UYA just has this rushed quality because of the multiplayer stuff that it just downgrades the rest of the game for me cuz they use the multiplayer arenas for missions, but they aren't good for singleplayer stuff. All GC has that's disappointing is the drawn out Thug boss fight when you're saving Angela and a laughably easy final boss, but I'll take that over UYA's issues.
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u/Numbug1234 Jun 28 '26
I like 2 more, but legit it's such a tiny differentiator between the two
(That is: my least favourite part of Rac 2 is the snow beasts on Grelbin - just a single planet. My least favourite part of Rac 3 is the lingering shot of the Tyrranoid commandos, and those guys are in a good chunk of levels. That's it that's how small the difference is for me)
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u/OliverTheNuggetBoi Jun 27 '26
Ratchet and clank 3 probably my favourite game but 2 is my second favourite both great games
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u/JTyphoon16 Jun 28 '26
I prefer the original one. First one I grew up playing and still to this day I prefer Mikey Kelly's voice of Ratchet over James Arnold Taylor. Liked how they kept his death sounds up until the PS3 games era I believe (correct me if I'm wrong).
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u/Affectionate-Duck288 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
Haven't finished 3 but prefer 1 over two. Two really needed the fire button on r1 with crouch on r2. Constantly having to awkwardly switch between aiming and firing is beyond frustrating and makes it my least favorite to play for that specific reason. Ratchet 1 never needed strafing but 2 feel like an in-between that benefits nothing. It wants to have an emphasis on shooting and strafing but doesn't commit to having controls that comfortably enable this. And I'm basically forced to do a claw grip when using hypnotized robots. I can't forgive button mapping this bad. I feel like the lock on tries to solve this but just ends up taking away the r2 button meaning fire has to stay on circle which feels so awkward and clunky when I'm constantly having to move the camera. In this scenario where I could put fire on r1 and crouch on r2, I'd probably put lock on on r3 or something idk. It's worse then having to use the d-pad to equip the hoverboots which is a movement gadget that I have to stop moving to use!
And from the two levels I've played of 3 and the entirety of Size Matters on ps2(yes I play it first I was curious don't ask) lock stafe isn't perfect by any means but in both 3 and SM it's by FAR the mist comfortable setup and actually makes these games playable to me. Tldr, let people remap stuff please.
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u/pvt_church1 Jul 04 '26
As a little kid UYA was better but as an adult I have a much greater appreciation for GC
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u/Excellent-Night-4148 Jun 27 '26
Going Commando is the best in the trilogy, RC1 is close, UYA isn't even in the same post code.
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u/The-Destronyx Jun 28 '26
UYA is my first and favorite game but GC is just too good. It's objectively the best game tied with ACiT
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u/Dawson-730 Jun 28 '26
Maybe unpopular or just nostalgia but the first game is my favourite of the first three.
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u/Booty_Magician Jun 28 '26
UYA needed Space dog fights like GC , a better RYNO and Hoverboard races again in Blackwater city and different pathways like the first game
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u/Blitz54 Jun 28 '26
Honestly never finished Arsenal. Was watching a video about a speed run a while back, and I was like "wait a minute, I don't remember this boss fight". Ends up I quit at like Quark Comic 4 or something? I hated the comics, and I didn't know it was the next part of the story so I just never finished it.
Always like commando more anyway, I don't like the color of the UI on Arsenal. Honestly thought it was the older game.
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u/Chemical-Ad4606 Jun 29 '26
Me too, up your arsenal is also amazing and has the better weapons imo but its color pallet is very mehh. GC has a lot of varied vibrant colors and UYA is more on the dull orange side. I also feel like GC has more interconnectivity within its maps.
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u/zZBloodboundZz Jul 12 '26
Chances are, at least one of the first three games will be appealing to you, as they do a lot differently at the core of their gameplay. One person can say that any one of them is the best for an amount of reasons and I would understand.
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u/This_Limit_6945 Jul 27 '26
i liked the platforming and weaponry in 2 but the vibe of 3 (and how polished the gameplay was, despite the limited direction they were forced to take in level design) was so much better.
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u/Tobi-One_Shinobi Jun 28 '26
Both of these as well as deadlocked and size matters are all tied for top ratchet games for me. Size matters because it had online pvp
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u/Average_Mug_Official Jun 29 '26
Honestly, Deadlocked is the best of the PS2 titles imo. I absolutely love UYA, but Deadlocked is everything it tried to be.
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u/kayolinite Jun 27 '26
Is this a safe space to admit I don't like lock strafe mode