Despite the fact that the year has come to an end, the time when Insomniac Games made one of their previous holiday cards public through a ratchet and clank meme has been an amusing yet unmistakable way for the gamers and the company to communicate. The picture depicts the main characters of the game, Ratchet & Clank, as snow warriors, thus implying that they are so powerful in their battle against the enemy that they have driven the latter to simply chill out. The company even made the communication a little more engaging by including a couple of relevant emojis, a snowflake, and a snowman, which is undoubtedly a fun way to put it. With this, they did a simple holiday throwback. However, the reactions on social media in this case were surprisingly massive, comparable to a whole other story!
To put it simply, we can say that Insomniac Games showed an old holiday card to the world and the gaming community got the new Ratchet & Clank games or the remastering of the classic trilogy that the gaming community was silent as a rallying cry. The overwhelming feeling is nostalgia and a strong desire to see the franchise back on the cutting-edge hardware such as PS5.
Almost instantly the comments’ tone changed from the very cool weapon reskin to future plans that were not very clear to players. User JT_ELITE_ directly asked, “when are we getting ratchet and clank remastered games and or even a new ratchet and clank games, those games were my childhood,” and the issue was straight to the point. And the same was repeated everywhere, of course. Anthony’s comment was, “I’m. Hoping you guys consider bring the Ratchet and Clank trilogy to Ps5 I love playing them when I was a child.” What connects them all? It’s all about that childhood connection. This is not just a case of wanting a new title, it is about reliving a certain feeling. That is powerful stuff.
The longing was even there as a background feeling in the positive comments about the art. Glitchy 🪄 labeled it “blast from the past,” and he appreciated “the clever” Mr. Freeze-type weapon, which is indeed a deep cut. But it makes one realize once again the imagination that the series had. Another user FrankeroArt talked about a personal recollection: “I dealt the final blow at the end of Nexus with this one lmao.” These little yet very specific memories are what build up the legacy. People do not only remember the game but also their moments in it.
Then the requirements became even more detailed. Mir simply said: “Ratchet and Clank Trilogy for the ps5 👀”. Cadreinth on the other hand used a GIF to convey the same idea; the simple request “More Ratchet & Clank games please!” was enough. It’s as if a huge wave has rushed inland. Even the user who replied to the post about DC villains loving a cold weapon couldn’t divert the discussion from the main chorus. The user SWolf712 was talking about the next adventure hinting at the future saying, “I need their next adventure. (Hopefully with Rivet & Kit? 🤞)”. Thus, it is not solely about the past; fans of Rift Apart are already eager for what comes next with the new characters.
There is an interesting co-existence of urgency and nostalgia. One user that liked the remaster enquired, “Before all the OG devs are gone..” This remark is rather heavy. It conveys the right mixture of sadness and the fact that this original period of Insomniac’s creativity is a great deal to the people. They want to keep that magic, to renew it in a way that only modern technology can offer.
To be honest, just strolling through all these replies makes one think how a trivial holiday photo can be a medium for such a united message. The signal to Insomniac is loud and clear. Players have not erased their memories. They are not merely making a request; they are practically begging. The affection for Ratchet & Clank has been frozen in time like the enemies in that holiday card, just waiting for the right moment to be thawed into a new adventure or a classic re-issue.
It is obvious that Insomniac has had its hands full with Spider-Man and Wolverine, which look fantastic, but it is equally clear that the fan base for their Lombax and robot buddy is still very active, passionate, and waiting for their time. The saying goes, it’s now up to them. Will they treat us with a remastered trilogy or announce a new game? Only time will tell, however, if this tweet is anything to go by, the demand is undoubtedly there, hiding just beneath the surface of every snowball fight and holiday greeting. This is a cool reminder that some classics never really disappear, especially on platforms like PlayStation and Xbox.
