Standard Edition
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
So what changes in Challenge Mode? The biggest is obvious; all your weapons (and their upgrades), max health and collectables carry over, but you’re also granted new max levels for:
Yep, you can go over 100/100 now, and you’ll need it, since enemies hit harder.
Level 5 was only the start; these new variants hit harder, have even more upgrade slots and might push themselves to the front of your weapon wheel.
Gloves of Doom are off. Enemies fire faster, move more and are often in different or more plentiful combinations than the first time. You might have charged through before, but it’s worth being cautious with threats this time around.
Simply put: zap enemies, increase the multiplier. You can boost your bolt haul by a staggering 20x, with one caveat: don’t get hit. If you do, the multiplier resets. How’s that for a risk/reward scenario?
Thankfully, there are simple ways to boost your multiplier:
Don’t waste hours scouring each map for hidden collectables. The Map-O-Matic, given as a reward for finishing the pirate gauntlet side quest automatically shows you all of these aforementioned items. Most of these will soft reset on your Challenge Mode run, and collecting them nets you extra bolts as a reward the second time.
You don’t need to actually equip armor sets to get their passive benefits, and collecting each additional piece of the set doubles the effects from 5% with one, to 10% with two, and 20% with all three.
To help make gains in Challenge Mode as productive as possible, seek out the Carbonox Advanced (20% bolts gained), Lombax Praetorian (Raritanium gained) and Captain Starshield (XP gained) before starting the new run so they carry over and you’re banking extra rewards from the start.
The one kind of collectable the Map-O-Matic won’t reveal are the very well-hidden CraiggerBears. These adorable little plushies can be hard to spot even right in front of you, so look for some telltale sparkles and use these clues.
“Hidden among the wares of a shop, I can just see a grind rail and blue hologram up top.”
“I love Zurkie’s smaller bar, it lets me people watch from afar.”
”Escaping the heat of this lava by ducking inside, I’m hiding near a phase crystal, out of view of the big red eye.”
“I’m taking it easy, playing in the snow, far, far above the chilly waves below.”
“That mean Warden even captured me, I’m in need of a jailbreak, but I’m not a VIP.”
“I’m taking a load off, taking it easy, sitting on the couch near Rivet’s Lombax and Chill TV.”
“Taking a break in the crisp air of the outdoors, I’m just after the first checkpoint with the falling floor.”
“Amidst the bustle of the shopping scene, I’m right near 10 small video screens.”
“I’m on a bear-sized beach at the end of a gauntlet, ‘cause you know what they say: ‘if you’ve got it, flaunt it!’”
Once you’ve saved the galaxy, take a moment to just drink in all of the little details that Insomniac put into the double team supreme's adventure.
Before wading into a new firefight, try to hang back to get some of the best ancillary dialogue in the whole game as the poor Goons-for-hire comment on being flung through all the same dimensions as our heroes. They talk about where they’ve been, what they’ve done, and what they’re getting paid.
The Lombax scientist’s logs on Savali are more than just a peek into their advanced civilization, there are actually some cleverly hidden references to multiple PlayStation franchises.
The RYNO is the series’ ultimate weapon, and this time, shredding time and space means it not only does insane damage, but the objects being pulled in through the rift only to explode are actually from other games.
Chairman Drek, the villain from 2016’s Ratchet & Clank reboot, may be deposed, but he’s not gone. After collecting the gold bolt to unlock the Enhanced Gallery, pay close attention to the descriptions of the entries to find out his fate.
Enter your date of birth.
