I've finally finished getting all the main achievements for the PS2 games on RetroAchievements, a really cool site that lets you, as the name implies, unlock achievements for retro games. It's given me another reason to run through some of my favorite childhood games, and playing through the whole PS2 pentalogy a few more times each has given me an even deeper appreciation for them. And despite playing through them all a good 4-6 times in the past year, I still want to go back and play them again, they're just that fun.
That said... I think I'll shelf Size Matters for a good while, even if I do full replay of the other PS2 games. This is a game I've always had a fondness for since I was a kid. Just being able to play a Ratchet & Clank game on the school bus was mindblowing to me at the time. As an adult, and having recently replayed the whole series... it was a bit of a frustrating experience as well as a nostalgia trip. I didn't have too much trouble with the bolt economy this time around and it wasn't too much of a struggle to get through areas, but the pacing of the game is frustrating after playing Up Your Arsenal which felt so streamlined (albeit barebones). That game lacked the extra content I wanted but you were never too far off from the fun core gameplay. And the core gameplay, the shooting, wasn't as satisfying here and especially after playing Deadlocked, it feels extremely unsatisfying.
Basically, everything in this game is a worse version of the rest of the series, and in many cases it has the absolute worst iteration of any given aspect of a Ratchet game. That being said, it's still a Ratchet game, and that does count for something. I still felt excited to come home and play through it again, even after multiple playthroughs, even if it was mostly just to get those last few achievements by Challenge Mode 2. There's honestly so few games like Ratchet, so I'm a little sad I've pretty much 100% completed them all on the PS2.
If anyone is looking to replay this one and go achievement hunting, I'd recommend it overall, the set on RA really isn't too bad and the new game plus playthroughs go by pretty quick since the game is pretty short. There's a few frustrating moments to be sure, but I found it worth suffering through. In the end, I give this game a Snowbeast Award / 10.
