We now move on to the next title of the Future saga, and one that was not even supposed to exist, Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty!

Like I said in my Tools of Destruction review, this game was the first 3D Platformer I ever played! I still have fond memories of me playing this game when I was 8 years old, and struggling to make simple jumps or trying to figure out when was the best time to move the camera.
Nowadays, I know how to do stuff like that pretty easily, but it goes to show that for a little kid, mechanics as simple as that can be tricky to figure out at first.

The game picks up immediately where Tools of Destruction left off, with Ratchet looking for a way to find Clank. Talwyn returns from the previous game, but she doesn't have much of an impact on the plot and mainly serves to bounce off of Ratchet's character.
Ratchet and Talwyn found from the supercomputer IRIS that there was a Space Pirate captain, known as Darkwater, that established contact with the Zoni. With that, they think he might be the key to find Clank's whereabouts, but as soon as they reach the Azorean Sea in Planet Merdegraw, they find out that Darkwater has been dead for many years.

And from there, Ratchet & Talwyn are pretty much taken for a ride, as they try to find out the things necessary to contact Clank, discover Darkwater's past, and they even re-encounter Rusty Pete and Captain Slag from the last game.

The story itself is not really much to write home about. It does its job, and really just serves as a tie-in to the events of the next game, A Crack in Time. But I imagine if you were already a fan of the series back when this game came out and saw that last scene, you'd probably be hyped for the next game.

In terms of gameplay, things haven't changed too much, but there have been some alterations. Due to Clank's absence in this game, Ratchet is not able to use any of his abilities but because of that, this game actually contains more platforming challenges than last time.
Tools of Destruction was already trying to bring back more platforming than Up Your Arsenal and Deadlocked, so I see this as the next step. In fact, because of the game's shorter length, you won't be experiencing many guantlets of enemies to fight as much as you did in Tools of Destruction.
Ratchet can utilize his wrench to pull certain platforms towards him or far away from him, and can also pick up certain objects and throw them whenever he wants. This adds a nice extra element to Quest for Booty that makes it stand-out from previous titles.

Many of this game's platforming challenges, while not being ground-breaking, are genuinely fun to go through. Ever since I was a kid, I've always loved going through the turbines in Hoolefar Island, and I remember making a bunch of save-files in that area, just so I could revisit it whenever I wanted.
And yeah, that's another thing that I should discuss, the fact that you can't go back to previous areas of the game.

The entire game takes place in only one planet, a major contrast to previous games, and you rarely go back to previous locations. Even when you do, the area has changed enough to where you can't access certain things. In the case of Hoolefar Island, when you do return to it, it is impossible to access the turbines anymore.

This can be a turnoff if you're trying to go for 100%, but to be frank, there is also not much to 100%. The only collectible that this game has are upgrades to your existing weapons, that you can obtain in certain areas. These mimic the special effects you could get for your arsenal in the Skill Trees of Tools of Destruction.

These are a nice thing to go after, but they don't add that much to your weapons, for two reasons.
The first of them is that this game is not nearly as difficult as Tools of Destruction. For the first time in this series, Quest for Booty actually gives you a difficutly select before you start your adventure.
When I was a kid, I would play this game on Easy, but in recent years, I've been playing the game on Medium. Even on the Medium difficulty, enemies don't deal nearly the amount of damage they did in the previous game, and checkpoints are not as far apart from each other as last time.
The second reason is that this game is not very long. Actually, it might be the shortest mainline Ratchet & Clank game, clocking in around 2 to 3 hours.
And why is that, you may ask?

Well, like I said at the start of this review, this game wasn't even supposed to exist. Back in my Tools of Destruction review, I mentioned that Insomniac Games had a massive crunch culture at the time, and when the PS3 generation started, they decided to make the Resistance series to potentially avoid burn-out within the staff.
They would release a Resistance game one year and a Ratchet & Clank game the next.
2008 was the year that Resistance 2 came out, and a Ratchet & Clank game was not supposed to be released until 2009, with A Crack in Time (known as Ratchet & Clank Future 2 internally, at the time).
Back when Tools of Destruction was in development, Insomniac made a promise to Sony that the game would have a multiplayer mode like Up Your Arsenal and Deadlocked. Because of the game's tumultuous development, Tools of Destruction ended up being just a single-player experience, but to compensate, Insomniac promised a small downloadable Ratchet & Clank title to be released in 2008.
Sony wanted more digital titles for the PS3's digital store, so a small R&C title would be perfect for that. In North America, the game is a digital-only title, but it got a physical release in PAL regions.
But because of this whole ordeal, Insomniac's staff was spread even thinner than they were before and there was even more crunch than before.

Although the game's short length does have a pro to it. In spite of its very linear nature, Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty was a game I used to replay a lot when I was younger. Because of its short runtime, it made it super easy for me to just pick it up, play it, finish it and then go about my day.

When it comes to the presentation, it's about the same as Tools of Destruction, which makes sense, because they share the same engine. Environments still look pretty great, but because of the pirate setting, there are some more dark and "spooky" locations this time around.
It might be because they both have a similar theme, but this game actually ended up reminding me of the movie Treasure Planet in some aspects.
And like last time, the soundtrack is pretty decent. There are a lot of atmospheric music tracks, but because of my nostalgia with this game, it became easier for me recognize a lot of them, especially the title screen music.
This would also be the last time that long-time composer, David Bergeaud, would compose for a Ratchet & Clank game. It's sad to see him go, but he ended things on a strong note, I'd say.

It's a bit hard for me to properly rank this game considering the amount of attachment I have with it. Without it, I probably wouldn't have gotten the incentive to download the demos of the other Ratchet & Clank games that were on the PS3 and I wouldn't have become as much of a fan of the series, if at all.
But overall, in spite of its short nature and not doing anything super spectacular, Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty is a game that I still enjoy a bunch, even to this day.

We now move on to the next title of the Future saga, and one that was not even supposed to exist, Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty!

Like I said in my Tools of Destruction review, this game was the first 3D Platformer I ever played! I still have fond memories of me playing this game when I was 8 years old, and struggling to make simple jumps or trying to figure out when was the best time to move the camera.
Nowadays, I know how to do stuff like that pretty easily, but it goes to show that for a little kid, mechanics as simple as that can be tricky to figure out at first.

The game picks up immediately where Tools of Destruction left off, with Ratchet looking for a way to find Clank. Talwyn returns from the previous game, but she doesn't have much of an impact on the plot and mainly serves to bounce off of Ratchet's character.
Ratchet and Talwyn found from the supercomputer IRIS that there was a Space Pirate captain, known as Darkwater, that established contact with the Zoni. With that, they think he might be the key to find Clank's whereabouts, but as soon as they reach the Azorean Sea in Planet Merdegraw, they find out that Darkwater has been dead for many years.

And from there, Ratchet & Talwyn are pretty much taken for a ride, as they try to find out the things necessary to contact Clank, discover Darkwater's past, and they even re-encounter Rusty Pete and Captain Slag from the last game.

The story itself is not really much to write home about. It does its job, and really just serves as a tie-in to the events of the next game, A Crack in Time. But I imagine if you were already a fan of the series back when this game came out and saw that last scene, you'd probably be hyped for the next game.

In terms of gameplay, things haven't changed too much, but there have been some alterations. Due to Clank's absence in this game, Ratchet is not able to use any of his abilities but because of that, this game actually contains more platforming challenges than last time.
Tools of Destruction was already trying to bring back more platforming than Up Your Arsenal and Deadlocked, so I see this as the next step. In fact, because of the game's shorter length, you won't be experiencing many guantlets of enemies to fight as much as you did in Tools of Destruction.
Ratchet can utilize his wrench to pull certain platforms towards him or far away from him, and can also pick up certain objects and throw them whenever he wants. This adds a nice extra element to Quest for Booty that makes it stand-out from previous titles.

Many of this game's platforming challenges, while not being ground-breaking, are genuinely fun to go through. Ever since I was a kid, I've always loved going through the turbines in Hoolefar Island, and I remember making a bunch of save-files in that area, just so I could revisit it whenever I wanted.
And yeah, that's another thing that I should discuss, the fact that you can't go back to previous areas of the game.

The entire game takes place in only one planet, a major contrast to previous games, and you rarely go back to previous locations. Even when you do, the area has changed enough to where you can't access certain things. In the case of Hoolefar Island, when you do return to it, it is impossible to access the turbines anymore.

This can be a turnoff if you're trying to go for 100%, but to be frank, there is also not much to 100%. The only collectible that this game has are upgrades to your existing weapons, that you can obtain in certain areas. These mimic the special effects you could get for your arsenal in the Skill Trees of Tools of Destruction.

These are a nice thing to go after, but they don't add that much to your weapons, for two reasons.
The first of them is that this game is not nearly as difficult as Tools of Destruction. For the first time in this series, Quest for Booty actually gives you a difficutly select before you start your adventure.
When I was a kid, I would play this game on Easy, but in recent years, I've been playing the game on Medium. Even on the Medium difficulty, enemies don't deal nearly the amount of damage they did in the previous game, and checkpoints are not as far apart from each other as last time.
The second reason is that this game is not very long. Actually, it might be the shortest mainline Ratchet & Clank game, clocking in around 2 to 3 hours.
And why is that, you may ask?

Well, like I said at the start of this review, this game wasn't even supposed to exist. Back in my Tools of Destruction review, I mentioned that Insomniac Games had a massive crunch culture at the time, and when the PS3 generation started, they decided to make the Resistance series to potentially avoid burn-out within the staff.
They would release a Resistance game one year and a Ratchet & Clank game the next.
2008 was the year that Resistance 2 came out, and a Ratchet & Clank game was not supposed to be released until 2009, with A Crack in Time (known as Ratchet & Clank Future 2 internally, at the time).
Back when Tools of Destruction was in development, Insomniac made a promise to Sony that the game would have a multiplayer mode like Up Your Arsenal and Deadlocked. Because of the game's tumultuous development, Tools of Destruction ended up being just a single-player experience, but to compensate, Insomniac promised a small downloadable Ratchet & Clank title to be released in 2008.
Sony wanted more digital titles for the PS3's digital store, so a small R&C title would be perfect for that. In North America, the game is a digital-only title, but it got a physical release in PAL regions.
But because of this whole ordeal, Insomniac's staff was spread even thinner than they were before and there was even more crunch than before.

Although the game's short length does have a pro to it. In spite of its very linear nature, Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty was a game I used to replay a lot when I was younger. Because of its short runtime, it made it super easy for me to just pick it up, play it, finish it and then go about my day.

When it comes to the presentation, it's about the same as Tools of Destruction, which makes sense, because they share the same engine. Environments still look pretty great, but because of the pirate setting, there are some more dark and "spooky" locations this time around.
It might be because they both have a similar theme, but this game actually ended up reminding me of the movie Treasure Planet in some aspects.
And like last time, the soundtrack is pretty decent. There are a lot of atmospheric music tracks, but because of my nostalgia with this game, it became easier for me recognize a lot of them, especially the title screen music.
This would also be the last time that long-time composer, David Bergeaud, would compose for a Ratchet & Clank game. It's sad to see him go, but he ended things on a strong note, I'd say.

It's a bit hard for me to properly rank this game considering the amount of attachment I have with it. Without it, I probably wouldn't have gotten the incentive to download the demos of the other Ratchet & Clank games that were on the PS3 and I wouldn't have become as much of a fan of the series, if at all.
But overall, in spite of its short nature and not doing anything super spectacular, Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty is a game that I still enjoy a bunch, even to this day.