Insomniac has teased that Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart could introduce a Spider-Man-like multiverse to the series.
In a new interview with GamesRadar, Insomniac suggested that the female Lombax we've seen in the game so far may be a version of Ratchet himself from another dimension.
Marcus Smith, creative director on Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, says that the game is about telling a story that "involved seeing another version of these characters, who have never really become the heroes that they could be". Later, Smith even goes on to talk about the game's narrative focusing on the "duality of multiple dimensions".
Of course, with rifts between worlds opening up all over the place thanks to Dr. Nefarious and the use of the Dimensionator, it's possible that this opening up a multiverse where the female Lombax is another version of Ratchet, and we're just waiting to see the alt Clank.
"[With the original games] we were trying to tell this story that revolved around, you know, strengthening these two heroes, who are basically diametrically opposed. They don’t see eye to eye on anything, but they’re better together," explains Smith.
"We really wanted to make sure that we had a message about that – that these are, you know, tumultuous times, and people need to have more empathy, and see past each other’s differences to make sure that we’re made stronger together, right? It’s the overarching message of the franchise."
"And with Rift Apart, we’re trying to tell a story that involved seeing another version of these characters, who have never really become the heroes that they could be. So we immediately started talking about this duality of multiple dimensions. And then, of course, we already had this device from the franchise that does what we need it to do."
When asked specifically about the idea that canonically female Lombax don't actually have tails, whereas this new, unnamed female Lombax does have a tail, Smith only served to reinforce the multiverse theory:
"I will say that in the dimension that Ratchet is from and that we are used to, that very well could be a rule of Lombax physiology."
Prepare yourself, the Ratchet and Clank multiverse is coming.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is due out on PS5 exclusively sometime in the console's "launch window".
For more exciting titles, why not check out our round-up of the upcoming PS5 games confirmed so far?
