While it has important implications to the overall universe of the Ratchet and Clank games, Raritanium is most likely known by fans as a special currency in the games spanning all the way back to the franchises’ initial release. Now that the special material is confirmed in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, some newer fans have been wondering about its importance to both the overall plot of the games and its in-game importance as a resource. Like most fictional materials, Raritanium serves a lot of purposes in both regards.
RELATED: Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart Reveals New Platforming Moves
Return of Raritanium in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
Raritanium serves many purposes within the Ratchet and Clank universe. Building specialized armor, gravity-defying machinery, and specialized ammunition all fall within the umbrella of what Raritanium can do. Introduced in the first game as a black market currency, Raritanium has expanded beyond that into a widely versatile substance that is valuable to any kind of manufacturing in-game, and it’s just one of the many returning elements and characters to Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. While details are sparse so far about the resource, it’s likely to reprise a similar role as a rare material that can be traded for some of the most powerful upgrades and weapons in the incipient sequel.
Raritanium has also long been one of the things acquired through the various side quests and activities that have been prevalent in Ratchet and Clank that have been a part of the series from the beginning. Fan speculation about aspects about Rift Apart is still high, as the newest gameplay demonstration both answered and raised many new questions among fans about where the story might move going forward.
Based on the largely light-hearted and tongue-in-cheek humor, the new game is unlikely to get into the socio-political ramifications of a such a powerful resource being as rare as it is. That being said, it’s likely that Rift Apart will likely continue to use Raritanium as a vague, if powerful, resource that serves more as a way to explain away a lot of the more sci-fi elements of the game and less a storytelling vehicle.
As with any upcoming game, most of this is speculation, but it seems likely that Rift Apart will continue to use Raritanium as merely a story-embedded game resource. Until then, fans are left to speculate about Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. Fans of the game, whether speculative or not, are likely to feel incentivized to gather Raritanium during their next journey in Ratchet’s (and now Rivet’s) adventure.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart releases June 11th for the PlayStation 5.
MORE: Ratchet and Clank: All the Lombaxes in the Series Explained
