Review of "Ricky and Dingdang Time and Space Jump": Feeling sour but unable to stop playing

Ricky and Dingdang was a game series that I almost missed, mainly because I couldn't get interested in European and American cartoon styles before. It wasn't until I recently cleaned up the old CDs in my cabinet and patiently finished playing 2016 Ricky and Dingdang. I found that the game suddenly exploded from the middle, presenting a world with many elements and rich gameplay, and my impression of this series changed.

Although the Ritchie and Dingdang series is often underestimated in terms of overall quality and market performance, it has received very high media reviews, with ratings consistently above 80 or even 90 on Metacritic.

This may also be one of the reasons why the new work "Ricky and Tinker Bell Time Jump" is highly anticipated, and coupled with the fact that there is still relatively little content that can fully showcase hardware features since the PS5 was released six months ago, whether it can stand up is particularly crucial. From my perspective, at least, "Ricky and Dingdang Time and Space Jump" can be considered a calming needle.

A dazzling map

Unlike the leisurely tutorial of killing monsters and walking in the desert at the beginning of "Ritchie and Dingdang" on PS4, the rhythm of "Ritchie and Dingdang Time Jump" is so fast that it is dazzling - the retired protagonist Ritchie, who has been around for a while, reluctantly performs a "hero program" to cheer up the public under the encouragement of others. Unexpectedly, the situation takes a sharp turn, and the villain Dr. Nefaris, who has failed 10000 times, cannot resist loneliness and comes out again, using the "dimensional machine" to stir up the entire universe. The game also officially begins in a very tense situation.

The Dimensional Machine was originally a tool used by Richie to search for other Lombarks, but after being abused by Nefaris, various parallel universes gradually intertwined, which precisely reflects the core theme of "Space Time Jump". It is also a foundation for subsequent gameplay and map design.

The most obvious reason for the fast pace is probably due to the extremely frequent map switching in this game.

For veteran players in the series, it should not be surprising that each level corresponds to a planet with a completely new landscape. You will soon be thrown into high-rise buildings and the neon lit Corson Five Stars. The citizens who come and go strictly abide by strict governance, and only in the corner can you see people whispering in groups of three or two; After a while, I started dealing with the Vallard people on "Garbage Star" again, surrounded by dilapidated houses and props, with a steampunk vibe; Then it may fall into the embrace of Sarcasus, where the primitive forests and creatures are full of threats. Fortunately, the Motts, who make a living by digging for gravity coagulants, extended a helping hand; There are also pirates who are both enemies and friends, with flawed minds

is full of beautiful scenery at any moment

But compared to the previous installment, the details of "Ricky and Dingdang Time and Space Jump" have been increased, and the map size has been expanded by at least 2-3 times. Although it has an extremely clear main quest that players can even ignore any other elements, the scale of each map also has a bit of a box world flavor. This is to expand the activity range of the main quest on the one hand, and can also be used to carry some collection and side elements on the other hand.

The director of the game once mentioned a design concept inspired by another game from Insomniac: Marvel Spider Man. If the protagonist's movement scene can be expanded, the game will become full of tension, and players will feel that they are the "problem solvers".

Although there are collection and branch elements, the quantity of is very limited

I think he has basically fulfilled his promise. In "Ritchie and Dingdang Time Jump," there are many high-speed moving methods, and elements such as slides, ropes, and magnetic walls that were previously present have not only been preserved, but this work also added "sliding boots" that can be started anytime and anywhere, "energy gloves" that maximize the centrifugal force of ropes, and snail mounts that gallop on the water surface, making the protagonist often need to move extensively from both horizontal and vertical dimensions.

sliding boots

On the basis of accelerating the game pace in map design, the series of effects brought by "time and space jumps" are even more dazzling. Perhaps in just 2 seconds, players need to travel through 5 different worlds. The previous second they were standing on the rooftop of a metropolis, with surrounding buildings on the brink of collapse. The next second they reached a gap in the dimensions filled with energy crystals, and the protagonist had to follow the slide all the way forward, bringing a remarkable audio-visual experience.

In addition, some levels also have "Amethyst" and "Yellow Rift" that can actively switch dimensions. After mild puzzle solving (usually reaching a certain platform or crossing a certain door), the main task can continue to advance, allowing two completely different dimensional scenes to achieve organic integration.

This kind of map expressiveness may be based on the production team's in-depth exploration of PS5 custom SSDs, so that they can freely load scenes. There is almost no black screen throughout the game, and at most, short temporal and spatial cracks are used to replace the reading interface. The rendering speed is also very fast when reaching new scenes, and there are few gaps for players to put down the controller and rest.

In general, you can compare the gameplay of "time and space jump" to the time and space transition function in Titan 2- if there is a fire ahead, you may be able to walk through it by changing dimensions. However, the time and space transition in Titan 2 can be almost freely used in the "karma" level, with the significance of avoiding enemies, attacking from behind, and thinking about tactics. In contrast, the only drawback of "Ritchie and Dingdang Time and Space Jump" is that it can only trigger effects at fixed locations and does not have too deep gameplay design.

A painful and joyful battle

In addition to the map with numerous elements, another element that accelerates the pace should be attributed to the intense battles in Ritchie and Tinker Bell Time Jump. Overall, it is a retro style third person shooter game that requires players to move and hit while monsters flock to it.

The adjective "rushing in" is not an exaggeration at all. Flying in the sky, running on the ground, swimming in the water, lasers and barrage are all very dense. Sometimes I even have to shake my hands to rest before continuing to engage in battle. You can roughly think of it as a cartoon version of "Doom Warrior", with the combination of jumping, hooking, sliding boots, and time and space cracks, pouring out the ammunition in your hand, and the thrill is commendable.

I have a deep suspicion that Insomniac has taken on the task of conducting stress tests with PS5. According to their core technology director Mike Fitzgerald, when he learned that "Ricky and Dingdang Time Jump" is a game completely aimed at the PS5 platform, his art colleagues were eager to try and asked what level of "grid density" (the number of units per unit area in the grid) could be achieved.

It is worth mentioning that this game has also added a skill similar to "Phantom Sprint" (Dodge), which has invincible frames and no cooldown time. In addition, the high-speed movement ability of the sliding boots greatly improves the smoothness of battles. The bridge of riding the vehicle still exists, and the player's companion this time is a small dragon. In addition to being able to shoot normally, it can also cause fatal damage to buildings by dropping bombs.

But the difficulty of the game did not decrease as a result, as the enemies also became stronger: alien dinosaurs rampaging, large robots holding two hammers, laser turrets with infinite range, and different types of opponents always appearing together, making people feel flustered. For example, as the shield wielding pirates approach, someone in the distance blocks the protagonist's movements with a barrage, so it is quite important to use weapons effectively.

Naturally, the number of weapons in "Ritchie and Tinker Bell Time Jump" continues the old tradition of the series, to the point of astonishing abundance. Even if you only follow the main process, you can still come into contact with 20 big treasures with completely different styles and performance.

Like a "tree shaped sprinkler" that can stick enemies in place, a "mining hound" that automatically tracks targets and explodes, and a "void repulsive cannon" that integrates attack and defense, it can not only act as a shield but also push the shield out to cause damage. My favorite is still the "Anion Collider", where a thick shockwave bursts out, accompanied by white light from aftershocks, causing enemies of all sizes to dissipate.

The setting of using crystals to upgrade weapons is preserved, and there are not only numerical changes before and after the upgrade. In the early days, a seemingly frustrated "explosive pistol" that could only shoot single shots, but later on, it could sweep across a large area like the "S bullet" in "Contra". The design of "bounce" is also very interesting. After the first hit, it needs to be connected in an appropriate time to deal maximum damage, and upgrading can affect the number of consecutive clicks.

The explosive pistol also has great power

However, DualSense undoubtedly adds icing on the cake to the improvement of operation and weapon feel. Whether sliding on rails, rushing in the desert, or moving underwater, one can feel the subtle differences brought by tactile feedback.

The application of adaptive triggers in firearms is also just right. Personally, I think the one with the best feel may be the "law enforcement officer" equipped with multiple barrels of nozzles. When lightly pressed, only one barrel will be fired, which can save bullets. However, if the trigger is pressed hard, all barrels will simultaneously eject ammunition, with tremendous power. Sometimes the sound of shell dropping and changing is also reflected through the handle speaker, as if you have truly grasped a weapon. However, due to the frequent vibration and the high intensity of the battle, it is possible to feel sore hands while playing.

can clearly feel the friction of the metal when sliding on the rail

Stories in Time and Space Jumping

From a hard experience perspective, the subtle dissatisfaction with "Ricky and Dingdang Time Jump" in the previous text can only be said to be nitpicking. Moreover, the production team applied cinematic modeling materials and ray tracing to exaggerated animation aesthetics without appearing abrupt. Instead, they used various large-scale scenes to tell an interesting story.

For players familiar with this series, the story of this game is still like that of a Disney animated movie. Although the characters in the game do not suddenly dance or sing, the overall tone is serious with some jokes, and the jokes are mixed with relatively delicate character emotions.

At the same time, although "time and space jump" has not been deeply explored in the direction of gameplay, the game has shaped two sets of characters with different dimensions but related to each other through it. Whether it's Ravette, a female Lombark who excites animal enthusiasts, or Kit, a robot archive administrator with a conflicting past, they have left a deep impression on people. The two leading groups even played a game of "exchanging partners", and the contrast image of supporting role and villains in another dimension kept the game fresh throughout.

, Levitt and Kit are also a good pair of partners

In addition, puzzle solving levels during the clearance process also exist to some extent to serve the story. Dingdang's method of repairing temporal and spatial cracks is to use various attributes of spheres such as lifting, weighting, and accelerating to open up roads and guide one's clone from the entrance of the dimension to the exit.

Some computer systems that have been infected by viruses during a "time and space jump" require the use of small robots to enter and clean up, with a gameplay that leans towards third person shooting. However, small robots can climb up and down freely, which may not be very friendly for 3D dizzy individuals.

Anyway, the puzzle solving of "Ricky and Dingdang Time Jump" is much more interesting than the gameplay of "adjusting the laser direction to unlock the door" in the previous game. If you really don't like this, there is also a function to skip the puzzle solving part in the game, so don't have any psychological burden.

Although the story of "Ricky and Dingdang Time Jump" is not full of trickery and there are not many breakthroughs in gameplay around "Time Jump", it has the richest visual elements in next-generation content so far, the most atmospheric map scenes, and the excellent operation feel of DualSense, undoubtedly a punch in the "game wilderness" environment. If the $70 works are at this level, the money is also worth it.

After playing the game, I became a beast fan (limited by Levitt)