Play: Ratchet & Clank A Crack in Time aka sidequests how I loathe thee

So a few months back I traded in a bunch of games, Gamestop was having their buy two get a third free promo.  Picked up a few games one being Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in time

As a fan of all the previous installments, for the most part it has been no different this time around.  It looks stunning on the 1080p display.  The sound effects are cool and deliberate and the writing provides the same comic relief I have come to know over the course of the series.

Of course with this series the biggest thing you anticipate is the weapons, and they don't disappoint here either.  Bigger, crazier, more effective weapons.  They are all fun enough that you want to continually use them so they upgrade through their five levels and eventually morph into an even strong version of themselves.

With all the said my main gripe is the system used to upgrade the space ship.  You have to collect these little robot helpers called "Zoni"  they are scattered throughout the universe.  Some can be found on the planets you visit, during regular linear mission play, others you have to collect on random moons where they are the main objective of the visit.

Now, in theory this isn't a problem.  What I have a problem with is that in order to get to the final stage(s) of the game, you have to collect all 40 of the zoni(s).   You don't even know this though, until you are about to enter the final run.   Up to this point I was getting by just collecting the amount I would need for the next upgrade, which was usually anywhere from 3-5 zoni per upgrade.  Well this put me at 18 Zoni as I was approached the final stages.  Here came that familiar message "you must upgrade Zoni to penetrate the force wall"  Ok, whatever, let me go to a few planets gather up some zoni and be on my way.....right?  NOPE.  I need 40 zoni for the next ugrade?  WTF ? AHHHHHHHHHH....NO!

So basically now, I am going to have to spend a good few hours backtracking through the game, visiting every obscure planet and moon in search of zoni, or as I like to call it...the thing I like the least doing in the damn game.  I wish the game would have hinted that I needed all 40 to begin with, so I would have made sure to collect them as I went. 

I also don't appreciate how this kind of forces you to do all the side quests.  I much prefer the system of lets say Mario Galaxy, where you need 50 stars in order to take on Bowser and beat the game, but there are a total of 100 stars in the galaxy so you can go back and get some replay value out of the game afterwards, but still have the satisfaction of beating the storyline w/o having to do it.

So that minor(major) gripe aside, I really love this game.  I know the majority of the blog entry might have been spent on the gripe part, but let me re-iterate, this game is pretty damn awesome.

Highly Recommended!