Ratchet & Clank Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is coming soon and has the potential to be one of the best PS5 games to date. It also has the potential to be one of the most confusing games, at least for those who have not followed the series to this point. This is because "Rift Apart" is the 16th installment in this long-running series and draws heavily on scenarios from previous games, especially the "Future" trilogy on PS3.

First of all, if you are a new fan and want to dive into "Rift Apart" without any preamble, you should be able to do so. Developer Insomniac Games claims that "Ratchet & Clank" is the perfect jumping game: "Rift Apart" is the perfect jumping-off point for new players. It is also reasonable to assume that there will be an explanation of the story so far, both as a guide for beginners and as a reminder to veteran players of what happened in "Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus," released eight years ago.

On the other hand, if you want to enjoy the entire "Ratchet & Clank" storyline, but don't have time to play 15 full-length games between now and June 11, Tom's Guide has you covered. Here's everything you need to know to get the most out of Ratchet & Clank: Everything you need to know to get the most out of Rift Apart's story.

First of all, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart has not yet been released: Rift Apart has not yet been released, and Insomniac has only shared rough portions of its story with gamers. Therefore, it requires a bit of guesswork to determine which plots from previous works are relevant.

Still, we do know a few definitive things from the game's trailer: that Dr. Nefarious will return as a major villain, and that the story is about Ratchet and Clank traveling through another dimension. We also know that the previous film in the ongoing story, "Into the Nexus," set up at least one major plot point that has yet to be resolved.

Therefore, we provide a summary of the games that we expect to be relevant to the Rift Apart storyline. We also provide a list of games that can be skipped.

The first major plot point you should know about is Ratchet & Clank (2002). This PS2 game featured Ratchet, an adventurous Lombax, and his little robot sidekick, Clank. The game explains how the two met, became friends, and saved the galaxy for the first time. If you know that much, you know the basics.

Ratchet & Clank Going Commando (2003) does not seem to be directly related to Rift Apart, but Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (2004) is. It was in this game that I first met Dr. Nefarious. An over-the-top, fun-loving supervillain obsessed with turning all organic life into robots, Dr. Nefarious is more comical than scary, as the trailer for "Rift Apart" shows, but more than once over the years he has posed a serious threat to the two heroes.

Ratchet Deadlock (2005), Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile (2005), and Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (2007) seem to have little to do with Rift Apart. However, "Ratchet & Clank Future Tools of Destruction" (2007) seems to be related. In this PS3 mainstay, Ratchet and Clank face off against Emperor Percival Tachyon, the tyrant who forced the Lombax, Ratchet's race, to emigrate to another dimension. To do so, the Lombaks used a device called a "dimensionator" that could tear the fabric between different realities. This seems important to "The Rift Apart," because the Lombaxians were able to tear the fabric between different realities. It is a game whose central mechanic involves hopping between dimensions.

"Secret Agent Crank" (2008) does not follow this storyline, but "Ratchet & Clank Future" (2008) does: In "Quest for Booty" (2008), Ratchet reunited with Clank and seeks to repair the Dimensionator.

Similarly, "Ratchet & Clank Future": A Crack in Time (2009) is an absolutely crucial part of the Dimensionator story arc. In this film, arguably the best "Ratchet & Clank" film to date, Ratchet meets Alistair Azimuth. Alistair is a rogue Lombax who feels responsible for failing to stop Tachyon when he had the chance. Doctor. Nefarious also makes a spectacular comeback and attempts to control the Grand Clock that controls the flow of time in the universe. Overall, it's a fantastic story, but the big takeaway is that Ratchet has become the only Lombax left in the galaxy and is wondering if he should seek out the rest of his species in another dimension.

Ratchet & Clank All 4 One (2011) is a cooperative multiplayer game with a standalone story, but at least Dr. Nefarious (playable here for the first time) can be persuaded to do the right thing. Similarly, Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault (2012) has essentially nothing to do with an overarching story.

Finally, there is Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus (2013), which serves as a coda to the Future trilogy. Ratchet and Clank encounter Vendra Plog. Vendra is a young space witch who, like Ratchet, hopes to reunite with another species in another dimension. Ratchet and Clank defeat Vendra and her army of interdimensional beasts, but in the process they break the dementionator, which cannot be easily repaired.

(A smartphone tie-in game from the same year, "Ratchet & Clank: Before the Nexus," has no storyline.)

There is also "Ratchet & Clank" (2016), which was both a reboot and a movie tie-in to the film of the same name. While the game was very good, the movie was not. Neither had anything to do with the story of the main series.

This is where the series stands today. Ratchet and Clank are best friends and have saved the galaxy 10 times and counting. Emperor Tachyon banished Ratchet's race, the Lombaks, to another dimension many years ago. A device called the Dimensionator leads Ratchet to the other dimension, but it is currently malfunctioning. Dr. Nefarious, a recurring antagonist, is on the loose and is once again terrorizing the galaxy.

From previous trailers, we know that "Rift Apart" begins with Dr. Nefarious attacking the bustling city of Megalopolis. He uses his repaired dimensionator to send Ratchet and Crank flying through multiple realities. Ratchet must defend himself in this dangerous new dimension, while Crank partners with a woman named Rivet, Lombax.

Of course, it was not the old alternate dimension that the adventurers ended up in. In this dimension, a despot called Emperor Nefarious rules with an iron fist, and Dr. Nefarious plans to take advantage of it.

The rest of the story will have to wait until June 11. Unless, of course, you have your own dimensionator. Otherwise, you can move to another reality where the game is already on sale.