Pokitaru is a planet in the Solana Galaxy featured in Ratchet & Clank and Size Matters. It is a small, tropical world filled with oceans and islands, and most notably home to the Jowai Resort, a very popular galactic tourist destination. It was also a destination to find Raritanium.
Ratchet and Clank first came to Jowai Resort in search of an O2 Mask that was given to tourists for them to swim underwater. Once they arrived, they found the planet was under attack by the blarg dumping toxic waste into the ocean, and could only obtain a mask by destroying the blarg. The toxic waste had also made it impossible to obtain Raritanium. Later, the two visited Pokitaru on vacation, before being visited by Luna, who claimed to be researching on the two heroes for a school project.
A counterpart of the planet exists in Rivet's dimension.[1]
History[]
Ratchet & Clank[]
Prior to Ratchet and Clank's arrival, several blarg waste disposal tankers had begun dumping toxic waste into Pokitaru's waters, which mutated the wildlife to become hostile, and caused all customers to either be eaten or flee. This led the Resort Owner to close the resort.[2]
On Orxon, during "Traverse the wilderness", Clank found an infobot with a commercial for Jowai Resort, and reluctantly showed it to Ratchet. After an argument, the two agreed to visit the planet in search of the advertised O2 Mask. Once they arrived, they found the Resort Owner from the commercial, who claimed he had only one O2 Mask remaining,[2] and gave them the mission "Help the resort owner" in which they had to follow him to the hangar bay where a jet fighter was located, and pilot it to destroy the blarg waste disposal tankers.
Once they arrived at the bay, the resort owner claimed he could not access the hangar bay due to a lock that had been placed after a tourist crashed a jet, which he had been unable to lift due to lack of trust from the board of directors.[3] He pointed them instead to Bob's RoboShack. There, they purchased the Thruster-Pack upgrade for Clank for 2,000 bolts, allowing them to access the lock and use the jet fighter, leading to "Destroy the blarg ships". With the Pilot's Helmet, Ratchet could then pilot the fighter and destroy the blarg waste disposal tankers, earning him the O2 Mask.
In "Navigate the sewers", the two were teleported to the sewers, infested with amoeboids. Here, they found Fred, who had been searching the planet for Raritanium, which he could not find due to the blarg's toxic dump. Fred was in possession of the Persuader, a gadget that had been designed to mind control people but that he could only use to obtain a discount at Gadgetron vendors. After finding Raritanium on Hoven, the two gave him Raritanium to use the Persuader.
Re-imagined[]
In Captain Qwark's version of events, Pokitaru was home to Felton Razz, the brother of Ratchet's mentor Grimroth Razz, and Felton had lived here to begin a new life of fishing. Grimroth Razz sent Ratchet and Clank a message via an infobot, which they obtained after "Ride the rail" on Batalia, asking them to help Felton Razz.
When they arrived, they found blarg hydroharvesters attacking the planet, draining its water supply from a Pumping Station. After finding Felton Razz, he told them that a technician was here on the planet for a comic book convention who could upgrade their class-g Star Jumper ship with teslarockets that could destroy the hydroharvesters. This commenced "Find the technician" in which he took them to the Pokitaru Tiki Longue and Karaoke Bar to find Al. While fighting through puffoids and telepathopuses along the way, Felton and Ratchet told one another stories, and upon arriving at the inner Jowai Resort, found it under attack by blarg troopers and blarg space commandos.
After meeting up with Al, they took the boat back to their ship, allowing Al to install the teslarockets, commencing "Destroy the hydroharvesters". Once destroyed, Al installed the Thrusterpack for Clank. This allowed them to unlock special bolt cranks, which they then used to unlock a forcefield to the Pumping Station. The two traveled there to fight the amoeboids inside in "Clean up Amoeboids in Pumping Station", and found the O2 Mask at the end of the station. Finally, the two found an underwater passage and climbed the Torgoff Waterfall in "Find a way to the top of the waterfall", rewarding them with a gold bolt.
After Ratchet & Clank[]
Captain Qwark attempted to hide on Pokitaru during his Personal Hygenator Syndrome scandal. He was instead found and arrested. Qwark is known to have frequently visited Pokitaru on other occasions.
Size Matters[]
Ratchet and Clank took a vacation in Jowai Resort. Fifteen minutes before Ratchet was to attend a scheduled massage,[4] he was interrupted by Luna, who claimed to be doing research on heroes for her school project. Though reluctant at first, the two agreed to battle robots while she took pictures, in "Fight some robots". The duo fought a group of old training robots as well as scuttle crabs along the way.
After taking pictures, Clank noticed Captain Qwark, who accidentally admitted to Clank that he was trailing the two to join in on their next adventure.[5] Prompted by comments from the duo, Qwark admitted he did not know his real parents, and shortly after Clank suggested he find them, Luna was kidnapped by mysterious guard torso robots, commencing "Rescue the girl!". Ratchet chased them as the robots burned down several huts in the resort, and the robots took Luna to Kalidon, leaving behind an artifact. Clank and Qwark identified it as a technomite artifact, though Ratchet strongly believed they did not exist. Nonetheless, the two traveled to Ryllus, following the coordinates etched onto the side of the artifact, to chase Luna with Qwark trailing despite Ratchet warning him not to.[6]
Following the defeat of Otto Destruct, Ratchet returned to Pokitaru for a massage that he had scheduled for one hour after Otto's defeat.[7]
After Size Matters[]
Due to the severe danger and illegality of the RYNO IV, its designers were locked up in a maximum security asylum on Pokitaru.[8]
After a leaked recording from the set of My Blaster Runs Hot depicted Qwark raging at the lighting director, Doug, Vox Holo-films claimed after that Qwark and Doug had since become best friends and went fishing together weekly on Pokitaru.[9]
Separately, several ships in the Axiom City Spaceport were announced as being bound for Pokitaru,[10] implying the world became a popular tourist spot for terachnoids.
Geography[]
Overview[]
Pokitaru as viewed from space is covered largely in ocean, with tropical islands and small continents comprising the only land. The sun shines on the resort 24 hours a day.[11] The resort's climate is tropical, with many large island groups and archipelagos. Palm trees are the most commonly seen vegetation, along with many other plants that flourish in the region.
Ratchet & Clank area[]
The resort seen in Ratchet & Clank is an archipelago located somewhat in the center of a large body of water, with tall mountaintops visible in the distance. Three large islands make up the majority of the resort's accessible terrain, though there is a ring of many smaller islands that surrounds the entire location. In the re-imagining part of these have been replaced with much larger, mountainous islands.
Despite the location at sea, there are scarce few beaches, with the visitable islands rather forming tall rock plateaus. In return, there is a large prevalence of natural waterfalls. The only constructions seen are a collection of towers on top of the sewer system, a scattered number of short and stubby buildings dotting the hilltops of the islands, and the large group of tall structures and towers that make up the heart of the resort. The primary way of transportation in the resort is by operated watercraft, which can also fly. The vast ocean, frequented by tourists for speed swimming with an O2 Mask,[11] is home to corals, seaweed, undersea magma, and pirate treasure.[a]
Pokitaru is also home to marine wildlife in the form of the puffoid fish, psy-tcopuses, sharkigators, and large seagulls flying several meters above water level.[b] These creatures are typically benign,[11] though during Ratchet & Clank, the blarg's toxins mutated the puffoids and psy-tcopuses.[2] Sharkigators roam the waters in the distance away from the outer ring of islands.
The islands[]
The landing pad is located at the south end of the resort, and connects to a large wooden platform constructed on top of a small rock island, which in turn has two off-shoots. One only has a teleporter leading to the sewers, called the pumping station in the re-imagining, whereas the other connects to a small strip of sandy beach. This beach is part of the south-western island plateau, which also contains an underwater passage to a hollow interior, which leads to a hidden river on the north-western's island. Said river springs off from the Torgoff Waterfall,[c] which falls down on the northern side. The eastern side also features several waterfalls, and a beach leading around to the north side, beneath the waterfall.
The resort[]
The inhabited area of the resort stands in the north-eastern area, and comprises a series of towering structures, situated alongside a tall mountainous island, which has more structures on top. The area is accessed through a pier, after which a bridge leads to a solid road that ends at a cul-de-sac, with a large shallow pool of water in the center. In the original Ratchet & Clank one of the structures at the end contains Bob's RoboShack, which much like Al's RoboShack, is filled with robot parts and boxes for other hardware, but in the re-imagining it is absent. The building next to it functioned as the hangar for the jet fighter, but in the re-imagining, it instead contains the Pokitaru tiki lounge and karaoke bar, a tourist destination frequented by Al, as well as tourist fongoids, test dummy robots, and tharpods.
Pumping Station[]
The Pumping Station, called the sewers in the original game, is located underneath several large towers on the east side of the resort, and can only be accessed by a teleporter. It is comprised of chambers that are flooded, with Insta-Faucets allowing drainage through the Hydrodisplacer, Invinco-Lock gates in-between them, as well as corridors connecting the rooms. Within the interior is a large number of pipes, lights, as well as other fixtures and machinery lining the walls. It also features an amoeboid presence located throughout the non-flooded rooms.
Size Matters area[]
The resort area featured in Size Matters is somewhat distinct from the original game's resort, featuring only one main island, substantially larger and more mountainous, and several small ones. Most of the tall structures are also not present, only visible in the distance, except for a large tower on the northwest side. Instead, numerous wooden tiki huts and bars, alongside short tapered towers, comprise the only sign of habitation on the island. The local wildlife also consists solely out of scuttle crabs, sharkigators that roam the waters, and large seagulls vaguely resembling the skreeducks. Old training robots also inhabit the tiki huts on the largest island.
The largest island's training robot section is mostly locked off by massive gates, often operated by bolt cranks. The main beach connects to a pier on the north side, through a hidden bridge operated by another bolt crank, both of which contain several metal lounging chairs and beach parasols. On the south end is a small enclave, accessed by a grav-ramp, with a zipline to another island with a pier and a large cave. Automated platforms allow passage across the tiny islands on the western area of the resort, letting passengers hop off or jump on. At the time most of these islands were under heavy attack by technomite guard torsos, setting several tiki huts on fire.
Behind the scenes[]
An early version of Pokitaru was one of two levels showcased to Sony while seeking the greenlight for Ratchet & Clank, shown as the "'Jungle' Diorama" along with Kerwan's "'Metropolis' Diorama" in the same presentation, before an engine had been developed.[13]
Pokitaru was likely inspired by Hawaii. It has similar tropical temperatures, islands, is a tourist destination, and has a similar name in "Jowai" Resort.
The starfish found on the beaches have an image of Dan Johnson's face on them.
Pokitaru was originally going to feature a three-headed hydra, a large, seafaring predator native to Pokitaru with four flippers and three heads. This was originally going to be fought as a boss battle as a dangerous wild creature, but was cut from the game and featured instead in the Insomniac Museum in Going Commando.[14]
A file in Up Your Arsenal containing all of the game's text[15] suggests Bakisi Isles takes place on Pokitaru.
Pokitaru is mentioned to also exist in Rivet's dimension in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.[16]
Gallery[]
Notes[]
Annotations[]
- ↑ Many underwater details, including corals, seaweed, magma, pirate treasure, and harmless puffoids swimming in the sea, are only present in the 2016 Ratchet & Clank, likely due to hardware limitations in the original game. In Size Matters, the sea cannot be explored.
- ↑ In the 2016 Ratchet & Clank, benign darters are seen flying above sea level, and toxic crabs are present across land, neither of which were seen in the original Ratchet & Clank.
- ↑ The waterfall is only named in the re-imagining, as Felton Razz makes reference to it, saying he would dare his brother, Grim, to ride down the waterfall in a barrel, which would anger their father.[12]
Citations[]
- ↑ Rift Apart script § "Destroy the Scuttler (gameplay)"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ratchet & Clank (2002 game) script § "You ARE friendly, aren't you?"
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2002 game) script § "...where's that fighter?"
- ↑ Size Matters script § "Introduction"
- ↑ Size Matters script § "Abduction"
- ↑ Size Matters, Technomites
- ↑ Size Matters script § "Make the Switch"
- ↑ Tools of Destruction menu § "RYNO IV"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Holo-recording Scandal"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Rendezvous at Neurox Plaza (gameplay)"
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Ratchet & Clank (2002 game) script § "Infobot - Jowai Resort ad"
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2016 game), Felton Razz mentions this during "Find the technician"
- ↑ Allgeier, Fixman 2018 10:50
- ↑ Going Commando, Insomniac Museum § Three-headed hyrda
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal, file:
files/rc3/ps3data/global/all_text[0].ps3
- ↑ Rift Apart script § "Destroy the Scuttler"
References[]
- Insomniac Games (2002). Ratchet & Clank [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2.
- Insomniac Games (2003). Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2.
- High Impact Games (2007). Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation Portable.
- Insomniac Games (2009). Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
- Insomniac Games (2016). Ratchet & Clank [Game]. Sony Interactive Entertainment. PlayStation 4.
- Allgeier, Brian; Fixman, TJ [@GDC] (2018, June 26). 15 Years of Ratchet & Clank: A Lombax Story [Video]. YouTube.