Amid all the hoopla about the next generation of consoles, it’s easy to be dazzled by the seductive promise of hyper-realistic graphics, bursting with more pixels and detail. But Rift Apart, the ninth (ish) outing for PlayStation favourites Ratchet and Clank, demonstrates that visuals are the least surprising element of the next-gen package.

Of course, the extra sheen in the comedic duo’s new adventure immediately strikes you – the flowing animation, the copious particle effects – but that’s not what you’ll remember. Instead, Rift Apart gives a glimpse, albeit a fleeting one, of the revolutionary power of the PS5’s lightning-quick SSD drive to transport the player – in this case between dimensions, or in effect hopping to and fro among levels (or versions of levels) instantly.

Regrettably, developer Insomniac uses the trick sparingly. So Rift Apart settles into a comfortable groove that will delight long-time fans but scarcely advances the well-established formula of a platformer injected with outrageous guns.

Insomniac hardly puts a foot wrong here overall, introducing a second pair of playable Ratchet and Clank-alikes and new puzzle interludes that act as palate-cleansers. The fresh arsenal of Ratchet’s preposterous weapons may be just a slight twist on what we’ve seen before but allows for deeply satisfying combinations.

Here and there, we snatch a peep of the SSD’s capacity to shake up gaming with sequences that hurl Ratchet between multiple levels in seconds – for example on grind rails or via a switch. Perhaps the sensory overload was judged too much for repeated use but it makes for eye-opening and thrilling gameplay.

It may seem cruel to criticise Rift Apart when it gets so much right – the humour, the subtle additions such as jet boots, the Pixar-like quality of the scenery. But the familiarity breeds, well, not quite contempt but a certain restlessness that can’t be quieted by smashing yet another stack of bolt-filled crates.