Beat Jak 1. I've now completed the entire series (daxter included) aside from Jak X.
Jak and Daxter
+ Excellent art design as usual. I just want to explore the world because it's so bright and colorful and wow, same way I felt about Jak 2 and 3.
+ Best music in the series by far. Fuck this game has badass music. Sample
here+ Some of the later levels really remind me of Jak 2. They are deep, dungeon labyrinths will tons of things to collect and find. It doesn't feel as linear as Jak 3 either. There's multiple paths, and I found myself actually getting lost in some of the later levels.
+ There's a lot to do in the game, and the mission variety is really good. Typically in platformers where you collect a group of objects, your goals rarely ever vary or differentiate from one another. In Jak and Daxter, every single Power Cell you get is gotten in a specific way. Some are cleverly hidden, requiring some thinking to gain, some are placed in areas that you'd have to be dead pressed to find (like an area in Snowy Mountains that's completely obscured by trees that you can only see by examining the area fully). This makes the game endless entertaining. I liked it all so much I managed to get over 100 power cells and see the bonus ending.
+ Difficulty. While the beginning of the game I felt the game was mindless, about halfway way the level design started to really pick up. I wouldn't say the game is particularly difficult, but there are definitely spots that left me scratching my head. I thought there was a really good balance.
+ The level designs and platforming, as has been said, in the later levels are fantastic. I think some of them employ the trademark 3d platformer "how do I get over
there?" mentality pretty well. I think that some of the later levels are almost on par with Jak 2's best. My highlight is definitely the Lost Precursor City, in terms of platforming and level design. What a startling level.
+ Eco. Similarly to Jak 2, every single ability or skill is not wasted space. This is especially true with the Eco in Jak and Daxter as the very core of the levels are all designed around the use of the various colors and types. Light Eco allows for Jak to gain speed and open specific doors/switches, red Eco allows Jak to dish out fire damage to his enemies, yellow Eco gives Jak the ability to shoot fireballs to destroy terrain or even chests that can only be opened by them. By designing the levels, puzzles, and some of the platforming around this feature, the game's consistently has balance. Typically I find power ups in platformers to be silly gimmicks - Mario games are a good example, so are Sonic games, but in Jak and Daxter they have an actual use and importance.
+ The bosses were awesome. The normal enemies were pretty much all peanuts, especially compared to the enemies you face in Jak 2 and 3.
- The game is far too short. I usually don't think that's a bad thing, but with a game like this I wish it'd last longer because I had one hell of a ride. Since the beginning of the game's levels aren't all that interesting to begin with, I definitely wish it were longer so I could see more levels like the final stage, Snowy Mountain, the Moggy Swamp, and the Lost Precursor City.
- Lack of subtitles and cutscene skip feature is a negative thing to me. I'm especially miffed by the lack of subtitles since most of my game playing is at night when folks are sleep and I like to play my games in solitude so not to wake anyone up.
Summary: Excellent Mario 64 clone that I find more enjoyable than pretty much any 3d Mario. Naughty Dog clearly
gets it, or at least these Jak games have clicked with me more than any other cherished 3d platformer series. I'm simply not the biggest 3d platformer fan out there, but I found all three Jak games to be high quality and fun as living fuck.
Rating: B+Series rank: Jak 2 > Jak and Daxter > Jak 3 > Daxter
I'm split on Jak and Daxter: The Last Frontier or whatever. On one hand I'm glad they're making a new Jak game, on the other, it's not by Naughty Dog. If Daxter's any indication, it won't even be on the same level as the Jak trilogy, but I'll probably enjoy because I love the world and setting and characters so damn much.
I enjoyed Sly Cooper, Ratchet and Clank, and Jak and Daxter series tremendously. I find all three games in their respective series to be extremely high quality well made games, but the Jak games worked for me in ways Ratchet and Sly never did.
Ehh, I thought Jak 2 was incredibly shitty and easily the worst "major" platformer of last gen. Ratchet & Clank and Sly Cooper were miles better than the Jak series. I can't even fathom why people prefer Jak. To each their own, I guess.
They have better platforming.
