So in prep for The Last of Us, I decided to catch up on Naughty Dog's work from the prior gen. I had been meaning to finish the games for awhile now and I had some time after finals so I sat down and plowed through all three this week. No, I didn't play through Jak X. I am sick and tired of the driving mechanics in these games.
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy-
Well I liked this a lot. It reminded me of Crash Bandicoot in many ways and was pretty fun to play through. The story itself is pretty simplistic and is very straight forward. My major complaint with the story is that it might be a bit too straightforward. Nothing really surprising happens and it's just a race to the finish line. This trilogy isn't good at making sympathetic villains or just good ones in general and Gol is no exception. I suppose villains is something ND never got the hang of, if the Uncharted series is any indication. Anyway the story is pretty dry and boring but it doesn't really trip up anywhere or make me want to call out the writing.
That said, the environments were absolutely gorgeous in the game, I really applaud the artistic direction of ND. The snowy peaks were really breathtaking, even for a PS2 game. Style can make up for a lot of (what would now be viewed as) technical shortcomings. The colors really pop and the world in general feels very alive.
The characters themselves were pretty forgettable except for the hero of the story, Daxter. Daxter is far and away the highlight of the game due to him injecting comedy every time he talks. He more than makes up for Jak in this game and has some great dialogue.
The gameplay is pretty much pure platforming, which is a refreshing break from the games I play this gen and while a few of the orbs could be a pain to get, overall it was fun. I enjoyed the vehicle aspects in this one and it really doesn't feel like the gameplay ever gets stale or repetitive. The platforming works and you can tell that ND utilized their experience from Crash on the game as it's a fantastic platformer for the most part. The controls are tight and nothing really feels floaty.
Jak 2-
Let's start with the tone shift as this design philosophy really impacts some of my other complaints. It's completely unnecessary and feels like I'm playing a different franchise at times. Instead of the lighthearted adventure in Jak 1, we now have an ultraserious story. It's played up to such ridiculous levels and so serious-faced that I find myself grating my teeth. While I enjoyed having a voiced protagonist on the part of Jak now, I hated half the damn words that came out of his mouth. I was starting to get pissed watching someone else be pissed. It's so constant that I couldn't help but shake my head. I mean even the goatee seems to be designed around a new and more XTREME Jak. ND created such a drab universe in the sequel by making it so serious and it eventually gets boring.
Some of the VAs were just horrible fits such as Thorn. The entire time he's talking in both Jak 2 and 3, I can't help but imagine Bale's Batman voice. 'I sound gruff because the writers dictated that my character is gruff'. The Baron also couldn't help but sound one-note even during his dying speech. There just isn't any variety in this area.
Now for the villains in particular. Yes, Jak 1 wasn't much better but it also didn't go that overboard either. The Baron is just one step away from kicking that Crocodog and revealing that he's responsible for every major problem in your life(although the story does go down that road anyway). ND took a more serious tone but somebody forgot to tell them that if you go a more realistic route then stuff like the villains start to matter more. Also Krew could be stand-in for Jabba the Hutt. There's also the ridiculous plot-line about Krew selling out the city which is so nonsensical and is more used to advance the plot. All the villains except for Kor, act in the most stupid manner possible.
Now for this godforsaken overworld. I don't mind crappy overworlds, hell I liked the one in No More Heroes and I like the Mako in ME1. I fucking hated this one. There are way too many pedestrians and hovercars for this to be enjoyable. It feels like I'm having to constantly dodge everytime I go some place and it just makes me wish there was a fast travel button. What makes this worse is that the amount of time you have to spent in the damn overworld. There are also some bullshit mission segments in the city such as the race with Errol where you want to strangle the developer. What makes all of this more frustrating is the floating hovercar controls. It's not fun to navigate and overall sucked all the life and enjoyment I was trying to salvage out of this game.
The missions and their environments are for the most part, forgettable and boring. There are really only a couple of acceptable ones such as the Precursor Temple and the underwater mech level but that's really it. ND throws in a bunch of setpieces but unlike Uncharted, I got nothing out of them. The forced shit camera angle also kills some of those bits as well. A lot of the design is industrial in nature and so it becomes pretty repetitive.
Then there is the lack of checkpoints. I'm sure some people liked the increased difficulty spikes, the problem is how big some of these spikes are and how long some of these missions are. The Seal in the Slums mission is absolutely ridiculous with how many enemies there are and how the controls are in general, in that you can't really dodge or move around much. There are also some missions which last close to 10-15 minutes where you have to perform them perfectly or you start from the very beginning. It gets old very fast and very annoying. It's a bullshit arbitrary way of increasing the difficulty and padding out the game time. What makes it all the more frustrating is that due to how the controls are, it sometimes feels like deaths are undeserved and you then have to redo another 10-15 minutes. Atleast with Dark Souls, it feels somewhat fair.
As I stated earlier, part of the problem is the camera. The camera in the game doesn't show all the enemies onscreen or even do a proper job of relaying the action half the time. I would be shooting my gun at some random enemy off the screen, a good portion of the time. There also would be times where the camera would be fixed such as Daxter's chase sequence where I would love to know where the hell I was heading towards. It feels like you're fighting with the camera for hours and the camera is winning.
Now for the auto-aiming gunplay. I wouldn't mind it so much if it wasn't so integral to the game and the camera wasn't so bad. The lack of some sort of dodge or guard mechanism also makes this pretty frustrating as you just have to pray that you stagger or kill the enemy before he hits you. The auto-aim also can really just screw you over such as in the final boss fight where you want to focus fire on the boss but the jetpack crew get the attention because of the auto-aim. More control would have made this much less annoying.
For the vehicles, there's a whole laundry list of issues I had with them. The first is that the controls are just too floaty. Yes they're hovercars but it still feels like I'm fighting the controls. This is a major problem due to the number of races and general moving around you have to do with them. This extends to that damn hoverboard where it feels like the grind isn't really connecting other than a few visual sparks. They feel sluggish and are a nightmare to use. There is also the amount of damage that half these vehicles can take. It feels like with the hoverbike that a solid two hits will do it in. What makes matter worse is the bumpercar physics.
Yea I really didn't like this game.
Jak 3-
Let's get this out of the way, the story is awful. I mean truly awful. Atleast with Jak 2 it was coherent and somewhat interesting due to the time travel mechanic. An example is with Ashelin being able to easily dismiss the Council when you get back but she's outvoted in the beginning when you're exiled. What? That's like someone overriding Emperor Palpatine. This however has multiple dead characters popping up due to bullshit writing. You have Errol turned into a complete nutjob, which is annoying because you can't take him seriously due to Jak 2. We also have Jak continuing his one-note act from Jak 2, only now instead of him wanting revenge, he's sulky because he got exiled. The story itself also suffers from 'bigger is better' sequelitis where the heroes now have to save the world from some mysterious big bad.
The checkpoint system also got revised to the point where it's not easy and you might have to redo a few minutes but also not to the point where you want to physically harm a developer such as in Jak 2. Some of the missions were also not exactly a cakewalk either, so it had a decent balance for the most part.
As for the characters, I have no clue why they push Jak so hard into the spotlight as Daxter is much more interesting and fun to watch. It's one of those cases of the sidekick being cooler than the hero. I was utterly disappointed in Damas as he's a pretty flat character throughout and it's obvious where his storyline is going.
The best part about this game though, is the gameplay itself. The mission objectives are much more varied and more fun than anything in either previous game. Who didn't laugh when Daxter was riding a missile around? The different types of guns also made the shooting galleries less painful such as the Beam Reflexor being so easy to abuse. Some of the Light Power Jak stuff also mixed it up a bit more. The vehicle segments, jetboard grinding and the like, were nowhere near as painful as in Jak 2. While it's still very much shootbang, it feels less so especially compared to Jak 2.
The environments also came back after dying in Jak 2. They are much more distinctive and are actually nice to look around. The sewer level in particular was especially cool with the whirlpools everywhere. The colors are vibrant again and it feels more in line with Jak and Daxter but still retaining elements from 2.
While I had some problems with the game, it also had some of my highlights from the trilogy. It really prevented me from souring on the trilogy.
Overall, it's interesting to look at the development of the trilogy and the design process behind it. It seems like with Jak 2, ND didn't want to make a platformer and made some shooter hybrid instead. Then with Jak 3, they went with the car/racing aspect. I actually wonder how much of the staff that worked on 2 and 3 were platformer lovers. You can obviously see the GTA influence on the trilogy and it's something I'm not particularly happy about. That said, the characters were the real highlight in the trilogy. Daxter and Pecker really brightened up any scene they were in. The dialogue of these two, and some of the other side characters, were fantastic.
In short, Jak 3>Jak and Daxter>>>>> Jak 2
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy-
Well I liked this a lot. It reminded me of Crash Bandicoot in many ways and was pretty fun to play through. The story itself is pretty simplistic and is very straight forward. My major complaint with the story is that it might be a bit too straightforward. Nothing really surprising happens and it's just a race to the finish line. This trilogy isn't good at making sympathetic villains or just good ones in general and Gol is no exception. I suppose villains is something ND never got the hang of, if the Uncharted series is any indication. Anyway the story is pretty dry and boring but it doesn't really trip up anywhere or make me want to call out the writing.
That said, the environments were absolutely gorgeous in the game, I really applaud the artistic direction of ND. The snowy peaks were really breathtaking, even for a PS2 game. Style can make up for a lot of (what would now be viewed as) technical shortcomings. The colors really pop and the world in general feels very alive.
The characters themselves were pretty forgettable except for the hero of the story, Daxter. Daxter is far and away the highlight of the game due to him injecting comedy every time he talks. He more than makes up for Jak in this game and has some great dialogue.
The gameplay is pretty much pure platforming, which is a refreshing break from the games I play this gen and while a few of the orbs could be a pain to get, overall it was fun. I enjoyed the vehicle aspects in this one and it really doesn't feel like the gameplay ever gets stale or repetitive. The platforming works and you can tell that ND utilized their experience from Crash on the game as it's a fantastic platformer for the most part. The controls are tight and nothing really feels floaty.
Jak 2-
Let me get this out of the way. I hated this game. There are few games I hate as much as this one. There is the nonsensical grim dark tone shift, boring writing, grating VAs for some of the new characters, stereotypical villains, annoying overworld, tiresome missions, humdrum mission environments, the ridiculous lack of checkpoints, damn near broken camera, the aggravating gunplay, and the rage-inducing mandatory vehicle controls. I would have stopped playing this game straight out if I didn't hear that Jak 3 was better. I've checked other threads and it seems some people do like the game. It has to be related to the overworld and difficulty because that's the only thing I could remotely see people liking over the linear predecessor. I completely and utterly disagree with them.
Let's start with the tone shift as this design philosophy really impacts some of my other complaints. It's completely unnecessary and feels like I'm playing a different franchise at times. Instead of the lighthearted adventure in Jak 1, we now have an ultraserious story. It's played up to such ridiculous levels and so serious-faced that I find myself grating my teeth. While I enjoyed having a voiced protagonist on the part of Jak now, I hated half the damn words that came out of his mouth. I was starting to get pissed watching someone else be pissed. It's so constant that I couldn't help but shake my head. I mean even the goatee seems to be designed around a new and more XTREME Jak. ND created such a drab universe in the sequel by making it so serious and it eventually gets boring.
The writing in the sequel is definitely more ambitious and tries to tell a more interesting story from the first. It doesn't really make too many flaws, except for crap like the Errol wanting to race you instead of just flat out killing you, but again the problem comes from the tone shift in that the tone shift just turns the writing into a big revenge story. For so much of the focus to be on Jak, as a character he not only drops the ball but runs in the opposite direction. Another problem is that you spend half the game as other people's errand boys doing sidejobs such as picking up bags of money for Krew. There doesn't really feel to be any initiative on the part of the characters or story.
Some of the VAs were just horrible fits such as Thorn. The entire time he's talking in both Jak 2 and 3, I can't help but imagine Bale's Batman voice. 'I sound gruff because the writers dictated that my character is gruff'. The Baron also couldn't help but sound one-note even during his dying speech. There just isn't any variety in this area.
Now for the villains in particular. Yes, Jak 1 wasn't much better but it also didn't go that overboard either. The Baron is just one step away from kicking that Crocodog and revealing that he's responsible for every major problem in your life(although the story does go down that road anyway). ND took a more serious tone but somebody forgot to tell them that if you go a more realistic route then stuff like the villains start to matter more. Also Krew could be stand-in for Jabba the Hutt. There's also the ridiculous plot-line about Krew selling out the city which is so nonsensical and is more used to advance the plot. All the villains except for Kor, act in the most stupid manner possible.
Now for this godforsaken overworld. I don't mind crappy overworlds, hell I liked the one in No More Heroes and I like the Mako in ME1. I fucking hated this one. There are way too many pedestrians and hovercars for this to be enjoyable. It feels like I'm having to constantly dodge everytime I go some place and it just makes me wish there was a fast travel button. What makes this worse is that the amount of time you have to spent in the damn overworld. There are also some bullshit mission segments in the city such as the race with Errol where you want to strangle the developer. What makes all of this more frustrating is the floating hovercar controls. It's not fun to navigate and overall sucked all the life and enjoyment I was trying to salvage out of this game.
The missions and their environments are for the most part, forgettable and boring. There are really only a couple of acceptable ones such as the Precursor Temple and the underwater mech level but that's really it. ND throws in a bunch of setpieces but unlike Uncharted, I got nothing out of them. The forced shit camera angle also kills some of those bits as well. A lot of the design is industrial in nature and so it becomes pretty repetitive.
Then there is the lack of checkpoints. I'm sure some people liked the increased difficulty spikes, the problem is how big some of these spikes are and how long some of these missions are. The Seal in the Slums mission is absolutely ridiculous with how many enemies there are and how the controls are in general, in that you can't really dodge or move around much. There are also some missions which last close to 10-15 minutes where you have to perform them perfectly or you start from the very beginning. It gets old very fast and very annoying. It's a bullshit arbitrary way of increasing the difficulty and padding out the game time. What makes it all the more frustrating is that due to how the controls are, it sometimes feels like deaths are undeserved and you then have to redo another 10-15 minutes. Atleast with Dark Souls, it feels somewhat fair.
As I stated earlier, part of the problem is the camera. The camera in the game doesn't show all the enemies onscreen or even do a proper job of relaying the action half the time. I would be shooting my gun at some random enemy off the screen, a good portion of the time. There also would be times where the camera would be fixed such as Daxter's chase sequence where I would love to know where the hell I was heading towards. It feels like you're fighting with the camera for hours and the camera is winning.
Now for the auto-aiming gunplay. I wouldn't mind it so much if it wasn't so integral to the game and the camera wasn't so bad. The lack of some sort of dodge or guard mechanism also makes this pretty frustrating as you just have to pray that you stagger or kill the enemy before he hits you. The auto-aim also can really just screw you over such as in the final boss fight where you want to focus fire on the boss but the jetpack crew get the attention because of the auto-aim. More control would have made this much less annoying.
For the vehicles, there's a whole laundry list of issues I had with them. The first is that the controls are just too floaty. Yes they're hovercars but it still feels like I'm fighting the controls. This is a major problem due to the number of races and general moving around you have to do with them. This extends to that damn hoverboard where it feels like the grind isn't really connecting other than a few visual sparks. They feel sluggish and are a nightmare to use. There is also the amount of damage that half these vehicles can take. It feels like with the hoverbike that a solid two hits will do it in. What makes matter worse is the bumpercar physics.
Yea I really didn't like this game.
Jak 3-
Well I definitely liked this more than Jak 2. There's only so far low you can go right? There's a lot of stuff this game does better than the other two but it also screws up in some areas as well. I went into Jak 3 expecting that Jak and Daxter would remain my favorite and this game surprised me. It feels like a happy balance with its two predecessors.
Let's get this out of the way, the story is awful. I mean truly awful. Atleast with Jak 2 it was coherent and somewhat interesting due to the time travel mechanic. An example is with Ashelin being able to easily dismiss the Council when you get back but she's outvoted in the beginning when you're exiled. What? That's like someone overriding Emperor Palpatine. This however has multiple dead characters popping up due to bullshit writing. You have Errol turned into a complete nutjob, which is annoying because you can't take him seriously due to Jak 2. We also have Jak continuing his one-note act from Jak 2, only now instead of him wanting revenge, he's sulky because he got exiled. The story itself also suffers from 'bigger is better' sequelitis where the heroes now have to save the world from some mysterious big bad.
I also disliked the car combat stuff. I really do despise ND's vehicle controls. It also being such a big part of the game was irritating, when I started doing the Wasteland missions I was wondering if I was playing a racer. There is also just the annoying aspect of every time I go out into the Wasteland, there is a seemingly endless number of cars who ruin my drive. They're not hard but they can get annoying at times if they ram you. That said, it was better than Jak 2. I would take the Wasteland any day over the dozens of cars in Haven City. On that note, I do like the changes that they did to Haven City, mainly making it less crowded and smaller.
I will say this though, the precursor twist was absolutely amazing. I died laughing. Great trolling on the part of ND.
The checkpoint system also got revised to the point where it's not easy and you might have to redo a few minutes but also not to the point where you want to physically harm a developer such as in Jak 2. Some of the missions were also not exactly a cakewalk either, so it had a decent balance for the most part.
As for the characters, I have no clue why they push Jak so hard into the spotlight as Daxter is much more interesting and fun to watch. It's one of those cases of the sidekick being cooler than the hero. I was utterly disappointed in Damas as he's a pretty flat character throughout and it's obvious where his storyline is going.
The best part about this game though, is the gameplay itself. The mission objectives are much more varied and more fun than anything in either previous game. Who didn't laugh when Daxter was riding a missile around? The different types of guns also made the shooting galleries less painful such as the Beam Reflexor being so easy to abuse. Some of the Light Power Jak stuff also mixed it up a bit more. The vehicle segments, jetboard grinding and the like, were nowhere near as painful as in Jak 2. While it's still very much shootbang, it feels less so especially compared to Jak 2.
The environments also came back after dying in Jak 2. They are much more distinctive and are actually nice to look around. The sewer level in particular was especially cool with the whirlpools everywhere. The colors are vibrant again and it feels more in line with Jak and Daxter but still retaining elements from 2.
While I had some problems with the game, it also had some of my highlights from the trilogy. It really prevented me from souring on the trilogy.
Overall, it's interesting to look at the development of the trilogy and the design process behind it. It seems like with Jak 2, ND didn't want to make a platformer and made some shooter hybrid instead. Then with Jak 3, they went with the car/racing aspect. I actually wonder how much of the staff that worked on 2 and 3 were platformer lovers. You can obviously see the GTA influence on the trilogy and it's something I'm not particularly happy about. That said, the characters were the real highlight in the trilogy. Daxter and Pecker really brightened up any scene they were in. The dialogue of these two, and some of the other side characters, were fantastic.
In short, Jak 3>Jak and Daxter>>>>> Jak 2
