Review

Jak and Daxter is a weird one for me. I played the first game a number of times as a child. I quite liked it. I remember playing the second and immediately feeling really weird with the tone shift. Lil old me felt that it was inappropriate. So while I'm somewhat familiar with the second in the series, the one I feel has come to define it. I'm not actually altogether familiar with where all we go. Both because I was pushed away because of the tone change but also because I found it too goddamn hard to even complete.

I did end up replaying the first game more recently when it was released for PS4. And then accompanied Alex during his playthrough on stream. I have a lot of nostalgia for the game and I feel it has some clear positives. Though speaking objectively I would say it is largely a standard platformer of the time. We rubber band back and forth between piss easy and annoyingly difficult with the weird slippy movement. Even for adult minds and reflexes.

I do enjoy the whole precursor aesthetic. The echo-y smooth bronze half-buried into the landscape is a great look.

Another thing I really enjoy is the lack of loading screens. I believe this is the first game where I ever saw such a thing. It's very impressive.

On to Jak II (2003)

Links