Released: 2001
Difficulty: Just Right
Time Spent: 20 to 40 Hours
Headline: A new legacy’s dawn
3D platformers were much more prominent than they are today and likely the biggest one was SONY’s Ratchet & Clank; coming out right beside it was an almost just as popular series, Jak & Daxter and it kicks ass!
In a world untouched by filth and modernization of humankind exists a world of eco that surrounds and feeds a world rife of natural, sprawling beauty and only retains small villages, built off its land. One day, a mute, boyish figure named Jak and his dingbat companion, Daxter came across something unnerving. A pair of evildoers was planning to take over this world with legions of frog-like monsters and a powerful, forbidden Dark Eco; a doomful matter that cannot be utilized and only destroys. Daxter was just like Jak; but Daxter was an idiot and fell in a pool of this Eco that turned him into a…. ah, a thing. He’s called an Ottsel - half weasel and half otter, but that doesn’t describe why he’s so orange. From then on, they have to save their village from being overtaken, destroyed, and get back Daxter’s manliness. Your story hands out tidbits of info with a bygone means of storytelling, “Maybe if you get me another one of those things, I’ll suddenly remember that particular thing you were talking about.” Plot progression is minimal; instead the story accelerates with an array of unique characters (especially Daxter) and intertwines smart doses of humor straight to the end and it works quite well.
I think we all gravitate to getting the orbs in these games, they will all be mine.
Now what the hell is Eco? It’s a substance of powerful properties; there are 5 kinds: Green Eco which recovers health while Red Eco gives your attacks a powerful boost. Yellow Eco allows you to use projectiles (this must explain hadokens) and Blue Eco energizes yourself and machines - just like electricity. You make full use of all 4 of those Ecos and the other is the bane of destruction, Dark Eco – deadly to the touch. Jak himself is well outfitted to take on whatever comes his way with a nice mix of karate stylized jabs, spinning kicks, aerial attacks, and appears to be a top tier acrobatic. The combination of Eco and odd mini-games make combat a pure joy. Punching some enemies and then using an eco powered jump to make a huge escape, that also magnetizes precursor orbs to you is a thrill to be experienced. Daxter is… less qualified; in fact, he doesn’t really do anything except accompany Jak, talk like a wiseass, and not shut up! Luckily though, the majority of villagers you meet appear to believe that violence is not the answer (or else Daxter would’ve been turned into a carpet by now).
Even with all the fodder enemies you get thrown, they all reserve themselves to tactics of a simpler time and are less a challenge compared to some moderate skill totting jumping. Much of what you are given serves to aid in variously concocted puzzles as throughout the level designs and odd bosses. A game which is better in braining you through its design than in combat skills is perfectly fine and in actuality, a breath of fresh air. It makes you think just enough to feel some accomplishment when you figure it out; however, Jak & Daxter is assuredly not aimed as a puzzle heavy game, it just uses it as a clever undertone to design.
Uh oh, it’s that ‘Jaws’ scene all over again…
The world of Jak & Daxter is very freely designed, you have a diverse freedom of movement and the island can be fully traversed in your own way due to the general openness of the world. There are no barriers beyond those meant by the developers to either limit how far you can initially go or defy your attempt to abandon the island, (a very hungry fish will find you if you try that). There aren’t even load screens once you enter the island, it’s all seamlessly interconnected; the one hinder is that the camera starts to lock its adjustability in marginally crowded areas and sometimes must just be worked against. Jak also occasionally drives a hover boat craft thing (it looks like a plane + a motorcycle), uses a dangerous bird to help him out, and they both give the game that nice boost of variety.
Jak’s progressive goal is simple: get enough power cells so he has a machine that will allow him to bypass to the next area. The game will request that you bring say, 20 power cells (things that make the Energizer Bunny stroll around and give his drums a pound) to power whatever machine or thingamajig that’ll do. If you don’t retrieve the stated number of power cells with you to move on to the next part of the island which would lead to the typical ‘save the world’ conclusion, guess what? You’re staying there. Of course you have options as the game is freely designed; collecting the game’s currency called ‘precursor orbs’ (fancy egg like artifacts) can be traded and scout fly crates can be opened for power cells. If you still have trouble, first complete the level, then go after the other collectibles, talk to the humanoid figures, and try a lot harder. Though in reality, Jak & Daxter is a moderate challenge and not nearly as hard as this may sound.
The game is properly illustrative with its cutscenes; if something to take note of happens, it gets itself an in-game cutcscene, pronto. The game itself looks amazing, the models, textures, and animations all have a smooth look to themselves. There’s almost no loading even in the menus, the world is even more colourful with a day to night transition. The entire visual presentation makes the world feel alive, being rife with beauty and danger. Add on the seamlessness, and visual scale, this becomes the most impressive visual game I’ve ever seen; it makes you truly realize this couldn’t have been done on the PS1.
Holy Christ! Keira has a very sexy body.
Then we come to the sound side; the best part probably being the quality actors who appropriately fill their characters with strong portrayals of wise men, oracles, foreigners, rogue evils, and many local yokels. The music has a nice jungle beat vibe, but switches to something more suited as you traverse differing environments. The effects are great too; some stand out, but most seem to be higher quality effects of what you’ve probably heard before.
Jak & Daxter will take around 15 to 20 hours to get finished; you’ll be preoccupied even longer if you try to uncover every last collectible and get the hidden ending - I’d recommend it. I never really had much trouble with the controls of Jak & Daxter, the game felt fairly responsive. It somewhat faltered when you tried doing something you clearly weren’t supposed to do or when the camera occasionally flopped. It’s a great game that combines the best new minds, with a mascot, on a new console, and borrows from platformer’s traditional gameplay mechanics. If you want a great game this is worth its admission; if you thought you were done with platformers, this might rekindle some memories as it’s something that hits close to home.
8.5 / 10 GREAT
+Resounding level design
+High level of production
+Funny characterizations
+Eco and mini-games mix well with combat
+A fully, free roaming environment
-Minor camera issues
-Core design is quite formulaic
TWiSTEDmerc
Difficulty: Just Right
Time Spent: 20 to 40 Hours
Headline: A new legacy’s dawn
3D platformers were much more prominent than they are today and likely the biggest one was SONY’s Ratchet & Clank; coming out right beside it was an almost just as popular series, Jak & Daxter and it kicks ass!
In a world untouched by filth and modernization of humankind exists a world of eco that surrounds and feeds a world rife of natural, sprawling beauty and only retains small villages, built off its land. One day, a mute, boyish figure named Jak and his dingbat companion, Daxter came across something unnerving. A pair of evildoers was planning to take over this world with legions of frog-like monsters and a powerful, forbidden Dark Eco; a doomful matter that cannot be utilized and only destroys. Daxter was just like Jak; but Daxter was an idiot and fell in a pool of this Eco that turned him into a…. ah, a thing. He’s called an Ottsel - half weasel and half otter, but that doesn’t describe why he’s so orange. From then on, they have to save their village from being overtaken, destroyed, and get back Daxter’s manliness. Your story hands out tidbits of info with a bygone means of storytelling, “Maybe if you get me another one of those things, I’ll suddenly remember that particular thing you were talking about.” Plot progression is minimal; instead the story accelerates with an array of unique characters (especially Daxter) and intertwines smart doses of humor straight to the end and it works quite well.
I think we all gravitate to getting the orbs in these games, they will all be mine.
Now what the hell is Eco? It’s a substance of powerful properties; there are 5 kinds: Green Eco which recovers health while Red Eco gives your attacks a powerful boost. Yellow Eco allows you to use projectiles (this must explain hadokens) and Blue Eco energizes yourself and machines - just like electricity. You make full use of all 4 of those Ecos and the other is the bane of destruction, Dark Eco – deadly to the touch. Jak himself is well outfitted to take on whatever comes his way with a nice mix of karate stylized jabs, spinning kicks, aerial attacks, and appears to be a top tier acrobatic. The combination of Eco and odd mini-games make combat a pure joy. Punching some enemies and then using an eco powered jump to make a huge escape, that also magnetizes precursor orbs to you is a thrill to be experienced. Daxter is… less qualified; in fact, he doesn’t really do anything except accompany Jak, talk like a wiseass, and not shut up! Luckily though, the majority of villagers you meet appear to believe that violence is not the answer (or else Daxter would’ve been turned into a carpet by now).
Even with all the fodder enemies you get thrown, they all reserve themselves to tactics of a simpler time and are less a challenge compared to some moderate skill totting jumping. Much of what you are given serves to aid in variously concocted puzzles as throughout the level designs and odd bosses. A game which is better in braining you through its design than in combat skills is perfectly fine and in actuality, a breath of fresh air. It makes you think just enough to feel some accomplishment when you figure it out; however, Jak & Daxter is assuredly not aimed as a puzzle heavy game, it just uses it as a clever undertone to design.
Uh oh, it’s that ‘Jaws’ scene all over again…
The world of Jak & Daxter is very freely designed, you have a diverse freedom of movement and the island can be fully traversed in your own way due to the general openness of the world. There are no barriers beyond those meant by the developers to either limit how far you can initially go or defy your attempt to abandon the island, (a very hungry fish will find you if you try that). There aren’t even load screens once you enter the island, it’s all seamlessly interconnected; the one hinder is that the camera starts to lock its adjustability in marginally crowded areas and sometimes must just be worked against. Jak also occasionally drives a hover boat craft thing (it looks like a plane + a motorcycle), uses a dangerous bird to help him out, and they both give the game that nice boost of variety.
Jak’s progressive goal is simple: get enough power cells so he has a machine that will allow him to bypass to the next area. The game will request that you bring say, 20 power cells (things that make the Energizer Bunny stroll around and give his drums a pound) to power whatever machine or thingamajig that’ll do. If you don’t retrieve the stated number of power cells with you to move on to the next part of the island which would lead to the typical ‘save the world’ conclusion, guess what? You’re staying there. Of course you have options as the game is freely designed; collecting the game’s currency called ‘precursor orbs’ (fancy egg like artifacts) can be traded and scout fly crates can be opened for power cells. If you still have trouble, first complete the level, then go after the other collectibles, talk to the humanoid figures, and try a lot harder. Though in reality, Jak & Daxter is a moderate challenge and not nearly as hard as this may sound.
The game is properly illustrative with its cutscenes; if something to take note of happens, it gets itself an in-game cutcscene, pronto. The game itself looks amazing, the models, textures, and animations all have a smooth look to themselves. There’s almost no loading even in the menus, the world is even more colourful with a day to night transition. The entire visual presentation makes the world feel alive, being rife with beauty and danger. Add on the seamlessness, and visual scale, this becomes the most impressive visual game I’ve ever seen; it makes you truly realize this couldn’t have been done on the PS1.
Holy Christ! Keira has a very sexy body.
Then we come to the sound side; the best part probably being the quality actors who appropriately fill their characters with strong portrayals of wise men, oracles, foreigners, rogue evils, and many local yokels. The music has a nice jungle beat vibe, but switches to something more suited as you traverse differing environments. The effects are great too; some stand out, but most seem to be higher quality effects of what you’ve probably heard before.
Jak & Daxter will take around 15 to 20 hours to get finished; you’ll be preoccupied even longer if you try to uncover every last collectible and get the hidden ending - I’d recommend it. I never really had much trouble with the controls of Jak & Daxter, the game felt fairly responsive. It somewhat faltered when you tried doing something you clearly weren’t supposed to do or when the camera occasionally flopped. It’s a great game that combines the best new minds, with a mascot, on a new console, and borrows from platformer’s traditional gameplay mechanics. If you want a great game this is worth its admission; if you thought you were done with platformers, this might rekindle some memories as it’s something that hits close to home.
8.5 / 10 GREAT
+Resounding level design
+High level of production
+Funny characterizations
+Eco and mini-games mix well with combat
+A fully, free roaming environment
-Minor camera issues
-Core design is quite formulaic
TWiSTEDmerc