Jak and Daxter

[Master]

Well then, seeing as I'm on a bit of a high after offloading my thoughts on Legends, here goes with The Precursor Legacy.

I won't go into the history of the game, you fellows know about that, but rather my history with the game. Anyways, I have an admission to make, that being, that of all the Jak games I've played and completed, Precursor Legacy was the last and least played, not because I think it's the worst in the series, but merely, because I never owned it on the PS2, my first time being able to play it from start to finish was when I got the trilogy, however, I had encountered the game before...

The first and only time I encountered the game in person prior to eventually getting it in the trilogy version, was when my Aunt was at my grandparents, she had her PS2 plugged in, and the game? Precursor Legacy, I recall being mesmerised by the game, though, in retrospect, I was rubbish at it, I liked it for many of the same reasons why I ended up liking Rayman 1 after seeing it at my cousins, it was colourful, it looked good, but most importantly, it was still enjoyable despite my lacking skill at the time, a huge plus. I never remembered the name, so I couldn't find the game thereafter, even with the internet, eventually, I mistook Ratchet and Clank for the game, given the fact that it had a larger humanoid main character, with a smaller sidekick, it wasn't until an ex-friend of mine showed me Jak 2, that I realised what series I was looking for, and it was from there I got in proper.

With that aside, like I said earlier, though I owned Jak 2 and 3 for the PS2, I never owned TPL, until I got the Trilogy release, so, how did I feel about it now, after all those years of having nothing but a rather fuzzy memory, did it fare as well to me as it did back then? The answer to that, is a resounding yes.

Though I admit, I prefer the premise set from Jak 2 onward, TPL is a wonderful, more traditional platforming game, that combines elements from Crash Bandicoot and Mario 64, and given a large open world to roam freely in, with no loading screens whatsoever to sweeten the experience. The game requires a certain amount of Power Cells to progress, similar to how Mario 64 needs Power Stars to do so as well, the difference being that TPL has a much more involved plot. Continuing the parallels, each Power Cell requires the completion of a task, and these tasks can be rather fun to do, such as rescuing the Flut-Flut, or going through old temples, of course, there are some meh ones, such as the fishing game, but on average, they're pretty nifty and satisfying to beat. In addition to doing tasks to obtain these Power Cells, there's also hunting for Precursor Orbs to trade, these are the practical floating coin object in the game, they're scattered all over, and finding each and every last one will become progressively more difficult as you try to locate any crevice or corner they may reside upon, but it certainly is doable, and finding them all is certainly satisfying indeed.

The story seeds many threads that wouldn't be resolved until many ingame years later at the end of Jak 3, and even then, some questions remain to this day, but, the game certainly presents a world of its own, that has its own rules and lore, which I like, seeing as many games tend to focus on other elements, and less on world building. The characters too, are distinct and memorable, Jak exudes quite some personality, despite lacking a voice, and this mischievousness isn't lost in later games even with the voice addition and other element, Daxter's wisecracks provide some nice conversation, particularly with the Grumpy old father-figure, Samos, then there's the love interest, Keira, who isn't a damsel in distress at any point, and is a key helper with her Zoomer technology being used to pass certain levels.
The secondary characters are also pretty distinct, though you won't be seeing them again, they are nice to see in action in the few cutscenes they feature in, from the greedy Mayor to the melodramatic warrior, and the other sages, the characters add to the world and reinforce the adventurous tone the game possesses.

Graphically, TPL is one of those games which, despite being made on technology that is outdated by a long shot now, it still looks pretty darn good, Naughty Dog works hard indeed, and even with the loss of Crash at the time, they still drove forward to making a real looker for the PS2, the colours are vibrant and relevant to the areas given, of which there are plenty, the Precursor Temples also have a rather old fashioned techno look to them, that is rather distinct and would be revisited throughout the series, though some of the models don't compare to those used in Jak 2 and 3, they're still pretty good (though I really wish that they updated Daxter's model in Jak 2, 3 and TLF to look more like how he did in those games than he did in TPL, minor nitpick, but something I wanted to address nonetheless.)

All in all, 'tis a fun game that sparked a franchise that many love (and would love to see a proper, well done continuation to), and despite how different it is to the games that followed it, it still is distinct and fun to play, go give it a shot if you haven't done already!

[Bzzit]

Nice read, I discovered the series when I saw screenshots of Jak 2 in a magazine aswell as the pictures of Jak and Daxter hidden throughout Ratchet and Clank 2. For some reason I wasn't really interested in delving into the series until my old primary school friend said he had a new game in which he was stuck on an ambush section. He lent me it seeing if I could progress further as i was better at platofrmers than him. It was The Precursor Legacy. I started playing and instantly fell and love and felt this was the definition of my type of video game! So even though i was still borrowing the game I rushed out to GAME and bought my own copy. If you can be bothered I'd like to hear your thoughts on Jak 2 and the others sometime

[Master]

I'll try to give my thoughts on the others later on.
Glad you enjoyed it.

[Bzzit]

This has to be my favourite intro to a game ever, its just perfect. It make me think though, anyone else think a Jak and Daxter movie would work well just like they're doing with Ratchet and Clank? I would like to see the story within the Precursor Legacy expanded and fleshed out, maybe even unmuting Jak, that would be very interesting.

[OCG]

Isn't there already a Jak movie?

[Master]

No, I don't think there is.

[OCG]

You sure?
http://www.ign.com/games/jak-and-daxter ... ps2-891562

[Bzzit]

That was just the cutscenes from the trilogy merged together with Daxter providing some commentary in-between. I'm talking full theatrical release like Ratchet and Clank

[Disionity]

Has anyone tried the Jak and Daxter Collection for PS Vita? I heard it hasn't been recieved very well by critics or players alike, with many complaints about framerate and controls. If you have played it, what is your opinion?

[Master]

I believe Rayfist has acquired it, I'd like to hear his thoughts on it as well.
Speaking of which, I ought to continue my own little trail of thoughts regarding the series.

[Bzzit]

I've played like half of the first game and abit of Jak 2 on the vita. From what I experienced, the first game suffer from framerate issues throughout. In Jak 2 it seems to be more consistent and steady but suffers from major dips here and there. The controls are fine for the most part, once you get used to the touch control which replaces R2 for the zoomers.

[Disionity]

I paid the retro game shop in my area a visit yesterday, and was fortunate enough to find copies of both Jak and Daxter The Precursor Legacy and Jak 3 for PS2 in good condition. I've made it to the Precursor Basin with all Power Cells and Precursor Orbs collected thus far in TPL. I have been enjoying it so far, with my only complaint being that the environments are too generic and the gameplay takes a little too much inspiration from it contemporaries at the time. I've only dabbled in Jak 3 for the sake of spoilers, I would like and obtain a copy of Jak 2 and complete it and both TPL before I would go onward to the third entry.

[Bzzit]

Basicslly at some keynote a writer from Naughty Dog showed some of the concept art from the cancelled Jak and Daxter reboot. The quality sucks but heres what they had in mind for Daxter.. Just compare it to Daxter in my sig

[sonicbrawler182]

I got the Jak and Daxter HD Trilogy from PS Plus recently on my PS3.

I've played about 50% of the Precursor Legacy so far, and I have enjoyed it so far. Very solid game.

As for the Vita versions, they are honestly not too bad. They are playable. Precursor Legacy is the only one where technical issues are noticeable, the other two work just fine.

[Master]

@Bzzit, yeah, I can see why they wisely moved on to The Last of Us, that reboot would have caused fans to riot.

@Brawler, interesting, is it possible to give a quick overview on them all once you've beaten 'em?

[Dark Lum Lord]

The Precursor Legacy and 3 are both pretty close for me, but I had decided to go with Jak 3. The Precursor Legacy was a bit too easy and the plot could've been greater as well, but it was wonderful game nonetheless. And then there's II, which I found to be a good game, however excessively difficult and a bit too close to Grand Theft Auto. 3 was the best of them all in my opinion. It toned down the GTA clone factor, it had some pretty difficult parts but balanced it out with some easier missions as well; it had a great plot and was an all around great game.

[sonicbrawler182]

@Bzzit, yeah, I can see why they wisely moved on to The Last of Us, that reboot would have caused fans to riot.

@Brawler, interesting, is it possible to give a quick overview on them all once you've beaten 'em?

I won't be completing the Vita versions as my brother owns the Vita. And while I am really enjoying Precursor Legacy, it's not the kind of game I'd want to play through again any time soon (keeping in mind the fact that the whole fun of the game is exploring and finding all of the games items, meaning a playthrough where I know where everything is wouldn't be as fun).

I did try them out though out of curiosity, and they are fine and playable. My brother is also playing through the Vita versions in their entirety. He 100%'d Precursor Legacy on the Vita, which should be enough to prove that the game is playable. And he actually played the PS2 original before, and despite the Vita version's lower framerate, he preferred it because of it's portability. And Jak II's framerate is extremely solid, as is Jak III's.

[Bzzit]

At around 0:05:18 you can see some more concept art for the cancelled Jak and Daxter reboot, as well as the horrific Daxter designs in much higher quality than what I shared before. Theres a nice but brief insight from the writer about the whole situation too.

[OCG]

So glad that Jak and Daxter reboot got cancelled. We need either sequel or just leave the franchise as it is now.

[Master]

Excellent, now you see just how bad it could've been, see? Them moving onto making The Last of Us was indeed a good thing, right OCG?