As a person who hasn't played the Jak & Daxter games yet (outside of a very brief sample I had with the 1st game), but has heard about them many times, I was and still am curious in trying out the series.

Since this game was pretty cheap, and I already knew of some of the plotlines of the other games, I decided "why not play this one first?"

Daxter is a simple 3D platformer, where you hop from mission to mission in order to exterminate bugs and take care of problems that are happening around Haven City, and maybe also find Jak, since this game takes place a bit before the Jak's inital rescue in Jak II.

Even though it's a small handheld game that really doesn't have much berring on other titles, it was pretty fun to play!
Outside of fighting enemies, you're pretty much constantly platforming through various levels, and from what I've seen, it sort of brings back the visual variety that the 1st game had, that the 2nd game lacked.

There are also the dream sequences you can play that are optional, outside of the 1st one, where they simply involve Daxter playing some role that normally is parodying a movie of some sort, like The Matrix and Braveheart, and you simply press buttonsin in timing with what's happening on screen.
They're fine little additions, but I really like that you gain more moves and health upgrades with them, so I'd say it's always a good thing to check them out.

I didn't find this game really that difficult, but I did die at various points, but the checkpoint system is pretty good, so you'll always make some progress.

The story itself is pretty vanilla. I do like the characters that Daxter interacts with, but they don't really get much development, and never come back in any other future, as far as I'm aware, so they're just there to bounce off of Daxter, who is pretty funny in of himself, so at least the game's writing is good enough.

For a PSP title, I'd say the game looks pretty good, but I did run into some lag while travelling in Haven City, which goes to show their ambition in bringing that city over to the handheld, and even then, you don't travel through the whole thing, as far as I'm aware.

Overall, Daxter is a nice little platformer to play on your PSP and I had fun experiencing it, and I hope to get to the main Jak & Daxter games sometime in the future, when I'm able to.

So, we have probably one of the best trilogy’s known to mankind: the jak trilogy. A great series that starts off being pretty simple to eventually turning into an interesting blend of open world action and platforming. But let’s be real…some of us missed how the first game operated. There was just a certain simplicity about it. So when they were thinking of making a jak game for psp…why not have daxter as the protagonist with them going back to the simpler times? You know what…it works.

The game starts off with daxter taking on a job at a bug exterminators place. It’s meant to be set just before daxter saves jak in jak II. The plot surprisingly works really well for what it is and I enjoyed it all the way through. The jokes are also just as good as always, I found myself laughing at a lot of the comments made by most of the characters. The dream sections are also adorable and hilarious. Gameplay is really cool and is a neat call back to how the very first game operated.

Underrated classic, cool experience, really funny characters, “that ain’t no bug”

Despite losing Jak's moveset from 1 and making combat a bit more of a focus, concocting a slower-paced game, and a non-sensical story that amounts to nothing I still found a lot to love from this childhood classic. In this game, Daxter completely forgets to save his best friend for 2 years which I came around to cause it's sort of in character and kinda funny, to exterminate bugs for Osmo, just cause Osmo compliments him once. It's goofy but it's a concept that lends you to explore the interiors of Haven City. This honestly I found to be the coolest part the level designs being centered around these buildings in a steampunk kind of wartorn city and going behind the scenes of them climbing through pipes and vents. Along with these levels comes an impressive amount of detail, especially for the PSP they're vibrant and fun to explore for the orbs really well-made all around. A genuinely underrated soundtrack, some simple but satisfying combat and unique platforming mechanics with the gas tank and its supplementary upgrades makes Daxter one of the PSP's more impressive and prolific titles

It's overall a nice, short, and sweet nothing that'll knock your socks off but consistently has some cool ideas in exchange for the expanded move set of the first game. Has a lot of character but nothing burger of a story with mildly funny moments. Maybe it's that nostalgia talking but overall a good time worth a peep esp if you like Jak 1.

The only game I remember playing on a PSP, even before knowing about the Jak & Daxter series... kind of ironic honestly.

But I actually have a lot of great memories of this title. It is a pretty straightforward but really fun action oriented platformer able to stand out as its own game despite being heavily linked to Jak's main story.

It's also in my opinion the perfect compromise of the tonal shift in the series, since it's able to blend both the whimsical fantasy of the Precursor Legacy, with the darker and "mature EDGE" of the rest of the franchise (Daxter is not even that annoying here is it is in Jak 2)

Some of the mission can feel tedious and overall the game doesn't do anything that special to make it stand out next to other 3D similar adventures.

But it is a really charming gem to me. Give it a shot if you are curious.

Daxter is a personally unique game in that it was the one and only PSP game i ever had. Loved it as a kid but how does it hold up now that i'm an adult who has developed taste?

...I think Daxter is like the most mid game i've ever played. It's not amazing but it's not awful either but it's just right in the middle. Like dead center. Which in some ways makes it worse.

The best way i can describe this game is that it simply exists. Almost everything in this game simply happens. Level design is whatever but they occasionally put in some new ideas so things don't get stale. But levels are simply just things you do. Maybe this isn't making a whole lot of sense but usually in good platformers, every level feels like it's own mini-adventure and it feels great to beat them. In Daxter, levels simply start and they simply end. There is no fanfare and the soundtrack is extremely forgettable and the overworld is devoid of any life. At least the combat's nice, if basic.

Even the story is simply just something that happens and complaining about the plot in a platformer feels strange but everything you're doing in this game up until the end is completely disconnected from the original goal. Daxter says he'll save Jak and then just fucks around for two years. He literally ignored the main plot because of sidequests.

This is the only Jak & Daxter game i've played (that's a lie, i played Jak X once) and it is a spin-off so it's not like i'll judge the series with this game. But man, sometimes games really are better when you're just a little kid who simply likes things.

Back in 2010, I had a PSP that worked for about a year and a half before some weirdo issue with the battery meant that I could no longer play it without having it hooked up to the charger. At that point, I left it in the hands of my older brother who briefly used it as a SNES emulator, while I eventually caught the (3)DS bug.

Of the handful of games I'd gotten for the PSP during that short period of interest, Daxter was one I remember liking a fair bit and I even played through it a couple times. Now that I'm trying to revisit the system, I thought it'd be nice to get reacquainted with it, find new stuff to appreciate and all that good stuff.

That did not happen.

I'm genuinely shocked at how much I didn't care for Daxter on this go. I remember so little about the game it legit threw me for a loop. Most of the environments, characters, music, setpieces, none of it had left any lasting impression and going to places didn't even trigger the faintest memories. It really did go in one ear and out the other, and going through nearly the whole thing again did nothing to change that.

The gameplay's serviceable enough, but apart from a couple of moments (mainly the subway stage where you're jumping across trains and dodging overhead obstacles), it's wrapped up in an adventure that doesn't do a whole lot for me. I like that every stage takes about 10-15 minutes to beat which is good for handheld play, but that's really about it in terms of stuff I appreciated.

I didn't even beat this, despite managing to do it over a decade ago, and gave up somewhere round the final stage simply because I'd had enough of a stupid platforming puzzle. A real shame that my opinion on this has fallen as much as it has, I faintly recall thinking it was excellent once upon a time. Maybe getting a fully fledged 3D platformer on a handheld was part of that, as I was well into the genre at the time and such an idea was still novel enough to me. Guess there isn't much for me when that novelty's gone.

Feels half-finished.

Rotten platforming and checkpoints. Floaty messy combat that often feels like you hit the enemy by pure chance. Long parts with just no music, and even when it does kick in it's so detached and basic that you barely notice it.

Big hollow game.

Daxter is a 2006 platformer released for the PlayStation Portable on March 14, 2006. A spin-off of the Jak and Daxter series, Daxter takes place during the 2-year timeskip between the opening moments of Jak II and Daxter's rescue of Jak from Baron Praxis. While the sidekick Daxter takes center stage in this installment, the tight platforming and fun quirky gameplay gamers have come to expect from the series is still present. Instead of the run and gun action of Jak II, players take control of Daxter as he works as an exterminator with a bug zapper and fumigator as their main weapons. For me, the most enjoyable part of this game is the absurd dream sequences you can access. These mini-game like levels see Daxter take on the role of the main character in popular movies such as the The Matrix, Braveheart, and The Lord of the Rings and, once completed, grant Daxter new attack abilities, a health upgrade, or character costume modifications. To understand the main story beats of the Jak and Daxter Series, this game is entirely skippable. It doesn't offer any new lore tidbits for players to learn or any real character development for Daxter (who is arguably static across the entire trilogy), but it is a fun handheld addition to a beloved (and much forgotten) Naughty Dog franchise. If you have a PSP gathering dust, you can pick up Daxter for relatively cheap ($10-$12 on most sites) and sink about 8-12 hours into the game.

EDIT: After replaying Daxter in 2023 it is truly a fantastic platformer on the PSP and carry’s the Jak and Daxter formula perfectly over to the handheld.

Finally, for the first time I actually played one of these games on a console instead of an emulator!... Granted I played it on my hacked Vita but eh details, details.

Now then, since this is a 2006 handheld title, I changed expectations a bit to see what this'll be like with that in mind, and try not to expect it to be TOO much like the trilogy on PS2. The result is a surprisingly neat little game from around the early days of the PSP. I'm actually kind of stunned how good this game still looks today, even with some pop-in being noticeable and some, while not necessarily game-ruining or any significant harm to the experience, rather odd texture quirks (which might be related to playing this on the Vita? Idk much about how Adrenaline does this sort of thing, but regardless damn does the OLED screen make the vibrant colors and aesthetics pop more). It's a little surreal to play and enjoy a game starring Daxter, a character I and a good number of people don't exactly like to begin with, but I digress.

Unlike 2 and 3, this one goes back to 1's more simpler formula, meaning more emphasis on platforming as well as enemies not being too taxing to take out. You have A Gun and three modes, but even then they're more so used for to stun and then later deal big damage to the bugs, as well as some platforming bits here and there. Gotta say, even with the handheld nature in mind, I didn't expect the platforming stuff to have a degree of depth to them. One mission will have you jumping across platforms to find and bash bugs in to collect Skull Gems, another will have you using some form of object in order to continue proceeding, and you really do get good use out of the spray gun's hover feature. It takes a bit to get going, but once it does there's rarely a dull moment in sight and a majority of the levels feel the length they should be, which is good to see. Also just, find it really funny that much like Jak 1, you can just ignore enemies and focus on just beating the level, unless the mission actually requires defeating them but even then it's only a set amount, and there's room to skip some of them.

Even the minigames are bite-sized, most are pretty much just timing-based that pick up speed once you move along or just a vehicle drive. There's only one turret section that feels pretty shit, but it's so easy and short that I didn't even get all that upset about it anyway! You even need to do the timing missions in five dream levels, where you get one at a time during each 100 Precursor Orb interval, and not only are these fun as well, they provide upgrades... that aren't really necessary for gaming purposes outside the mandatory one where you get the mid-air spin back considering it's just health upgrades or getting back other moves you had in the trilogy's move kit, but hey! They're there and aren't all that hard! And like I said, you don't really need them, hell I only got all of them once I reached the 3/4 mark after seeing that they do give you stuff and aren't just side stuff to complete!

Speaking of side stuff, there's a decent sparse available here. The aforementioned dream minigames and their numerous trophies to collect, finding every SG or PO in the game, a Combat Bug multiplayer which... I mean that's just not really possible to do nowadays, and finally six secret masks to collect, which I will admit I never really got to collect, but are basically just alt facial decals that have three Jak characters - the titular character, Human Daxter, and Samos - and finally Ratchet, Clank, and Sly. One last detail about the gameplay is that little to none of the same team over at Naughty Dog were helping to develop this one alongside Ready At Dawn, a studio that seems to be made up of ex-ND and ex-Blizzard employees. For all intents and purposes, they got the look and feel of it down pretty patently, to the point this is like the first time I thought the double jump in these games actually felt good to use. Still got the same lame boss fights, though....

Finally, there's story. It's also like Jak 1 in that it pretty much only exists to be the vehicle for the gameplay, which is honestly pretty funny considering this is an interquel of that game and Jak 2, and even sets up one or two details of Jak 3. Daxter doesn't even do the whole "saving Jak" part until the final hour and a half of the game, it's mainly just him doing various extermination jobs, and you know what, I'll take it.

With all that said, I do think this serves as a neat time capsule as to what the PSP and its early days were like, providing a nice alternative to the DS with a game that, while not exactly reaching the PS2 highs, is at least a decent little time that has some reminiscence of it and the franchise it originated from. Though far from a must-experience, I can still recommend it to anyone just looking for a nice time and a change of pace, even to non-J&D fans. Also because like, it's a very short game, you can beat this in a single sitting if you're willing enough, which I didn't because A) rather spotty scheduling, and B) I feel like trying to beat a handheld title like this in one sitting is kind of insane and would only serve to harm the overall experience, unless it's like, idk, a rhythm game or some shit, but I ain't stoppin ya if that's what you want to do.

This game's pretty visually impressive for a PSP title. It's a quaint 3D platformer for the system. However, any collectathon platformer that hides its collectibles in extremely obtuse locations or behind do-or-die/one chance situations gets a special spot on my shit list. Also, despite being a prequel to the events of Jak 2, and having gameplay that feels more reminiscent of Jak 1, the game suffers from one of Jak 2's biggest problems: extremely shitty invisible checkpoints. That also doesn't mesh well with its fairly heavy and unwieldy platforming controls in general, especially since this game has a fetish for bottomless pits (or water, dark eco, and other instakill hazards). I'm not too keen on the idea of going for 100% on this one, but I sincerely tried for it along the way.

So, I finally got my hands on "Daxter," thinking it'd be a cool addition to the Jak and Daxter. Gotta say, I was pretty let down. The game just suck.

First off, the whole thing felt like a broken record. I kept doing the same stuff over and over, and it got old real quick. I mean, how many times can you collect random stuff or beat up the same enemies before it gets boring? Apparently, a lot, according to this game.

And the control are terrible imo. It's awkward and frustrating. I lost count of how many times I missed jumps or got stuck in weird places. The camera angles didn't help either.

The story? Well, let's just say it suck. The characters lacked depth, and the dialogue felt forced.

Visually, it's not terrible, its just meh

In a nutshell, "Daxter" is just meh. If you're a die-hard Jak and Daxter fan, maybe give it a go for the sake of completion. Otherwise, there are way better games out there that won't leave you feeling like you wasted your time.

I do not get the love this game gets, it's just a bog standard linear 3D platformer with a Jak skin, Daxter jumps worse than Jak, his guns feel worse than Jak, and for some reason they stuck the collectables in random smashable bits of the stage making finding them a pure chore, outside of the passable driving bits every non-platforming bit is the same Game and Watch Tier mini-game were you QTE match the PSP's buttons to some income thing, be it something you pick up or an enemy you shoot, not bottom of the barrel but the worst in the series, and so much worse than this teams actually very good God Of War games.

I gourd damn love this game! Fantastic music, I never knew I was being fed breakbeats my childhood. I can't compare the platforming to anything, but everything otherwise is just so pleasant, I gave a copy of this game to a friend. The visuals of this game were insanely and jaw droppingly good quality for its time and platform. The levels near the end get a little repetitive and are a little less enjoyable artistically, the final boss is weird and seems patched together, not upset I missed it as a kid for not being able to finish it.