Mind you, I've played this on a very surface-level method, I usually can't be bothered with collectibles.

I was having cold feet going for this, then I was relieved that it's all good cause High Impact Games wasn't in charge. The game is overall decent. Platforming was good, the floating mechanic was a bit iffy; Enemy designs were nothing complicated. The bosses were a bit unforgiving and lengthy though. Story takes place between the two years of Jak's imprisonment in J&D 2 (working all his way up to save him. What a top lad.)

playing it on PS5 I thought it was pretty fun and has aged pretty well, the platforming is enjoyable, the story while nothing grand or outstanding has funny moments and on point character interactions, Haven City while just being more empty and stripped down was still pretty fun to explore, I feel the game put Daxter's small stature to good use with crawling through vents and climbing up big this that normally Jak would sit on or hop over, the combat was pretty fun, while simple I feel the animations Daxter has while swatting give the combat a bit more umph, but yeah Daxter was a pretty fun game, honestly I'm happy all the Jak games have made it to modern Sony systems.

Daxter may not be a must-play game that you need to drop everything to play, but it doesn't have to be for me to have a good time with it, which it certainly has provided me. The focus is on pure platforming that, while simple, is very fun to do and keeps the level design consistently strong and not tiring to go through, which is also helped thanks to the smooth controls and excellent presentation carried over from the Jak trilogy.

I have a couple of gripes about this game. First off, the main levels really could have used a map feature, especially in those open levels where I found myself getting lost. And those quick-time event mini-games are fucking dreadful. The story was okay, but I just couldn't get into any of the new characters they introduced.

To sum it up, I admit that it is very simple and, therefore, not setting the world on fire. Yet, there's just something about this kind of game that gives me such a good, comfortable time and striving for that platinum trophy, which reminds me of my experience with Pac-Man World 1. While it may not be a game you absolutely have to play, if you happen to come across it, I guarantee you'll have a pretty enjoyable time.

In its way the Ratchet: Deadlocked of its series - a steady, effectively uninterrupted stream of tight combat encounters with a de-emphasis on story compared to its predecessors over gadget-fueled gameplay. MAJOR bonus points for altogether ditching the forced grimdark bullshit that plagued the previous Jak games in favor of a more wholesome silliness like the original, without forgetting to set its place in the overarching narrative. Movement is still a little heavy for my liking (as all these games are) but - considering the hardware - Daxter himself controls like a dream, its locations are attractive and memorable, and the top-billed combat is quite appetizing (even the little minigames are a nice diversion!). They somehow made a game about bug-catching super fun. And unlike Deadlocked there's still actual platforming here, too! Considerably less soul-crushingly bad than The Lost Frontier. The Bug Combat bonus mode sucks absolute ass, though.