Man, this was something. I always knew that Jak II was an strange, dark and edgy turn from the first game, but I think the biggest shock to me was how much this game was NOT a collect-a-thon anymore. Like, in the beginning I didn't want to use vehicles because I was like "well I'll miss the collectibles" until I realized there are almost no collectables, because this is a different game now. Platforming is still the main game, but now it's focused more on combat, gunplay and driving, a bit of a GTA. But an even bigger shock to me was the fact that I actually ended up liking this change.
The headaches of collect-a-thons, like combing a giant level for the last two collectibles, are gone, the only consistent collectable is entirely optional and is used to unlock stuff to extend the replayability of the game. Now the game is able to focus more on structured missions and more "linear" stages, but still having open-world areas that now branch off into different parts of the game that will be visited frequently, but what happens in them changes every time. I think this ends up being a better fit for the Jak series, and as I got into the game I never missed the structure of the previous game. I had a lot of fun with these missions, the platforming segments end up being really cool and challenging, and while combat still has some flaws, such as some auto aim troubles, it is still so much better than any time you had to fight enemies in the first game. All my problems with combat in the last game have been solved, and it ends up making for (usually) very interesting enemy encounters in levels.
Driving is also a huge part of this game, and while it definitely takes some getting used to, I enjoyed this part as well. Learning the overworld in order to know how to traverse it without immediately blowing up, like I did a lot at the beginning, was satisfying, and I found myself really trying to learn how to best handle the vehicles, as well as how to hop from vehicle to vehicle quickly for some of the more challenging missions. The hoverboard also ends up being a highlight, as it feels great to switch from vehicle to hoverboard in order to reach a goal in the middle of a time limit, or simply traversing the world with the hoverboard, it's a great addition that gives an extra dimension to driving levels, where now crashing your vehicle isn't the end, and there are now even more ways to tackle missions.
Another big problem I had with the last game was how inconsistent checkpoints were, and how it always felt like the game put me way further back than was fair. Well, it's still the same situation here, except it can feel even more brutal because rather than just starting a little farther away than you would like from. Now, often times you'll start over missions that often have segments that are not nearly as fun the second time around, or just feel tedious when you do it multiple times. I appreciate that this game isn't afraid of being a Hard Game, but I feel like there are ways it could have done better checkpointing, or even keep checkpointing but make repeating missions not feel as tiring or annoying (a big one would be to stop characters from repeating the same lines of dialogue).
The story also plays a big part here, much more than the first game. At first I was actually fairly intrigued as to where it was going, despite me not really caring for any of the characters, and there were parts of the world and the way different organizations within it react to one another, but to keep it simple it lost me more and more as it went on, going a direction that I found a lot more boring than what I thought. Like I said, I don't give a shit about Jak as a character, he talks now but mostly to be angry and to express excitement for violence and gun upgrades. Also, the way Daxter just, takes over every cutscene he's in and all the characters just fucking, watch him monologue for 10 seconds drove me crazy, like why is he like this and why are you enabling him.
I do however, like how the game wraps up in a way that wraps up the story of this game rather than cliffhanger it, but still leaves things open enough that those interested in the story can look forward to the next one. It also means I don't have to play Jak III anytime soon.
One more thing, Dark Jak is very funny to me and the whole time I was playing I was like "oh no, I might have to turn into Dark Jak, oh god" or "Lord forgive, I must turn into Dark Jak". I didn't even use him that much, mostly as a quick screen clear that never proved all that helpful. I do think the transition from the lighter tone of the original to this was actually handled neatly and in a way that made sense, but I will never not find Dark Jak laughable.
In the end, I'm pretty damn impressed with this game. It completely changed things up in a way I thought I would not be into, and yet I ended up liking it. Not like, much more than the last one but I really do appreciate this new direction and I really enjoyed my time with this game. I was having a lot of fun despite my frustrations, and I think this game succeeded in a lot of what it set out to do.
The headaches of collect-a-thons, like combing a giant level for the last two collectibles, are gone, the only consistent collectable is entirely optional and is used to unlock stuff to extend the replayability of the game. Now the game is able to focus more on structured missions and more "linear" stages, but still having open-world areas that now branch off into different parts of the game that will be visited frequently, but what happens in them changes every time. I think this ends up being a better fit for the Jak series, and as I got into the game I never missed the structure of the previous game. I had a lot of fun with these missions, the platforming segments end up being really cool and challenging, and while combat still has some flaws, such as some auto aim troubles, it is still so much better than any time you had to fight enemies in the first game. All my problems with combat in the last game have been solved, and it ends up making for (usually) very interesting enemy encounters in levels.
Driving is also a huge part of this game, and while it definitely takes some getting used to, I enjoyed this part as well. Learning the overworld in order to know how to traverse it without immediately blowing up, like I did a lot at the beginning, was satisfying, and I found myself really trying to learn how to best handle the vehicles, as well as how to hop from vehicle to vehicle quickly for some of the more challenging missions. The hoverboard also ends up being a highlight, as it feels great to switch from vehicle to hoverboard in order to reach a goal in the middle of a time limit, or simply traversing the world with the hoverboard, it's a great addition that gives an extra dimension to driving levels, where now crashing your vehicle isn't the end, and there are now even more ways to tackle missions.
Another big problem I had with the last game was how inconsistent checkpoints were, and how it always felt like the game put me way further back than was fair. Well, it's still the same situation here, except it can feel even more brutal because rather than just starting a little farther away than you would like from. Now, often times you'll start over missions that often have segments that are not nearly as fun the second time around, or just feel tedious when you do it multiple times. I appreciate that this game isn't afraid of being a Hard Game, but I feel like there are ways it could have done better checkpointing, or even keep checkpointing but make repeating missions not feel as tiring or annoying (a big one would be to stop characters from repeating the same lines of dialogue).
The story also plays a big part here, much more than the first game. At first I was actually fairly intrigued as to where it was going, despite me not really caring for any of the characters, and there were parts of the world and the way different organizations within it react to one another, but to keep it simple it lost me more and more as it went on, going a direction that I found a lot more boring than what I thought. Like I said, I don't give a shit about Jak as a character, he talks now but mostly to be angry and to express excitement for violence and gun upgrades. Also, the way Daxter just, takes over every cutscene he's in and all the characters just fucking, watch him monologue for 10 seconds drove me crazy, like why is he like this and why are you enabling him.
I do however, like how the game wraps up in a way that wraps up the story of this game rather than cliffhanger it, but still leaves things open enough that those interested in the story can look forward to the next one. It also means I don't have to play Jak III anytime soon.
One more thing, Dark Jak is very funny to me and the whole time I was playing I was like "oh no, I might have to turn into Dark Jak, oh god" or "Lord forgive, I must turn into Dark Jak". I didn't even use him that much, mostly as a quick screen clear that never proved all that helpful. I do think the transition from the lighter tone of the original to this was actually handled neatly and in a way that made sense, but I will never not find Dark Jak laughable.
In the end, I'm pretty damn impressed with this game. It completely changed things up in a way I thought I would not be into, and yet I ended up liking it. Not like, much more than the last one but I really do appreciate this new direction and I really enjoyed my time with this game. I was having a lot of fun despite my frustrations, and I think this game succeeded in a lot of what it set out to do.