This certainly isn't one of Naughty Dog's best endeavours, it seems the transition to PS2 hardware wasn't smooth for even these veteran developers, with this first instalment not quite reaching the highs of their PS1 counterparts. In spite of how famous Crash Bandicoot is for its platforming mechanics, Jak's platforming just feels off by a mite. There are frequent occurrences of Jak's movement feeling slippy, with the player camera also suffering this issue. Most often are the occasions when Jak's double jump simply doesn't work, or the player camera literally just shifts off to the side for no reason, and it can't be recentered behind Jak without it doing the same thing again. Frustratingly this leads to many deaths that are simply of no fault by the player. More than anything else, these faults make Jak & Daxter an absolute chore to play.
The following is a small personal gripe I have, but I'm just not a big fan of platformers or collectathons that have that really open world feel. When playing a platformer or collectathon, I prefer separated levels with a clear beginning and end point, instead of one long area. It's an issue I held with Spyro: A Hero's Tail, and it's an issue I hold here too. Open world games are great, but I just don't think I like them in this genre. Call me a traditionalist but if it worked for years for Spyro, Crash and Mario, there's no reason it can't still work here. I admire ND for trying something a little different with the open world but it's not for me.
Further to this, for a large portion of the game, Jak's only motivation to continue with his adventure is to transform Daxter back into a person - but this motivation comes crashing down for the player very quickly because the very 'person' that we're trying to help is one of the most annoying player companions to ever disgrace a video game. I mean jheeze does Daxter ever shut up?!
Sure, there are some elements of this game that I liked. Some of the minigames are pretty fun, the level design is pretty enough, but also pretty bland and certainly directionless. Unfortunately, any bright spot that this game shines is just dwarfed, not only by its many faults, but by its many superior contemporaries like Ratchet & Clank.
I have to say I'm not sad to see the back of this game, I couldn't even find it in myself to collect the remaining power cells, I only completed the story out of obligation. I don't believe I'll ever revisit this game, and based on what I've heard about its sequels, I'll be giving those a miss too. Trust me, if you skip this game, you won't be missing much either.
The following is a small personal gripe I have, but I'm just not a big fan of platformers or collectathons that have that really open world feel. When playing a platformer or collectathon, I prefer separated levels with a clear beginning and end point, instead of one long area. It's an issue I held with Spyro: A Hero's Tail, and it's an issue I hold here too. Open world games are great, but I just don't think I like them in this genre. Call me a traditionalist but if it worked for years for Spyro, Crash and Mario, there's no reason it can't still work here. I admire ND for trying something a little different with the open world but it's not for me.
Further to this, for a large portion of the game, Jak's only motivation to continue with his adventure is to transform Daxter back into a person - but this motivation comes crashing down for the player very quickly because the very 'person' that we're trying to help is one of the most annoying player companions to ever disgrace a video game. I mean jheeze does Daxter ever shut up?!
Sure, there are some elements of this game that I liked. Some of the minigames are pretty fun, the level design is pretty enough, but also pretty bland and certainly directionless. Unfortunately, any bright spot that this game shines is just dwarfed, not only by its many faults, but by its many superior contemporaries like Ratchet & Clank.
I have to say I'm not sad to see the back of this game, I couldn't even find it in myself to collect the remaining power cells, I only completed the story out of obligation. I don't believe I'll ever revisit this game, and based on what I've heard about its sequels, I'll be giving those a miss too. Trust me, if you skip this game, you won't be missing much either.