A pretty great 3D platformer. I appreciate how each level has a consistent list of tasks to complete, such as defeating bosses, winning a time trial, and collecting coins. You never have to second guess what you should be looking for in each stage. Each group of three levels follow a certain theme, such as Suburbs and Highrise Apartments, and each level manages to stand out thanks to some good landmarks and set pieces. The music is especially good, with each track fitting each level perfectly. Even the bosses, while simple, often force you to mix up your strategy.

My biggest gripe is with the verticality of these levels. About half the levels have some kind of large structure you need to climb, and while the game will occasionally give you a shortcut to the top, they're not guaranteed. I would often find myself overshooting poles or walking off platforms because of how slippery and floaty Buzz is to control. You don't lose a life when falling, but that's only because the real penalty is having to climb back up again. The two City Levels are especially brutal with this, and I imagine I'll rush through those two on future playthroughs.

A cute premise for a Daxter spinoff. It was great to see a lighter side to Haven City. The ability to use different types of bug spray to platform around was a lot of fun, and the levels stayed varied all the way to the end. Using the Dream Minigames as a way to earn upgrades was a great touch.

The game makes a lot of strange and distracting decisions with its story. Daxter accepts the job of exterminator without much thought, and the role is treated with a strange amount of importance. Despite wanting to rescue Jak, Daxter ends up meandering around Haven City doing random odd jobs until he stumbles upon a way to rescue his friend. There's little urgency for most of the game.

The new characters don't do much to fix this issue. Daxter doesn't form any chemistry with his clients or coworkers because there are rarely any cutscenes where they interact. Some characters end up feeling completely pointless, only there to offer an item and vanish. It almost feels like some characters had a bigger role that ended up getting cut.

This game has a unique gameplay style where you switch between dashing around and firing projectiles. Using a dash will reload your ammo by one, and firing projectiles will provide some extra lift, which gives players more options when exploring stages. When this central mechanic works, it works very well. There are many satisfying platforming challenges where the player must carefully balance dashing and attacking.

The game is a precision platforming, and while fun, the way this genre is implemented has a few issues. Getting hit once sets you back to a checkpoint, and the levels in this game will place checkpoints fairly sporadically. There will be fun platforming challenges that I have trouble enjoying because it takes 30 seconds just to get back to where I failed. The right stick can be used to look up and down to see what lies ahead, but this is difficult to do when you're dashing across bottomless pits. I've had a number of times where I failed because a hazard I couldn't see caught me off guard. The game can fluctuate between fun & challenging and cheap & frustrating. Fortunately, the game never feels impossible, and difficulty options help alleviate some of these issues.