I had this game as a child, I 100%'d this game as a child, multiple times over. It became something of an every-other-year ritual, having played it and platinumed every subsequent HD remaster or re-release, and they're all perfectly fine versions, but my most recent replay was on original hardware, using a cheap crappy scaler box. I 100%'d the game in two sessions, and this game's hold on me has never wavered in almost 22 years.
Is it as technically impressive as other first-party platformers for the PS2 like the Ratchet or Sly series, or even its two sequels? Certainly not. Does it have an amazing storyline? Not particularly, but it's a good story told with just the right amount of levity to make it feel like a great start to Jak's overall journey through the main trilogy, as well as a great standalone tale.
I understand it's by no means a perfect game and all, but it's still a meaningful game to me, and I can excuse some issues, like its nature as a collectathon meaning you can very easily find yourself trawling a single level multiple times over for a single fucking precursor orb, purely because of that.
Is it as technically impressive as other first-party platformers for the PS2 like the Ratchet or Sly series, or even its two sequels? Certainly not. Does it have an amazing storyline? Not particularly, but it's a good story told with just the right amount of levity to make it feel like a great start to Jak's overall journey through the main trilogy, as well as a great standalone tale.
I understand it's by no means a perfect game and all, but it's still a meaningful game to me, and I can excuse some issues, like its nature as a collectathon meaning you can very easily find yourself trawling a single level multiple times over for a single fucking precursor orb, purely because of that.