Jak and Daxter originally released back in 2001, and was developed by Naughty Dog. A HD port of the Jak and Daxter trilogy was released in 2012.
Jak and Daxter is one of my favourite games ever. I loved it way back when I first played it, and was ecstatic when a HD version was coming to PS3. Daxter is one of my favourite video game characters of all time, and he's been my gamer picture on PS ever since I made my account. I never actually finished it back on PS2, but have made amends (more than a few times) on the PS3 version.
Set in a fictional world, were the human-like creatures have elongated ears. A bright and colourful world, full of unique and interesting areas. Jak, a mute, and his buddy Daxter, the loudmouth, embark on a dangerous journey to Misty Island. A creepy part of the world, filled with the dangerous dark eco. They see the two villains of the game, Gol Acheron and his sister, Maia. The two are ordering Lurkers to gather dark eco, the duo now spooked about the dangerous are caught by a lurker. Jak attacks it with an explosive barrel, shooting Jak back into Daxter, and knocking Daxter into a pool of dark eco. Daxter is shot back up and completely transformed into an otter-like creature. The two escape back home to Sandover Village, to inform Samos, the Sage of green eco, of the evil plans of the brother and sister. He is furious with the duo and informs them only the brother and sister can reverse Daxter's transformation.
The main objective is to collect power cells. There are 101 in the game and they will keep you progressing through the story. There are lots of ways to earn them; trade them for precursor orbs, defeating bosses, doing tasks for the locals, all sorts. As well as power cells, there are scout flies to collect. There are seven in each location, and collecting them all grants a power cell. I found the collecting addicting, it's the overall objective of the game, but it's not tiresome as you do so many different things to earn power cells.
The locations are wonderful and you can't wait to see where you're taken next. From sandy beaches to creepy jungles, snowy mountains to dark caves, and even a return to Misty Island. The creatures are unique too, they change during each location. The combat is simple, you have a sliding punch and a spin attack. You can also spin attack in the air, and do a double fist downward punch from the air. There's platforming too, and you and even crouch and do spinning rolls to reach farther. You can swim, but don't swim to far out or you'll be eaten by the terrifying lurker shark!
There are vehicle parts too, most are just reaching the end of the path, some hazards like driving over lava and getting to the end before you overheat. There's an area where you have free reign to drive around, you can also do a time trial race and collecting rings before time runs out. There's many puzzles too, but you'll usually be awarded with a power cell. Watching the animation of Jak and Daxter being awarded their power cell is satisfying and always a joy to watch. There's different eco types too which are sort of power ups. Dark eco is hazardous to you, green eco gives life, blue eco gives you a speed boost, red eco gives more strength and yellow eco gives you a projectile to shoot.
The music, graphics, characters and voice acting are amazing. The menu music is some of favourite. The music changes and fits every area you go to, they all have their own music. Stunning visuals made even better in HD. You just want to explore every new area and appreciate the well designed levels. The characters were fun and quirky, everyone was interesting, just a shame most of the side characters hardly featured. The voice acting was great Daxter is by far the strongest, as is his personality. All the side characters were well acted too, no character stood out as week.
Almost since the beginning of my gaming days, Jak and Daxter has been one of my favourite games ever. It still is 17 years after its release. The strange thing is I've hardly played Jak 2 and 3, even after how much I love the first. I've always been saving them because of my love for the series, I like knowing I've got two whole games to play. Maybe it's time... Naughty Dog, nobody does it better than you guys.
9.3/10
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