Poll of the Day > It's a real shame Jak and Daxter never got a follow up series

(+) Yeah! (+)

We got two awesome games and Jak 2, and apparently that was enough. Now Naughty Dog just makes and remakes The Last of Us.

I liked Jak 2 still

Idk, they basically saw GTA3 and Ratchet and Clank were more popular than their game, so they tried to ape both for 2 and didnt really do either well.

papercup posted...

Naughty Dog just makes and remakes The Last of Us

That sounds depressing.

Let's be honest. All three main Jak games were awesome. Sure, there are criticisms you can say against all three entries, but overall, each of them is a very good game.

Jak 1 - too short, and some of the dialogue / story was a bit too childish.
Jak 2 - too hard, and some of the ideas felt like they weren't fully fleshed out enough.
Jak 3 - definitely balance issues with some of the weapons / abilities, and many people didn't like the direction the story went.

But I do 100% agree with the TC on one thing though. Its a shame they never got a real sequel, but at this point, it's far too late.

papercup posted...

Idk, they basically saw GTA3 and Ratchet and Clank were more popular than their game, so they tried to ape both for 2 and didnt really do either well.

Honestly, this.

Jak and Daxter was the most quixotic and disorganized series I think I've ever played. Which is not to say it was bad, it was just... chaotic?

Like, the first game was a competent collectathon 3D platformer in the Banjo Kazooie/Mario 64/Spyro vein. OK, cool - I didn't think it was amazing, but it was good enough to hook me and have me yearning for more. Then the sequel came along and they said, "Nope, fuck that noise, we makin' PG-13 GTA3 now!". I found the sudden tonal shift to be both jarring and not well handled (Jak going from a heroic mute to an edgelord was just... so bad). It really felt like Naughty Dog wanted to make a more mature title rather than a Jak and Daxter sequel, so they just put the J&D skin overtop of the game they actually wanted to make and it just... didn't work. Like, if you want to do a GTA-style open world game, fine, but make a new IP for it in that case. Again, the game itself was competent and I had a reasonable amount of fun playing it, but it was just a weird title overall.

I don't remember much of the third game. I recall it being kind of bland and not really delivering on any of the story hooks the previous games had set up (and the truth behind the Precursors was the most random-ass shit I think I've ever seen out of a game plot that was still taking itself mostly seriously). It kind of killed any lingering interest I had in the series and I have no desire to ever go back to it again.

darkknight109 posted...

Honestly, this.

Jak and Daxter was the most quixotic and disorganized series I think I've ever played. Which is not to say it was bad, it was just... chaotic?

Like, the first game was a competent collectathon 3D platformer in the Banjo Kazooie/Mario 64/Spyro vein. OK, cool - I didn't think it was amazing, but it was good enough to hook me and have me yearning for more. Then the sequel came along and they said, "Nope, fuck that noise, we makin' PG-13 GTA3 now!". I found the sudden tonal shift to be both jarring and not well handled (Jak going from a heroic mute to an edgelord was just... so bad). It really felt like Naughty Dog wanted to make a more mature title rather than a Jak and Daxter sequel, so they just put the J&D skin overtop of the game they actually wanted to make and it just... didn't work. Like, if you want to do a GTA-style open world game, fine, but make a new IP for it in that case. Again, the game itself was competent and I had a reasonable amount of fun playing it, but it was just a weird title overall.

I don't remember much of the third game. I recall it being kind of bland and not really delivering on any of the story hooks the previous games had set up (and the truth behind the Precursors was the most random-ass shit I think I've ever seen out of a game plot that was still taking itself mostly seriously). It kind of killed any lingering interest I had in the series and I have no desire to ever go back to it again.

I think one of the things I like the most about the Jak series is that regardless of the fact that some of the dialogue was cringy and edgerlord-ish, at the end of the day, it had a very interesting, engaging, and dare I say unique story. One of the biggest problems with the first game is that the story was pretty bland and basic. Not a ton going on.

But especially for early-mid lifecycle PS2 games, Jak 2 and Jak 3 had well-written stories with fantastically animated cutscenes compared to most anything else at the time, especially platform games. On top of that, I found the gameplay and missions of the 2nd and 3rd games more fun and varied than the first one.

So while I can get that you may have preferred the style of the first game, I feel like you're being a little bit too harsh on dismissing the other two just based off of the fact that you preferred the way the first game was presented.

They're all good games except Lost Frontier

Metalsonic66 posted...

They're all good games except Lost Frontier

I dont even know what that is :0

At least they got a Kart Racer, unlike Uncharted

Zareth posted...

At least they got a Kart Racer, unlike Uncharted

Unkarted

it was a pretty mid series tbh

I loved Jak but the last of us part ii is my favorite game of all time

Jak X was superb, I would play a remaster/remake/sequel to that

never played it much but my cousin loved it. pretty surprising they didn't keep it going.

ReturnOfFa posted...

never played it much but my cousin loved it. pretty surprising they didn't keep it going.

when naughty dog started working on uncharted 3, they split the team in two. one dev team worked on Uncharted 3 while the other started working on a new project that ended up becoming the last of us. but before they decided on tlou, they originally considered a new jak game. some concept art was released years later and looks pretty wild:
https://www.vg247.com/jak-and-daxter-4-concept-art-jak-4

Jak 2 would have been fine if more missions had checkpoints imo, I know that sewer level and the escort mission after you get the gun are kinda infamous for making people rage.

papercup posted...

I dont even know what that is :0

For the best

I prefer the original, but had fun with most of the games. 2 had terrible difficulty balance as its primary issue, 3 fixed the problems 2 had, and X suffers from being a genre I dislike and having a memory card corruption issue. Daxter was great, and I even enjoyed the other PSP game.

I remember Jak 2 getting incredible reviews (with some calling it the best game ever made) while Jak 3 reviews were kind of mid, despite it fixing literally all of the previous games few (glaring) issues

GameReviews posted...

But I do 100% agree with the TC on one thing though. Its a shame they never got a real sequel, but at this point, it's far too late.

It might be way past due, but its technically never too late to bring the series back with a new 3D platformer with modern graphics. I can see it happening some day. Look at what happened with Crash 4. And there is a Jak and Daxter 4 on PSP. I only realized this game exists in the last few years myself......

papercup posted...

I dont even know what that is :0

Its basically Jak 4, on PSP.

EventualDecline posted...

It might be way past due, but its technically never too late to bring the series back with a new 3D platformer with modern graphics. I can see it happening some day. Look at what happened with Crash 4. And there is a Jak and Daxter 4 on PSP. I only realized this game exists in the last few years myself......

I know it's technically never too late, but Jak has actually been on hiatus longer than Crash has at this point. Crash's last mainline game before the most recent one was in 2008 I think, while Jak hasn't had one since 2004.

Edit: I guess they had Lost Frontier in 2009, but that's still 14+ years since Jak has had ANY new releases, still longer than Crash was on hiatus.

GameReviews posted...

So while I can get that you may have preferred the style of the first game, I feel like you're being a little bit too harsh on dismissing the other two just based off of the fact that you preferred the way the first game was presented.

Where did I say I preferred the first game?

Honestly, I felt the first two fit comfortably into "good but not great", while the third was "decent". I don't really have a favourite amongst them.

About the only thing I'll note for the first game is at least the visuals matched the tone of the game, whereas they felt horribly out of place for the "darker" story of the second and third games.

in their defense movies are a little easier to make.

Nade_Duck posted...

in their defense movies are a little easier to make.

do you think that it was easier to make tlou 1&2 than Jak 1-3?

probably was since the technology allows for easier things than it did back then

oh thats why game development takes so long now, because its easier

trivialbeing posted...

it was a pretty mid series tbh

Yeah. Same thoughts here. This is one of those series where the first game was the best. Open world platforming that felt similar to the last generation of games. I liked the edgier tone of Jak II. However, the difficulty is what kills it and some of the side quests. Jak 3 handled the difficulty a little better, but still had some rough parts. The racing game had its moments, but uneven difficulty the controls being a slog.

DirtBasedSoap posted...

do you think that it was easier to make tlou 1&2 than Jak 1-3?

He's probably trolling and has not played the games he calls "movies".

he hates tlou

DirtBasedSoap posted...

he hates tlou

That does not surprise me considering what he plays. Granted, I find them to be overrated titles too, but The Last of Us 1 and 2 is serviceable enough.

DirtBasedSoap posted...

oh thats why game development takes so long now, because its easier

yes, actually

it being easier is why games are bigger than ever before

making the last of us in 2001 would have been impossible, while making ps2 jak 1 would be easy as fuck now

i didn't even say it was bad, not my fault naughty dog only makes movies with occasional bits of generic gameplay thrown in anymore. so defensive.

also what shrek said.

sull56ivan2010 posted...

That does not surprise me considering what he plays. Granted, I find them to be overrated titles too, but The Last of Us 1 and 2 is serviceable enough.

i play wow but you'll never see me call it a good game anymore, i'm just capable of being honest.

i don't even know who you are though, have we ever even interacted?

i've seen his username around for a few years here

but also why would you play a game you didn't like anymore nade

clearly you must still like it

there's a couple things i could say for praise about it but mostly i find it more amusing to rag on it.

the enemy design was kinda cool.

also you watch a movie, you don't play it

wish I got to play Jak 3.

Loved Jak and Daxter so much. but didnt like Jak 2 much at all, the difficulty infuriated me, I think I might snapped my ps2 disc at in half at some point :/

Jake series was great up until Jak X. Wish we'd gotten a good, HD sequel.

I finished Jak and Daxter 100% yesterday and started Jak 2 today. I went in with an open mind. I played for about 2 hours, got about 20% through, got to a mission where I had to get in a turret and shoot green things on the walls. I died and had to start over the entire mission. I turned the game off and have no desire to continue. I got filtered as the kids say. The city has such horseshit design, random bullshit getting in your way and having to make tight 90 degree turns in vehicles that cant turn like that. The constant back and forth across the city, seeing the same boring ass red light district no less than 8 times, and theres no way to avoid going through it. The shitty driving through purple rings side missions. The edgelord writing and characters. The boring, out of place gunplay. The dull, drab color scheme. And worst of all, it was just boring. I didnt like it.

The worst is having to race across the city in under a minute and if you crash once youre screwed.

I swear they made me do that so many times, I never had time to enjoy the city

papercup posted...

I finished Jak and Daxter 100% yesterday and started Jak 2 today. I went in with an open mind. I played for about 2 hours, got about 20% through, got to a mission where I had to get in a turret and shoot green things on the walls. I died and had to start over the entire mission. I turned the game off and have no desire to continue. I got filtered as the kids say. The city has such horseshit design, random bullshit getting in your way and having to make tight 90 degree turns in vehicles that cant turn like that. The constant back and forth across the city, seeing the same boring ass red light district no less than 8 times, and theres no way to avoid going through it. The shitty driving through purple rings side missions. The edgelord writing and characters. The boring, out of place gunplay. The dull, drab color scheme. And worst of all, it was just boring. I didnt like it.

just skip to Jak 3, its the best one. Jak II is the worst game naughty dog has made since their pre-Crash Bandicoot era

Yeah I remember really liking Jak 3, I just might start it tomorrow.

If you don't sign up for Jak 2 to enjoy the edge lord characters, what are you even doing with your life?

2000s edge was the best edge. Endless source of laughter!

DirtBasedSoap posted...

just skip to Jak 3, its the best one. Jak II is the worst game naughty dog has made since their pre-Crash Bandicoot era

I find it funny that I always preferred Jak 3, but the hardcore fans always would claim Jak 2 was the much better game.

Though I've grown to appreciate both of them. I do appreciate the difficulty of Jak 2. After I've played both of them multiple times, its a welcome challenge.

But I still think 3 is overall better.