The
Jak and Daxter series started in 2001 with the release of the original game,
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. The developer, Naughty Dog (my favorite
developer of all time), wanted to create a game that didn’t follow the normal
one-dimensional, straight forward puzzle game that was common during that
generation. They wanted to create a game with a 3D, wide open landscape with no
load screens. They also wanted a game with an in-depth story with character
development that would create a space in our hearts for the characters where they would stay forever. They succeeded beyond
their time at doing this. If this game was released today it would still be
fun. There is so much story, and the landscapes are never ending and absolutely
GORGEOUS! There are so many different worlds in this game, and one of the
reasons that it’s my favorite of all time is the pure detail and picturesque
views of the landscapes. It was the first game, as the Guinness Book of World
Records states, to have a seamless 3D
world, and to do it with the incredible story line that went along with it is
why it is one of the most successful platform games of all time.
Jak
and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy begins with Jak turning his best friend, and
sidekick during the game, into an ottsel (a combination of an otter and a
weasel), and the two friends then venture off on a quest to find the only man
that knows enough about dark eco to switch Daxter back to a human. He lives far
to the North, and to get there you need to cross 3 areas with extremely high
temperatures. To do this you use Keira’s zoomer that uses a heat shield to
protect you from the heat. The zoomer is powered by items called power cells
that you have to collect as Jak and Daxter. You obtain these cells by doing
missions for locals and finding them on your travels. There are numerous cut
scenes during the game that really add to the story line, which was a great
touch by Naughty Dog. Throughout the game you are visited by Gol (the man that
can change Daxter back) and his “wife” Mia, and you figure out that they are
evil and plan on using dark eco to take over the world. Samos (the sage of
green eco, Keira’s father, and your guide along your journey) tells you that it
is your duty to stop Gol and Mia from whatever they are planning. Even though this man is Daxter's only hope of ever being changed back into a human, you agree because the world's safety is slightly more important. When you
finally reach Gol and Mia’s lair at the end of the game, you find out that they
kidnapped all four of the eco sages. You have to go through their lair which is
jam packed with tons of platforming obstacles and free all of the sages. Once
that is finished you have of course have to fight Gol and Mia in their giant
evil take-over-the-world-machine ALL BY YOURSELF. Once you finally destroy the
machine all will be right in the world. FOR NOW. If you collect every single
power cell in the entire game an exclusive cut scene will play at the end of
the game. Then you start over and play the game again!
Jak
2 takes a very drastic turn from the first game. Naughty Dog took a huge risk
when they developed this game to be much darker and included more violence
throughout the game. The risk they took definitely paid off. This game added a
crazy plot twist and made the game much more interesting and fun to play.
In the
opening scene, Jak, Keira, Samos, and Daxter enter the precursor ring that they
uncovered at the end of the first game. When they enter the ring, Jak and
Daxter get split up from Samos and Keira. The story follows Jak and Daxter, and
as soon as the two fall into Haven City, Jak is arrested by the Krimzon Guard, the harsh police force of the city. For the next two years Jak in injected with dark eco by Baron Praxis, the ruler
of Haven City, to try and create a super soldier that can defeat the metal
heads who are trying to take over the city. All of these experiments change Jak
into a cold and bitter character seeking revenge on the baron, and they allow him to change into Dark Jak,
an extremely strong and unstable character that you use to your fighting
advantage throughout the game. Daxter finally ends up freeing Jak from his
prison and the two begin their new adventure together. After they exit the
prison, they find and join a group called “The Underground”, whose mission it
is to overthrow Baron Praxis. Jak and Daxter go on many missions for The
Underground and other people they meet throughout Haven City, and along the way
you gain moves that Dark Jak can use. Jak also gains the use of guns, and a few
times during the game you can play as Daxter to get through tight spaces to
open for Jak. Throughout the game you are given the task of protecting this
child for no other reason than an old man says that he is extremely important
in the overthrowing of Baron Praxis. Near the end of the game the old man
mentioned before transforms into the metal head leader and kills Baron Praxis.
However, at this point the metal heads are attacking all of the locals of Haven
City so you have to go kill the metal head leader to stop the attacks. Once you
kill him you find the same portal that you came to Haven City in and you
realize that you got teleported into the future at the beginning of the game,
and it is revealed that the little boy is the younger version of Jak, which puts Jak in a never ending paradox. So the
little boy and the younger version of Samos use the portal to go back in time
to ensure that history repeats itself and Baron Praxis is still overthrown and
the metal head leader is still killed. After this, everything is fine and dandy
in the world. FOR NOW.
Jak 3 is
much more like Jak 2 than Jak 2 was like the original Jak and Daxter game,
however it is still quite different. Jak 3 is MUCH more fast paced than the slow and
tough to navigate story of Jak 2, and introduces the light eco ability which
balances the dark eco inside of Jak. The game opens with Ashelin apologizing to
Jak while she is forced to banish him to the wasteland. Daxter ends up staying
with him, and the two pass out for a while after wandering around in the
wasteland. They are then found by the leader of a hidden city in the middle of
the wasteland full of the banished people from Haven City. Your first playing
mission is to defeat warriors on the obstacle course to prove your worth to be a member
of the wasteland. Damas, the king, grants you citizenship and then sends you on
your way. You then meet Kleiver who you have to beat in a race to gain access
to your first car. As you progress through the game, the cars you can use get
better and better. During the game you do missions for a group of monks, and
during one of the missions Jak discovers the light eco that give him powers
like healing and temporary flight. During one of your wastelander missions,
Damas comes as back up and saves you. However a little while after he comes he
ends up dying, and soon after Jak realizes that Damas was his father. As you
continue through the story the monks predict that the world is close to ending
when they see an approaching star in the distance. The climax of the game is when
Erol, who is working for the Dark Makers whose ship is the incoming star,
confronts you on a Dark Maker machine and acts as the final boss battle. After
the battle, Jak and Daxter get thanked personally by the ancient precursors.
However, during the cut scene it is revealed that the precursors have been
ottsels speaking into microphones this whole time, so when Daxter thought that
being turned into an ottsel was a curse during the first game, it was really an
honor. The precursors reward Daxter by finally giving him a pair of pants and
by turning his love interest, Tess, into an ottsel as well. They reward Jak by
offering him to let him come with them on their adventures around the world and
to continue being the amazing hero. However, he declines to stay with his
friends, and everyone lives happily ever after.
So that
is pretty much the whole plot for the series. I left some unimportant things
out because I didn’t want to completely bore you, but after reading this if you
aren’t completely convinced that you have to play this series, then you’re
crazy. The end of Jak 3 had one of my favorite plot twists of all time with the
precursors being ottsels, I couldn’t close my mouth for a solid 5 minutes. But
overall, these three games offer an extremely fun and very challenging platform
game, while giving you the effect of watching a very dramatic and well
written movie with all the great cut scenes you get to watch. Naughty Dog did a
phenomenal job with this landmark series, and it would go at the top of my
recommendation list for must play games. Thank you for reading this review,
there are more reviews to come soon, so be sure to keep checking my blog for
updates.
-Brandon
