What I’ve been playing: Jak 2!!!
Recently I have a taken a long and fun trip down memory lane, Jak and Daxter were a huge part of my childhood and I practically jumped at the chance to shoot down some nasty metal heads and drive around the unforgiving wasteland. I would say I enjoyed a journey collecting power cells but I completed the precursor legacy last year after getting it for free with Uncharted the lost legacy. While I did enjoy my first adventure with Jak and Daxter the first game has nothing on the following games (except the lost frontier…).
When I first saw that Jak 2, Jak 3 and Jak X had finally come to PS4 I thought it was about time! These 2 played such a huge part in my growing love for gaming, every time a new Jak game came out I needed to have it, I needed to know what mischief and adventures the heroes had gotten themselves into.
So recently I completed Jak 2, and I forgot just how much I enjoyed that game! Of course I always knew I was gonna enjoy taking down the Baron and Metal Head leader all over again and quite frankly I thought it was going to be a breeze, I thought that I would jump right in and have the game completed in record time. While I do think 10 hours is quite a good finish time, it was anything but a breeze! Some of the missions had me stressing, how did I find it easy as a kid? That is a complete mystery to me. The race against Erol was always a mission I hated but I’m pretty sure I completed it in less tries as a 10 year old than as a supposed adult with plenty of gaming experience…but the struggle was a pleasant surprise for the most part, I love a challenge so needing to actually try to get through this game only added to my enjoyment.
I think my favourite thing about Jak 2 was going from the child friendly mildly violent adventure in the precursor legacy to shooting things up in Haven city, as well as hijacking vehicles and fighting against the so called authorities. It was a serious change in comparison to the first instalment of the franchise, however it was a change for the better. The game appealed to a much wider audience by adding guns and what I consider to be a better storyline. Everyone enjoys playing the badass and Jak certainly became that, the fact that he has been pumped full of dark eco giving home his darker side known as Dark Jak only adds to the awesomeness that this game oozes.
There was a bigger variety in the characters that we meet, the big bad metal head leader was certainly more intimidating that Gol and Mia, which to me is a more enjoyable and formidable foe, though once again I will say that I think Precursor Legacy is brilliant and I will always regard it as being one of the best games I ever played as a kid but while I may still enjoy it, the appeal isn’t quite as high anymore when I could be using guns in the sequels. Anyway back to the characters, there are so many more people that we meet, that affect the story. Krew, Torn, Ashlelin the baron, the shadow (a young Samos!). Then of course we have the awesome Sig who has gone on to be one of my favourite characters alongside Ashelin. They all bring something to the table in Jak 2, their existence makes sense, rather than a bunch of characters that are there for the sake of filling space. We still have Samos and Keira, our two companions from the first game and I must say the way we find Keira and Samos is quite entertaining. I have got to say though that I will forever be confused as the how Jak and Daxter didn’t figure out that the mechanic behind the curtain was Keira.
I thought the storyline for this game was really good and it flowed nicely for the most part, I did guess fairly early on as a kid that the kid in the game was gonna be Jak but there was no way I was gonna piece together the possibilities of how at such a young age, now I understand about the prospect of time travel and if this game was only released recently then I think I might have guessed the how’s as well as the what’s.
The nostalgia that I felt all throughout the adventure was more than worth the 10 hours I spent completing it. In fact I am currently half way through both Jak 3 and Jak X, both of which I absolutely love and I actually enjoy both more thank Jak 2 so as you can imagine I am currently in my element where the games I’m playing are concerned.
If you have never played a Jak and Daxter game then I’m sorry to say that you are missing out, even after all these years they are still a joy to play. If you have never played one then I would say that for £12 on PSN they are worth it, they are an enjoyable experience and as I said they helped me to fall in love with gaming, alongside Sly, Ratchet and Clank and Crash Bandicoot.
Naughty Dog truly have made some incredible games and franchises, with Jak and Daxter being their major one for the PS2 after the success they had with Crash Bandicoot on the PSone: following on from 2 of my favourite heroes they went on to create one of my favourite ever franchises. Uncharted. I wouldn’t be doing Naughty Dog justice if I didn’t mention their incredible creation that is regarded as one of the best games ever made, Last of us.
So if you have enjoyed any of these naughty dog creations but haven’t followed the elf and the ottsel then I encourage you to give them a try.
Thank you for reading, what game was it that made you fall in love with gaming?
Strange Girl Gaming 
The Jak series is my all-time favorite!!! I just finished replaying 2 and started replaying 3. 3 is my favorite but I really enjoy the whole bunch. It has been a long while since I have replayed Jak X, so I’m really looking forward to experiencing that game again. It has some of my favorite funny moments in the series and I really liked some of the unique non-traditional racing events like the drone shooting ones and freeze challenges. Have fun with the games!
LikeLiked by 2 people
It is an amazing series!! I just finished 3 and it is by far my favourite. I have just restarted Jak X, I’m not usually a fan of racing games but I enjoy that one, I agree the non-traditional events were very good. Thank you, enjoy your replays too!
LikeLike
I skipped on the first Jak and Daxter and went back and quickly rediscovered it because I thought it was really bold to go from a Super Mario 64 style game to an edgy, open world. I thought Jak 2 was rrrreeeaally hard when I played it back in 2005 and I haven’t gone back to it since (I always meant to). In the Sony trinity of platform mascot games, Jak and Daxter became my third favorite after Ratchet and Sly (I love me a good heist game). I also got the first game with The Lost Legacy and actually waited to play The Lost Legacy because I wanted to play Jak and Daxter through first.
LikeLiked by 1 person
the first Jak and Daxter was surprising experience for me when it fist cam out, the open world was amzing to me. Jak 2 was very hard, I struggled to complete recently so I have no doubt I struggled years ago too, Jak 3 was also quite difficult. if you eevr get the chance to go back to them then I highly recommend it. ah yes, I hold a lot of love for Ratchet and Sly some of my favourite games are from those 2. that’s exactly what I did, after completing Jak and Daxter I couldn’t wait to play the sequels again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, this game series keeps coming up recently! I’ve been toying with the idea of finally playing Jak 2 and 3 which I have as a part of the Jak & Daxter Trilogy on PSVita (although it is also out for PS3 and now, as you mentioned, PS4!)
J&D and Ratchet&Clank were both big parts of the PS2 days for me, that whole system had something for everyone.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is one of my all time favourite series! 2 and 3 are brilliant, I can’t recommend them enough! Ratchet and clank were a big part of my PS2 days too and sly raccoon. The PS2 I think is one of the best systems to date, as you say it has something for everyone.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think the PS2 hit that sweet point where the technology allowed bigger worlds and better graphics, so we had a lot of third-person games. There were a lot of good hack-n-slash games where with the previous console generations, you simply couldn’t have that much “stuff” happening on screen while still having it run at a steady framerate.
The PS2 had tons of horsepower for the time and did great in that regard. Dark Cloud series stands out to me!
LikeLike
Jak 2 is my favorite game of all time. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on it 🙂
I played the HD collection on PS3 when it came out, but I haven’t upgraded to PS4 yet, so I will definitely be playing it again there when I eventually get one. Glad you liked it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for reading it, it is a brilliant game 🙂 I’ve played them all on all 3 consoles, I find that I always enjoy going back to them 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
A wonderful review/retrospective! I adored the Jak and Daxter series growing up, and Jak 2 was a particular highlight. The most appealing aspect of it for me, as per any of the games, was the art design: etched into my mind are scenes such as crossing over to the palace on a dark, wet night, a few hundred feet above Haven City, or soaking in the quiet melancholy of Dead Town in sunrise. Did Jak 2, or one of the others, have a particular impact on you from that perspective?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! Still to this day I hold a strong love for this series that will never go away. Jak 2 was a huge leap forward from the first game. The art design of Jak 2 was amazing, but for me what stands out from that perspective in my mind is the was the day star in Jak 3, I loved how it grew bigger as the game progressed, I also enjoyed how the wasteland could seem so peaceful only for it to change to a near death sentence in the blink of an eye.
LikeLike
Jak 2 does seem to be tremendously more ambitious than its predecessor, as you suggested, though I love both equally because of their differing tones and structures. The points that you make about Jak 3 are interesting ones that I hadn’t really given much thought before, and highlight how impressive an achievement it is despite and regardless of releasing a mere year after Jak 2. The IGN review of it sticks in my mind for its very high level of praise, and reminds me of Naughty Dog’s long-standing ability to wow through small reinventions and reinterpretations of what has come before (a la Uncharted 2).
LikeLike