Aion (Retired)
Chuunibyou
Been playing Daxter. Originally came out way back when in 2006 on the PSP. Never played it as kid as never owned a PSP, and initially quit Jak & Daxter after Jak 2 angered me greatly. But now it's on the PS5 in 4k so why not~
Interesting to play now; so long removed from the 3D platforming/collectishit era. Jak infamously ditched platforming to be a GTA drive/shooting wannabe thing with Jak 2, and Daxter is set between 1 & 2; filling in the blanks. That said, the story is threadbare to nonexistent - Dax working as a (metal head) bug exterminator, whilst forgetting to rescue Jak - but the gameplay has aged surprisingly well. Once you get the 'bug spray gun' (reminds me of Luigi's Mansion) that doubles as a flamethrower, it becomes a lotta fun as it also triples as a hover-glide tool to stay airborne. The combat is shoddy, often limited to spraying and then mashing melee, but jump-exploring is always satisfying.
Given it was made for the PSP, cutscenes and voice acting are limited. A pity, since Daxter's never-shut-up humour is mostly muted here, bar a few interactions with a sexy walking woman that gives him gun parts he flirts with. But the level design and variety is mostly excellent: an underground train station with moving trains jump on being a highlight, plus a huge construction site, and even a few vehicle stages.
My only real complaints are the music and QTE mini-games. Not having the Crash/Jak composer is a huge loss 'ere, as his tribal jungle bongo beats and more moody dystopian driving tunes defined the main series. Daxter has more a... repetitive & forgettable U/PG13 whimsical soundtrack. And as for the mini-games, they're ALL dpad/face-button rhythm things. The mini-game dreams where Daxter cosplays as Neo from the Matrix, Indiana Jones and LotR Gandalf are... of their time but amusing. The more forced tedious hacking story stuff, less so.
Pretty good for a Jak & Daxter game not by Naughty Dog, and a nice way to end things by returning to the series' platforming roots(/Lost Frontier does not exist). It even looks quite impressive, upscaled.
Interesting to play now; so long removed from the 3D platforming/collectishit era. Jak infamously ditched platforming to be a GTA drive/shooting wannabe thing with Jak 2, and Daxter is set between 1 & 2; filling in the blanks. That said, the story is threadbare to nonexistent - Dax working as a (metal head) bug exterminator, whilst forgetting to rescue Jak - but the gameplay has aged surprisingly well. Once you get the 'bug spray gun' (reminds me of Luigi's Mansion) that doubles as a flamethrower, it becomes a lotta fun as it also triples as a hover-glide tool to stay airborne. The combat is shoddy, often limited to spraying and then mashing melee, but jump-exploring is always satisfying.
Given it was made for the PSP, cutscenes and voice acting are limited. A pity, since Daxter's never-shut-up humour is mostly muted here, bar a few interactions with a sexy walking woman that gives him gun parts he flirts with. But the level design and variety is mostly excellent: an underground train station with moving trains jump on being a highlight, plus a huge construction site, and even a few vehicle stages.
My only real complaints are the music and QTE mini-games. Not having the Crash/Jak composer is a huge loss 'ere, as his tribal jungle bongo beats and more moody dystopian driving tunes defined the main series. Daxter has more a... repetitive & forgettable U/PG13 whimsical soundtrack. And as for the mini-games, they're ALL dpad/face-button rhythm things. The mini-game dreams where Daxter cosplays as Neo from the Matrix, Indiana Jones and LotR Gandalf are... of their time but amusing. The more forced tedious hacking story stuff, less so.
Pretty good for a Jak & Daxter game not by Naughty Dog, and a nice way to end things by returning to the series' platforming roots
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