Considering how cacophonous the platforming genre can sometimes get, hardly do I ever see Jak and Daxter be praised for how quiet and serene it manages to be. Not just within its restrained use of a subdued soundtrack that rarely oversteps the game, but also in its ability to utilize the newly provided power and performance of Sony's new console to create what I can only describe as one of my favorite videogame Zen like experiences.
The non existence of intrusive loading times consists to this day one of Jak and Daxter's biggest selling points, which added to its accessible and leisurable difficulty allows for the traversal of the game from start to finish without much setback or frustration. The lack of challenge would in any other case be a contentious matter regarding the game's quality, but it ultimately matters little when it is done so effortlessly in Jak's shoes.
While not to discredit the game's colorful imaginative world and its set of creative challenges, it's Jak's movement that makes the collectathon venture so much fun. Complementing a generous moveset of both vertical and horizontal options are also number of animations and sound effects that give life and expression to Jak and his comraderie with Daxter, be it running down a hill to roll jump off a cliff or when stopping after a long stretch of running as Jak continues to run in place and the wind blows his hair, an effort that sadly even the sequels would eventually diminish.
It's tempting to group Jak and Daxter with its collectathon predecessors and analyze it within the context of being at the intersection of old and new gen iterating on a genre already being left behind, but the chill vibe accomplished by Naughty Dog warrants its place in the pantheon of 3D platformers, and even if my heart is with its sequel's identity crisis, I will always gladly spend an afternoon 100% it and zoning out to the tune of another obtained power cell. It leaves me in such a state of contendedness that I can't even hate on that god awful complenionist ending.
The non existence of intrusive loading times consists to this day one of Jak and Daxter's biggest selling points, which added to its accessible and leisurable difficulty allows for the traversal of the game from start to finish without much setback or frustration. The lack of challenge would in any other case be a contentious matter regarding the game's quality, but it ultimately matters little when it is done so effortlessly in Jak's shoes.
While not to discredit the game's colorful imaginative world and its set of creative challenges, it's Jak's movement that makes the collectathon venture so much fun. Complementing a generous moveset of both vertical and horizontal options are also number of animations and sound effects that give life and expression to Jak and his comraderie with Daxter, be it running down a hill to roll jump off a cliff or when stopping after a long stretch of running as Jak continues to run in place and the wind blows his hair, an effort that sadly even the sequels would eventually diminish.
It's tempting to group Jak and Daxter with its collectathon predecessors and analyze it within the context of being at the intersection of old and new gen iterating on a genre already being left behind, but the chill vibe accomplished by Naughty Dog warrants its place in the pantheon of 3D platformers, and even if my heart is with its sequel's identity crisis, I will always gladly spend an afternoon 100% it and zoning out to the tune of another obtained power cell. It leaves me in such a state of contendedness that I can't even hate on that god awful complenionist ending.
Reviewed on May 04, 2022
2 Comments
yeah, I love he little NPC interactions in this game, wish there was more of it, very expressive characters.
Erato_Heti
1 year ago