I just replayed this on the unofficial PC port after not having touched in in several years due to lacking the relevant consoles, and I gotta say: it still rules.
By today's standards, it's still a really, really good platformer. The movement isn't quite as snappy as some really great modern platformers (I beat Psychonauts 2 right before playing this, and the contrast between the movement was very apparent) but it still controls well and feels really good to play. The fact that movement is slightly slower really works for this game, which isn't about precise kineticism the way other platformers are. I know it was problematic for others, but I love that the game lets you figured out how to string moves (double jump + spin for extra air, dash + roll + jump for distance and air, etc) together on your own, without tutorializing.
And the world and characters look GREAT; the style has aged really well, and the environments are still gorgeous to traverse, even at higher resolutions. Spider Caves and Sandover are my favourites from an aesthetic standpoint. The animations on the characters are great and expressive and really fun, especially the squash and stretch that Daxter and Jak experience during combat and movement. I'm not one of those "realism in games is bad!" people, but it really had me aching for less super-polished hyper-realism games. It's just a really, really pretty game that's aged really, really well.
The voice work is also wonderful; shout out to Max Casella as Daxter especially, who's performance is so so so expressive and unique and fun. And the music is wonderful as well!
Putting it in the context of when it was made, the game REALLY shines. It was one of, if not the first games ever made, let alone an open-world 3d platformer, that lacked any kind of loading screens, for example. There ARE issues with the game, obviously; the movement could be snappier, as I mentioned. If you're looking for an ultra-challenging collectathon, this is not that. And the writing shows its age in a few uncomfortable ways, especially with how Daxter treats Keira (and how there are multiple male models with distinct body types but all but one female character has the same body model). But despite all that, the game plays really wonderfully, the characters are a lot of fun, and it's still one of my favourites. Every platformer fan should play it.
Also Maia please call me.
By today's standards, it's still a really, really good platformer. The movement isn't quite as snappy as some really great modern platformers (I beat Psychonauts 2 right before playing this, and the contrast between the movement was very apparent) but it still controls well and feels really good to play. The fact that movement is slightly slower really works for this game, which isn't about precise kineticism the way other platformers are. I know it was problematic for others, but I love that the game lets you figured out how to string moves (double jump + spin for extra air, dash + roll + jump for distance and air, etc) together on your own, without tutorializing.
And the world and characters look GREAT; the style has aged really well, and the environments are still gorgeous to traverse, even at higher resolutions. Spider Caves and Sandover are my favourites from an aesthetic standpoint. The animations on the characters are great and expressive and really fun, especially the squash and stretch that Daxter and Jak experience during combat and movement. I'm not one of those "realism in games is bad!" people, but it really had me aching for less super-polished hyper-realism games. It's just a really, really pretty game that's aged really, really well.
The voice work is also wonderful; shout out to Max Casella as Daxter especially, who's performance is so so so expressive and unique and fun. And the music is wonderful as well!
Putting it in the context of when it was made, the game REALLY shines. It was one of, if not the first games ever made, let alone an open-world 3d platformer, that lacked any kind of loading screens, for example. There ARE issues with the game, obviously; the movement could be snappier, as I mentioned. If you're looking for an ultra-challenging collectathon, this is not that. And the writing shows its age in a few uncomfortable ways, especially with how Daxter treats Keira (and how there are multiple male models with distinct body types but all but one female character has the same body model). But despite all that, the game plays really wonderfully, the characters are a lot of fun, and it's still one of my favourites. Every platformer fan should play it.
Also Maia please call me.