How to successfully change your E rated game to a T rated game in one easy step:
Step 1:
“I’m gonna kill praxis!”
Jak II was definitely something not a lot of people were expecting from naughty dog. How do you follow up a really quirky and silly platformer? You make it serious as fuck with guns, alcohol, and a bunch of sex references. Mario is practically pissing himself in fear right now. Basically, naughty dog were scared that a Jak sequel which was similar to the first game would not sell well, so instead of making minor changes they basically shoved Jak and his good pal daxter into a whole new world…oh and kicked daxter off the title of the franchise…until high impact came along but that’s a story for another day.
The story of Jak II takes place after the first game’s secret ending. They open this portal only to find creatures called metal heads storming their world and Jak, daxter, Samos, and Keira are forced into the portal where they are brought into haven city. The city is controlled by baron praxis, who is basically your big brother of the whole place. So as Jak, with his good pal daxter, you work with the underground to defeat praxis once and for all. On the way you’ll be joined with new characters including torn, ashelin, sig, crew, and many others. The story eventually shows you that this whole time, the city is actually the future and there are many other plot twists that are shown during the ending…but why spoil everything?
Gameplay is…probably the best and worst thing you can talk about. The gunplay is pretty good but it isn’t really the best part of the game. You get 4 weapons, the scatter gun, the blaster, the Vulcan fury, and the peace maker which is the crème de la crème of the weapons. The weapons aren’t the best and I think Jak 3 does it a lot better. The driving is also pretty annoying but feels very satisfying once you get the hang of it. The jetboard is also my favourite part of moving around. All you’ve got to do is jump up and press R2 and movement has finally peaked…can’t say that about normal skateboards. Boss fights are also not the best but are serviceable for what they are. And fuck those crimson guards…oh wait…I forgot about dark Jak. As a new ability in the game you can use dark Jak! Eh. It’s not really the best and I don’t find myself using it that much but some moves can be pretty good and it’s a decent last resort.
Jak II is definitely my favourite in the franchise. It perfectly throws you into its world and gives you some of the best gameplay I’ve experienced. And the music, oh my god the music. The music can change when you start using your weapons to a more stressed and anxious version and it flows into it really well. And let me just dedicated a moment for the best music in the entire game: haven forest. Aphex twin has nothing on this masterpiece (I’m joking I love Aphex twin and nothing can beat stone in focus). And the story is also at its peak here…how could Jak 3 improve this?
Don’t hold your breath
Best story, decent gameplay, good open world, haven forest is beautiful, “I miss pants”
Step 1:
“I’m gonna kill praxis!”
Jak II was definitely something not a lot of people were expecting from naughty dog. How do you follow up a really quirky and silly platformer? You make it serious as fuck with guns, alcohol, and a bunch of sex references. Mario is practically pissing himself in fear right now. Basically, naughty dog were scared that a Jak sequel which was similar to the first game would not sell well, so instead of making minor changes they basically shoved Jak and his good pal daxter into a whole new world…oh and kicked daxter off the title of the franchise…until high impact came along but that’s a story for another day.
The story of Jak II takes place after the first game’s secret ending. They open this portal only to find creatures called metal heads storming their world and Jak, daxter, Samos, and Keira are forced into the portal where they are brought into haven city. The city is controlled by baron praxis, who is basically your big brother of the whole place. So as Jak, with his good pal daxter, you work with the underground to defeat praxis once and for all. On the way you’ll be joined with new characters including torn, ashelin, sig, crew, and many others. The story eventually shows you that this whole time, the city is actually the future and there are many other plot twists that are shown during the ending…but why spoil everything?
Gameplay is…probably the best and worst thing you can talk about. The gunplay is pretty good but it isn’t really the best part of the game. You get 4 weapons, the scatter gun, the blaster, the Vulcan fury, and the peace maker which is the crème de la crème of the weapons. The weapons aren’t the best and I think Jak 3 does it a lot better. The driving is also pretty annoying but feels very satisfying once you get the hang of it. The jetboard is also my favourite part of moving around. All you’ve got to do is jump up and press R2 and movement has finally peaked…can’t say that about normal skateboards. Boss fights are also not the best but are serviceable for what they are. And fuck those crimson guards…oh wait…I forgot about dark Jak. As a new ability in the game you can use dark Jak! Eh. It’s not really the best and I don’t find myself using it that much but some moves can be pretty good and it’s a decent last resort.
Jak II is definitely my favourite in the franchise. It perfectly throws you into its world and gives you some of the best gameplay I’ve experienced. And the music, oh my god the music. The music can change when you start using your weapons to a more stressed and anxious version and it flows into it really well. And let me just dedicated a moment for the best music in the entire game: haven forest. Aphex twin has nothing on this masterpiece (I’m joking I love Aphex twin and nothing can beat stone in focus). And the story is also at its peak here…how could Jak 3 improve this?
Don’t hold your breath
Best story, decent gameplay, good open world, haven forest is beautiful, “I miss pants”
2 Comments
@BurningRed I can agree to an extent. I do think Jak 3’s gameplay is way too easy with the new guns and Jak 2 balances it a lot better but I’ll do a deeper (much deeper) dive into that for my Jak 3 review
BurningRed
9 months ago
Jak 2's gunplay on the other hand actually gels really well with the first game's combat system. Weapon swapping on the flaw using just the d-pad makes the whole experience really fun and each weapon has their own explicit use that is always worthwhile in the lategame. Scatter will always be good crowd control, blaster will always be a good combo finisher, vulcan will always be a good stun, and the peace maker is a nice finisher. Meanwhile, I don't see what the Jak 3 guns add beyond taking the player out of the game. The third blaster mod and the two extra Peace Maker mods are just idle weapons, and completely useless if you want to actually play the game. I appreciate them as options, but they detract more than anything to a raw gameplay experience.
Good review though.