• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

LTTP: Jak 2 (WTF happened)

jsnepo

jsnepo

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,648
So I never got to play much of the three PS2 first party mascot platformers except for the first Sly game. It was only last week that I finished the first R&C game and currently going through J&D. I really love J&D so far. The egg collecting is fun and reminds me so much of Banjo and Kazooie. Anyway I was curious to see what Jak 2 and heard it was kind of an open world game and decided to play it along J&D but my God. What happened? It's tonally different. Jak speaks now and the firat thing I heard him say is he is going to kill. I played a few missions and I am disappointed. None of the charm of the first game is here. Should I continue? Am I going to be disappointed throughout the game?
 
Dreamboum

Dreamboum

Member
Oct 28, 2017
22,890
GTA happened. This is a shameless lifting from it, they abandoned every artistic vision to chase after GTA
 
Phil32

Phil32

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,570
It's edgy for the sake of being edgy, and it killed the Jak series for me and made me hesitant of all future Naughty Dog games for a good decade.
 
InspectaDekka

InspectaDekka

Banned
Jan 4, 2019
1,820
Jak and Daxter was an exciting glimpse of what 3D platforming could become but of course GTA III happened.

Really long for an evolution of Jak and Daxter's style of 3D level design. Something more open world but with way more platforming involved.
 
Gurgelhals

Gurgelhals

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,712
Somwhere in the early noughties the videogame industry hit puberty and started to smolder with generic rage, that's what happened.
 
Akumatica

Akumatica

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,748
I loved the 1st game, but I can't stand nearly any part of this game. The city, new Jak, the gameplay etc.. are all awful in my opinion. Coming off the high's of Crash Team Racing and Jak & Daxter, Jak 2 was a huge let down for me. Jak 3 is much better.
 
StrappingYoungLance

StrappingYoungLance

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,422
Melbourne, Australia
Ashlette said:
Wait till you get to
the escape from the docks
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Shudder
Akumatica said:
I loved the 1st game, but I can't stand nearly any part of this game. The city, new Jak, the gameplay etc.. are all awful in my opinion. Coming off the high's of Crash Team Racing and Jak & Daxter, Jak 2 was a huge let down for me. Jak 3 is much better.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Jak 3 is definitely an improvement, the vehicles aren't nearly as annoying.
 
OP
OP
jsnepo

jsnepo

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,648
So far this feels like how Insomniac Games chased after the COD crowd with Resistance 2.
 
DJ_Lae

DJ_Lae

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,901
Edmonton
It was another victim of the desire at the time to make every character a badass and give them an angry Edge.

I do give Jak 2 credit for having the absolute worst open-world city design of any game. It's incredible how terrible it is, as that festering pile of shit infects the entire experience and ruins the otherwise okay platforming parts.
 
Durden

Durden

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
12,511
Jak 2 was great. It's just that it's pretty much the start of a completely new series.
 
OP
OP
jsnepo

jsnepo

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,648
Akumatica said:
I loved the 1st game, but I can't stand nearly any part of this game. The city, new Jak, the gameplay etc.. are all awful in my opinion. Coming off the high's of Crash Team Racing and Jak & Daxter, Jak 2 was a huge let down for me. Jak 3 is much better.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
So Jak 3 is much closer to J&D than Jak 2? I'm looking at the boxart and it kinda looks lie Mad Max to me.
 
ckareset

ckareset

Attempted to circumvent ban with an alt account
Banned
Feb 2, 2018
4,977
What's with the revisionist history on this. Jak 1 is a middling platformer with nothing of note in the platforming genre. The series wouldnt be anything without Jak 2
 
Velocity:Design:Comfort

Velocity:Design:Comfort

Banned
Nov 23, 2017
4,302
ckareset said:
What's with the revisionist history on this. Jak 1 is a middling platformer with nothing of note in the platforming genre. The series wouldnt be anything without Jak 2
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
You have my sword with this one. J and D was not even as good as the best N64 games even if it was prettier. Jak 2 and 3 were better than the games they were inspired by and still end up having some good platforming. In fact Jak 2 is the beginning of ND trying to ape movies and it set them on this course to this day.
 
Odinsmana

Odinsmana

Member
Mar 13, 2019
2,266
BossAttack said:
I still have nightmares of this level.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It`s not the only level I have nightmares about. I really like the game, but it has some really fucked difficulty spikes

The sequence where you`re going into the prison to save your friends is probably the worst one for me, but missions like escorting the three guys through the sewers and shooting down the Hellcats are also some real fuckers

Regarding the edginess and grittier tone of the game I think this is kinda similar to Prince of Persia Warrior Within where the game hits you hard with the edge in the opening, but then it pretty quickly mellows out.
 
Brinksman

Brinksman

"This guy are sick"
Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,190
Jimnymebob

Jimnymebob

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,689
Jak II is legit one of the best platformers of that gen. It's a shame that that isn't the primary focus, but what's there is leagues better than anything on The Precursor Legacy.

Jak 3 is the worst one for me. It finally gets Jak's role as a speaking character right, but there's so much padding. It's a fantastic speedrun game though, as speedrunning means you skip like 90% of the drive a car through the wasteland stuff that takes up most of the first act of the game.
 
Kresnik

Kresnik

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,972
Jak II is my favourite in the Jak series.

When it came out, I really liked the open world - still do actually. And there's still plenty of platforming in it, it's just broken up with the Haven City sections. When you go outside and discover these big green areas with loads to explore it's just bliss.

I really like that game. Some silly difficulty spikes at time, but overall, really enjoyable.
 
Jakisthe

Jakisthe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,640
Jak 3 remains a high point for me. There was so much to do, and so much variety in the mission design, that I think that was one of the games that really prompted me into really giving serious critical thought to the idea that it could be such a thing (variety but consistency) which separates quality of games.
 
Jimnymebob

Jimnymebob

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,689
jsnepo said:
So Jak 3 is much closer to J&D than Jak 2? I'm looking at the boxart and it kinda looks lie Mad Max to me.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Absolutely not. Jak 3 is Jak II with more abilities/guns, less interesting platforming levels, a bunch of dreadful driving missions where not a single one of them is fun, and 3 different open world environments, which include one that is tiny and devoid of any real exploration, one that is just a massive, Just Cause-esque expanse of nothing, and like 50% of Jak II's map.

It also didn't help I got 3 and X at the same time, so swapping between some of the worst controlling vehicles in video games and a fantastic racing game was tough.
 
Crossing Eden

Crossing Eden

Member
Oct 26, 2017
53,494
GTA combined with a lot of IPs deciding to become edgy at the time.
ckareset said:
What's with the revisionist history on this. Jak 1 is a middling platformer with nothing of note in the platforming genre.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
You literally just posted revisionist history. At the time of release Jak 1 was incredibly notable because it was noted as one of the first instances of an open world game without overt loading screens between the meat. That was a huge accomplishment at the time. Jak 2 is way less notable because it was very obviously a take on GTA 3 with a younger target audience in mind. In fact, Jak 1 actually had higher scores than Jak 2.

Aevum said:
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Straight from the horse's mouth.
 
truly101

truly101

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
3,245
Ashlette said:
Wait till you get to
the escape from the docks
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Is that where you visit the sage or something like that and as soon as you leave, its raining bad guys everywhere? there's not too many games that sparked white hot anger and rage, but that one did. the words that came out of my mouth. they are probably still hovering over Lake Michigan today.
 
Kazooie

Kazooie

Member
Jul 17, 2019
5,063
Someone within Naughty Dog probably thought "what if we made a terrible game out of Jak & Daxter?" Though Jak II at least still has some good isolated platforming missions. Jak 3 is utter garbage though. It is a shame, because I really liked Crash 1-3 and Jak 1.
 
Aloysius

Aloysius

Member
Nov 5, 2017
891
Minneapolis, MN
As a kid I loved Jak 2 and 3. A couple years ago I decided to replay the trilogy and realized that Jak & Daxter is amazing and Jak 2 has aged pretty poorly. I still want to go back to Jak 3 and see If I like it.
 
ckareset

ckareset

Attempted to circumvent ban with an alt account
Banned
Feb 2, 2018
4,977
Crossing Eden said:
GTA combined with a lot of IPs deciding to become edgy at the time.

You literally just posted revisionist history. At the time of release Jak 1 was incredibly notable because it was noted as one of the first instances of an open world game without overt loading screens between the meat. That was a huge accomplishment at the time. Jak 2 is way less notable because it was very obviously a take on GTA 3 with a younger target audience in mind. In fact, Jak 1 actually had higher scores than Jak 2.


Straight from the horse's mouth.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This is the point Im making. When you talk about a game and it's notable for a lack of loading screens...how about the game itself? That double jump lol
 
Glass Arrows

Glass Arrows

Member
Jan 10, 2019
1,414
It was common at the time to release darker, edgier takes on series and new IP's in the same vein. When I reflect on that trend, the first one I think of Jak II and the second one is Twisted Metal Black.
 
Vex

Vex

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,213
I agree with everyone in this thread: Jak 2 was an exceptional game at the time. I am willing to admit I may have Rose tinted goggles however. But I remember being really surprised at the tonal shift of the game.

In an ERA where open world games were bees knees, I was gobbling up every minute of the game.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.