1. #1
    Mechagnome Nekrotix's Avatar
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    Angry My thoughts on Jak 2 (RANT)

    Jak and Daxter. A platformer with a simple goal, fun levels, and bright and colorful characters and comedy to keep the game fun. Jak 2. A game where the comedy doesn't make up for how different it is to Jak and Daxter. Alright, I'm fine with change, but this is taking it way too far. At first, the game seemed fine. Then Jak turned into a Vampire. Okay, so he's not a Vampire, but he looks like one. Actually, his named is Dark Jak. Yeah. He sounds like a hero to me. Due to Dark Eco being pumped into him, he is now a beast. Or is he? Actually, he oh-so convieniently has the power to control it. Bull. Shit. In the first game, we know about Gol and Maia, two people who, presumably, got Dark Eco pumped into them, in one way or another. They became lunatics. But when Jak does the same exact thing, he's alright. Dark Eco, i remind you, also turned Daxter into an Ottsel. So, why didn't Jak get turned into an Ottsel? Maybe because he was given Concentrated Dark Eco. But that doesn't excuse the fact that it just seems WAAAY too convienient that Jak has been exposed to Dark Eco MULTIPLE TIMES in his previous journey, but NOW it gives him superpowers. Also, Dark Eco, aside from Green Eco, is the ONLY OTHER ECO YOU SEE IN THE GAME. EVER. No Red Power Eco, no Yellow Fireball Eco, not even BLUE ECO. No power cells, either. That's a WHOLE 'nother story. Allow me to explain. In the first game, Power Cells helped you progress through the game, much like the Stars in Super Mario 64. But now, they don't even exist. Now, Precursor Orbs take the place of them, and they, in fact, don't help you at all. In any way. They are just to buy "Extras". In other words, USELESS. Metal Head's are more valuable, they can give Dark Jak more powers, which can be pretty cool. But, still, I prefer Jak and Daxter's Puzzles over Jak 2's "Shoot them and you win" style. That's another thing I want to get into, but right now, lets mozy onto the Story and Characters. Gameplay will be saved for later. Jak, having Guns, having the ability to speak (For no explained reason.) and practically able to fend for himself, you begin to remember something. Daxter is now useless! Daxter was one of my favorite characters, and he went from sidekick to comic relief. Yes, his jokes are funny, but now he has barely any time to bring them up. When Jak was mute, he talked for Jak, in a sense. But now, he's just sort of... there. For no reason other then he's your friend. Most of the time, he's useless. Then we have Keira. Not saying she wasn't in the last game, but she's sort of just there for Eyecandy. Same with the other Female. I forget her name, and I don't really want to go look it up. Keira does sometime make some inventions, but that's not until way into the game, and I didn't want to do that. Jak is just... you know what, I already said it, he's a fucking renegade, the subtitles of the game say it. He's not much of a hero anymore. Lets move on to Gameplay. This is gonna be fun.
    Jak and Daxter was a Platformer. Jak 2 is a Shooter. With the WORST. FUCKING. CONTROLS. Alright, you remember that Zoomer you went on 3 times in Jak and Daxter? Remember how annoying those were? Well, now you have to use them to get ANYWHERE YOU WANT TO GO. There are two different flight altitudes, high and low. No middle. Imagine how annoying this is. Want to risk hitting other cars and are forced to run from the Krimson Gaurd, hit pedestrians on the lower altitude and have the same consequences, or go super slow to not get caught by the Krimzon Gaurd, defeating the purpose of being on a Zoomer? It's a battle you cannot win. Best idea is just to walk, it's slow as fuck, but at least you can get to your destination without having to worry about any Krimzon Gaurd. The first two levels are great, though. It is JUST like Jak and Daxter. But it's just false hope, for after those two, it just goes downhill from there. The Tank Stage was HELL. You get the Point of View from the tank (Because that's not difficult at all.) and you have to awkwardly run and jump across narrow passages without falling or getting hit by obstacles (Just pile on to the shit we have to deal with.) It took me so long to get past that part. Then... then you get to the NEXT stage. I gave up right on that part. You have to get on a specific Zoomer, I remind you it has terrible controls, get to this place that's extremely far away within a certain time, I remind you that you have to go slow in order not to get caught by the Krimzon Gaurd, but like it matters, since they're gonna come anyway, but on top of all that, not destroy your Zoomer. So, what you're hearing is, go slow but fast in a crowded area where, if you go fast, you're going to die, and you have to get there within a certain time. There's also a Krimzon Gaurd Blockade, where you have to switch Altitudes to get past, but I never make it. They have fucking GUNS attatched to their Zoomers, you get NOTHING! I decided that was the point I gave up on the game. I replayed Jak and Daxter, and wondered... why did they decide to take such a grand game, and destroy it? I don't like Jak 3, 4 or X any better, before you ask.
    What do you think, do you think Jak 2 was a worthy sequel? Because I made it blatantly clear I do not. Tell me what you think. I'd love to hear.

  2. #2
    Banned Lazuli's Avatar
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    No one is going to read it unless you tidy up that wall of text with paragraphs.

  3. #3
    Over 9000! Poppincaps's Avatar
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    First of all, do you know what a paragraph is? It makes it extremely hard to read what you write when it's just a huge block of text.

    Now, to your point, the game does have the different ecos involved. Except they are incorporated into the weapons. 2nd Jak doesn't get effected by the Dark Eco, because he is Mar. Basically they explain it all in Jak 3, so yeah. Jak 2 still has alot of platforming, if fact some of it is more difficult than in Jak and Daxter. Also, I don't think Jak was ever mute, I just think he was quiet. In Jak 2 and 3 he's still quiet, but he has more reason to talk since you interact with people more. Daxter also has several missions where you play as him, and he also still speaks for Jak in a way, just not as much as before.

    The controls for the zoomers are fine, I just think you suck at driving. As for having guns attached to their zoomers, you do realize you can shoot while you're on your zoomer right? Jak 2 is basically like GTA with platforming elements. I think it was a fun game and I like the changes they made to the gameplay, but I personally think Jak 3 is the best. Not to mention that the story and characters in Jak 2 and 3 are much improved from Jak and Daxter.

  4. #4
    Basically what Shootandkill said. Jak 2 and 3 were both fantastic games. They were different from the original, no doubt, but still fantastic in their own right.

  5. #5
    I had so much fun playing that game when I was younger. Good times.

  6. #6
    Titan Al Gorefiend's Avatar
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    I played the hell out of Jak and Daxter. I saw commercials for the second one where he's strapped to a platform and tortured. It made me not want to play it :c

    Imagine Mario getting tortured, beaten and left to die and he turns in to "NegaMario" with guns, cigarettes and tattoos. THAT is what they did to Jak and Daxter, its like Naughty Dog hired entirely new writers.

  7. #7
    A bit late to the punch to complain about a series that's dead and baried.

    I've always liked the Jak cames, save for the final frontier one but that's not a Jak game...

    Sure, it's sort of strange how big of a leap they took between the first and second games, but I still enjoy them either way. There's still plenty of platforming and the humor was even better. As for Jak being a mute... When you first meet Torn, Daxter does comment with, "Maybe he's a mute. Like you used to be." That could just be Daxter making a joke, or he is making a point. Though I do remember in Jak and Daxter Jak would grunt and scream whenever he got hurt and fell down cliffs. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think mutes can scream.

    Only things that really bother me about the series is the plot of the third game. Jak turning into Mar doesn't really make much sense, (him being Damos' son does but being the creator of Haven City etc. doesn't) I suppose they could have explained it more but since there was never a real follow up to the third game, I guess we won't know. Or how Errol somehow turns into a robot for no apparent reason, that's never explained. It was also a glaring issue with me when they apparently dropped Kira as Jak's love interest for Ashlin seemingly out of nowhere. I think they changed her VA in the third game, so maybe they didn't want to use her to call attention to it, but that's still awful.
    I AM the world's first Shadow Mage.

  8. #8
    The Lightbringer barackopala's Avatar
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    My thoughts on Duke Nukem 3D... liked 2D more, but the game is already old, no one cares about my opinion and it's totally biased due to me not being able to separate gameplay.


    PS: please for the love of god l2paragraph.

  9. #9
    Oh man, reading this takes me all the way back.

  10. #10
    The Lightbringer Razael's Avatar
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    Wall of text slams Mirve. Critical Hit. It's super effective.

  11. #11
    New Kid Zaelsino's Avatar
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    I actually loved Jak 2 and 3. Jak 1 was a great game in its own right, but without the nostalgia factor it would be a pretty straightforward two hour time sink. Jak 2 improved on it in nearly every area (story included) imo.

    Gol and Maia had a slightly more memorable boss fight than Kor though. Or Cyber Errol.

    And come on, who didn't laugh during the Precursor reveal in the third one. Poor Veger. >.<

  12. #12
    I think a lot of it was excuses for the sake of new game mechanics. They wanted dark/light side jak with special powers, they bent the plot until it worked.

    It definitely plays very different from the first game, I never really got used to it and didn't play the ones after it.

    I'm a Ratchet & Clank kind of guy. Over the games they gradually refined the controls, rather than scrap them entirely.
    #2: Man this strafing is awesome for aiming, but I end up holding it down almost constantly. I wish there was a toggle for this...
    #3: wish granted!
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  13. #13
    Brewmaster Newbryn's Avatar
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    Jak 2 was an amazing game best in the series imo all the changes only made the game better, platforming could be hard as hell at times but seriously fun, this is probably the first time I've heard someone say anything negative about it.
    Claymore is Epic again, eat it priscilla fanboys.

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