Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

I didn’t play this game when I was a kid, I didn’t play many video games when I was a kid but the ones I did play were the usual games: EA’s The Lord of the Rings movie tie ins, Kingdom Hearts, and very seldomly I would break out and play something new. I played Jak 2 and possibly 3 before I played the Precursor Legacy and I mainly just messed around on the game and didn’t play the story….I was easy to entertain. But when I discovered this game, I rediscovered the series. There’s such a simplistic nature to this game, both from a narrative standpoint and from a gameplay standpoint, which adds to the enjoyment of the game. There’s plenty of platform-like elements to the gameplay but nowhere near as frustrating as the Crash Bandicoot series. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy takes place in a far away land and time and centers on Jak and his friend Daxter. After Daxter falls into a vat of Dark Eco and is transformed into an ottsel, Jak, Daxter, Samos the Sage, and Keira embark on a journey to revert Daxter back to his original form. Along the way, the character’s sense of urgency is increased when their quest becomes tied up in a battle against the forces of evil bent on controlling their world. Overall, the gameplay is fantastic. It’s simple and it doesn’t get too difficult. The challenges arise when the game pushes you to use eco, an elemental energy that serves as a temporary super power of sorts, to accomplish certain tasks. The game stresses the collection of power cells and precursor orbs and people always send Jak and Daxter out to fetch these items for story reasons or because they need some money…..That can get a little monotonous at times but the game isn’t flaunting or trying to be something else. I am playing this game on PS4. I am not sure if this game is the same as the remastered PS3 version of the game or if this is actually ported straight from PS2. The graphics are horrifically dated and are not remastered well and I have encountered several audio bugs that make the game very difficult to play. If this was a remaster, it is sorely lacking. Jak and Daxter is a reminder of a simpler time where video games were upfront and to the point about what they contained. There were no tricks or gimmicks, just plain old fun and escapism.
Rating: 4 ½ / 5