I needed a brief reprieve from Halo, after playing through Reach. What better way than to delve further down the nostalgia hole into an old PS2 platformer from… 2001.
Yup. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is 20 years old. And we’re going to play it. Should be fun!
Thumbnail by Sam Callahan.
While Jak & Daxter never eclipsed either Ratchet & Clank or Sly Cooper as far as my interests were concerned, I still loved playing the trilogy back then, and replaying it every now and then. I currently don’t have any plans to go through the 2nd and 3rd games in the same way, but that can always change.
What fascinates me about The Precursor Legacy is how much of a departure it is from Crash Bandicoot in terms of the core structure. Both are platformers, but Crash Bandicoot comes from the linear tradition of 2D platforms like Mario and Sonic translated into 3D hallways. On the other hand, Jak and Daxter is a far more open-ended game with larger levels that can explored at the player’s discretion.
It might not seem as impressive now, but having such an expansive world without a single load time between any area was a significant technical feat back then. They successfully sold the illusion of a fully continuous world, where one could travel from the first village in the game all the way to the end.
I hope to show off more as we proceed.
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