Though Jak X still remains an incredible game, it’s only now that I start to see one of the big cracks in its facade.
All aspects of game design are trade-offs, logical exchanges that must be considered in order to cultivate the type of experience designers wish to impart upon their players. And though the hyper-lethality and aggressive playstyle promoted by the game leads to engaging races where the winner isn’t locked in until they cross the finish line, it does come with drawbacks.
Sometimes players can make all correct split-second decisions, and lose the race because a stray missile or Peace Maker shot is aimed squarely at them just as they’re about to cross the finish line. It’s always going to lead to some amount of bad feelings when it happens, and there’s no avoiding that. However, when the race is five minutes long and it comes down to that final hit, that can be brutal to have to redo the entire race for another shot.
Part of this is exacerbated by the fact that even in those long races, the only portion of it that realistically determines the final result, assuming all drivers are performing decently, is the last minute or so. Everything else is more or less a preamble to that final minute of driving.
Fortunately, I’m having enough fun that I don’t care about that, but I can imagine feeling different if I wasn’t in the correct headspace.
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