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.

As time passes, new targets appear on our radar. This one is particularly dastardly, killing all the people who ever possessed the paintings he sought.

The Collector is active, and this is our window to take care of him.

Afterward, we express a cardinal sin to go after what truly matters most: Money.

This is a rare one where the secondary objective is almost a non-issue. Once I confirmed the paintings location, I knew from previous knowledge that I could take care of it whenever I wanted. The method I used to sneak it and steal it was the exact same as the one I used to complete my Silent Assassin: Suit Only run of this mission, and the same one that I learned from performing an escalation contract.

That left the target himself. Took some doing, but eventually we found a tactic that worked. That lethal poison syringe is a weapon I don’t think I’ll ever be able to part with.

As for the Greed escalation: Credit to Diana’s voice actress for her performance. Even though it’s clearly being processed for added effect, that wouldn’t have been possible if Jane Perry didn’t deliver in the raw performance. I also like the distorted sense of reality that accompanies the mission.

Thank god I maxed out my mastery for Dubai, otherwise I would’ve been completely lost on this one. Next time we get free time playing Hitman 3, we’ll finish this Escalation off.

It’s official. At this point, Reach is lost. No matter what we do at this point, there’s no chance that we’ll stop the Covenant from glassing the planet.

And yet, all is not lost. While we may have lost this battle, we can lay the groundwork so that the Master Chef can cook the best risotto he possibly can for Arby’s.

I think it’s more than safe to say that out of all the Halo games I have played up to this point, Halo: Reach has the strongest finale by far. As I said on stream, it reminds me of Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Season 1 in how everything perfectly leads up to that moment. While I obviously don’t know for sure, it feels like that’s because it was the first thing Bungie worked on, and knew from the beginning that every scene in the game had to culminate in this one final push: A suicide mission where your only objective is to stay alive long enough to buy time for the Pillar of Autumn.

This would be a good point to end the franchise on… if we were in a culture that allowed IP to die a graceful death once it reach its time. Alas, we are not, so at some point we will likely play Halo 4 to continue the story. I’ve heard equal parts praise and scorn for it, so I’ll be curious where I fall on that spectrum.

But that’s a story for another time. For now, let’s take some time off by playing an entirely different game from an entirely different franchise. I’m talking about Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy.

The Lab of Legends mode in Legends of Runeterra hasn’t been around for too long, but long enough that it’s been updated and played with a few times. Up until now, I haven’t really had a reason to give it a shot, but I friend suggested I should try it out.

I’m glad they did. I’ve had a lot of fun with it. Enough fun that I figured it’s worth showing off.

I’m aware Hearthstone starting implementing game modes like this some time after I ceased playing the game, but if they had before then I might have stuck around far longer than I did.

It’s a good way to test the player’s knowledge of the game mechanics, and their general decision making skills. If you know what cards and effects work well together to produce strong synergies that will overcome the otherwise daunting gauntlet laid bare enough them.

It feels almost like a rogue-like combined with a booster draft in that sense. If you know we, and what I’ve played on this channel, you’ll know that’s right up my alley.

We knew that against a force this powerful, we were bound to lose people. The Covenant was prepared for war, and our own people have been scrambling to mount a response.

Still, it’s one thing to know it’ll happen, and quite another to be prepared for it.

Something I’ve noticed that Halo: Reach does well is allow the player to soak in the emotional gravity of a scene, without feeling the need to interrupt it with a cheesy one-liner. Eventually, as any story does, we move on to the next plot point, but we’re given the time necessary to let an emotional beat linger.

New Alexandria is a great example of this, because while we are doing things to further the war effort, we’re also doing it over the ruins of a dying city after it’s population has been evacuated for their own safety. Nobody in the cast ever feels the need to draw attention to it, since they have tasks they need to accomplish and no time to mourn the loss of this haven in a cold, lonely universe. And yet, they don’t need to. We, as players, can feel it just by existing in this space, flying over decaying buildings as Covenant forces assail us from all angles.

And of course, Bungie expertly convinces us to care about our NPC companions, feeling their loss. Jorge gets to go out in a blaze of glory, and even without a body to bury we feel his loss as Noble Six returns to the rest of their unit alone. Kat doesn’t even get that, dying an ignoble death to a sniper shot on our way to the next objective. The shot that follows, the remaining four members of Noble Team wordlessly starring into the fiery rubble before them, says more than words ever could.

It’s also worth noting that Jorge and Kat were some of the most important members of the team before they were killed. Jorge is the emotional heart of the group, and one of the most empathetic among them. Kat, meanwhile, played a significantly role in feeding us intelligence and focusing the group on their objectives. They chose the two most front-facing Noble Team members, aside from the player, to kill off early, so we feel it harder than we would with anyone else.

Credit where credit is due, this was a well thought out section of the game.

When Wizards of the Coast announced that work was being done on a Magic the Gathering “MMO” during the 2019 Game Awards ceremonies, I was cautiously intrigued. While the concept was appealing, I honestly didn’t trust that the game would be work. Later, they corrected misconceptions to make it clear the game was an Action RPG in the vein of Diablo. It seemed like that would be difficult to screw up, so I allowed myself to raise my hopes.

That’ll teach me to get excited about video games…

It is difficult to me to express just how disappointing this game turned out to be on every possible level.

Some of this can be chalked up to the Open Beta status. Through my time with it, and even in the recording, I saw subtitles that barely matched what was being performed by the voice actors. Lines would get cut off as if the next piece of spoken dialog was mistimed. Levels felt empty, barely evoking the plane and setting that are supposedly representing. Combat is floaty, with little in the way of anything that approximates a challenge. And even on the lowest possible settings, I was getting below 30 FPS. All of this makes for a poor showing, even in a Open Beta, but these are things that can be fixed and adjusted over time.

What can’t be fixed is how Magic: Legends is inexorably tied to predatory microtransaction-laden business models. So many of the unlocks, including the first and currently only prestige class as of the time of writing, are gated behind loot boxes in the form of booster packs. If I wanted to avoid spending real world money, I could buy it off the in-game auction house. However, there’s no earthly I could practically grind enough in-game gold to purchase it in a reason amount of playtime. Throwing in a starter bundle that costs a full $40 worth of funny money, and a battlepass system they somehow attached to a Diablo-like, ever aspect of progression seems tailor-made to milk players for as much money as it can.

It’s painful to watch, because the concept of deck-building for a ARPG, to bring that aspect of MTG to the genre, is a cool idea. A lot of thought and care was put into that system, and it’s going to waste on this game.

I couldn’t be more disappointed.

The war between humanity and The Covenant has raged on for far longer than anyone can remember. Even before our adventures with the Master Chief, the two forces had at each other’s throats for reasons that yet remain unclear, perhaps even to the soldiers involved.

It is during this time that our tale takes place. On the human colonial world, Reach, an elite squad of Spartans known as Noble Team has just recruited their enigmatic sixth member. Tension exists between the military and civilian settlers, but an uneasy peace born from common interests keeps that in check. Such was the case until The Covenant arrived, and their attack began.

Thus begins our counterattack. No matter what happens, Reach must not fall.

I’ve talked about this with my friend Sam Callahan (who you’ll recognize as the guy I turn to for thumbnails), but there’s something compelling about prequels and the sense of inevitability that comes with them. Thanks to the other Halo games, we already know that the UNSC loses and Reach gets annihilated, even before we start the campaign. That knowledge tinges every aspect of what we see and take part in. No matter how successful Noble Six and the rest of Noble Team are, or how much damage they inflict, they cannot and will not stop the inevitable.

Additionally, something has to be said for the noticeable leap in production values we’re seeing at the start of Halo: Reach. Particularly, the first thing I noticed playing again after Halo 3/ODST is how much better the face models look compared to those games, merely two years later. This goes hand in hand with the writing, because the additional detail allows our cast to be more expressive. The scene with Jorge and the refugee is powerful because he removes his helmet and shows her a very human face to better relate to.

I also can’t help but appreciate the new subtitles, with bright yellow colors to contrast the darker, moodier palette (fitting for the tone). Combined with their font choice, it makes them very easy to read and keep track of on screen. If they could start bringing subtitles into the dialogue spoken during gameplay, and not just in cutscenes, then this would be a great example of good subtitling.

There’s a lot to like here, and hopefully that will only grow as we progress through the campaign.

Another contract has come in, and our target is located on the Isle of Sgail. Our window is short, so we need to act fast.

It’s time for another Elusive Target. Codename: The Stowaway.

This was a surprisingly simple hit, once I actually got around to listening to the instructions. If anything, the test was more one of patience that anything else.

I don’t think I’ve ever IO use line of sight for anything other than pure detection. It was cool to have a target who is deliberately watching out to make sure he isn’t being watched. I, for one, did not expect him to literally lock the bathroom door behind him. Nor did I think he would alter his routine when he saw me dart into the room he intended to hide in.

I imagine it took some scripting work to get that all setup, but I hope this means that IO plan to use that tool when designing new content for this and future Hitman games.

Our squad is still scattered and the Covenant continues to hound us all from every angle, even as we struggle to gain our bearings. As ODSTs, it is our job to overcome this adversity and complete our mission… whatever said mission is.

In the meantime, we should continue to track down our comrades. We’ve got Our Long Night ahead of us. There’s so much to do and so little time.

I enjoy it when game designers get the chance to experiment with more focused, smaller standalone expansions like this. You don’t see them too often anymore, since Games as a Service tends to dominate the marketplace, but they tend to allow for their teams to experiment with new concepts or reiterate on old ones that didn’t quite make the mark.

The darker mood and tone for this game, combined with the focus on guerilla warfare and ambush tactics, create a whole new feeling to the Halo games. There’s a whole different feel to how combat plays out despite using most of the exact same systems.

There’s also something to be said for bringing in a lot of big name actors to perform major characters for a project like this. Though the motion capture performance and/or facial animation is… obviously dated, it was still a big step up at the time.

Solid game all around, and I look forward to playing Reach.

Sometimes we play card games together. Sometimes we perform assassinations during increasingly difficult conditions. And sometimes, we pilot a train full of demons to save the underworld from the forces of Heaven.

It’ll be a cold day in Hell before… Ah crap.

It appears that on this day, my sin was pride.

We’ve all had that experience. The entire run been smooth as silk, without a single complication. We’re on Cloud Nine, and absolutely nothing could even hope to stand a chance against us.

But one single misplay *completely* destroys the game. We had it, but we lost it because we clicked on the wrong thing at the wrong time. It happens, but it hurts when it does.

Oh well. We live and we learn.