Summary
Between its bombastic inception and quiet retirement, theJak & Daxterseries marked a golden age in video games. With Disney-caliber character designs and animations, seamless, loading-screen-free levels, genre-defying leaps between sequels, and masterful worldbuilding, each game pushed the boundaries of the possible (technologically and creatively) and contributed to makingthe PS2 one of the greatest consolesof all time.
Although a series revival seems improbable, especially given Naughty Dog’s evolution since the 2010s, fans continue to pour an eco basin’s worth of love and nostalgia for the PS2 classics and lament the series' all-too-early conclusion. EachJakgame bursts with personality and innovation, no matter its place on any given tier list, but here, each entry vies hard for its position on this retrospective ranking.
While there are things to like about the last (unofficial, in many fans' eyes) game in theJakseries, such as the return of colored eco powers and aerial combat, the usual polish that every other game is known for is absent inThe Lost Frontier. This was perhaps because of its origin as a PSP game and its troubled development, which led to its handover to Naughty Dog’s sister studio, High Impact Games. Sadly, the writing, worldbuilding, and character animations (which are on-point for every other game) come out flat.
If fans thought that Keira had been losing her personality by the end of the mainline series, it seems as though a different blue-haired CGI actor had replaced her inThe Lost Frontier. In terms of gameplay, Jak’s previouslygreat-feeling fluid movementsdon’t quite sync up with one another, rolling and roll jumping are out, and the various gun mods have lost their crowd-control capabilities, which feels jarring coming from the rest of the series. The PS2 port performed and controlled better with its improved camera controls and performance, but regardless, something other than the frontier got lost in this entry.
Driving and racing were always a staple in theJakseries, andJak Xwas the series' equivalent take onCrash Team Racing. This time, Naughty Dog included story elements seen throughout the rest of the series rather than making a simple story-ambiguousspinoff mascot racer. However, while the plot is compelling on its own, it decidedly does not continue the precursor story as teased at the end of the third installment. That said, as far as the spinoff games go,Jak Xis one of the best.
The racing mechanics are, of course, tight, as is the soundtrack, though it is a departure from the traditional tribal percussion and dystopian, militaristic synth the series was known for, instead going for a primarily nu-metal and drum & base score. Fans also got to see a little more of Jak’s world, Kras City, albeit from the seat of a racecar. While wheeled races are fun, it is a shame that other racing modes (zoomer, hover, or even flut fluts!) weren’t also included.
While Daxter’s solo outing has difficulty ever climbing to the gameplay peaks of the main series, thissidekick spinoff gamehas its charms and memorable moments.Daxter’s bug-swatting, acrobatics, and jet-packing around the tighter corners of the city bring some novelty, althoughits story potential was limited by the fact thatDaxterserved as a gap-filler in the years between Jak’s capture at the hands of the Krimson Guard and his rescue.
This is made worse by the fact that it appeared after the main series' conclusion, but old “orange lightning” pulls it all together with his usual panache and humor nonetheless.Daxter’s dream sequences are amusing, even if they are mostly just button-mashing quick-time events. The PSP’s capabilities (and its development under Ready At Dawn as opposed to Naughty Dog) seemed to hinder any kind of technological innovation, although the familiar polish and vibrancy that the series is known for are still felt throughout.
The first game in the series,The Precursor Legacy, does a lot of heavy lifting. It set up much of the lore and iconography that drove the mystery of the franchise as a whole, including a-grav zoomer tech, eco, and the precursors. At the time of its release, it was a marvel of graphical fidelity and animation (Naughty Dog famously drew from Nickelodeon and Disney talent to bring the characters to life, both in cutscenes and with in-game fluid movement transitions), made even more impressive due to its total absence of distance fog or loading screens.
Short and sweet compared to the other titles, butThe Precursor Legacy’sclever level and environmental designs also make it feel expansive and wondrously deep. While the gameplay is excellent, it can feel feature-sparse, especially when directly compared to the later entries. Then again, the first entry is many fans' favorite, and with good reason. Manylong for another game like itto come around with similarly stripped-back mechanics and a bright, optimistic tone, which was somewhat lost in the sequels.
This penultimate spot could just as easily have been filled byThe Precursor Legacy, which only has a marginally higher Metascore. However,Jak 3wins by a nose based on its refinement of the series' overall gameplay and sheer variety of additional features. The tripling of gun mods, an additional, game-changing “light Jak” transformation, and the map size effectively being doubled from the second game (with some series-best platforming and vehicle sections scattered between Haven City and the Wasteland), and more minigames than the fur on an ottsel’s chest makeJak 3a worthy, vital finale.
The naive optimism of the first game and the edgy tone shift of the sequel are thematically balanced, allowing the duo’s journey toconclude in a satisfying waywhile leaving room for more. There are a few tells that Naughty Dog was working under some heavy time constraints (half the time compared to the first two games), and there are some valid criticisms, such as relegating Keira as a minor character and a somewhat unbalanced combat system (thanks to certain gun upgrades), but the usual polish and compelling (and sassy) storytelling talents shine through, giving fans a satisfying and memorable conclusion.
This much-anticipated sequel didn’t just innovate on the original. It blew fans' already-high expectations into the sky like a blue eco launcher. In many ways, the “darker and edgier” approach taken in the sequel toThe Precursor Legacycould have dated it as another late-2000s grimdark adventure, butJak 2pulled off the shift so well that it feels seamless. In fact, it’s hard to find another setting that quite evokes such an original and out-there fantasy setting (besides perhapsStar Wars) like the crumbling, industrial, eco-punk Haven City.
Getting around its streets is a joy whether on foot,trick-flipping and grindingon the hoverboard, raging around as a giant, dark-eco-pumped Dark Jak giant, or swinging around on a stolen zoomer in mid-flight. The introduction of the hoverboard alone could warrant its place as the greatest game in the series. Naughty Dog took cues from Rockstar’sGrand Theft Auto, but there is something undeniably “Jak & Daxter” about the techno-magical dystopia that still can’t be found anywhere else to this day, and nor has there been any game quite likeJak 2since.
