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Jak II Appreciation Thread
- Thread starter AniHawk
- Start date
I thought the cursing in this game was unnecessary
I liked the gameplay
I liked the challenege
I loved the hoverboard
I liked the city
I liked the story
I liked the draw distance
I disliked the angst
I loved the hoverboard
I hated the mission on the docks where you die 40 times
I liked every other mission
I don't understand *all* of the hate this game gets
I assume most of the haters never really played it
I liked R&C2 more
I liked the gameplay
I liked the challenege
I loved the hoverboard
I liked the city
I liked the story
I liked the draw distance
I disliked the angst
I loved the hoverboard
I hated the mission on the docks where you die 40 times
I liked every other mission
I don't understand *all* of the hate this game gets
I assume most of the haters never really played it
I liked R&C2 more
Barry Lightning
Banned
this game was an extreme love/hate relationship for me. some of those missions were just HARD. well, 2 in particular come to mind that had me throwing the controller. but i really wanted to finish the game (which i did) and i'm glad jak 3 was a breeze cause i wanted to finish the story.
as a trilogy, tho, the jak series had great music. and some of the finest looking, directed and voice-acted cut scenes to date.
as a trilogy, tho, the jak series had great music. and some of the finest looking, directed and voice-acted cut scenes to date.
Doom_Bringer
Banned
Jak III ownz bitches. The cloth animation is soo good. OMG I love the ricochet gun, it is sooo cool! And Daxter is so cute and funy ^_^
The only thing I donÂ’t like about Jak III is the terrible loop de loop, repeat after 30 seconds music! ND needs to fire the music composer.
The only thing I donÂ’t like about Jak III is the terrible loop de loop, repeat after 30 seconds music! ND needs to fire the music composer.
Ugh, this game had a lot of potential but they had to add the damn city to it. The city was like a giant messy maze of a hub that connected the infinitely superior linear levels. It offered no exploration. It had too narrow streets so you were always bumping into shit. The vehicles handled terribly and even though they all fly, you can only fly on planes. Damn city...
ManDudeChild
Member
I enjoyed Jak III more than II. Don't know what it was about the second game I didn't like as much (though it was a good game), but the third just felt so much more polished. That being said, I found the precursor revelation to be a bit lame.
Jak II is a damn good game.
+Excellent platforming sections when they exist (the temple part was awesome)
+Huge lengthy game with tons of variety
+Driving around sucked for a while, but when you got the map down it was pretty fun
+Enjoyable story
+Daxter is a great character
+Weapons actually worked and gave the gameplay more variety.
+Gorgeous 60fps (with some screen tearing) graphics
-Not enough platforming sections
-Driving took some getting used to
-A little angst
Jak I was a pretty good follow-up to the Crash Bandicoot series, but it was really short, had no ending, and the platforming felt a bit floaty. Jak II improved on Jak I in almost every way possible and is up there with the Maximo games as the best action platformers this gen (sorry , but I tried R&C1 and the platforming was TERRIBLE. The action and levels may have been great but I couldn't stand the floaty jumping and I never finished it or played the sequels).
Finally got Jak III in the TRU sale. I realize it probably won't be as good as II, but as long as its near the quality of I/II, I'm looking forward to enjoying it.
Jak gets way too much hate here
+Excellent platforming sections when they exist (the temple part was awesome)
+Huge lengthy game with tons of variety
+Driving around sucked for a while, but when you got the map down it was pretty fun
+Enjoyable story
+Daxter is a great character
+Weapons actually worked and gave the gameplay more variety.
+Gorgeous 60fps (with some screen tearing) graphics
-Not enough platforming sections
-Driving took some getting used to
-A little angst
Jak I was a pretty good follow-up to the Crash Bandicoot series, but it was really short, had no ending, and the platforming felt a bit floaty. Jak II improved on Jak I in almost every way possible and is up there with the Maximo games as the best action platformers this gen (sorry , but I tried R&C1 and the platforming was TERRIBLE. The action and levels may have been great but I couldn't stand the floaty jumping and I never finished it or played the sequels).
Finally got Jak III in the TRU sale. I realize it probably won't be as good as II, but as long as its near the quality of I/II, I'm looking forward to enjoying it.
Jak gets way too much hate here
disabledHeliocentric
Member
Jak 3, imo, is like 1 billion times better than Jak 2 and might actually be one of the best games on the PS2. It has the overworld adventure, and the platforming stages, so it's almost like a fixing of Zelda cake with Mario icing. Well, maybe that's going to far! But, I was amazed that Jak 3 fixed every single thing I didn't like about Jak 2, replacing the GTA inspired insipidness with an ersatz Yoshi and Dunebuggies. The platforming is a return to Jak 1 form. The action is still there, guns and all that noise. The cinematic scenes are directed far more subtly, more tactfully.
Jak 3 convinced me.
Jak 3 convinced me.
jaundicejuice
Member
My experience with the series can summed up like this...
I liked Jak & Daxter, it was a bit short and easy, if not a rote platformer, but the gameplay was polished to a sheen, it had a slick presentation, fantastic animation and a pretty interesting world rendered with some pretty kick ass graphics. It was a good game for its time.
I really did not care for the change's made in Jak II's gameplay and 'tween-ish ansgt and generic rage. I don't mind a challenge, my problem is the challenge in Jak II is uneven, it would ramp up to ridiculous levels for a few missions. For example I had a harder time on that dock mission running through the endlessly respawning guantlet of Crimson Guards than I did the end boss of the game. Something's wrong with that.
Haven City was so bloody dull to have to constantly backtrack through. By and large it was just this big, empty mobile piece of scenery with little to do in it beyond run from mission to mission. Sure there were a few challenge markers but they were few and far between, and the rewards offered really weren't all that compelling. What really drove me nuts about Haven City was having to hear the same few lines of dialogue and two background music themes ad nauseum.
Same great engine, same great animation, they had the ground works for a really interesting world layed out, they just didn't fleshen it up enough.
Jak 3 fixed the uneven difficulty, and boring moving scenery bits to a degree by having somewhat smaller hubs, but in the end it kinda bored me too.
I've beaten all three games in the trilogy, but I have no real fond memories of them, outside of like Daxter a fair bit.
I liked Jak & Daxter, it was a bit short and easy, if not a rote platformer, but the gameplay was polished to a sheen, it had a slick presentation, fantastic animation and a pretty interesting world rendered with some pretty kick ass graphics. It was a good game for its time.
I really did not care for the change's made in Jak II's gameplay and 'tween-ish ansgt and generic rage. I don't mind a challenge, my problem is the challenge in Jak II is uneven, it would ramp up to ridiculous levels for a few missions. For example I had a harder time on that dock mission running through the endlessly respawning guantlet of Crimson Guards than I did the end boss of the game. Something's wrong with that.
Haven City was so bloody dull to have to constantly backtrack through. By and large it was just this big, empty mobile piece of scenery with little to do in it beyond run from mission to mission. Sure there were a few challenge markers but they were few and far between, and the rewards offered really weren't all that compelling. What really drove me nuts about Haven City was having to hear the same few lines of dialogue and two background music themes ad nauseum.
Same great engine, same great animation, they had the ground works for a really interesting world layed out, they just didn't fleshen it up enough.
Jak 3 fixed the uneven difficulty, and boring moving scenery bits to a degree by having somewhat smaller hubs, but in the end it kinda bored me too.
I've beaten all three games in the trilogy, but I have no real fond memories of them, outside of like Daxter a fair bit.
Lemming_JRS
Member
AniHawk said:
Who are you and what have you done with AniHawk?
Of course, maybe you're just mentioning the two things you actually liked about the game...?
Jak II can only be called a good game if you ignore:
- The uneven difficulty already mentioned. The missions I hated the most were the hoverboard "bomb the 5 eco generators" level, the "break the surveilance gizmos in the harbor" hoverboard mission, and of course everyone's favorite water slum Krimzon Guard rapefest.
- The lockups in certain parts of the game in prog scan mode (most annoyingly the Spider Queen chase sequence where you play as Daxter)
- The Crash Bandicoot gameplay throwback of chase sequences where you run towards the camera. HEY LET'S MAKE IT SO YOU RUN AWAY BUT CAN'T SEE WHERE THE FUCK YOU'RE GOING! THAT SOUNDS TEH FUN LOL AMIRITE?
- The half-assed Tony Hawk hoverboard levels
- The INCREDIBLY LAME ENDING.
Yeah I like to bitch about it. I still managed to complete the game. I'd say the last third of the game is total ass, though.
Nathan
- The uneven difficulty already mentioned. The missions I hated the most were the hoverboard "bomb the 5 eco generators" level, the "break the surveilance gizmos in the harbor" hoverboard mission, and of course everyone's favorite water slum Krimzon Guard rapefest.
- The lockups in certain parts of the game in prog scan mode (most annoyingly the Spider Queen chase sequence where you play as Daxter)
- The Crash Bandicoot gameplay throwback of chase sequences where you run towards the camera. HEY LET'S MAKE IT SO YOU RUN AWAY BUT CAN'T SEE WHERE THE FUCK YOU'RE GOING! THAT SOUNDS TEH FUN LOL AMIRITE?
- The half-assed Tony Hawk hoverboard levels
- The INCREDIBLY LAME ENDING.
Woo! Fireworks! Are they fancy fireworks? Nope. Just the same 3 explosions over and over again. Fucking Tetris did it first, and did it BETTER.
Yeah I like to bitch about it. I still managed to complete the game. I'd say the last third of the game is total ass, though.
Nathan
gblues said:
I dunno, I enjoy challenging games as long as they aren't just challenging because they are poorly made. There were a few parts in Jak II that took a bunch of tries but I didn't think any of the missions were unfairly hard.
I didn't play it in 480p, but point taken.
I actually thought these were cute and enjoyable considering that they were made fairly easy so you wouldn't die more than once or twice and then you'd memorize the layout and make it through. Sure the camera sucked for 3-4 mins, but it wasn't the end of the world.
I'll disagree here for the most part as I thought the hoverboard was a great way to get around quickly in a level and the way they worked it into the platforming like the level where you're on top of the giant thing in the sky and you have to rail grind between platforming sections was tough but fun.
This is probably true, but I can't really comment since I don't even remember the ending. Outside of rpgs/adventure games, I tend to forget almost any game story within a month ^^;
There were quite a few broken parts but I enjoyed the game. Especially the hoverboard missions. The weapon combat was rather weak, especially when you need to hit a switch because of the lack of manual aiming and the camera was a bit frustrating at times. Still, it was a fun game and I had fun with. Still, I prefer Jak III to Jak II.
Oh, and what happened Anihawk? This thread contradicts your long running hate of all things Jak II.
Oh, and what happened Anihawk? This thread contradicts your long running hate of all things Jak II.
Bebpo said:
This brings up the biggest problem at the very core of Jak II's design: it is VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE to make it through the game without prior experience. It's one thing to see what you're supposed to do, die along the way, and try it again. It's entirely different when dying is the only way to make it through the levels.
Take the "bomb the 5 eco plants in 3 minutes" mission, for example. Your first 2-3 trips through the level will be spent finding the eco generators in the map. From there, you have to use trial & error to figure out the optimum bombing order--and, thanks to the impossibly short time limit, you'd better get those bombs done right the first time. I can't tell you how many times I went to toss in the bomb and nothing happened. There is so little time allotted that if this happens more than once, you can forget about making it.
For comparison's sake, the timed levels expect an unerring level of accuracy such that if Naughty Dog had designed Katamari Damacy, the time limits would be based on the "super clear" times.
Nathan
gblues said:
I agree with everything you say here, but in the end its just a style choice. Heck even in Tony Hawk games most of the goals like finding the letters SKATE or 5+ of some item have always required first spending a 2 min session searching for the items and then trying to get them on the next run. I can probably think of a dozen titles really quickly where you basically have to scout ahead and die so you can pass the section on your next try.
It's not necessarily a good design choice and there are plenty of games that use nicer methods, but it's a design that's been around since the birth of gaming and is still pretty prevelant.
GitarooMan
Member
I appreciate (even if you really don't). Jak II is the best in the Jak series. Jak III is essentially an exapansion pack which was shorter and eased up on the difficulty. I really enjoyed Jak II because it was challenging yet not impossible, had an interesting story IMO, and was very long. The variety of missions and locations was also great. Also, the game looks fantastic in widescreen 480p. The control is spot on as well. One of my favorite action/platformers of this gen.
wipeout364
Member
Great game, best of the three, I actually liked this better than any of the Ratchet and Clanks as well. Jak 1 was a little basic, and Jak 3 just didn't get me as excited as 2.
I never understood the hate this game got. It is a much better than average platformer with some weapon elements thrown in, lots of variety and was not nearly as difficult as people make it out to be.
I never understood the hate this game got. It is a much better than average platformer with some weapon elements thrown in, lots of variety and was not nearly as difficult as people make it out to be.
Barry Lightning
Banned
Bebpo said:
it had an ending if you collected all the orbs
Best game in the series. Yes there were a couple of missions that felt above challenging at first but I never felt the rage that some gamers have complained about (I actually finished the race across the city misson on my first try and kept waiting for some insanely hard mission to come 
)
I absolutely loved the story through this series. Great characters, great environments. The forest area in JakII is probaly my favorite area in any game as far as atmosphere and setting are concerned. It was very organic. And that's hard to say about a game that has such a cartoony style to it. The humor was good too. But it was the story that kept me going.
Jak3 was a nice finish to it all. But I really hope Naughty Dog goes back to this style of game with Jak.
I already miss it.
)I absolutely loved the story through this series. Great characters, great environments. The forest area in JakII is probaly my favorite area in any game as far as atmosphere and setting are concerned. It was very organic. And that's hard to say about a game that has such a cartoony style to it. The humor was good too. But it was the story that kept me going.
Jak3 was a nice finish to it all. But I really hope Naughty Dog goes back to this style of game with Jak.
I already miss it.
Truelize said:Best game in the series. Yes there were a couple of missions that felt above challenging at first but I never felt the rage that some gamers have complained about (I actually finished the race across the city misson on my first try and kept waiting for some insanely hard mission to come
Yeah that "get from there to there in no time" mission was easy. I died the first time and i
knew from the internet that everybody was pissed off my this one (and being a main mission, you have to make it.)
I suceeded in taking the right path also learning to control the damn overbikes.
Those who can't control the bike and "feel" them must lack skill or they didn't make the extra missions, those ring races. This teach you how to drive properly.
The real tuff mission imo that i can even call "unbalanced" in the game is the "Shiny Thing" mission. You remember that one? You go in that suburbs full of poor huts mounted over water to get the some fish-head guy's house to claim "the shiny thing".
When you try to escape the suburbs you realise it was a trap and TONS (i mean it there, TONS) of guards start getting on your ass.
Shit, i think i died 20 to 30 times before getting through this one.
If it was a parody thread, there'd be a lot more sarcasm, trust me.
I think the most memorable platforming segment was the rotating platforms as you're making it to the General's place. I'm not sure why... I mean, it was pretty basic, but it sticks out in my mind for some reason as something fun.
I think the most memorable platforming segment was the rotating platforms as you're making it to the General's place. I'm not sure why... I mean, it was pretty basic, but it sticks out in my mind for some reason as something fun.
golduck342
Member
I appreciate Jak II for making Jak III possible
Drinky Crow
Banned
Anihawk, you're no me.
This game was alright. I only paid $20 for it. I really enjoyed the first one. Haven't played the 3rd one yet. Not sure if I ever will. Also, you people need to stop bitching about Jak II's difficulty. The game is hard, but it's not nearly as hard has some games from the 8-bit era. If you think Jak II is too hard and that it takes away from the enjoyment of the game then get the fuck out.
Just because I don't like the game as a whole doesn't mean there are things in it I didn't like. I always thought the animation and platforming sequences were great. It was the sparseness of the latter that really irritated me among other things.
But if you really wanted a joke thread.
But if you really wanted a joke thread.