Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, Dec. 20th

I finally returned to Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, and I had a lot of fun!!!  ^.^

     I collected 28 more Precursor Orbs (because I had 7, then I got one from an orb hunt, and then many more from the next several tasks and missions that I completed).

• Flying mission Pursue Phoenix
• Brink Island: Look for a way out of Island
• Meet the Castaway
• Retrieve Velonium Mod
• Return to Castaway's Treehouse
• Disable the Phantom Blade
• Confront Captian Phoenix
• Buy More Eco Skills from Keira
• Customize Your Plane

     (SPOILERS, Probably...) At about 7:35pm I started where I left off, sort of: after passing an obstacle course to practice shooting his new blaster gunstaff mod, Jak is supposed to return to Duke Skyheed.  So I had to run from the start of the city all the way to Skyheed's Manor, and get the Eco Seeker to help with finding Eco.  Unfortunately, Captain Phoenix steals it, and as Keira tries to get it back, Phoenix takes her away too!  So since he flies away on his ship, then that means there is going to be another flying mission.  Yay?
     Yay!  It was a very intense but fun flying mission.  It was also the first mission that I tried the "Daxterjack" function, which got frustrating because I often confuse the square button with the circle button.  I made myself remember that the square button is on the left side.  ("Got that memorized?" Yay, Axel! :] )  So that helped make things easier for me, and I was able to complete the mission.  Then Jak had to crash land on the Brink Island.  This area was where I found so many Precursor Orbs.  Ha ha, finding the Precursor Orbs is the main reason why I ordered the strategy guidebook.  I at least want to get all the ones that are in the areas because not all orb hunts are going to be easy right away.  Anyway, Jak got the Eco Amplifier near the beginning of this mission and it's totally helpful.  It's this big orb of red eco light and when he shoots at it it creates an explosion.  Somehow it doesn't hurt Jak, but that's okay ;)
     Then soon he meets the Castaway.  He looks an awful lot like Vin from Jak II and Jak 3.  You know, maybe the character designers at High Impact Games must've liked the character design for Vin; the white hair and the weird glasses (or goggles? for the castaway), scientific knowledge,  and I think this new guy even sounds a bit nutty.  Jak probably thought so too, he just didn't say anything.  So, the Castaway tells Jak to find the Velonium Mod to power up his Hellcat.  Unfortunately that meant a boss fight; this robot called the Uber-bot 888 had the item Jak needed.  It wasn't a frustrating boss fight, once I figured out what to do.  I only glanced at what the strategy guide said to do; I feel better when I figure out things for myself.  There was a lot of jumping, running, and certainly the heavy use of the Eco Amplifier.  Timing is key.
     Oh, I love the Eco Construction ability!  If Jak stands on green Eco crystals and uses Eco Construction, a green crystal platform materializes for a few moments (or less) so Jak can get across to the other side of an area.  It is also useful as a sort of split-second shield, as demonstrated in the boss battle against Uber-bot 888.
     After the two-part boss battle, Jak was able to use his Hellcat again, and the next mission was Disable the Phantom Blade, anothe pirate ship.  This flying mission was a little more difficult because I had to keep shooting at the different assigned targets--the engines, the thrusters, and then the turrets--and I had to watch out for Jak's a** at the same time.  The first two objectives of this mission are timed, and I failed again and again because it was a limited-time mission.  However, the third objective wasn't limited in time, but the Hellcat got destroyed a few times before I (heh, Jak) could finally take out the last of the turrets.  During the third objective I was able to practice the "Daxterjack" function on several of the other flying planes so that it won't be so confusing in the future.
    After the Phantom Blade was disabled, Jak landed his Hellcat inside, and it is sort of another area/city to walk around.  There are people walking around--other pirates.  I had gathered a lot of Eco points or whatever, so I was able to find Keira and trade them in for two more Eco Skills:  Infuse Enemy 1 and Eco Power Regan 1.  Then I had to customize the Hellcat, a task I am not a big fan of.  Customizing...that sort of word reminds me of the combat racing cars in Jak X that every time I changed something about it, the game auto-saved, and one fateful day that caused a problem.  [shudders]  I didn't do too much with this in Jak and Daxter: TLF.  I added the Flak Cannon 1x and the Extra Repairs Mod to the Hellcat.  Maybe I'll customize the other plane too, but I stopped at 10:05pm.  It was enough for then.  I had fun.  ^,^