My first PlayStation 2 video game...Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

Personally, the only video games I played for the Dreamcast (which I got the summer of 2001) were Sonic Adventure, Sonic Shuffle, and Sonic Adventure 2. Back then my sister and I were still very loyal Sonic the Hedgehog fans. But in summer 2002, we had to upgrade to PlayStation 2 because after Sonic Adventure 2, there weren’t any other video games we wanted. It was time to expand our gaming horizons.

The Best Buy store didn’t have any PS2s, so we went to a Toys R Us but that didn’t have any PS2 units either. However, we looked at the PS2 games that were there. Not much appealed to me, except this very colorful-looking one called Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. It featured a hero character with long, elf-like ears and a furry weasel companion on his shoulder. In fact there was in a demo-player at the game section of the store, and this was the image of them that I saw:

I loved how Daxter looks silly but Jak has a serious expression on his face. Like, “What are YOU lookin’ at? I’m the one who’s doing all the running!”

 

The elf hero, who is Jak (and NOT Link, haha) has high-lighter yellow hair, in the style of some of those “treasure trolls”…o.0…remember those? He has blue eyes, green eyebrows, a funny looking pair of goggles, and he seemed to be the adventure type. I started to like the idea of playing a game other than Sonic running around loops and collecting rings. So, I ultimately bought the Jak and Daxter video game. (We ended up buying the game and the PS2 at a Circuit City.)

I remembered watching the commercials for it too, in late 2001 (check ‘em out here and here ). I wasn’t sure if I’d be playing that game because it was for another game system, and so far I was almost strictly a SEGA gamer. But Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy really helped me get into the PlayStation 2 frame of mind. I had more buttons to memorize (shapes instead of letters) and more controls to the character than a simple run and jump. I was blown away. Jak can walk, run, jump, double jump, crouch, roll, roll- jump, hang on to ledges, kick, punch, upper-cut, dive punch, spin kick, DIVE, SWIM (and man, Sonic can do none of those…except run and jump, and uh, the spin attack. Yeah.). It was so many actions to learn for this game, but they all helped me learn where the buttons of the PS2 controller are located.

And it wasn’t just the game play that made this game worthwhile. There was a ten-minute opening movie to watch, which was quite entertaining, especially when Daxter becomes the ottsel. And there were more scenes in between tasks to finish. Jak is supposed to go to a Sage who should be able to turn Daxter back from an ottsel. But as his guardian Samos the Sage says, the other sage lives “Far, far to the north…”

One of the best things about this video game was that rather than exploring parts of a world (such as the city and ruins fields in Sonic Adventure), Jak can explore his whole surroundings.   Having him swim in the water is so cool (just don't swim too far into the sea or a big fish will gulp him up!  Remember that, Jak and Daxter fans? :D)  There is no loading between area to area because the whole world Jak explores is one whole world like it's supposed to be, so you are there to see Jak travel the lands in every second of his journey.
     Another very good thing about this game:  Jak won't lose lives.  If you have Jak fall to his death or lose all his energy, you go back to a checkpoint, made possible by the auto-save feature this game uses.  Neat!

The scenery was amazing. In the beginning of the game play, there is soooo much grass and trees and water to explore, and you get to collect these things called "Precursor Orbs," which are needed to advance further into the game. There are mountains, cliffs, the ocean, rocks, snowy places, forests, and more. I also liked the music in the game, which wasn’t spectacular, but it does go well with the world-exploration that Jak gets to do. (The music gets more cinematic in its sequels.)

I wondered if Jak was ever going to say a word. He did vocalize when I made him attack, notably on the kick-spins and the double jumps. Here’s something funny :D I accidentally got too close to the lava in an area of the game and he fell in; but instead of crying out, he just said, “Ouch.” OUCH?? OUCH??? That's an odd moment to say ouch, isn't it?  =D  Okay, he can say ouch, but otherwise, not one word from him. He is a strong, silent type.

I wonder what happened to him in the past that made him mute…?  Wait, maybe I know already.  I think if I finish playing through Jak 3 again I might find a clue.

Anyway, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy was my first taste in PlayStation 2 goodness, and I’m glad it was. I looked forward to the game’s sequel, and its next sequel, and its next sequel……Oh yeah, I have Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier and I should get back to that.   Mega Man X and MHX have been sucking up my gaming time lately, so I should give those games a short vacation of a sort.

@.@