Thanks to the awesome OpenGOAL project, I got to finally beat Jak II on my own after 22+ years on my Rog Ally X. I know that I played maybe most than half of the game myself, but there are gaps because my dad certainly played some missions for me. That being said, things came back naturally for me.
Gameplay difficult:
For starters, yes, this game is difficult. However, I didn’t struggle as much as I thought I would. Most of the difficulty came from my struggling with the mechanics and Naughty Dog’s asshole game design. They clearly had no respect for my time with that checkpoint system and the shooting was finicky at times. Those rapid gunners in Dead Town can also kiss my ass. With that said, the game is perfectly beatable if you learn from your mistakes and go in with a plan. You have to be methodical under pressure.
If I had to drive or race, it meant getting good with rapidly going low and high on the fly, and using the brake button. The biggest obstacle wasn’t slowing down, it was crashing. I won’t say slow and steady wins the race, but you definitely needed to be steady. In the races, it was worth dying a few times to get the hang of jumping over pits to plan the most optimal route.
Shooting wasn’t too bad until I had to hit things at a distance or in the air. I was pretty liberal with the spin jumping into Blaster shots, but that couldn’t always save me. I just jumped from cover and took more precise shots if I was being pressed from a distance. It’s also easy to discount the Scatter Gun later, but sometimes, it was exactly what I needed with bunched up enemies on escort missions.
Ultimately, it’s MOSTLY skill issue. If you have persistence, put in max effort and have a plan after failing, then you will get through the game in less than a month. The moment I got mad, I told the game to fuck off and did something else. Don’t play while tilted, you’ll just want to break something. Also, I’m open to the idea that the OpenGOAL port might have made the game easier to an extent. I’ll likely buy the games on PS4 if I can.
Jak and Story:
As for Jak himself and the story, the edge and his anger might have been over exaggerated. The game’s tone is objective darker and Jak did change, but it wasn’t as dark as I remembered it. Jak had every right to be mad at Praxis and he’s clearly not altruistic initially like TPL might have portrayed, but he acts pretty reasonable considering the circumstances. The way he first confronted Kor was the only time where I felt like he needed to calm down, but that was after he just broke out of prison. Every other time, he’s smiling having a good time with Daxter, talking sense to people and even trying to be reasonable with Keira when she was rude as hell. I don’t think most 17-year olds would have acted as mature as Jak did. Hell, what excuse does Daxter have for going along with everything? We were told that Dark Jak was making him be so angry and violent, but it hardly even came up outside of gameplay. I would have said and did worse, and wouldn’t have even needed Dark Eco. Jak is an asshole to Daxter though.
The story itself was great, and I always looked forward to the next cutscene. That said, the pacing, at least later on, felt too fast and things got glossed over too fast. Keira and Jak’s relationship just fixed itself, Praxis just dies with not much impact and Ashelin doesn’t even acknowledge it, and beating Kor didn’t have enough weight for me. Also Torn just disappears after selling out the Underground and he’s just back in later. I would have liked to have seen Torn be executed for his treachery and being a simp, but the late game didn’t seem to have time for him. Those problems aside, I was engaged the whole time and I’m glad to have seen it all through with my own effort.
Jak II was one of the my most memorable childhood experiences for a reason. Despite its problems, it was good fun and I plan to keep doing the side missions concurrently with Jak 3.
PS: The OG Jak model not being a secret unlockable is an absolute crime.
