I really, really dislike Jak II.

[Sudo]

I enjoyed the first game quite a bit, but for some reason never got around to playing the second until a few days ago. It's like they took everything good about the first game and threw it out the window. The platforming is worse than Jak and Daxter, the shooting is much worse than Ratchet and Clank, and the open world and vehicle segments are much worse than the GTA games. I don't mind the darker tone that the game takes, but it just seems like they wanted to go as far away from the first game as possible and completely fix what wasn't broken in the first game. The completely overzealous guard AI, the plethora of annoying timed missions and awful racing segments are really ruining it for me.

I'm honestly thinking of sending it back to GameFly without finishing it, which is something I never do. This is easily my least favorite platformer on the PS2, and I've played pretty much all of the good ones. I'm 68% of the way through the game right now, currently on a mission where I have to escort three NPC AI characters through a sewer full of Metal Heads. This is a prime example of my issue with the game: There was a cutscene after lengthy bouts of fighting Metal Heads and the save icon popped up, which I assumed meant there was a checkpoint. Wrong. One of the AI died, and now I have to start the whole fucking mission over. Why did it save if I have to start over anyway? To quote the AVGN: "What were they thinking!?"

[Trebuken]

It's been awhile, but I remember enjoying the game. It certainly has a different feel than the first but played very much the same. I think it essentially has expanded features for a larger world, more futuristic, less fantasy...now I haven't touched the third one yet and I thought I heard mumblings of a 4th (excluding Jak Racing).

If your that far through the game I don't think the final 32% will redeem it for you but you might finish just to have continuity if you attempt the third...

[studvicious]

Yeah that game is absolutely brutal at times. I can remember wanting to throw my controller into the wall every 20 minutes or so. It you can stick with it Jak 3 is much better.

[roushimsx]

Yeah that game is absolutely brutal at times. I can remember wanting to throw my controller into the wall every 20 minutes or so. It you can stick with it Jak 3 is much better.

Quoted for truth; this is pretty much exactly what I came to post. Jak II is a fucking mess of poor game design and Jak 3 is what Jak II wanted to be but wasn't.

[Sudo]

Well, I just finished the game. I pictured the last boss being a frustrating mess that took me an hour of attempts, but it only actually took three. Kind of a let-down. After finishing it, I still don't like the game very much, and I think Jak and Daxter was much better. I will definitely play Jak 3, however.

[roushimsx]

Well, I just finished the game. I pictured the last boss being a frustrating mess that took me an hour of attempts, but it only actually took three. Kind of a let-down. After finishing it, I still don't like the game very much, and I think Jak and Daxter was much better. I will definitely play Jak 3, however.

Yea, Jak & Daxter was a fairly generic but fun 3D platformer. Jak II is just a clusterfuck of bad sandbox gameplay mixed with so-so third person shooting, questionable level designs (if you can't adjust the camera on the Y axis, why have blind jumps? Bullshit!), mixed mission designs (complete with some really, really bad checkpoint placements), bad city design (does every objective HAVE to be on the complete other side of the map? Is nothing in the middle of the city?), and some truly awful writing.

I mean, I wasn't expecting some thrilling System Shock 2 level writing or anything, but holy shit if Jak isn't one of the most obnoxious and inconsistent characters of last generation. I'm so pissed off but I feel so bad for your loss but I hate the world! You know what Jak II needed to complete it? A fucking emo-filled soundtrack.

Jak 3 is so much better and Jak X really surprised me with how fun and addictive it was. Hell, if Jak X didn't have the equivalent of the blue shell, I would have loved it even more. Much better driving controls than in Jak 3 (which you will get used to! don't stress out about them too much).

Daxter for PSP is almost as bad as Jak II. Almost. Buyer beware.

[unwinddesign]

Jak II was awesome, I didn't think it was nearly as hard as people said...mind you, platformers never really bothered me all that much (at least 3D ones), so that's probably a me thing. There are plenty of games out there that I suck at, so...

In any event, Jak 3 was way better, and is one of the best games on the PS2. Play it. Now.

And Daxter bad? C'mon, no way. It's easily in the top 5 best PSP games, and it's a good extension of the Jak universe.

[Dastardly Dylan]

I really enjoyed Jak II. As different as it was from the 1st game, this one overcame it. It was strange seeing a darker side of a game that I thought was family friendly, seeing them curse and such, but still it's an awesome game.

Jak 3 was also pretty good, I felt it was too short though and that it got a little repetivite from all the missions like going in the desert with that car thingy, and going back into the forest to kill a certain amount of Metal Heads, I think that mission was also in Jak II as well.

[NytroSkull7]

it just seems like they wanted to go as far away from the first game as possible and completely fix what wasn't broken in the first game. The completely overzealous guard AI, the plethora of annoying timed missions and awful racing segments are really ruining it for me.

I'm honestly thinking of sending it back to GameFly without finishing it, which is something I never do. This is easily my least favorite platformer on the PS2, and I've played pretty much all of the good ones.

obviously they did go as far away as they could due to the opening cut scene of Jak II. although i did beat Jak and Daxter pretty quick and was kind of glad that Jak II took as long as it did.