Jak and Daxter
Jak and Daxter is a platform video game franchise created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series was originally developed by Naughty Dog with a number of installments being outsourced to Ready at Dawn and High Impact Games. The first game, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, released on December 4, 2001, was one of the earliest titles for the PlayStation 2, and the series collectively is regarded as a defining franchise for the console.
The games are story-based platformers that feature a mixture of action, racing and puzzle solving. The series is set in a fictional universe that incorporates science fantasy, steampunk, cyberpunk, and mystical elements, while centering on the eponymous characters as they try to uncover the secrets of their world, and unravel the mysteries left behind by an ancient race called the Precursors. The games are inspired by a combination of Eastern and Western culture, a decision made among the team members at Naughty Dog and related stakeholders while developing the first title.
The first three games in the series were re-released on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita as part of the remastered Jak and Daxter Collection that includes support for the PlayStation Network and the PlayStation Suite. The original three Jak and Daxter games, along with Jak X: Combat Racing, were released for the PlayStation 4 as Jak and Daxter Bundle in August 2017, alongside the release of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. In December that year, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, Jak 3 and Jak X: Combat Racing were also released for individual purchase. The first four games were later made available on PlayStation 5 through backward compatibility with the PlayStation 4. In 2024, the remaining two games, Daxter and Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, were re-released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. The series has also produced various forms of extended media and merchandise, and has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
Games
Main installments
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy was first released in North America on December 4, 2001, for the PlayStation 2. After Daxter falls into a Dark Eco silo at the forbidden Misty Island, he is transformed from a human into an ottsel, a fictional hybrid of an otter and weasel. In a quest to return Daxter to human form, he and Jak set out to find the Dark Eco sage Gol Acheron. However, the duo find Acheron corrupted by Dark Eco, choosing to use the elusive Light Eco to defeat him and save the world at the cost of Daxter remaining in his ottsel form. A browser game was published online in 2001 to promote The Precursor Legacy.Jak II was first released in North America on October 14, 2003, for the PlayStation 2. Its narrative takes place directly after the events of The Precursor Legacy. Jak, Daxter, Samos, and Keira are thrust into the industrious Haven City after using the rift gate, with Jak being imprisoned by the Krimzon Guard upon his arrival in the city. Jak is subjected to experiments with Dark Eco and is subsequently capable of using Dark Eco powers. With the help of Daxter, Jak escapes the prison and is now in search of vengeance against the Krimzon Guard.
Jak 3 was first released in North America on November 9, 2004, for the PlayStation 2. After being blamed by the residents of Haven City for its destruction, Jak and Daxter are exiled to the Wasteland by Count Veger. Ashelin gives Jak a beacon in hopes that he'll be tracked down, with Damas, the king of nearby Spargus, rescuing him. In exchange, Jak and Daxter must now prove their worth to Damas and the city or risk being banished and thrown back into the desert.
Other games
Jak X: Combat Racing was first released in North America on October 18, 2005, for the PlayStation 2. Its narrative takes place following the events of Jak 3, with Jak and his allies inadvertently being poisoned while attending the reading of Krew's last will. Jak and his allies must partake and win the Kras City Grand Championship, a championship of the fictional sport of "combat racing", in Krew's name in order to obtain an antidote for the poison.Daxter was first released in North America on March 14, 2006, for the PlayStation Portable. The game primarily focuses on Daxter, taking place during the two-year gap introduced in the opening of Jak II. Daxter is now employed as a pest exterminator by the Kridder Ridder company, in which he works to mitigate the incoming metal bug invasion. Alongside this work, Daxter is on a quest to find and free Jak from his imprisonment by the Krimzon Guard.
Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier was first released in North America on November 3, 2009, for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. Its narrative takes place an undisclosed amount of time after the events of the original trilogy. When their world begins to run low on Eco, Jak, Daxter, and Keira travel to the Brink, the edge of the world, in search of ancient Precursor machinery that can reverse this decline of Eco.
Collections and remasters
Jak and Daxter Collection was first released in North America on February 7, 2012, for the PlayStation 3—the franchise's first appearance on the platform. It is a remastered port of the original trilogy—Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, and Jak 3. The games were ported by Mass Media Games and feature 720p graphics at 60 frames per second and trophies. Mass Media Games later ported the collection to the PlayStation Vita and it was released in June 2013—the franchise's only appearance on this platform.Jak and Daxter Bundle was first released in North America on December 7, 2017, for the PlayStation 4—the franchise's first appearance on the platform. The bundle features emulations of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, Jak 3, and Jak X: Combat Racing, in addition to retaining trophy support. Prior to the release of the bundle, The Precursor Legacy was released on the PlayStation 4 as a pre-order bonus for Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Between 2019 and 2020, Limited Run Games released a limited amount of physical copies of both standard and collector's editions of the games.
Gameplay and common elements
Mechanics
The series consists of four single-player-only games, and two that include multiplayer. The series is primarily a story-based platformer presented in the third-person perspective. The player can explore a multitude of different areas in an open world environment and can perform several melee attacks. A substance called Eco can also be manipulated to enhance the player's abilities, with differently-colored Eco having different effects. Red Eco enhances the damage dealt and yields one impervious to damage from Dark Eco crates. Blue Eco allows the player to move faster, jump slightly higher, move slightly farther using attacks, attract Green Eco and Precursor orbs, and operate certain color coded machines. Green Eco is used to restore health, while Yellow Eco allows the player to shoot fire from the character's hands, which can be done "from the hip," or using a scope. A hover bike called a "Zoomer" and a large bird known as a "Flut-Flut" are also available for transportation and to gain access to hard-to-reach places. "Flut-Flut" also has the ability to attack. Power Cells and Precursor Orbs are required to advance the story in The Precursor Legacy, while completing story-related missions and collecting Precursor Orbs unlocks new locations and allows the player to unlock certain "Secrets" in all subsequent entries.Shooting elements are briefly introduced in The Precursor Legacy, becoming fully implemented in Jak II. Jak II features customizable weapons and other varied forms of combat, expanding upon features present in The Precursor Legacy. For example, Jak has many different gun mods. Each one is a certain color, either Red, Blue, Yellow, or Dark. Red gun mods make the gun similar to a shotgun. Blue lets it fire as a machine gun. Yellow mods are for long-range shooting, and Dark mods are for utmost power. Daxter is also a playable character and features in several Crash Bandicoot-esque missions. Dark Eco powers also become available, which is countered by the introduction of Light Eco powers in Jak 3. Guns can be upgraded twice through accomplishing certain story missions, and several abilities to use in both Light and Dark Jak forms are unlocked as well. Driving becomes a core ingredient and is further expanded upon in Jak 3. In The Lost Frontier aerial combat is integrated into the series. Precursor orbs can be collected in each game to unlock cheats.
Jak X deviates from the series' more traditional style of gameplay, adapting into the racing genre, and is based on the driving mechanics developed for Jak 3. Several extras can be unlocked for Jak X and Daxter by linking up the save files from the two respective games, and several player skins can be unlocked if the player has save files from The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, Jak 3 and Insomniac Games' Ratchet: Deadlocked.
With the exception of The Precursor Legacy, each installment offers "Hero Mode", which allows a player to replay the game at a higher level of difficulty with all or most of their previous acquisitions. This mode, in addition to other bonus content, can be unlocked by finishing the game and purchasing said content in the secrets menu with Precursor Orbs.
Setting and characters
Jak and Daxter is set in a fictional universe. The first game takes place in a world brimming with various natural environments that are encompassed by village settlements, and ancient Precursor ruins and elements can be found riddled throughout the landscape. An elemental substance called Eco is prominent throughout the game and is considered the world's life source. Eco comes in several forms, Red Eco, Blue Eco, Yellow Eco, Green Eco, Light Eco and Dark Eco, each with different prospective effects. Subsequent entries/games are set in a future setting that has witnessed large advancements in both society and technology, mainly taking place in cities and other larger settlements and affecting both hand-to-hand combat and available weaponry. Beyond cities in subsequent games lies natural environments with many platforming segments, akin to the first game. Overall, there are many distinct and differing environments available to discover and explore. All three main titles take place in an open world with little to no load times—a goal emphasized heavily since the first game.The Jak and Daxter universe is populated primarily by a humanoid elfish species. Jak is the main protagonist of the series, and is playable in every game with the exception of Daxter. In The Precursor Legacy, he accidentally turned Daxter from a human into an ottsel after accidentally bumping him into a reservoir of Dark Eco and sets out on a quest in attempts to undo the transformation. In Jak II, he is infused with Dark Eco due to experimentations performed by Baron Praxis, and in Jak 3 he is blessed with Light Eco by the Precursors. Both Light and Dark Eco abilities are expanded upon during the course of the story in Jak 3. In Jak X, he is forced to race in the Kras City Grand Championship in order to save his life. He later travels to The Brink to investigate the Eco shortage that is ravaging his world in The Lost Frontier.
Daxter is Jak's sidekick, and is often found getting into trouble. Daxter was once a human but fell into a pit of Dark Eco in the opening cutscene of the first game in the series, which mutated him into an ottsel. He rescues Jak at the beginning of Jak II, and becomes playable intermittently for the first time in the series. In Jak 3 his role is expanded, and he gets a pair of pants as a reward for his efforts as an ongoing gag in the game. In Daxter, he details his adventures in the two-year time span before he managed to break Jak out of prison. In Jak X, he accompanies Jak and his friends to Kras City, and assists them as they compete in the Kras City Grand Championship. He later travels with Jak and Keira to The Brink in The Lost Frontier.