I picked up the Jak HD collection because I've heard good things about the Jak franchise. I love platformers so this seemed like a natural fit.

I played Jak 1 and just about love everything about it. I collected everything, and had the best time doing it. It's firmly in my favorite games of all time.

So now I'm about an hour or two into Jak 2 and it's the most boring game I think I've ever played. There's an open city for some reason, which has no purpose but to make it take longer to get to the actual playing of the game. No bad guys, no shops, nobody to talk to, there is no reason why this "hub city" exists other than they wanted an open world game. I spent about 3/4 of the playtime so far driving to the next mission. And the driving isn't even fun, it handles like garbage. Then I got a gun. If I wanted Ratchet & Clank I'd play that.

I guess I want to know if it gets better, I mean, does it get more Jak 1 or does it stay this course? I guess I'm just frustrated that it's so different than the first. Obviously these games are 10, or so, years old and what does it matter, but if Jak 3 is the same I think I'll move on to try out the Sly games.

I didn't care for Jak 2, either. And while there are platforming segments (Jak 2 is awesome when it basically turns into original Jak when you're exploring temples with all these platforming puzzles), what you've got during the opening is the jist of it. There'll be some checkpoint race stuff that you'll eventually unlock around the world, but not a whole lot of stuff to do in there, and I agree, the open-world is pretty pointless. How do you feel about the driving and the combat? Those two aspects are what really killed Jak 2 for me, along with the ''gritty'' redesign of everything. I guess I can understand why it was so popular back in the day, but heading in now, it's definitely not to my tastes.

Jak 3 is much better, however. More colourful environments, significantly better driving, more side stuff ect. My heart broke when the game took me back to that god awful city in Jak 2, though. I stopped playing from that point on.

It stays like that. They made a pretty decisive shift.

The first game is breezy and light, but Jak 2 just gets harder and harder and stays focused on the driving/city. There are missions that take place within it later on. It is definitely a very, very different game to the first one (in my opinion better) Jak 3 has way more emphasis on driving, but in a bigger open desert. It is also a massive step back in difficulty which is a good thing.

Well, dammit. I didn't like the driving or the shooting. I guess there isn't much here for me anymore. I don't want to ruin my Jak 1 experience with the next games I think. Might try Jak 3 since it's there, but this is disappointing.

I think what says it all is that I collected 5 of the orbs and immediately switched the goatee off. It did not help.

You can switch the goatee off?! There is something that I did not know.

The driving part is pretty BS, and sadly the game relies on it pretty heavily in Jak 2. As GunstarRed mentioned, the temple and platforming stuff is pretty great, but I the weapons really changed things for the series too. I was less excited about 2 than Jak and Daxter after playing it. Then, Jak 3 came along which shortened the driving distances by cutting out most of the city, and placing more emphasis on using dark and light powers which brought me back to how it felt to play J & D to a certain extent. The first and third games are really the best. I wouldn't give up on Jak 2 though just so you can play all 3. There are some pretty cool hover board segments that you will get to in the game that you should enjoy.

I think Jak 2 is one of the greatest sequels of all time. Jak 3 on the other hand...

I played Jak 2 before I ever even saw or new what Jak and Dexter was back when it came out. When I finally tried the first one, I hated it after about 20 minutes.

Haven't played the third one yet but I loved the second.

Really liked 2 when it first came out but when I played it again in the HD collection I found it extremely frustrating. The driving is awful and any missions that involve you driving around the city fast or under are time limit are painful.

Ratchet and clank!!!!!!!!!!!

It's been awhile since I've played it, but the driving was never really that bad, except for any of the races. And yes, the game does get better. The story is fantastic and while the game does have some absurd difficulty spikes, there are some amazing missions and fun boss fights later on. The game is worth seeing through to the end, especially if you want to play Jak 3. J&D is a damn fine game for a simple platformer, but the sequels are some of my all time favorites.

@msavo said:

I think Jak 2 is one of the greatest sequels of all time. Jak 3 on the other hand...

I think the exact opposite of this. I really enjoyed Jak 2, don't get me wrong, but it has its issues and I can see someone not wanting to play it. However, @translucentfish , I still recommend playing through Jak 2 for the story beats if you can at least stand the gameplay. The story is pretty damn good and has some nice twists in it, and if you get involved in it, it should be able to keep your attention past the shortcomings.

Jak 3 balances the driving, shooting, and platforming much better than Jak 2 does, in my opinion, and the ending of that game is jaw dropping. The PS2 should not be able to do that but holy shit, it can and it's great.

I'm surprised at the amount of praise is being given unto Jak 2's story. I can't recall it being bad exactly, but there's very little I can remember besides it starring a majority of characters I at best tolerated, or otherwise hated.

I played the trilogy back when it was released and I loved the whole series. I'd say Jak 2 is my favourite of them all though, obviously it is very different with the guns and open world but I really loved that about the game and don't see it as a negative thing.

You still have great platforming and a lot of collecting to do.

It's the best in the series. Actually, Jak 3 might be, but it's close.

@scalpel said:

It's the best in the series. Actually, Jak 3 might be, but it's close.

I liked the story in Jak 3 but there were too many driving and "novelty" levels and not enough traditional Jak levels.

There is really good platforming to be had in Jak 2- its just not the core focus like it was in Jak 1. If you don't like the combat now- you probably won't like it later, since the only thing that really changes is the number of enemies the game throws at you at once.

The hordes the game throws at you later on make for some 'memorable' late-game escort missions, though 'memorable' will mean different things depending on who you ask. :P

I myself liked both Jak 1 and 2 for their own reasons. And unfortunately never got to try 3. :\

@Sackmanjones said:

Ratchet and clank!!!!!!!!!!!

Quiet you- don't change the subject. :P

I quit Jak II but loved the fuck out of Jak 3. Jak II was pretty awkward the vehicles exploded way too easy and time limits on vehicle missions could be ridiculous when your vehicle would blow up after two hits. Jak 3 seemed to have taken all the good of Jak II and brought back the fun feelings of Jak and Daxter. Man I love that game. I think I might get the collection just to play it again. I should have bought it.

Jak II has some great stuff in there, but the city/hovercraft stuff is terrible. I managed to stick with it back in the day but I just dropped the game at the Krew delivery mission in the HD collection. Jak & Daxter is the best game in the series for my money.

I'm like you, I absolutely loved Jak 1 and I couldn't even bring myself to finish Jak 2. I think I got halfway in, if that, before I just quit out of disgust. The open world city thing sucks, the driving is bad, the change in tone is ridiculous, and the shooting is terrible and as far in as I got none of that changed.

I only ever played the demo for Jak 3 but I never even finished that because it seemed like more Jak 2.

I'm still irritated that they ruined that franchise by trying to ape GTA.

Sorry bro, if you want more Jak 1, you'll have to go to a different series. I like 2 and 3 as well, but that was when they were new... I doubt they aged well. 1 definitely has the best replay value.