A FAR CRY FROM THE PAST WE KNEW
See how far we have come. When the Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy resurfaced for PlayStation 4 owners in 2017, it served as a textbook example of how to make a decent game slightly worse. This re-release does little more than adjust the resolution to modern screens. It offers no subtitles, barely any configuration options, and an overall control scheme widely considered less stable than the original PlayStation 2 version (a claim I can neither confirm nor deny). None of this helps a platformer feel enjoyable. Get with the times.
Most baffling of all is the lack of a clear option to adjust camera inversion. By default, both the X and Y axes are inverted—an arrangement that suits only a tiny fraction of players. While the X-axis can technically be fixed, the solution borders on the absurd: navigate to the “Graphics Options” menu, hold up on the D-pad, press R3, and hope for the best. There is no visual confirmation that anything has changed. This is not user-friendly design; it is a secret handshake.
Once I finally solved that riddle, I was able to ease back into Jak and Daxter, a game I had not touched since the mid-2000s. Naughty Dog’s mascot platformer is available both on its own and as part of the Jak and Daxter Trilogy, and it has undeniably aged—often poorly. That said, it remains enjoyable enough to justify a full playthrough, particularly in the current lull between major releases. I was not truly frustrated until the final stretch, where unreliable controls forced me to replay lengthy sections.
At its core, the game is an unabashed collectathon with a loose sense of direction. As Jak, you must stop an evil duo from spreading a corrupting substance known as dark eco across the world. To do so, you seek out three sages—aligned with red, blue, and yellow eco—who can help contain the threat. The story is deliberately lightweight, pushed aside to let the gameplay take center stage. In that regard, it still holds up reasonably well—provided the controls do not betray you.
You run, jump, and smash your way through several worlds with wildly different themes, accompanied by your sidekick Daxter: a human turned ottsel with an aggressively annoying personality. During cutscenes, he mugs for the camera, shrieks incessantly, and seems determined to outperform Jar Jar Binks in sheer comic desperation. He tries far too hard to be funny.
Not that he faces much competition. Jak himself is a silent protagonist, a choice that rarely appeals to me—especially in a third-person game where you constantly see the character. What is the point of a duo when only one of them speaks? The opportunity for engaging banter is entirely squandered. Daxter talks; Jak works.
That work primarily involves collecting power cells left behind by an ancient, extinct civilization. Some are obtained through exploration, others through careful observation, timed challenges, trades, or quest rewards. The list is extensive. A helpful quest log tracks potential leads, and once you gather enough cells, you unlock access to a new hub world where the loop begins anew.
It is an engaging and flexible gameplay structure. Each hub offers multiple paths and objectives, and the game is refreshingly lenient about how many power cells you need to progress. If a particular challenge becomes tedious or frustrating, you can often ignore it altogether. Many tasks revolve around simple but satisfying eco-based mechanics: blue eco boosts speed, yellow enables projectile attacks, green restores health, and red increases strength.
Several side activities break up the pacing. These include a janky arcade-style hoverbike racer, turret-shooting sequences, fishing, and sliding obstacle courses. They are tough but generally fair, clearly designed around repetition and gradual mastery. I do not mind failing here, because each attempt teaches me something.
The late-game platforming, however, is where the experience begins to unravel. Early on, generous checkpoints cushion mistakes. Later sections emphasize vertical traversal, requiring long, precise climbs to reach a single power cell. Miss one jump near the top, and you fall—often all the way back down, forced to start over.
This would be acceptable if failure felt entirely skill-based. Too often, it does not. The camera frequently sits too close to Jak to properly frame upcoming platforms, making blind jumps common. The double jump is inconsistent, sometimes failing outright, and Jak’s ability to grab ledges or poles feels frustratingly arbitrary.
Combat, meanwhile, feels largely obligatory. Jak has only two attacks: a sliding punch—which often sends him careening off ledges—and a spinning strike. Neither can be upgraded, and neither meaningfully outclasses the other. Combat is best avoided whenever possible, as defeating enemies serves little purpose beyond restoring health.
This is unfortunate, because the underlying level design is often excellent. The game rewards curiosity and spatial awareness, and some secrets—revealed only by carefully scanning the environment and following subtle visual cues—are genuinely brilliant. Unfortunately, reaching them can be a chore. Camera issues, unreliable jumping, and awkward movement combine to create moments of needless frustration. This alone drags the PS4 version down from “good” to merely “adequate.”
Visually, the game has not aged gracefully. While its cartoony style remains inventive, early 3D graphics simply do not resonate with me the way pixel art does. That said, the world design still impresses: jungles, mines, snowy mountains, and a dynamic day–night cycle lend the environments a sense of life and care.
When it launched in 2001, Jak and Daxter may well have nudged the medium forward. For me, however, it recalls a period when I nearly drifted away from video games altogether—an era marked by awkward visuals and unrefined control schemes. Developers were still feeling their way forward, far from any shared understanding of best practices.
In the end, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy remains a mixed bag. It is undeniably creative and often charming, and its lighthearted tone helps soften the sting when Jak fails the same jump for the third time in a row. The abundance of alternate paths means you are rarely forced to conquer any one particularly infuriating challenge.
For the sake of preservation, I am glad a new generation gets the chance to experience this series. I just resent that us Precursors themselves may have enjoyed it more than today’s players ever will. Is that really the legacy we want to pass on?
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