Jak and Daxter
Who are they? One’s a human…elf…guy, the other’s an ottsel (half otter, half weasel). Together, they save their world from the forces of evil, travel through time, communicate with the ancient beings the Precursors, and sometimes get hopped up on dark and light Eco. Actually, Jak does most of this while Daxter rides on his shoulder and yaps a bunch.
Best Game? While its predecessor may have leaned too hard on the GTA meter, Jak 3 finds the right balance between the series roots and its future as an action-sandbox. The series has built itself on reinvention and risk, and this game is the riskiest of all; switching from sandbox action adventure to platformer to car combat at the drop of a hat and not faltering. The story may raise more questions than it does answers, but the last act reveal of the Precursors is damn hilarious for out of left field it is. Most of the games in the series are great, but this one stands in the top.
Chances of being Skylanders’d? Like Sly, that one’s up in the air. The franchise hasn’t been around since PlayStation All-Stars and that Lost Frontier game we all agreed to never talk about again. Before working on The Last of Us, Naughty Dog said that they’d considered rebooting Jak and Daxter, but it didn’t fit with the spirit of the franchise. On one hand, it’s respectable for them to know when to call it quits, the need for a new Jak and Daxter is high, and while getting the Skylanders treatment isn’t what the series truly deserves, something in that vein would at least be good to test out where the franchise would go. If nothing else, it could win back fans who thought the series went “too gritty” with the sequels.
What franchises do you hope don’t go the way of the Skylanders? Let us know in the comments below.
