Jak IV (Jak and Daxter) Reboot
Avid fans and loyalists to the PS2 owe a deep debt of gratitude to Naughty Dog Studios back in the day. It broke into mainstream success with its widely successful run with the Crash Bandicoot franchise starting on the original PlayStation. With the advent of the PS2, Naughty Dog expanded on their dominance in 3-D action platformer gaming design with the debut of Jak and Daxter spawning three main titles and a number of spinoffs. Why was the Jak and Daxter series so popular? The series had well developed and memorable characters, large bustling worlds to explore, fine tuned gameplay mechanics, and a bold willingness to innovate and evolve over the course of each game. For these reasons, fans have begged and wished for the grand return of this franchise.
Since the last and final release of the Jak and Daxter Collection in 2012, no other games have been released. Notwithstanding, the duo has appeared here and there as Easter Eggs in other Naughty Dog productions. In the same year, fans were subject to unfortunate revelations from game developers Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley about how the Jak and Daxter revamp/reboot project had been abandoned – with examples of what could have been can be found here. After much soul searching, the Druckmann-Straley team let the project go to pursue projects that could explore new horizons and play to their strengths uninhibited. This would mark the first steps towards the marvel that is The Last of Us. With such inarguable results, could we blame them? Well…. yes. Yes, we can. Bring back Jak and Daxter, darn it!!!
