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(149.6KB, 731x1094) I've been playing Jak II this week, out of a nostalgic feeling. The game's certainly an interesting one, given its mishmash of collect-a-thon platformer, shooter, GTA-style open world, and skateboarding, all with anime-styled elves. It's early 2000's in its full glory. It's beautiful in a way.
The platforming and melee mechanics retain their same quality from the first game, still having the incredibly smooth movement that made the first so fun to play. The vehicles are decent to control and move, and the hover-to-flight mechanics the zoomers can do is a good way to weave through traffic or avoid the Krimson Guard and their kamikaze zoomers. I found the hoverboard mechanics certainly cool, as a big fan of the THPS series, though sadly the hoverboard can never reach the same levels of polish Tony Hawk did.
That said, the game naturally has its flaws, being such a sharp departure from The Precursor Legacy. The plot is wonky, since it has to accommodate such a great change, but I found the time travel element to be at least decent for the setting. The Mar subplot, on the other hand, didn't work out for me. The gunplay is decent, but it wasn't as good as Jak 3 is, naturally. I'll get around to playing that one. It works best, however, as an addition to Jak's punches and kicks, instead of replacing them outright.
Jak II, while flawed, doesn't deserve the hate it got, I believe. It was a fun game that while certainly not its predecessor, helped crea