After Jak 1 & 2 this game is a godsend

[Zelos]

Seriously, I hated so much about the first two games (and also made some posts regarding that matter on the Jak 1 board) but this game is actually genuinely fun to me.
Jak 1 was... well, okay. I'd give it 5/10. I just couldn't bear with the controls, the camera, the music and some very stupid game design choices. And I thought the second one would improve on that.
Jak 2 hit me in the face so hard that I wouldn't give it more than 3/10. The only things I liked about the first game were taken away and replaced with HORRIBLE HORRIBLE game design (no health crates in some missions - sometimes 15 minutes of gameplay without a checkpoint) and controls that were even worse than whatever the first game had. I never raged so hard at a game before.

Now that I'm playing Jak 3 immediately after I find it to be 100x better than the first two games.
I started playing with some kind of "oh god, let's just get this trilogy over with" mentality but quickly noticed that nearly everything I hated about the first two games just isn't there.
The music is much better, the driving controls actually feel right this time, the difficutly isn't totally off like in Jak 2 and they seem to have learned how to set checkpoints in a way that doesn't frustrate players.

I saw the reviews on all three games. They all had a 8/10 average or more and I seriously can't understand that.
The third one certainly deserves that score but Jak 1 and 2 are really just below-average and nothing more.

[sicuro95]

i agree jak 2 was really frustrating in some levels and jak1 other characters designs were kinda lame jak3 was the beat cuase of all the new things they added but i do love all 3 jaks ...jak2 was the far diffcult game i ever played wen i was kid it took like a week to pass it lol

[Sajjio]

While I disagree with your dislike for the first 2 games, I definitely agree that Jak 3 was the best in the series.

It felt like it really balanced the gameplay, both in terms of difficulty, and in the variety of mission types (desert driving, platforming, shooting, etc).

[sicuro95]

Originally Posted by Sajjio

While I disagree with your dislike for the first 2 games, I definitely agree that Jak 3 was the best in the series.

It felt like it really balanced the gameplay, both in terms of difficulty, and in the variety of mission types (desert driving, platforming, shooting, etc).

am not trying to say that jak1 and jak2 are horrible games i like all 3three of them its just jak1 and jak2 has a bit of issues

[NatanThe6th]

The first game is a no for me. I don't like the characters, the landscape, gameplay...
But than, suddenly something changed at Naughty Dog. The 2nd game was completely different. From a poo game to my very favorite! Same with Jak 3! 2nd and 3th game are my very favorites.
And about the difficulty, I think they changed it in the HD version. I had a lot more effort to complete these games than the PS2 version..

[Mann0802]

For me it goes Jak 3> Jak2> Jak and Daxter
I enjoyed all three games but I liked the darker feel of Jak 2 and 3. I loved the evolution of a pure and untouched hero into a darker and more problematic protagonist. Naughty Dog did nice work as always when they made these games.

[Fixlarz]

I definitely like Jak & Daxter 1 the most, it's just simple and fun. I think Jak 2 and 3 are tied on second place for me, I can't really say I prefer one over the other. Maybe Jak 2? I can't say. Anyways, I like all 3 very much and I still have all of them for PS2. I prefer the first game just because it doesn't mess around too much and I just generally liked Jak a tad bit more when he didn't say a word. It made Daxter feel so much more important as he was the voice of the duo, in the later games Daxter doesn't have as big of a role (and that's probably why the 2 other games are called Jak 2&3). The first game may have had some camera issues but in the other 2 games the issues just seemed to escalate with the introduction of guns and such.
All in all, they're all great games and I very much recommend anyone who is not a graphics whore to play them.

[Slixor]

I would've thought I'd agree, but Jak 3 bored me so I stopped playing it. I've moved on to the Ratchet & Clank HD collection.

[J2V]

All 3 of these games are great. Jak 1 to me is the best followed by Jak 2 & lastly Jak 3. They were some changes in Jak 2 & 3 with it being more open world and had a darker tone which was good and fun.

[jigsaw]

Originally Posted by NatanThe6th

And about the difficulty, I think they changed it in the HD version. I had a lot more effort to complete these games than the PS2 version..

that's because you beat it before,jak 2 is just as frustrating as it was on ps2,almost every time you take damage you lose 2 blocks of health (why do they even give us 8 health blocks when you always only can take 3 hits?),not a single health crate in missions were you really need them and still the total lack of checkpoints (the mission where you have to protect the bomb guys was driving me insane!)

i think they might have tweaked some of the time limits though,i remember the mission where you have to pick up the 4 rebels,on ps2 i think i had like 5 seconds left,on ps3 it was 60 seconds,but i'm not sure (this was the hardest mission for me on ps2,i had to take a break from the game for 6 months after killing a controller,on ps3 i beat it on the first try)

jak 3 is by far the best,jak 1 is still pretty good for it's age,and jak 2 is utter crap,it's even worse than it was back then if you are used to todays games,i'm not gonna lie,i had more fun re-playing dmc2 than i had with jak 2

it's a shame really,with a few tweaks (more health crates,more checkpoints,enemies doing less damage,more durable vehicles) they could have turned it into a really good game