Mechanics The series consists of four
single-player-only games, and two that include
multiplayer. The series is primarily a story-based
platformer presented in the
third-person perspective. The player can explore a multitude of different areas in an open world environment and can perform several melee attacks. A substance called Eco can also be manipulated to enhance the player's abilities, with differently-colored Eco having different effects. Red Eco enhances the damage dealt and yields one impervious to damage from Dark Eco crates. Blue Eco allows the player to move faster, jump slightly higher, move slightly farther using attacks, attract Green Eco and Precursor orbs, and operate certain color coded machines. Green Eco is used to restore health, while Yellow Eco allows the player to shoot fire from the character's hands, which can be done "from the hip," or using a scope. A hover bike called a "Zoomer" and a large bird known as a "Flut-Flut" are also available for transportation and to gain access to hard-to-reach places. "Flut-Flut" also has the ability to attack. Power Cells and Precursor Orbs are required to advance the story in
The Precursor Legacy, while completing story-related missions and collecting Precursor Orbs unlocks new locations and allows the player to unlock certain "Secrets" in all subsequent entries. Shooting elements are briefly introduced in
The Precursor Legacy, becoming fully implemented in
Jak II.
Jak II features customizable weapons and other varied forms of combat, expanding upon features present in
The Precursor Legacy. For example, Jak has many different gun mods. Each one is a certain color, either Red, Blue, Yellow, or Dark. Red gun mods make the gun similar to a shotgun. Blue lets it fire as a machine gun. Yellow mods are for long-range shooting, and Dark mods are for utmost power. Daxter is also a playable character and features in several
Crash Bandicoot-esque missions. Dark Eco powers also become available, which is countered by the introduction of Light Eco powers in
Jak 3. Guns can be upgraded twice through accomplishing certain story missions, and several abilities to use in both Light and Dark Jak forms are unlocked as well. Driving becomes a core ingredient and is further expanded upon in
Jak 3. In
The Lost Frontier aerial combat is integrated into the series. Precursor orbs can be collected in each game to unlock cheats.
Jak X deviates from the series' more traditional style of gameplay, adapting into the racing genre, and is based on the driving mechanics developed for
Jak 3. Several extras can be unlocked for
Jak X and
Daxter by linking up the save files from the two respective games, and several player skins can be unlocked if the player has save files from
The Precursor Legacy,
Jak II,
Jak 3 and
Insomniac Games'
Ratchet: Deadlocked. With the exception of
The Precursor Legacy, each installment offers "Hero Mode", which allows a player to replay the game at a higher level of difficulty with all or most of their previous acquisitions. This mode, in addition to other bonus content, can be unlocked by finishing the game and purchasing said content in the secrets menu with Precursor Orbs.
Setting and characters ''
Jak and Daxter is set in a fictional universe. The first game takes place in a world brimming with various natural environments that are encompassed by village settlements, and ancient Precursor ruins and elements can be found riddled throughout the landscape. An elemental substance called Eco is prominent throughout the game and is considered the world's life source. Eco comes in several forms, Red Eco, Blue Eco, Yellow Eco, Green Eco, Light Eco and Dark Eco, each with different prospective effects. Subsequent entries/games are set in a future setting that has witnessed large advancements in both society and technology, mainly taking place in cities and other larger settlements and affecting both hand-to-hand combat and available weaponry. Beyond cities in subsequent games lies natural environments with many platforming segments, akin to the first game. Overall, there are many distinct and differing environments available to discover and explore. All three main titles take place in an open world with little to no load times—a goal emphasized heavily since the first game. The
Jak and Daxter universe is populated primarily by a
humanoid elfish species. Jak is the main protagonist of the series, and is playable in every game with the exception of
Daxter. In
The Precursor Legacy, he accidentally turned Daxter from a human into an ottsel (a fictional hybrid of an otter and weasel) after accidentally bumping him into a reservoir of Dark Eco and sets out on a quest in attempts to undo the transformation. In
Jak II, he is infused with Dark Eco due to experimentations performed by Baron Praxis, and in
Jak 3 he is blessed with Light Eco by the Precursors. Both Light and Dark Eco abilities are expanded upon during the course of the story in
Jak 3. In
Jak X, he is forced to race in the Kras City Grand Championship in order to save his life. He later travels to The Brink to investigate the Eco shortage that is ravaging his world in
The Lost Frontier.
Daxter is Jak's sidekick, and is often found getting into trouble. Daxter was once a human but fell into a pit of Dark Eco in the opening cutscene of the first game in the series, which mutated him into an ottsel. He rescues Jak at the beginning of
Jak II, and becomes playable intermittently for the first time in the series. In
Jak 3 his role is expanded, and he gets a pair of pants as a reward for his efforts as an ongoing gag in the game. In
Daxter, he details his adventures in the two-year time span before he managed to break Jak out of prison. In
Jak X, he accompanies Jak and his friends to Kras City, and assists them as they compete in the Kras City Grand Championship. He later travels with Jak and Keira to The Brink in
The Lost Frontier. ==Development==