For the first time in a decade, I've replayed the Jak and Daxter games. By which I mean I've replayed Jak II and Jak 3, because I can't go back to the original Jak and Daxter now that I've played its sequels; it's just too jarring.
The original Jak and Daxter is a light, cartoony platformer about a boy and his friend who's been turned into an otter-weasel hybrid. Jak II opens with Jak being captured and tortured for two years, and now he's DARK and ANGRY and BENT ON REVENGE, and suddenly you're playing a wildly difficult mission-based open-world action game with GUNS.
Jak II and Jak 3 could fairly be described as Naughty Dog's edgy teenage phase, but they happened to coincide perfectly with my edgy teenage phase, so I absolutely ate them up. I'd written fics for other canons here and there, but Jak and Daxter was one of the first fandoms I really felt I was part of.
The animation in the Jak games is so good! The characters are so expressive in cutscenes, and all of Jak's movements lead so smoothly into each other. (I love the character that Daxter, sitting on Jak's shoulder, adds to his animations, too. When you do a spin attack as Jak, you'll sometimes see Daxter clinging frantically onto Jak's hair to keep himself in place.)
I remember that, after playing the original Jak and Daxter, I tried to write a magazine-style 'review' of it, and I commented on how smoothly Jak switched between actions. Apparently I was impressed by Jak's animation quality even when I was thirteen and knew nothing about animation, so it must have been a noticeable step up from the other games I'd been playing.
The checkpointing, on the other hand, is so bad. It's better in Jak 3, but in Jak II, which is a very unforgiving game, I can't tell you how many times I died mid-mission and went 'holy shit, are you really sending me all the way back to the start?' Also: too much racing. But the games are still fun to play, even if they can be frustrating.
I'm glad that 'if the player has already got past a tricky part, don't force them to do it again' now seems to be understood by most game designers. I keep meaning to do an entry on the ways in which I've seen videogames change in my lifetime, and that's definitely one thing that's struck me.
I was really upset for a moment when it looked like Jak and Daxter were going to be separated at the end of Jak 3. I was all ready to jump on Dreamwidth and write 'I DON'T REMEMBER THIS, NOOOOOO.' But then Jak gave up his opportunity to see the universe so he could stay with Daxter! Friendship!!
I recently found myself wondering what the first fic I ever wrote involving sex was. I went to check. It was for Jak II, I was sixteen, and it was noncon selfcest. It wasn't graphic at all, but I'm still sort of impressed that I jumped straight from 'never written sex' to 'noncon selfcest'. There was a vast middle ground to explore, and teenage Riona absolutely did not care.
(It's possible my first fic involving sex was actually a Red Dwarf fic that's now been completely lost, but that one was definitely also selfcest and may also have been noncon.)
I've been trying to reread my Jak and Daxter fanfiction, but it turns out it's from exactly the point in my writing history that makes me squirm in embarrassment. I can look back at the stuff I wrote when I was twelve and go 'aww, that's cute'; I can look at the stuff I wrote in my late teens and go 'okay, this could be better, but it's basically readable.' When I'm fifteen or sixteen, I avoid contractions for no reason and my writing is always slightly too dramatic and flowery, and it's absolutely unbearable.
But I suppose these are things I had to write in order to improve, so I shouldn't look down on them too much. You were trying, teenage me. I can respect that.
The original Jak and Daxter is a light, cartoony platformer about a boy and his friend who's been turned into an otter-weasel hybrid. Jak II opens with Jak being captured and tortured for two years, and now he's DARK and ANGRY and BENT ON REVENGE, and suddenly you're playing a wildly difficult mission-based open-world action game with GUNS.
Jak II and Jak 3 could fairly be described as Naughty Dog's edgy teenage phase, but they happened to coincide perfectly with my edgy teenage phase, so I absolutely ate them up. I'd written fics for other canons here and there, but Jak and Daxter was one of the first fandoms I really felt I was part of.
The animation in the Jak games is so good! The characters are so expressive in cutscenes, and all of Jak's movements lead so smoothly into each other. (I love the character that Daxter, sitting on Jak's shoulder, adds to his animations, too. When you do a spin attack as Jak, you'll sometimes see Daxter clinging frantically onto Jak's hair to keep himself in place.)
I remember that, after playing the original Jak and Daxter, I tried to write a magazine-style 'review' of it, and I commented on how smoothly Jak switched between actions. Apparently I was impressed by Jak's animation quality even when I was thirteen and knew nothing about animation, so it must have been a noticeable step up from the other games I'd been playing.
The checkpointing, on the other hand, is so bad. It's better in Jak 3, but in Jak II, which is a very unforgiving game, I can't tell you how many times I died mid-mission and went 'holy shit, are you really sending me all the way back to the start?' Also: too much racing. But the games are still fun to play, even if they can be frustrating.
I'm glad that 'if the player has already got past a tricky part, don't force them to do it again' now seems to be understood by most game designers. I keep meaning to do an entry on the ways in which I've seen videogames change in my lifetime, and that's definitely one thing that's struck me.
I was really upset for a moment when it looked like Jak and Daxter were going to be separated at the end of Jak 3. I was all ready to jump on Dreamwidth and write 'I DON'T REMEMBER THIS, NOOOOOO.' But then Jak gave up his opportunity to see the universe so he could stay with Daxter! Friendship!!
I recently found myself wondering what the first fic I ever wrote involving sex was. I went to check. It was for Jak II, I was sixteen, and it was noncon selfcest. It wasn't graphic at all, but I'm still sort of impressed that I jumped straight from 'never written sex' to 'noncon selfcest'. There was a vast middle ground to explore, and teenage Riona absolutely did not care.
(It's possible my first fic involving sex was actually a Red Dwarf fic that's now been completely lost, but that one was definitely also selfcest and may also have been noncon.)
I've been trying to reread my Jak and Daxter fanfiction, but it turns out it's from exactly the point in my writing history that makes me squirm in embarrassment. I can look back at the stuff I wrote when I was twelve and go 'aww, that's cute'; I can look at the stuff I wrote in my late teens and go 'okay, this could be better, but it's basically readable.' When I'm fifteen or sixteen, I avoid contractions for no reason and my writing is always slightly too dramatic and flowery, and it's absolutely unbearable.
But I suppose these are things I had to write in order to improve, so I shouldn't look down on them too much. You were trying, teenage me. I can respect that.
