A recent announcement from new PlayStation studio PSS Visual Arts has confirmed that it is working with developer Naughty Dog on a yet unnamed AAA project. Interestingly, this has been confirmed to be for a beloved franchise, rather than a new IP. On paper, of all the possibilities, a newJak and Daxterproject seems one of the most likely options. TheJak and Daxterseries was a huge part of the gaming landscape during the 2000s. The platforming antics of the duo paved the way for the likes ofRatchet and Clankafter them, but, with no new releases since 2009, an appearance from the unlikely pairing is now long overdue.
It is perfectly feasible that this unknown project has nothing to do withJak and Daxterat all.Naughty Dog has other huge franchises under its umbrella, and it could be that the project involves one of those instead. However, this would arguably make much less sense, as Naughty Dog would be less likely to team up with a brand-new studio for eitherUnchartedorTheLast of Us, both of which are still considered to be commercial juggernauts at the height of their popularity.
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A New Jak and Daxter Game is Long Overdue
The first game in the series,Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, was released in 2001 for PS2. The bright, vibrant platformer was extremely similar to other games in the genre at that time including theNintendo 64’sSuper Mario 64andBanjo Kazooie. Players control Jak as he attempts to help his friend Daxter who has been transformed into an Ottsel, which is a fictional hybrid of an Otter and a Weasel.
While making their way around large, open environments, players will collect various objects and navigate tricky platforming sections, occasionally interacting with colorful NPCs and fighting enemies. The game received excellent reviews from critics who saw this as the natural evolution fromNaughty Dog’s previous platforming series,Crash Bandicoot.
The game’s sequel,Jak 2, arrived two years later, then the third entry came the following year in 2004. Despite the fact that bothJak 2and3garnered similarly high critical scores, the tone of both games had changed dramatically from the first, with the games having a much darker tone throughout. The groundbreakingGrand Theft Auto 3clearly had an influence onJak 2and its overall tone and structure, which then continued into the third game. Thanks to the robust gameplay and highly polished overall presentation though, this tone was welcomed, and critics agreed that the series featured some of the strongest games on the PS2 platform.
A couple more games followed,Jak X: Combat Racingwas a vehicular combat racer, differing dramatically from previous outings. Then cameDaxter, a PSP exclusive that focused solely on Jak’s wisecracking sidekick, and is considered by some to be one of thePSP’s best games, with critics praising its gameplay as well as its humor. The finalJak and Daxterouting came in 2009 withJak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, which was seen as another strong entry, even if a little of the series' charm had seemingly worn off by then. Over the past 13 years, fans have been treated to a couple of remastered collections of the trilogy, but nothing else.
The stage is set for a newJak and Daxtergame. The recent success of the PS5 exclusiveRatchet & Clack: Rift Aparthas shown that there is still a huge appetite for platforming/ action combat games, andJak and Daxtercertainly fit this mold. With so much of Naughty Dog’s time now taken up withThe Last of Usprojects, not to mention a possible new entry in theUnchartedseries being overdue, for the developer to collaborate with this new studio on aJak and Daxterproject makes perfect logistical sense. Time will tell if this proves to be the case, but for now, fans will continue to speculate.
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