The purpose of this blog post is to ideate a system update to one of my favorite childhood games made by Naughty Dog - A link to my full presentation can be found here (Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy System Update Analysis)
Game and Player Goal Context
Alright now lets begin. For those who don't know what this game is, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is a collect-a-thon meaning your goal in the game is to collect things. Oddly enough, the game has no real antagonist or conflict until you are already halfway through the game, but even then your goal remains unchanged - collect all the things. Progression is tracked by how many things you have collected. In reality, there are so many things to collect that if a player finds one part of the game too hard, they can skip it and simply collect them elsewhere. There are several different objects you can collect, Scout Flies, Precursor Orbs, and Power cells but your main objective is to collect Power cells. Seven Scout Flies will provide 1 Power cell and 90-120 Precursor Orbs, depending on the quest, will provide 1 Power cell. In total, there are 101 Power cells in the game but only 72 are needed in order to beat the game (collecting all 101 unlocks a secret cutscene).
Game Systems in Question
In terms of systems, the Precursor Legacy is unique in its eco system, badum tss, (green, blue, yellow, red) that each have their own respective powers Jak can utilize throughout the game. Dark and Light eco also exist but are not really used as a power for Jak (Dark eco instantly vaporizes Jak killing him and Light eco is a powerful combination of green, blue, yellow, and red eco only seen once in the game).
Rationale and Update
One of my biggest questions about the franchise is the nature of Dark eco and thus my system update will revolve around this. Dark eco transforms Daxter(sidekick) but instantly vaporizes Jak(main), thus making you think, how does dark eco work and funtion. This isn't very clearly explained throughout the game. For example, we know the games main villains were corrupted by overdosing on dark eco, but it didn't kill them or transform them like it did to Daxter. Thus, I propose a new system that would involve adding a new collectable to allow playable and short secret gameplay segments for Daxter. These secret segments would introduce Dark eco minigames during the Daxter gameplay because during Jak gameplay, there are yellow, blue, and red eco puzzles, however there are never any Dark eco puzzles as those serve as "don't fall/crash death traps for Jak". I propose a Daxter minigame would have lore/narrative purpose (not just collection for collection sake). Furthermore, clearing up some details about the nature of dark eco (maybe how it affected the villains) would be interesting.
Update Details
Locations for adding Daxter specific collectables dubbed "Precursor Relics" would involve any place with investigable Precursor ruins. For example, Forbidden Jungle, Misty Island, Lost Precursor City, Precursor Basin, Snowy Mountain, Lava Tube, and Gol and Maia's Citadel. They would be found within the ruins throughout the game. Only Daxter would be able to activate them and subsequently open a secret room only he could enter/fit into. These rooms would contain small dark eco puzzles that when completed would unlock story/lore and place the relic in Jak's inventory. These eco puzzles would include various unique flow, tile, and pipe puzzles unlike any others throughout the series.
Rewards
The final boss in the game is a giant corrupted precursor robot built by the game's antagonists, and I think it would be nice to see smaller, friendly versions of this robot. The precursors are good beings thus it would make sense for their structures to hold smaller friendly versions of the massive attack robots scattered throughout the landscape. Also only ottsels (who are precursors)would have access to them making further sense they should be friendly. As a reward for completing them, a small friendly version of the Precursor Robots would give more facts about the nature of dark eco and the ancient precursor ruins where the trial is undertaken. These facts should be heavy which would better set up the next games which take a dark tone away from the cartoonish-ness of this game. They would also present you with a Power cell and send you on your way back to Jak.
Logic
Why this change you may ask? Well, Daxter, despite being a crucial role in the series, is never playable once throughout this game. This change would add more variety to the already diverse gameplay. Next, this change stays within the collect-a-thon game theme. Puzzles aren't being repeated but are rather introducing new mechanics to expand up on already good systems. Furthermore, the reward presents information that doesn't necessarily present new overarching mechanics but rather sets up future mechanics in a smoother transition. Also the heavy lore given to the player is counteracted by Daxter's personality which is typically used for comedic relief throughout the franchise. Lastly, the systems responsible for this games great reception are the puzzles, eco, and narrative. Thus expanding upon those with a "Daxter Update" would interest long-time fans.
Monetary Impact
This game is 20 years old, and were this game to get remade for its anniversary, this could be an interesting update they add. I feel as though it would provide more knowledge and maybe closure to longtime fans who feel as though there are some loose ends in the narrative. Longtime fans would immediately recognize the change while newcomers to the series would get better setup to understand the events of the next game better. For example, one complaint about the series is the quite substantial genre change if you will. The Precursor Legacy could be classified as a children's game with the cartoony style and childish humor, but Jak 2, which took inspiration from GTA, has swearing, sexual innuendos, and highway robbery, as well as the introduction of guns. I think maybe sharing some kind of logic or rationale in The Precursor Legacy to support the shift change would help remedy many of the qualms longtime players have with the series. For newcomers, it might pique their interest or at least prepare them for the future direction of the series.
Thank you for reading and if you are interested in more details please check out the link at the beginning of this post to my presentation on this topic. Please feel free to discuss my proposal or respond with your own! For all of the different ideas people come up with is what makes creative fields fun :)