r/jakanddaxter • u/BLAZERLIKESSODA • 7h ago
What I want for a Reboot
[Edited]
I wasn't a big fan of where the Jak & Daxter franchise went after the first game. I always wanted a direct sequel to The Precursor Legacy. Jak 2 literally is story-wise, but it was such a departure in every other way. The Lost Frontier is the closest thing in tone, direction, and gameplay to the original, but chronically it is the furthest removed. (Although you could almost ignore the other games since its a pretty isolated story, despite the heli-ships, and reference of Dark Jak, etc.) I think a remake of Jak 1 could set up the franchise for a reboot.
A reboot can lead to a sequel that fixes the time paradox, can have an alternate/bonus mode after beating the game where you can play the whole thing as human Daxter, roles reversed, daxter still a loudmouth, silent otsel jak? Maybe that’s what causes him to speak, he freaks out seeing that he is an otsel
The Jak & Daxter series has a bootstrap paradox. This is where A happens then B then A then B infinitely. They go to the future to set up the past in a loop. I think a sequel and/or reboot to TPL could close this loop and set up an alternate timeline, but still keep the events from the future canon. Essentially there would be two Jaks and a series of events in parallel to each other. Samos would be the only one who is aware of both I guess.
Another alternative is to make a direct sequel to TPL, but BEFORE Jak 2. They can make a sequel between 1 & 2 where they collect the parts needed to make the time sleigh, keira can be training to be an eco sage still, maybe even looking into light eco for making daxter human again, etc. I think it’s also an opportunity to clarify a lot of things; Jak’s Uncle (figuratively? Or if literally then how?), light eco and white eco being the same thing or not (I think it was just a design discrepancy before they knew what they wanted to do with it), Mar & Jak’s father (is he originally from the past? Does he get brought up by Samos in a reveal?), etc.
Things I would want explored in general:
Dark Eco is connected to otsels, but how? Why dark jak happens and not otsel Jak? Why dark Daxter happens after Daxter was already turned otsel? Why were Gol & Maya corrupted by dark eco instead of being converted into otsels?
Otsels are either not the most powerful beings, or are not the precursors, but which is it?
Why do the otsels choose to look like the elf people (but giant)? Is it because a familiar figure can more reasonably be seen as their god(s)?
What were the precursors actually called? Precursor means to “come before”, “pre” is a prefix. (It’s like Forerunners in Halo. It’s dumb if that’s their actual name.)
Dark makers further explained.
If I were to come up with somethings now, I’d first clarify that Naughty Dog didn’t have everything planned out, this is why there are so many inconsistencies. Light Eco & White Eco are almost definitely the same thing. Dark Eco is a macguffin that lets them do whatever they want. Sometimes it creates a dark version of a person, sometimes it kills them, sometimes it turns them into an otsel, it was used as fuel, used in combat, it’s nonsense used for whatever. We’ve seen all colors of eco be used for a variety of things throughout the series, powerups, ammo, traversal, etc. I don’t think dark eco is special in THAT regard.
BUT.
Dark Eco is integrally linked to the Otsels, for whatever else it might do. So they question is why/how?
The Otsels are not actually the most powerful race in the universe, but they ARE the Precursors. They mask their stature and unassuming appearance with their ability to harness Eco, and by buolding giant robots.
Dark Eco has to have been artificially made by them. It’s the only explanation for why it could turn someone into an Otsel. It also could explain how they can turn people into otsels. (Since they wield the power of Eco, they do it with Dark Eco.)
Alternatively the otsels could be a race that experimented with dark eco, but all got turned into otsels. So far we’ve only seen the elf people turned into otsels. For the sake of this, let’s assume that the otsels WERE elf people, and those ancient elf people WERE Precursors. This would explain why their holograms resemble the elf people. They may still compensate for their otself appearance with the giant robots.
There's debate over whether they actually are Precursors or not, and some people were really upset with the reveal, but I got the impression that it was a joke, and considering they go “shhhhh”, it seems like they’re covering up the truth, a way to give some fans an unclear answer, yet give others a way out, but all it really did was give us an unanswered mystery.
I think I lean towards no because the giant robots from TPL like seemingly were planet crafting or terraforming robots. That seems WAY above what little we've seen from the otsels. It's possible they "inherited" it.
Regardless if the Dark Makers were also elves, or precursors, or a different race entirely, they clearly were differently affected by the dark eco for some reason, corrupted instead of converted. Dark Jak and Gol & Maya have similar skin tones after their dark eco corruption. Let’s assume they did some similar experiments to Jak 2. Perhaps this is what the dark makers did, and their appearance in 3 is late-stage corruption.
But what do you think of some of my requests and ideas?
Would you prefer a Jak 4, a sequel to TPL, a Reboot, a Remake, or something else I may not have thought of here?
Here's some additional things I wrote down:
Things I would love to see in a Jak & Daxter Remake/Reboot (whatever):
-Changed ending where possibly Daxter actually gets changed back into a human.
-An actual 100% ending that shows us what that precursor thing was (NOT TIME TRAVEL).
-Set up for a sequel where Gol & Maya could return.
-New Game +
-Precursor Orbs unlock cheats ala Jak 2 onward.
-Clear up the confusion between Light Eco & White Eco (they are the same thing, but should look the same then too, I know they didn’t plan ahead, so that’s why)
-Playable Light Jak post-game
-More eco powers, ala The Lost Frontier
-Better controls & more options
-Playable Daxter segments (or free roam)
-Alternate costumes (from the other games, and also Human Daxter skin)
-Yellow Eco Sage and Town/Area
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u/BLAZERLIKESSODA 21m ago
https://youtu.be/VwXG2T2pO1w?is=L1X292I0Gxm1Ni7X
This guy had a great theory that Dark Eco was the starting Eco that all other Eco derives from. The logic is that it has the power to corrupt and mutate and transform. We see this with Daxter, Dark Jak, and so on. Plus there are plenty of vats of Dark Eco across the islands in The Precursor Legacy. Why else would these be here? Gol even says that they will use the Dark Eco (to power the Precursor robots) to reshape the world in their image. Even the other Eco colors mutate the skin color of the sages that practice them. So it's not just Dark Eco that mutates. Light Eco is said to represent purity, or is a pure form of Eco. I think the other colors are each a type of purity. And when you put the four different purities together that's why you get full purity.
This makes me think more that the Otsels ARE actually the Precursors, even if they are not "the most powerful beings in the univserse". Because of Dark Eco creates things, and falling in it turns one into an Otsel, like why else specifically that? It's either dark corruption or Otsel, no in-between.
Another thing I wonder is about the Metal Heads' origins.
And the Dark Makers. Are the Dark Makers actually the Makers of Dark Eco? Their approach represents doom, a takeoveer of a planet. Take over with... Dark Eco? They're on a spaceship in Jak 3. They clearly use advanced tech. But then how do the Otsels tie into it? One thought I said, maybe they stile precursor tech (it is orange🤔), so maybe they stole the Dark Eco?
https://youtu.be/1IAPPDGkvH8?is=Ksa9UfDCscF6VwBf
After I watched some more lore videos, I am confident that Jak is a time traveler, and the hero Mar. For Mar, there's too many things that hint at this. I think it's less likely that he's a descendant because there's not much evidence to support that theory, it holds up less well than the Jak is Mar theory, and it's nore confusing to the audience. And there is already time travel, so that one's easy, especially if you accept the Mar theory.
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u/david_parsons_ 6h ago
I would absolutely love something new from the Jak and Daxter series, and while I do enjoy the story, there's a LOT of effort in this hypothetical being placed on the story, and decisions that were made 25+ years ago, and ideas that just weren't all that serious when the creators of those ideas created them. I don't think something quite this extensive is necessary in retelling the story, if they ever go that direction. I could see them cleaning up a few things, but the focus of any kind of return to Jak and Daxter should be on translating the feel of the gameplay to a modern design. Making things more vibrant, and colorful, and fun to look at, while nailing down the feel of the platforming, to at least match The Precursor Legacy. If they change a bunch of stuff about the story, and make the visuals look even better than the original (which still looks gorgeous), but the game doesn't FEEL as good as it did, then they shouldn't have even made it.