Gamers claim Naughty Dog is ‘ashamed’ of Jak and Daxter
When you look back at the catalogue of Naughty Dog games, it's fair to say that one has slipped to the back of the pack. Once known for the likes of Crash Bandicoot and then moving into a very different medium with Uncharted and The Last of Us, let's spare a thought for Jak and Daxter.
First released in 2001, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy was a pioneer of the PlayStation 2 and is considered one of the console's most important titles. Much like how Crash dropped the ball with later entries, no one considers 2009's Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier the peak of the franchise.
What's going on with Jak and Daxter?
As Jak and Daxter lies dormant, there are questions about whether the dynamic duo will return or are being left to rot before inevitably returning one day. Posting on Reddit, u/TheUndeadGunslinger said they wish Naughty Dog was more invested in Jak and Daxter - questioning whether the devs are ashamed.
One sarcastic comment read, "And now we have the last of us 2 and the last of use remastered and the last of us remastered again and I'm guessing the last of us 2 remastered coming again. Surely this is what the fans want."
Another cheered, "Jak and Daxter was the first open world game with no loading screens. It's one of the most important video games in history. The series is, for my money, the second best series behind Zelda." Someone else pointed to other abandoned franchises like Nintendo with F-Zero.
When one said Naughty Dog has moved into more realistic games by the time it came to revisiting the Jack and Daxter name, another added, "Gritty jak and daxter would be dope. Gritty and somewhat realistic while maintaining the jak and daxter feel and identity would be hard but if they pulled it off I would be so stoked."
Someone on Reddit rightly asked why things can't just end: "People constantly complain companies are recycling the same franchises over and over yet also complain when a company puts a series to rest. Jak 3 had a great ending. It's not like it was left in some horribly unfinished state."
Naughty Dog really tried with Jak and Daxter
Click to enlargeApparently, the lack of Jak and Daxter games isn't necessarily through choice. Speaking to Game Informer, Naughty Dog Co-President Evan Wells explained how the idea of a proper Jak and Daxter 4 nearly happened for PS3.
"We'd all talked about it in interviews with fans asking, 'Where's the next Jak & Daxter?' I don't know if this is going to make them happy or sad, but we did explore the idea fairly extensively," promised Wells. By the sounds of it, the next game would've been a reboot rather than a sequel.
"Something that we talked about early on was, 'Lets go back and apply what we've learned with the Uncharted games to Jak & Daxter.' It's one of the franchises that's near and dear to us, and, in all honesty, we'd like to somehow honor." We don't think Naughty Dog is ashamed, but these days, it doesn't sound like it's interested in Jak & Daxter.