Anybody with a Jak II platinum?

[yeaaawutever]

Let's correct a few inconsistencies here-

 

Jak II is a "tough" Platinum, period. You don't rate Platinums on exploits and glitches (such as the non-legit orb glitch),

 

I played Jak I and Jak II so far. Like most people said, Jak II is rage inducing. The checkpoints are spread too far apart, so if and when you die, you'll have to replay large portions of the game. On top of that, the driving controls are atrocious. Like, really bad. And level design is pretty horrid. It almost seems like Naughty Dog wants to make traversing cities a chore. Seriously, the cities are laid out like mazes -- to make it from point A to point B is needlessly time consuming. Jak II hasn't aged well.

 

I love ND, but this for me is easily their worst game (and not just a bad game for ND...a bad game in general). It's obvious they were trying to cash in on the open-world, GTA style that started back then, but they couldn't pull it off well. Jak I was so much more enjoyable.

[Jak]

I played Jak I and Jak II so far. Like most people said, Jak II is rage inducing. The checkpoints are spread too far apart, so if and when you die, you'll have to replay large portions of the game. On top of that, the driving controls are atrocious. Like, really bad. And level design is pretty horrid. It almost seems like Naughty Dog wants to make traversing cities a chore. Seriously, the cities are laid out like mazes -- to make it from point A to point B is needlessly time consuming. Jak II hasn't aged well.

 

I love ND, but this for me is easily their worst game (and not just a bad game for ND...a bad game in general). It's obvious they were trying to cash in on the open-world, GTA style that started back then, but they couldn't pull it off well. Jak I was so much more enjoyable.

 

The driving controls are not atrocious. Most newbies to this game say this, and fail to learn that there is a learning curve. I will not spoil it for you, but this is one of the false spread flaws about Jak II. Level design pretty horrid? That's just personal preference, but the level designs are actually good for it's age and genre type.

 

You definitely and clearly need more time with the game (map and city layout is fine). One of the faults for buying such an old game in a superior generation of time, the present. From most of the fan's perspective, the collection aged very well actually.

[yeaaawutever]

The driving controls are not atrocious. Most newbies to this game say this, and fail to learn that there is a learning curve. I will not spoil it for you, but this is one of the false spread flaws about Jak II. Level design pretty horrid? That's just personal preference, but the level designs are actually good for it's age and genre type.

 

You definitely and clearly need more time with the game (map and city layout is fine). One of the faults for buying such an old game in a superior generation of time, the present. From most of the fan's perspective, the collection aged very well actually.

 

You don't have to be a "newbie" or a veteran to know the driving mechanics in this game are terrible. Is there really a "learning curve" for bad controls? It's just bad, plain and simple.

 

Yes, the level design is terrible. You accept a mission on one side of the city, then you have to travel all the way to the opposite side of the city to actually do the mission. And it's not a straight line from one to the other. You wind your way through a labyrinth. And there's really no point in it all other than to stretch out the length of the game.

 

I've platinum'd Jak II (the only reason why I bothered putting that much effort into it), so clearly I don't need more time with it. I don't know why you're on this crusade trying to defend it. The game aged poorly. Deal with it.

Edited September 21, 2014 by yeaaawutever

[RobThanatos]

Well, as someone who has played the games repeatedly in the PS2 era, the controls feel good to me. The driving can be hard at first, but aren't that hard to get used to. The controls do what they're supposed to do, anyone complaining is driving incorrectly.

The level design is opinionated, but for the PS2 era, the city looked amazing. Traveling to different parts would be bad if there were no vehicles, but there are, it doesn't take long to get to your destination and certain challenges use the city for races and finding precursor orbs.
 

It's obvious they were trying to cash in on the open-world, GTA style that started back then, but they couldn't pull it off well.

Jak II follows a developed open-world design Jak and Daxter set out. Both Jak and GTA III were published 2 months apart. GTA didn't start it, you're just one of "those people".

Edited September 21, 2014 by Nuttro93

[Vegeita]

It's definitely possible. If you played the hell out of it on PS2 like I did back in the day this will be no problem for you. I even managed to get #2 spot for achieving the plat the fastest for this game but I've been beaten it seems like it lol. https://psnprofiles.com/100-club/1268-Jak-II

[RobThanatos]

It's definitely possible. If you played the hell out of it on PS2 like I did back in the day this will be no problem for you. I even managed to get #2 spot for achieving the plat the fastest for this game but I've been beaten it seems like it lol. https://psnprofiles.com/100-club/1268-Jak-II

You exploited the game. You can't comment on difficulty without playing all the challenges.

[Vegeita]

You exploited the game. You can't comment on difficulty without playing all the challenges.

To get the platinum yeah I did a few tricks that would save time. But you forget to realize I said I played this game many times on PS2. There were no such things as trophies back then, you just played the game as it was. Was it difficult? Of course it was, that's how I got so good at these games for the PS3, I pretty much knew all the tricks and mastered them.

[RobThanatos]

To get the platinum yeah I did a few tricks that would save time. But you forget to realize I said I played this game many times on PS2. There were no such things as trophies back then, you just played the game as it was. Was it difficult? Of course it was, that's how I got so good at these games for the PS3, I pretty much knew all the tricks and mastered them.

Many played the game on PS2. Few completed past story progression. You made no comment on whether you completed all the challenges and only bragged you exploited a fast time.

[Snokes]

I guess I'm in the minority of people who think Jak II really isn't that difficult. Challenging compared to most games, maybe. "Tear your hair out, terribly hard, there is no God" difficulty, no. From my experience, you only tend to die if you let enemies surround you, which shouldn't be a problem once you get the Blaster. Jump spin with the Blaster makes for great crowd control. I will admit, the checkpoints are rather unforgiving, but if you just restarted from the point immediately before you died, there would be no consequence to death. The main hub world could have been designed without so many nooks and crannies, but the general locations of the objectives provided by the mini-map are just fine for the most part.

 

The only real flaw in the game is the distance of objectives and the driving. Having to go to one area to be debriefed then traveling across the entire map to get to your objective is senseless padding. The driving, while I don't believe to be nearly as bad as people make it to be, is really stiff. Even then, it doesn't make the driving bad, just tedious, which I suppose is a fair enough reason to dislike it. Now, if you want an example of bad driving, play Deadly Premonition.

 

I don't think this Platinum is very difficult at all. Only 6 of the trophies aren't story-related, and if you've been killing every Metal Head you come across, the Head Gems should be a non-issue. All in all, the only moderately difficult trophy is for getting all the Precursor Orbs because of the races. Even then, once you win one race, you've essentially won them all since the same tricks and methods work across each one. The punch in the gut is the Precursor Orbs in the final area which you can permanently miss if you didn't get them the first time. Chances are, however, if you're going for the Platinum, you already know this. So, to sum it all up, it can be tedious, but it is not as difficult as the majority of people say it is.

[Vegeita]

Many played the game on PS2. Few completed past story progression. You made no comment on whether you completed all the challenges and only bragged you exploited a fast time.

Well if I told you I completed all the challenges you would just think i'd be lying anyways so what's the point? Who cares man, the point I'm making is the game isn't hard if you practice it just like everything else.

[yeaaawutever]

Well, as someone who has played the games repeatedly in the PS2 era, the controls feel good to me. The driving can be hard at first, but aren't that hard to get used to. The controls do what they're supposed to do, anyone complaining is driving incorrectly.

The level design is opinionated, but for the PS2 era, the city looked amazing. Traveling to different parts would be bad if there were no vehicles, but there are, it doesn't take long to get to your destination and certain challenges use the city for races and finding precursor orbs.

 

Jak II follows a developed open-world design Jak and Daxter set out. Both Jak and GTA III were published 2 months apart. GTA didn't start it, you're just one of "those people".

 

I don't even care for GTA, so how am I one of "those people?" If you're gonna do open world, do it right or don't do it at all.

 

Jak and Daxter wasn't even really open world. The stages are big I guess, but if you consider that open world, then Ratchet and Clank would be considered open world too. Jak II was released 2 years after GTA III. Then Jak became "dark" and "gritty," and all of sudden there was this big city you could explore. Coincidence?

 

You're right GTA didn't start the open world trend, but it was the first to be really successful at it. And it wasn't J&D that established it.

Edited September 21, 2014 by yeaaawutever

[Mr_Freaker]

The only frustrating part - to me - was shooting down the guards on the drill platform.

A game about platforming becomes difficult if they limit our movements to a first person shooter turret experience...

Regardless of this hard part, the game can be tricky, but it isn't really that hard.

Like most platform games, it mainly a question of trial & error.

You have the means to avoid every attack and kill every enemy, so... it's more a question of skill.

 

I gathered all orbs through a glitch, don't remember which one anymore.

Which would have a very difficult task.

 

I collected all orbs back on PS2, I could care less if someone considers this "cheating" or not.

 

[TheSleepyBeauty]

You guys are arguing over a game's flaws that don't even exist. Jak II clearly was a well-made "dark" & "gritty" game set in Haven City. I remember reading about this game back in 2003 and how badass it looked. Yes we will all assume it got the GTA style but who cares! Jak 1 was a free roam in it's own little style. Like BlueDiamond said. You have to master the skill to roam around Haven city and it's not that hard at all. Hence why they made the missions so far away from one another so they can give you the opportunity to know your way around the city so when you do orb and race challenges. I really don't see why anyone would dislike  a beautiful game like this. I cannot wait to play it on the vita when I get a chance. I literally can play the crap out of Jak II and for people that think it has flaws and is just a mess well......It's Naughty Dog and they don't allow messes in their games >:-D 

[DrBloodmoney]

Its not terribly difficult, but it is one of the worst games ever made, so be warned!

[Xxleonardo97xX]

Its not terribly difficult, but it is one of the worst games ever made, so be warned!

 

Before restarting this game I thought you were exagerating.

 

I've never been so wrong, I just feel like punching whoever developed this games, why on earth do all missions need to be so tight and tough!?!?!?

 

God I hate this game, this is the worst game ever.

[DaivRules]

I quit on Jak II months and months ago after wanting to throw my Vita through a wall. I came off of feeling great about finally playing and getting the Platinum in Jak I. Then that stupid speed racer mission made me rage quit. I haven't picked it back up yet and don't know when I will. At this point, I don't care if I ever finish the trilogy...

[Gotakibono]

The sheer amount of distaste for this game genuinely surprises me. 

[Jak]

The sheer amount of distaste for this game genuinely surprises me.

The game's flaws and difficulty has been exaggerated and overly hated for over a decade. In terms of difficultly, it's somewhere in-between normal and hard. The spread out checkpoints is what makes the game harder than it should be.

Certainly is nowhere even remotely close to being the worst game ever. People have the nerve to make such ridiculous, obnoxious, absurd, and downright stupid claims, because they suck and don't know how to adapt, of the game being the worst when games like Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, Damnation, Eat Lead, Sonic Boom, Resident Evil 6(?), Terminator Salvation(?), etc, make Jak II look like The Last of Us in comparison.

The trick that many people have not learned to succeeding to beat this game or beat it faster, is patience, trial & error, patience, strategic approaches, patience, accuracy, patience, and adaption. So patience and trial and error basically. If you don't learn from your mistakes, you will fucking fail hard every-time. I played this game many times, and with those many times I tried two playstyles consistently (rush/aggressive - keep persisting with the same strat and style of play till it works and gets you through your obstacle - and the patient playstyle - change approaches, take my time, pay attention, adapt. The second playstyle showed huge differences and made the game easier to get through). The people that fail and have a super hard time are those who fail to adapt, be patient, and learn from mistakes. God forbid some of these people play (mostly) well designed stealth games like Styx, a game I've died probably more times than I've died in Jak II (lmao). However, casual gaming skills will also make it really rough for you (in Jak II). It's a hard game, but it's not broken or impossible.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Mar

[Shug244]

i greatly enjoyed jak 2 on ps2 and ps3,and since i already knew what to do from the ps2 days it was very easy for me 2/10

[AJ_Radio]

I'm just about to do the Tests of Manhood and beat the Baron for the second time.

 

So far the biggest gripe is driving inside the city, but the areas the game makes you go to outside of it are perfectly fine.

 

The Metal Head enemies are definitely more aggressive than anything in the first game, but they are also not insanely difficult.

 

Believe it or not one of the missions many people struggled with I did in one go (destroy two ships at Drill Platform). There is an easy way to escape with the Seal Piece in the Slums. Go on your hoverboard and do your best to stay above water, avoid the pedestrians and outrun the Crimson Guards. If you do it quick enough the red laser targeting won't hit you, and I got to the beaming spotlight in less than a minute. The HARDEST mission in the game according to many, many people on Youtube and the forums.

[thegirlruka]

There is an easy way to escape with the Seal Piece in the Slums. Go on your hoverboard and do your best to stay above water, avoid the pedestrians and outrun the Crimson Guards. If you do it quick enough the red laser targeting won't hit you, and I got to the beaming spotlight in less than a minute. The HARDEST mission in the game according to many, many people on Youtube and the forums.

There's an easier way to do it than that. Make sure you have full dark power before starting the mission and that you have dark bomb unlocked. Activate Dark Jak and then use dark bomb on the water. It'll destroy the targeting device and you can easily swim or hoverboard to the exit.

Edited October 14, 2016 by kuuhaku

[AJ_Radio]

There's an easier way to do it than that. Make sure you have full dark power before starting the mission and that you have dark bomb unlocked. Activate Dark Jak and then use dark bomb on the water. It'll destroy the targeting device and you can easily swim or hoverboard to the exit.

 

I didn't have Dark Jak available when I got there so I had to use the hoverboard.

[NinthLowa]

i platinumed all of the jak games and Loved it. sure some of the sections in the game was hard as fuck but that moment when you beat the level. oh ho ho ho! that shit feels good! but fuck: Get Seal Piece At Water Slums. that's just to much

[TheLegendaryJeff]

On 6/26/2013 at 2:14 PM, SkyMarshall_Arts said:

I just completed the first one with a platinum and would like to do so for the remaining 2.

 

So, how hard is Jak II compared to the first one, and is it "possible"? (everything is possible, but it has to be fun for me to bother).

 

 

https://www.playstationtrophies.org/forum/jak-ii-hd/324098-platinum-possible-minutes-debug-menu-ps4.html
Enter the codes separately from the main menu, you will hear a chime once you have entered each one correctly.

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