I've started and finished Jak 2 in the last week. It takes me just over 10 hours now, and I know exactly what I'm doing.
The lack of checkpoints really creates a lot of fake difficulty. Some of the sections are so tedious and/or unclear it's disheartening when one slightly off jump sets you back another 5 minutes. The platforming is solid, but the gunplay was a pain in the arse as always. It works well against Metal Heads, but when you get a wall of Krimson Guards it's almost impossible not to take damage without using spam tactics, or the Peace Maker if you have it.
The hoverbike physics are rediculous. It's jet powered, so I just can't understand why there's no air control going over jumps. Also, the zoomers used for racing can turn 90° corners without too much effort. You're even required to make a few stupid turns in the one street race. The Class One race is really infuriating. The course is almost designed to ensure that it's a close finish between you and Erol. This means that even if you race flawlessly for a majority of the course he'll somehow catch up at the end. One slightly off corner at the end can cost an otherwise perfect race. The need to take every shortcut to stay ahead of him irked me, too. He doesn't always take them, why should I have to?
The jetboard is amazing fun. The titan suit let the end half of the game down, especially the underwater level. There were some groat, stressful moments that really forced you to take a step back and think. Jak 2 is easily one of the best platformers ever, but especially from the PS2 era. I can't wait to get started on the mostly superior sequel.
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