Daxter | a Review
originally published on 24/04/2021;
Hello everyone, I am the world renowned Pest Exterminator, G.E.M.Simov, a bug murderer the likes of which you haven’t even seen, and today I’ll tell you all about a game for the PSP, Daxter.
Simple review details - I rank games on an out of 10 basis, granting up to 3 points in 3 categories, as well as a last, single point from my own self, depending on my experience with it. Also, I am a gameplay designer and a writer so I got the credentials to talk shit.
Gameplay
Daxter is a 3rd person 3d platformer with action elements and, maybe a puzzle or two.
Now, one thing I need to mention is that this game comes in pairs. What does that mean? Well, there’s a good thing, but then there’s also a bad thing associated with that good thing.
First is movement. Daxter moves around quite quickly, or so it feels, and he has a lot of options for navigating the game area. He can jump, twice, which is already a good thing, he can crawl up walls, he can glide, he can slide, he can zipline, he can hang, and he can run around. All of that is superb, because having options to move about is very important when it comes to Platformers, and then there’s also the issue of movement, in general, being one of the most important things in games. Daxter has a lot of movement, and it’s good movement.
Then, however, comes the bad thing. Daxter’s whole movement scheme is somewhat wonky. It feels, sometimes, as if the whole game is one GIANT Ice level, due to the fact that Daxter just slides off of many things, and that sliding is the type that prevents the player from issuing any commands - as in, the type that says: “No, don’t come here, this isn’t part of the game world!”
Not only that, but it feels somewhat sluggish. It feels as though there’s a turn rate, which means that when the player inputs a command to move, say, to the left, the character (Daxter) needs to first turn, if he is not facing the left, and THEN start walking to the left… But there actually isn’t. That’s a really, really weird thing about it - the movement feels somewhat clunky, somewhat sluggish, but I can’t quite figure out why.
Lastly, when it comes to the bad of movement, there’s this weird issue of collision detection. The player will jump up, and the whole Daxter model will be above, say, the edge of a box, and, instead of landing on top of the box, Daxter will slide down along an invisible wall and grab onto the ledge of that said box… Though that doesn’t happen, half the time, and half the time it does. Half the time Daxter doesn’t even grab onto the ledge, half the time he does. It’s very, very strange and definitely doesn’t feel good.
Second, there’s the combat. The combat is GREAT, in the sense that it is simple but varied, due to the fact that there’s a multitude of enemies that roam the realm. There are these simple little bugs that die in one hit, there are other bugs that die in a single combo and don’t really pose much of a threat, there’s these bugs that spit at Daxter so he needs to either dodge the spit or stun them with his Spray, after which he can kill them, there’s these big– The idea is that there’s a variety of enemies who each require a different approach to dealing with them. There’s little to no aiming, as the hitbox detection is very generous to the player, and nothing feels as if it is TOO hard to kill, which is always a good thing.
BUT some of those things apply to Daxter, too. The hitbox detection is very generous for enemy projectiles, too. Not only that, but, sometimes, enemies have it BETTER than Daxter, because they have some sort of lock-on system, unlike him. There’s no means of locking onto enemies in Daxter, and so the player needs to point Daxter in the appropriate direction through the use of the analog stick, otherwise they’re just going to be swinging away at nothing.
Then, the fact that things aren’t too hard to kill applies to Daxter as well. There are situations in which the orange rodent can die in JUST three hits, if the player isn’t careful, so there’s a measure of difficulty and challenge to the game that’s not too bad, but, coupled with the issue mentioned before, and an issue that follows, this is somewhat nasty.
What is this issue that follows? Well, enemies who fire projectiles, or spit at Daxter, tend to spit/fire even as they’re dying. Normally, hitting an enemy would stagger them and prevent their attack from going off, however, enemies who fire projectiles SPAWN their projectiles inside their models, somewhere during the attack animation, and then, at the end of it, the projectile flies out at Daxter. Issue here is that, even if staggered, the projectile, once spawned, does not despawn, so there have been situations where dead enemies kill me, or hit me, or enemies who are flashing red and getting visibly staggered spit at me and do damage to me. That’s not neat, and considering that Daxter is relatively frail, that’s an issue.
Another problem would have to be the Spray Gun, which can be used to stun enemies. When sprayed, an enemy bug will stop in place and not do much of anything, allowing the player to land some hits in, most often enough to kill the enemy outright… However the range on that is very strange, and inconsistent. Sometimes, I hit an enemy from further away than I would other times. Sometimes, enemies do not get affected by it, or do, even though I haven’t hit them with it. The duration fluctuates wildly, with it going from anywhere between 2 to 4 seconds, and it seems as though there’s no real consistency to the length of it. Overall, that’s more clunkiness.
Third, Daxter seems to have an interconnected world that features 0 loading screens, and the whole place feels BIG, in part due to the fact that Daxter is a relatively tiny rodent, in part due to the fact that it is, honestly, BIG. That seamless transition from level to level leaves me quite impressed, as even in big games to come YEARS later, there have still been loading screens when going from area to area. Daxter is really quite impressive on that front.
However, there comes an issue. When the player walks out of a level, the connecting hub world level is so massive that it sometimes cuts the framerate’s ligaments and everything moves slower, and becomes more choppy. Fortunately, the folks at ReadyAtDawn and Naughty Dog thought about this and there are no combat encounters in there, nor is there a chance of death. Though that same size I mentioned as being a good thing is a relatively unpleasant thing as well, because of the fact that, even if Daxter moves quickly, he is small, and the world was built for folks two, maybe three times taller than him, which adds a lot of mileage.
Now, all those things that I’ve mentioned - it’s mostly minor. The whole thing doesn’t ruin the game, at all, even though it does make it feel a tad weirder than it really needs to. HOWEVER, there are some exceptionally good things about Daxter.
First, though, I’ll mention the worst thing about Daxter - all the vehicle segments. All of them, with no exception - those are THE WORST parts of Daxter. The control the player has over the vehicle is, in all cases, largely laughable, the ability of the player to do something while riding the vehicle is, at most, minuscule, and the fact that most missions which involve the player riding a vehicle have insanely strict ‘mission failed’ conditions, all merge into an amalgamation of a very unpleasant experience, when compared to the good.
Namely, when it comes to ‘the Good’, the level design. Every single level feels as if it was made by people who poured their hearts and souls into it - they’re all incredibly unique, they’ve got themes to themselves, each incorporates a new mechanic that has been recently introduced in a great manner, some have a reason for the player to go back to them even after clearing them once, due to the fact that they might have access to those new mechanics, and…
Well, and the creme of the crop here is to be had in the Collectibles. Daxter somehow grabs a leaf blower, the size of that one ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal, and BLOWS everything else out of the park. There are four types of Collectibles :
- Bug gems that the player obtains from killing Bugs, which allow the player to finish the level they’re at,
- Precursor Orbs, which litter literally every place in the world and can be used to initiate QuickTime Event sequences which, once completed, provide the player with a permanent bonus,
- Battle Bugs content, which features BUG skills, BUGs and Bug Vials which power up the BUGs the player can use,
- Secrets
All those things coalesce into a great experience, and, frankly, I’m really pleased with Daxter’s Gameplay, however it COULD have been better. 2/3
Presentation
This might be a PSP game from 2006, but damn does it look good. It’s got that incredibly stylized appearance to it, superbly cartoonish, if that can be used as a means to describe it, and it really fits the setting and the story that is being told.
Daxter’s Instruction Manual is great.
Something very important that I feel the need to mention is slightly connected to Gameplay, but is entirely just presentation, and well done presentation at that! Combat that gives the player an incredible hit feedback. What does that mean? It means that, whenever the player issues an attack, and that attack lands, they get an incredible amount of confirmation that they have, indeed, landed their attack. How does Daxter do this thing so well? Firstly, through the use of SFX. Hitting an enemy creates a very distinct sound that already sounds relatively satisfying.
But that’s not all. The enemy flashes in red, indicating that it has taken damage, and it also pulls back a bit, as if staggered by the attack - and, truly, it does get staggered, because most enemies do not attack while being attacked. That all culminates in something wondrous when the player finishes their combo - Daxter performs a front-flip and slams his swatter down onto the enemy, and the sound effect accompanying that movement is superb, but, not only that, but if the enemy dies, it gets splattered into a puddle of bug-viscera, and the sound of THAT is incredibly satisfying.
The folks working on this have nailed this stupendously well, as have they done the visual part of the game incredible justice - Daxter is very interesting to behold and wander about, and then every single collectible item sticks out very, very clearly, and the player very rarely might miss one due to it being hard to see, unless explicitly concealed.
I feel the need to mention that the characters are INCREDIBLE. They’ve all got unique appearances, they’ve got superb voice acting, all of them, really - I can’t quite think of someone who does a bad job at voicing their character, maybe an average, but never bad. The voice-acting and the EXPRESSIONS that Daxter’s characters have are really, REALLY good, and I was astonished at how alive they seemed, for a 2006 game.
Lastly, sound… Well, the sound is good, as can be expected - after all, I did gush about the SFX quality a bit, and, overall, most of the SFX are either good or passable. The music is the only weakness of Daxter’s, and that’s because some tracks are really nice, but others are mediocre. That, however, is not enough to put a wrench in my enjoyment of how this game was presented. Superb work, frankly. 3/3
Story
Daxter’s story is a side-story to one of the Jak and Daxter games, and it takes place in that setting. Now, I need to point out that Daxter, in and of itself, is a self sufficient tale, and there’s no need to know anything about the previous installments.
What does Daxter do right, and does it do something wrong? Well, as it seems, I dare say that Daxter does most things right, with only a tiny smidgeon of mistakes here and there. The strongest thing about this game’s story, in my opinion, are the characters. As mentioned in the Presentation section, they’ve been given an incredible amount of life, due to high quality animation, superb voice acting and great character designs, but that life comes to fruition, in a sense, due to the fact that they are well written.
I’m really happy with all the characters in this, even small, one off side-characters who appear for a mission and then disappear forever.
Then there’s the world, and, frankly, I think most of my curiosity, when it comes to wanting to explore it, originates from the Gameplay benefits and the superb Presentation, rather than how good the world building is. Here’s the deal - Daxter’s storytelling and world-building, as well as its humor, are all somewhat lackluster.
It’s a funny game, of sorts, but it’s not a comedic masterpiece, partially because Daxter is a bit of an ass, and isn’t really likeable. The world-building is… Mostly visual, which means that there isn’t much to pull the player in, unless they’re interested in just nabbing all the Collectibles. Lastly, the story is… Well, it is not bland or bad, but it’s simple, in a sense, made for kids.
There’s one big issue, I feel, which is that, at the very start of the game, a cutscene plays of Osmo, the owner of a bug extermination shop, losing one of his workers. I was left with the impression that things were not going well for the shop, by the expressions, the music, the fact that someone had left. Then, Jak and Daxter get separated - Jak gets thrown in prison and Daxter promises to save him.
Fast forward 2 whole years. Daxter is telling stories at a bar, unsuccessfully, and Osmo offers him a job. How did 2 whole years pass and how is the shop still afloat, how is Daxter still alive/not behind bars, seeing as he promised to rescue Jak, I don’t really understand it, and I think it’s… Not a good move.
Other than that, though, I find Daxter’s story to be pleasant. 2/3
Legendary Point
Does this game get the legendary point, so craved and wanted by all and none at the same time? Well, I’ll say 2 in a row, because YES, it does! Daxter is such a well rounded game, such a splendid jewel to stumble upon and enjoy, I simply couldn’t afford not to give it the Legendary Point.
It’s got everything a person can want from a platformer, it’s one of, if not THE best platformer on the PSP, it’s an indication that Naughty Dog used to make good games back in the day, with gameplay, no less, and it gives me hope that they can get back into that groove.
Though, it is also a harrowing reminder that good things never last - the most recent Jak and Daxter game came out in 2009! Everything else since has been a remaster or a collection. Well, at least there’s this to come back to. 1/1
Conclusion
8/10. Daxter is a superb game, one I recommend gladly - if you have a PSP, you MUST play this game. Even if you don’t have a PSP, I’d urge you to find a way to play it, because it is a VERY good game. It’s almost EXCEPTIONALLY good, and those are quite rare, if I must be honest.
I tuck it under my belt, having polished it and removed any semblance of dust, another shining achievement that I proudly display, and hope to one day behold in a new, even more glorious form.