When PlayStation Plus Premium’s March drop released, many raised eyebrows. One of the included games was the critically marred Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier. The title, developed by High Impact Games, was the sequel to both Jak 3 and Jak X: Combat Racing. While it had genuinely interesting ideas, most fans were not pleased with the PSP effort.
Releasing into the PlayStation Plus library gave it a new lease on life, but various issues distracted. Sony updated the title as of this writing to address these issues.
Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier Patch Notes
Reported initially by Twitter/X user EcoFreak, the patch notes list the following fixes.
Fantastic news everyone!
Most of the issues many people experienced while playing Jak & Daxter TLF have been addressed:
– Right analog stick implementation for camera
– Light bloom has been significantly reducedAnd…
THE FAR DROP CRASH IS NO MORE!!!! pic.twitter.com/dkm9V4blyj
— EcoFreak | Trophy Hunter 🎮🏆 (@FreakEco) April 18, 2024
As one could see from the screen shots in the Tweet, the distracting bloom bug is completely gone and the ability to use the right stick for camera controls is appreciated. The camera controls specifically stand out due to this title having a PlayStation 2 version, but this release being based on the PSP release instead.
Other PlayStation Plus Premium releases did things like this, like Resistance: Retribution. So future PSP ‘remasters’ could benefit from control improvements such as this.
Future of Jak & Daxter
I may be Lord Sonic but growing up, the Jak & Daxter franchise was I greatly enjoyed. The melding of Crash Bandicoot’s tight controls and platforming chops mixed with open worlds and melee-focused gunplay made the Jak & Daxter franchise one of Sony’s best series.
All of the three mainline games, including the racing sequel Jak X: Combat Racing and the PSP Daxter from Ready at Dawn, all were high quality.
So Sony making the effort to bring Lost Frontier to modern platforms is a curious decision. Why not start with Daxter first? That title easily matches the quality of the PS2 originals better.
A major reason PlayStation could be reviving this franchise through re-releases is to get people familiar with the IP. A film for the series is in the works and with remakes being in at the moment, specifically ones based on Naughty Dog franchises, Jak could be the next ‘big’ one from PlayStation.
For those that want to play the Jak & Daxter series, the only one not playable on modern consoles is the PSP spin-off Daxter.
Concluding Thoughts
In the end of the day, its great seeing games come back. Even I wouldn’t mind SEGA re-releasing more critically troubled projects like Shadow the Hedgehog or Sonic 06 just to ensure lessons from those titles continue to be learned.
But what do you all think? Will you collect those Precursor Orbs? Let us know in the comments below!
