The Precursor Legacy is one of the finest games that I have ever played.
The Precursor Legacy, without spoiling it for you or diving into the intricacies of it all, is based around a young man named Jak, and his buddy, Daxter.
Daxter falls into a vat of the toxic Dark Eco while the two were exploring in the dreaded area known as Misty Island. Eco is a substance commonly found in the game, and is a great idea to replace weaponry and special abilities and is implemented very well.
The two consult the Green Sage, Samos, who tells them that the only way to revert Daxter back to his normal form (who is now an ottsel, mix between otter and weasel) is by bringing him to the expert in Dark Eco, Gol, who lives far in the north.
The two can't travel via warp gates so they must make their way through the land to reach their destination, but all is not as it seems with Gol.
And that's the plot. Tracking down Gol.
The first thing you'll notice while playing this game (aside from the fact Jak never speaks a word) is the beautiful surroundings. If you walk into the Forbidden Jungle, or Sandover Village, and simply look around you, you will be transfixed. It's truly an amazing sight, with all the bright, luscious colors and blue skies. It's a pleasure to look at, and the graphics are stupendous considering how old this game is. It has aged very well, in my opinion.
And on the note of your environment, it will almost always be varied. Take Sandover Village and Rock Village, for example. Both are token hub area's where you begin your next string of tasks, but Sandover is far more upbeat and bright.
While in Rock Village, it's constantly raining. And the theme is a low, melodic cacophony. It's not what I would call sadness, it's more of an accepting tone of down-trodden villagers.
Another thing I might point out, is the non-linearity of the game. Now, I'm not attempting to take a dig at the Ratchet and Clank series (a collection of games that I love to pieces, but that is for another day) but in R&C, you have a set path to venture on and you must go down it. Of course, the paths you go down will often branch out into huge areas and expanses, but it's still the sort of game where from each planet to the next, it's A to B to C to D, and so on, so forth.
This isn't a bad thing, as that is how this series was supposed to be. But in The Precursor Legacy, there are no set paths to continue on. In fact, the game doesn't require you to do anything in particular. As long as you collect enough Power Cells to advance to the next hub area and levels, you can completely skip over entire places.
You could do Geyser Rock, Sandover Village, etc. And then skip over Misty Island completely and you can still go on. It's an open world game in which you are required to collect a certain item, but whether you wish to have the full experience and explore all the areas, it's up to you. The freedom of this beautiful game is exhilarating.
The gameplay is very enjoyable, but make no mistakes about it, it couldn't have been any simpler. All you must do is avoid obstacles, platform, and punch and kick enemies. This isn't a bad thing of course, but the game is very simple in nature and is extremely easy to grasp and get the knack of it. The game itself is admittedly disappointing in how short it is. After purchasing the HD collection for the PS3 a few months back, I had completed the story in no less than seven hours. On my first day of playing it, I finished at the Red Sage's Hut. For those who are well versed in the series, you can understand how short it is judging by that.
For those who don't, arriving at the Red Sage's Hut means you're quite close to the finish line.
Not all games have to be terribly long winded, but it just felt too short. Perhaps another hub area? The Yellow Sage's hut?
And now, the vocal point of the game for a lot of people, the difficulty. Many, many gamer's proclaim that the difficulty is just too soft. While it is by no means a hard game, you WILL come to certain area's that have a sudden, surprising spike in the difficulty level. Going from the incredibly easy Forbidden Jungle and Sentinel Beach to get flung into a maze like Boggy Swamp is a rude awakening. First-timers in Boggy Swamp usually all think the same thing: Where am I going, and how do I get there? As for Spider Cave, that's even worse. For such an easy game, Spider Cave really was extremely tedious and point blank hard to navigate. The most annoying enemies in the game also, I'd say. They are hard to hit and if you punch or kick too far you're going to kill yourself falling off a ledge or a bridge.
But yes, other than those two particular levels and the odd time you'll encounter something surprisingly challenging, it can be easy enough to get past.
The soundtrack is one of the best features of this game. It's often drums and flutes and low sounding instruments or wind instruments, but it's absolutely spectacular. The soundtrack is memorable, and engaging. It really captures the feel and adds a strong atmosphere to each level. Just go to Snowy Mountain, look around and listen. The soundtrack for each segment is dead-on, nailed, perfect.
Now, here's something I often experienced and loved. The way everything is so connected! When you go to Sentinel Beach and climb the Sentinels, you can see out over the blue ocean and the horizon. In the distance, you can see Misty Island. You can see the geysers in Geyser Rock exploding with water, and the logs in Misty Island going down their paths. When you complete the game and climb atop Gol & Maia's citadel, you really get the sense that you're standing in the heavens and staring out over the world. You can see the blimp above Boggy Swamp, the towering Precursor object of the Precursor Basin, Snowy Mountain, etc.
Overall, it's an amazing light-hearted, simple platformer. What can I say? If you haven't played it, pick it up. You will enjoy it.