Jak 3: Part 1: From Heroes to Wastelanders
9Moving on from Jak II to Jak 3, I wanted to shorten the distance of me doing this compared to moving on from the first Jak & Daxter to Jak II.
Although there were at least 3 more Jak games after this, this was the final game that concluded an epic trilogy that started on the Playstation 2.
I published this video on November 9th, 2022, this game's 18th Anniversary!
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At the end of Jak II, Jak & Daxter had just defeated Metal Kor, leader of the Metal Heads, and saved Haven City from his evil invasion. They and their friends celebrated together, had a few drinks, and even watched some fireworks.
The Krimzon Guard ditched its old red colors and became the blue Freedom League, led by Ashelin and Torn. Lastly, they established a new headquarters in a fancy new district near Haven City's slums area.
The future was looking bright for our Dark Eco Duo... for a while, that was...
Under the authority of Count Veger, Jak was suddenly banished from the city he had just saved to the Wastelands. Despite saving Haven City from Kor, its citizens still feared the destructive power of Dark Jak. Ashelin was somehow powerless to prevent this banishment from happening, but all she could do was give Jak a beacon.
Daxter & Pecker sneaked along the ride to comfort Jak, but they started to regret since it meant that all three of them were likely going to die in the desert.
Even before this, Jak remembered how things suddenly went to hell. Krimzon Guard robots were now controlled under a new leader to attack the city. Just as well, Kor's death did not lead to the complete end of the Metal Heads. The surviving monsters seemed out for revenge.
The worst of this was when the combined attacks ended up leading to the destruction of the Haven City's palace, but upon its destruction, Samos noticed some Precursor ruins hiding in the debris...
The citizens of Haven City blamed Jak for all of these disasters, especially since he previously also worked with Krew before HE died. All of this, combined with his Dark Eco powers, made the city believe that Jak was still as much of a threat as everything else, which led to his banishment.
Jak, Daxter, and Pecker eventually passed out from the searing heat of the Wastelands. However, a group of desert bandits eventually found them through Ashelin's beacon and decided to take them back to their city in the sands...
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The leader of this group was Damas, the King of Spargus City. One of the first things he did with Jak was strip off some of his clothing and give him a haircut, all to help him deal with the heat of his new "home".
Spargus City is apparently a city of refugees that were rejected from Haven City, just as Jak & Daxter were. As their king, Damas demanded that they earn their citizenship in Spargus by participating in his Arena... or die trying.
As for Pecker... He is Spargus' new snappy counselor. He saw this as an opportunity to feel superior against Daxter.
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You'll go through 2 challenges. The first challenge is just a quick obstacle course that's meant to be a tutorial on controlling Jak again, but if you've played at least one or two Jak games before this, he's basically still the same. He can climb ladders now, though.
The second challenge is a combat challenge that has you kill 20 barbarians. You even get the Morph Gun back for this, though it is reduced back to only wielding the Scatter Gun. If you win this, though, you'll also get back the Blaster.
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Before that, though, when you're down to 5 of those gladiators left, you'll instantly change to Dark Jak. It's permanent for the rest of this battle even if you try to change back, but also outside of this, the transformation is no longer tied to time, but simply just by how much Dark Eco you have left in your meter.
It now goes down every time you attack as Dark Jak, and you can manually change back to normal by holding and then releasing L2 without pressing anything else.
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This was the first time Spargus saw Dark Jak for himself. Rather than fearing the form, he saw its use for dangerous missions.
For now, besides the Blaster, Jak earned the 1st third of a Battle Amulet. If he can win two more Arena battles to get more of that amulet, he and Daxter will be recognized as true Spargus citizens.
Jak had to take pause at the monk that saw him change back from Dark Jak. When he tried to see him again, the monk was gone...
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Precursor Orbs are still a rarity like they were in Jak II. More Secrets will be unlocked, such as Weapon Upgrades and Cheats, as you get further through the game.
This time, you have to literally buy these Secrets with these Orbs, rather than automatically unlocking them when you reach their quota. Messages will pop up to let you know when you can buy new secrets.
So now if you want to improve certain stats to help you through the game, then explore the game, find the Precursor Orbs and win them through challenges!