Jak 3

The epic trilogy concludes...

The third installment of the Jak and Daxter franchise.

The game starts as Jak is banished into the Wasteland from the now falling apart Haven City, which is caught up in a massive war between the remaining Krimzon Guard robots and the surviving Metal Heads. He copes by in the desert refuge known as Spargus, ruled by Damas, the former ruler of Haven City prior to being booted out by Baron Praxis. He quickly gains the respect of the Wastelanders, while gaining a new Light Jak form along the way, and returns to Haven to help with the war effort (but not long after discovers a much, much bigger threat to the world than anything before that was foreshadowed throughout the game); specifically, a race of Dark Eco corrupted Precursors, known as "Dark Makers", have found Jak's world and hope to terraform it into the very dark and twisted world Jak barely stopped it from becoming in the first game... along with the help of the former leader of the Krimzon Guard, Errol, who was nearly killed in an eco explosion in the previous game, but resurrected as an Ax Crazy, genocidal cyborg to aid the Dark Makers in their quest.

After yet another long journey, with even more crazy plot twists than before (but what do you expect when the game was directed by the same woman who wrote the Legacy of Kain series?), Jak saves the world yet again, wrapping the storyline of all three games and giving our heroes a satisfying conclusion. Like the previous games, the game was universally well received and was a hit in sales.

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Tropes used in Jak 3 include:

• Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Prominent in this game, as there are now three sewer levels rather than one (as seen in Jak II Renegade), but they function much like the regular (fun) levels, and thus avert the dreaded Down the Drain trope. For some strange reason, you can only access them from the entrance gate but not at the exit gate, so if you want to revisit them, you can't just go back the way you came... you have to trek all the way to the beginning doorway and repeat the linear path.
• Air-Aided Acrobatics: There are some fans in the sewer levels which can propel Jak up to high ledges if he uses the right equipment.
• Airborne Aircraft Carrier: The War Factory serves as the former because it deploys KG robots and has a flying defense constantly patrolling around it, which can be shot down during the raid at the climax of Act Two, and serves as Ominous Floating Castle later because it's the KG leader's HQ. The Floating War Factory is so large it almost counts as a manmade Floating Continent. Quite what keeps it up is anybody's guess, but it does look intimidating overshadowing the city.
• Alien Sky: Now with Bad Moon Rising as an added bonus.
• All Deserts Have Cacti: The Wasteland.
• All There in the Manual: Commentary refers to Seem as a "she".
• Already Undone for You: Veger manages to get through many of the same areas as Jak, including the Precursor Temple and the ruins of the palace. Possibly justified in the first example because he was with Seem, so the monks probably have their own Death Trap-free passages to go through, but how the hell did he manage to get through the ruins, which were crawling with Dark Makers? Considering he had access to a giant fireball launching weapon, it wouldn't be hard to guess that he just fought his way to that point. This also means that Veger killed Damas.
• And Your Reward Is Clothes:
  • Daxter finally gets his pants at the end of the game.
  • You get the original Jak outfit if you collect all 600 orbs.
• Anti-Hero: Jak likes causing chaos and occasionally loses his temper, but since his opponents are usually Exclusively Evil, this is somewhat mitigated.
• Arbitrary Gun Power: Justified in most examples, since what you're shooting usually has super-strong armor.
• Ask a Stupid Question: Happens early when our heroes meet Kleiver:

Kleiver: Those were some sweet moves in the Arena, boy. But a little more choke, an' you would've popped, eh?
Jak: You talkin' to me?
Daxter: Yeah, you talkin' to... him?
Kleiver: No, I'm conversin' with me sweet departed mum. Of course you, ya bore head!

• Asskicking Equals Authority: In Spargus, they "value strength and survival above all." The whole "leader = Jerkass or Big Bad" thing is averted though because King Damas is, deep down, a good guy.
• Asteroids Monster: Those bizarre creatures which are deployed by Veger's Precursor Robot, the Metal Head tower and the Terraformer. Fortunately, they also yield plenty of ammo each time you 'split' them.
• Attack Drone: The Gyro Burster.
• Attack Its Weak Point: If you can't find one in any of the bosses, you're not looking hard enough.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The Terraformers.
• Awesome but Impractical: The Vulcan Fury upgrades; the Arc Wielder and the Needle Lazer are cool to watch, but the Arc Wielder is surprisingly weak in damage output and while the Needle Lazer uses very strong homing needles, it and it's counterpart chew up ammo just as fast as the Vulcan Fury. However, you can buy the "Robot Shock" upgrade for the Arc Wielder, which drastically increases its effectiveness against KG Bots.
• Awesome Yet Practical: Light Jak's shield move, which protects you well and chews up little Light Eco as a bonus. The Hellcat Cruiser.
• Background Boss: Veger's Precursor Robot and the second part of the Terraformer battle.
• Bad Moon Rising: The Day Star approaches. With a cargo of Dark Makers on it.
• Bag of Spilling: You start off with none of Jak's weapons or the jetboard, as they were taken from Jak prior to his being banished. However, he regains them all throughout the game... with upgrades. Sadly though, he doesn't get to keep the Dark powers he acquired in Jak II Renegade, save for the Energy Bomb.
• The Battle Didn't Count: Cyber-Errol escapes the first time you beat him, but it has the effect of shutting down the War Factory.
• Battleship Raid: The Floating War Factory assault. Also acts as a Cores and Turrets Boss.
• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  • Count Veger wishes to become a Precursor. There were aspects of this he was not expecting.
  • Tess when she unintentionally asked for pants like Daxter And wound up a Precursor herself (much to Daxter's joy). She certainly took it much better then Veger.
• Bedouin Rescue Service: Justified since Jak had a homing beacon on him.
• Benevolent Architecture: Who exactly puts all those Eco vents just where Jak needs them? This gets particularly egregious on the Terraformer boss platform, which has, of all things, a Light Eco vent. As for the Light and Dark Eco vents in the Haven City ruins, it could have been Mar.
• BFG: Jak's Morph Gun, particularly the Peace Maker and the Super Nova.
• Big Bad: Count Veger is considered the main one by many because he was responsible for nearly everything that went wrong in the heroes' lives. Cyber-Errol seems to be the official Big Bad for this game, being the Final Boss.
• Big Damn Heroes: Damas shows up when Jak and Daxter are near The Very Definitely Final Dungeon.
• Big Damn Fire Exit: The conspiciously giant warpgate located in the the Terraformer storage part of the Dark Maker ship is the way Jak and Dax survive the subsequent destruction of it.
• Big Good: Despite The Gods Must Be Lazy, they're still quite helpful.
• Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics: The Beam Reflexor, especially when combined with the spin kick and upgraded for extra ricochets. But let's face it, homing bullets and ricocheting lasers are fun.
• Blood Sport: The Arena Battles are officially citizenship tests, but also double as Gladiator Games challenges.
• Blown Across the Room: Possibly justified in that the ammo is made out of eco and not bullets and thus it has unrealistic effects.
• Body Armor as Hit Points: As the game progresses, Jak collects armour allegedly worn by Mar himself, such as gauntlets, chest armour, and legging armour. Each piece increases his hit point count by two. Once he has all the body armour, his hit point count is twice that of Jak II Renegade.
• Border Patrol: A giant tentacle this time.
• Boring but Practical: The Scatter Gun and the Blaster.
• Boss Arena Idiocy: Those exploding mine carts just happened to be right over the Precursor Robot's head.
• Boss Arena Recovery: All the bosses feature some stage when you can restock on ammo, usually by killing the Flunky Boss mooks. The Final Boss has Dark Eco vents and a Light Eco vent available at certain points during the battle, but only for a short time.
• Boss Banter: Cyber-Errol just won't stop taunting Jak.
• Boss in Mook Clothing: The Blast Bots are either this or a form of Elite Mook because they're incredibly tough to beat.
• Bottomless Bladder
• Brain Uploading: Vin "survives" a Metal Head attack by doing this.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: As per the Running Gag: "This isn't a game!" Also accompanied with an Aside Glance.
• Breath Weapon: The Terraformer.
• Bridge Logic: Daxter does this in the volcano level.
• Car Fu: Zoomers, once again, serve only two purposes, and this is the more fun one.
• Chain Lightning: The Peace Maker. Also the Arc Wielder, to a degree.
• Chaos Architecture: How exactly did New Haven City come about unless there was a peacetime at some point during the war? The positioning of the five fallen palace towers doesn't always tally with their original positions in Jak II. Also, the corners of the port, some sections of the Slums and the Industrial district are clipped for unexplained reasons. Otherwise, the game mostly averts this: despite claims of Haven Forest being completely unrecognisable, a bird's-eye-view from the Floating War Factory shows that it's a different section of the forest. Still doesn't explain how the entrance to said part of the Forest got there.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • The Seal of Mar, which Ashelin gives to Jak in Act One to try to convince him to come back, enables him to explore further in the Precursor temple, leading to his return to the City. It also proves important later, when Damas gives him his own Seal of Mar to identify Damas' son. This is when Jak realises who he is.
  • The Turret Challenge Kleiver gives you in Act One has no further influence in Act One and has no bearing on the story in Act Two. In Act Three, however, it proves instrumental in repelling the Dark Maker invasion of Spargus, which leads to Jak receiving the last of Mar's armour from Damas.
  • Those Dark and Light Eco Crystals do have a purpose, which is served when Jak enters the Catacombs in Act Three.
• Chokepoint Geography: Given the overall linear layout of the missions, this is not surprising. In order to complete Act One, Jak has to progress through the Precursor Temple and the Catacombs subrail leading to Haven City, and then work his way through the Eco mine to get within the city walls. This also happens during Act Two, when the only means of accessing New Haven City is by taking the long route through the robot-infested industrial section from the Port. The sewer levels are also one-way, and the only way to reach Haven Forest is to pass through the Metal Head city section. No Sidepaths, No Exploration, No Freedom is averted, however, by the sandbox-type gameplay overall.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: 'Captain' Brutter and the Crocodog completely disappear from this game for no apparent reason.
• City of Canals: New Haven City.
• Click. "Hello.": Veger pulls one of these, though we don't hear a click; he announces his presence by shouting at Jak.
• Collision Damage: Jak can still take damage just by walking up to an enemy, complete with Knockback.
• Colossus Climb: A small part of the Terraformer boss battle involves this.
• Combat Tentacles: The Terraformer has three. Also, Border Patrol.
• Continuity Nod: The Power Cells from the first game make a reappearance as an artifact.
• The Corruption: "The Dark Makers were once Precursors, but their exposure to Dark Eco changed them..."
• Crapsack World: Haven City takes a turn for the worse, as much of the northern part of town is destroyed when the palace is shot down, and the slums have been wrecked by the Metal Heads, who have created an organic hive in the northern farm area. On top of that, the Krimzon Guard Robots conquered the factories and created a floating base, leaving only the Port and the New Haven City inhabited. The Wasteland on the other hand is a massive unforgiving desert with some pretty bad sandstorms, but Spargus is not quite that bad, though the inhabitants are all armed with guns and short tempers.
• Crosshair Aware: The three floating vehicles which attack New Haven City and the Cyber-Errol boss battle use this. The latter can even take out the floor if need be.
• Cutscene Power to the Max: Did you see how far Jak fell near the end of the Act Three climax? Keep that in mind when you then consider how high his Angel-Winged Light Form can fly during gameplay.
• Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Apparently what happened to Cyber-Errol between this game and the previous one.
• Dark Is Evil: Dark Eco, the Metal Heads, the Dark Makers... Knight Templar or not, Count Veger is at least justified in his hatred of Dark Eco. Jak's Super-Powered Evil Side ends up as a subversion (see below).
• Dark Is Not Evil: Jak is the exception, and even he needed Light Eco to counter its worse effects. Even still, Jak's Hero status is overlooked by Count Veger.
• Deadly Training Area: There is sort of a gladiator pit with periodically rising, deadly lava, and guys that swing their pointy, deadly swords at Jak.
• Death Course: Most of the areas in the game.
• Decapitated Army: Not in the game itself, but Metal Kor seemed to be this in Jak II, since the Metal Head raid on Haven City was stopped after his death. Then we learn almost immediately that the strongest Metal Heads have survived and come back with a vengeance.
• Deflector Shields: Appeared as both one of Jak's Light Eco powers and the main weapon of the Dark Makers.
• The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: After you reach the end the sewer you access within North Town, the pipes you hop across to reach the part of the sewer that leads you into the Metal Head side of the city will be constantly shooting out poisonous gas. Even if you cheat and use invincibility to bypass them, the door leading to that part of the sewer won't open, thus preventing any sequence breaking.
• Did Not Do the Bloody Research: Kleiver says "buggers" an awful lot, though he's not exactly the nicest guy in Spargus anyway. More off-puttingly, Daxter also refers to the kangarats as such.
• Difficulty Spike: Occasionally happens, especially during Act Two.
• Disc One Nuke: The second mod for the Beam Reflexor is obtained very early in the game, it's rapidly ricocheting bullets can quickly clear a room of even the most difficult enemies with just a few shots.
• Dope Slap: "Oh don't worry. Jak beats things all the time. Hehehehe -" WHACK. Jak does this to Daxter when Kleiver challenges him to beat his top score on the turret minigame.
• Double Jump: Unabashedly. You can also use a spin kick to stay airborne even longer.
• Drop What You Are Doing: Veger drops his cane/scepter/whatever-it-is after The Reveal.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Torn gets on better with Jak now, though he still doesn't seem to like Daxter much.
• Dynamic Loading: Usually a door opening.
• Easter Egg: Everything you can unlock with the Precursor Orbs.
• Eldritch Abomination: The Dark Makers. Given what Daxter's Super-Powered Evil Side looks like, the fan theory that they're really robots has some credibility, but until official confirmation, they fall under this trope.
• Escort Mission: Quite a good one in Act Three where you have to escort Torn's explosives-laden vehicle from New Haven City to the Metal Head Nest ... at least until you reach the port, where he suddenly decides to fly around the two towers rather than just, you know, head straight into the Metal Head Nest.
• Establishing Character Moment: Veger's introduction, Kleiver's introduction, and Sig's refusal to kill Jak among others.
• Every Car Is a Pinto: The zoomers are as fragile as ever. Even the desert vehicles appear to be Made of Explodium.
• Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: The Wasteland Metal Heads look strongly like a cross between Metal Kor and Tyrannosaurus Rex. They are joined in Act Two by pterodactly-style Metal Heads during the First-Person Shooter mission with Sig.
• Evil Tower of Ominousness: The Metal Head Tower, especially at night. At least before you blow its head off and leave it a smoking mess on the skyline.
• Exclusively Evil: Those pesky Metal Heads make a comeback, only to get upstaged by the much more threatening Dark Makers.
• Exploding Barrels: Eco barrels, to be precise. This comes in useful during the Escort Mission in Act Three (see above).
• False Reassurance: Kleiver, Torn and Damas have a bad habit of doing this.
• Faux Affably Evil: Cyber-Errol. "Ah, my little friends have come to see me off."
• Finish Him!: Sig and Jak run into each other during an Arena fight, and refuse to off each other.
• Flipping the Bird: Daxter did this to Pecker who's half-bird (censored by the top of the screen of course). Pecker was not pleased.
• Floating Platforms: Justified as being lost Precursor technology.
• Flunky Boss: All three of them deploy less powerful enemies to attack Jak at some point, Cyber-Errol especially.
• Follow the Money: If you can see Precursor orbs on it, you'll be able to access it.
• Forced Tutorial: The Arena fight, though the actual fighting is still pretty fun.
• Game Over Man: As with the first game, Daxter... though only on occasion. Jak's death animation must be the exact same one he's had since the first game in order for this to happen.
• Gatling Good: The Vulcan Fury.
• Get Back Here Boss: The Terraformer boss battle initially works like this, though it's not running away from Jak... it barely notices him and he just has to keep up with it.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: Some of the commentary reveals things you'd never have known by yourself...
• Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: Not the actual Dark Makers themselves, but the form the final boss actually takes feels slightly like this.
• The Gods Must Be Lazy: Why the hell are the Precursors, the "most powerful beings in the universe," relying on a mortal man (whose amazingness was quite possibly given to him by the Precursors) to solve their problems? Commented on by Daxter in the third act, right before The Reveal.
• Green Rocks: Eco. The Ottsel Leader's explanation for Daxter's Baleful Polymorph transformation when he touched the Dark Eco in Jak and Daxter The Precursor Legacy only adds fuel to the Wild Mass Guessing.
• Ground Pound: Jak can jump into the air and slam his fist against the ground. Must hurt.
• Guide Dang It: Some of the precursor orbs can fall under this.
• Gun Fu: Jak has some moves that combine his hand-to-hand techniques with the Morph Gun.
• Hijacked by Ganon: At the beginning of the game, Torn was wondering who the new KG Leader could be. It's Cyber-Errol, Back from the Dead Cyborg with newfound Omnicidal Maniac urges.
• Hit Points: You get eight to begin with, but end up with sixteen by the end thanks to Body Armor as Hit Points.
• Horde of Alien Locusts: Metal Heads, though this is mostly inferred by fans as no other motivation appears to guide them. See Motive Decay below.
• Hover Board: The Jet-board makes a welcome comeback.
• Humongous Mecha: Veger's Precursor Bot. It looks impressive, but thanks to Boss Arena Idiocy and Tactical Suicide Boss, you shouldn't really have too many problems.
• Hurricane Kick: One of the series' signature moves.
• Hyperspace Arsenal
• Idle Animation
• If You Ever Do Anything To Hurt Him: Tess warns Jak that if he fails to protect Daxter, she'll hunt him down and hurt him REAL BAD.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Averted: once the Krimzon Guard become the Freedom League, they suddenly learn how to shoot. One of the rare examples where the good guys are better. Also, sadly, averted with the KG Deathbots: they are deadly accurate if they get a chance to aim at you.
• Interspecies Romance: Daxter and Tess. Thankfully, they don't actually do anything until Tess gets turned into an ottsel.
• It's All Upstairs From Here: The Metal Head Tower requires Jak to ascend slopes, glowing bridges and platforms to reach the elevator to the topmost chamber in Act Three.
• It's Up to You: During the last two acts, Jak is asked to do all the major missions, something which Daxter snarks about often. Amusingly, on the one occasion when Ashelin seems to be about to subvert this trope, Daxter is affronted and complains even more about that.
• I Will Fight Some More Forever: Marauders, Metal Heads, KG Robots and Dark Makers seem completely oblivious to the fact that Jak is a One-Man Army Person of Mass Destruction.
• Karma Houdini: Considering the things he does, Veger gets off lightly.
• Karmic Transformation: Veger. Crowning Moment of Funny. That is all.
• Kick the Dog: Veger's actions, some of which border on Moral Event Horizon. Needless to say, trying to have Jak banished as a scapegoat for all the problems in the city wasn't even the worst he did.
• Killer Rabbit: The most powerful beings in the universe are fluffy and adorable.
• Kissing Discretion Shot: At the end.
• Kudzu Plot: The story is practically impossible to sum up quickly, and the revelations made in that game raise many questions that may never be answered.
• Large Ham: Veger, thanks to some delightfully over-the-top voice acting. His entire Motive Rant and "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Jak just before the Precursor Robot fight was Made of Ham. Cyber-Errol gets in on the act too. This is probably why the animators during the commentary said that it was such good fun animating these characters.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • Veger gets his comeuppance when he discovers the Precursors (who he idolized) are ottsels, gets turned into an ottsel, and becomes Kleiver's sidekick. Almost makes you feel sorry for him... oh, wait, no it doesn't.
  • Veger appeals to Jak's friends and tries to persuade them to let him (Veger) lead the expedition to the catacombs. Not only do they all side with Jak, but Ashelin removes him from authority. The cutscene is even called "Veger Gets Humiliated".
• Laser Sight: The Morph Gun.
• Last-Second Word Swap: After the second Metal Head Nest challenge with Sig:

Sig: It's gonna be a big pile...
Daxter: Yeah, a big pile of sh-*picks up the peace maker*-ould I cock this?

• Law of Inverse Recoil: Averted: Jak's gun actually does jerk back after firing.
• Lethal Lava Land: The Volcano and the Spargus Arena.
• Light Is Not Good: Count Veger is revealed to be this. He compounds this in his aforementioned "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Jak.
• Like You Were Dying: After a fashion, anyway.
• Limit Break: Dark Jak.
• Loading Screen: Averted completely. It's disguised via background loading, such as airlocks and giant doors.
• Local Hangout: The Naughty Ottsel.
• Lost Technology: The Precursors and Dark Makers left their technology scattered around the Wasteland.
• The Man Behind the Man: Cyber-Errol replaces Count Veger as the main antagonist during Act Two, and the Dark Makers appear to replace him as the main antagonist during Act Three. That last one is unresolved since it's not clear what the relationship is between Cyber-Errol and the Dark Makers.
• Mascot with Attitude: Daxter. He has some Badass moments though, so Tropes Are Not Bad.
• Meat Moss: The Metal Heads have this influence over the Western side of Haven City.
• Mecha-Mooks: The KG Robots are back from the previous game, with some new enhancements, and appear more frequently than they did in Jak II. They've even taken control of the Industrial section of the city.
• Mentor: Not officially, but Damas often gives Jak advice and guidance, as well as details about the tough philosophy of the Wastelanders.
• Military Mashup Machine: The KG's Floating War Factory.
• Mini-Mecha: There is a level in the third act where Jak controls a Dark Maker Bot with his mind. This is, to say the least, slightly surreal to those of us who weren't expecting it.
• Mission Pack Sequel: The game can feel like this at times, though Tropes Are Not Bad.
• Mordor: The Dark Maker Ship.
• More Dakka:
  • The Morph Gun's blue upgrades.
  • The Beam Reflexor, if you use the Jump > Kick > Fire trick. Even more so if you buy the upgrade for it that increases its reflections.
• Morph Weapon: The Morph Gun.
• Motive Decay: Just why are the Metal Heads bothering to attack the city anymore? At least in Jak II, Kor had a reason to drive them to press their attack, since he was after the Precursor Stone, but now he's gone, their motivation seems to have diminished to For the Evulz.
• Mundane Utility: Need to open a box? Shoot it!
• My Name Is Not Durwood: This is Daxter's favourite method of annoying Veger.

Count Veger: Pure light will rule the universe, and I will be the bright light that shines to every corner of the world and destroys all shadows!
Daxter: Er, excuse me Count Vulgar -
Count Veger: It's Veger!
Daxter: Yeah, whatever.

• My Nayme Is: Kleiver.
• Nitro Boost: Turbo power ups for the vehicles in the Wasteland.
• No Cutscene Inventory Inertia: Averted, mostly because you usually get equipment in cutscenes.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: The commentary reveals that this was the reason behind the palace coming down.
• Not the Fall That Kills You: Averted and played straight. Jak will lose health if he falls a considerable distance onto dry land, and will instantly die if he falls from a certain height, even if he hits the ground not long after passing this limit. Nevertheless, he can avoid serious injuries if he is using the jet-board at the moment of impact or if he hits water, apparently because of Soft Water. This latter case is noticeable in Haven Forest despite the considerable height from the top of the Precursor Astro Viewer to the lake below.
• Oh Crap:
  • Cyber-Errol gets a delightful one moments before the Terraformer head blows up.
  • Veger has a moment like this seconds before his Karmic Transformation, as if the Universe was just waiting for him to put two and two together.
• Oh My Gods:
  • "By the Precursors" seems to be Samos' stand-in for "Oh my God".
  • Played for Laughs when Jak says "Oh my God." during The Reveal in Act Three.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Cyber-Errol.
• Out of Focus: The surviving Metal Heads from Jak II are downplayed significantly from their threat status in the original game in favor of Cyber-Errol and the Dark Makers, and we don't even get to see the conflict between the city and them get resolved!
• Overheating: Happens with the Haven Forest turret guns.
• Pass Through the Rings: Some of the more aggravating missions. At least it usually only happens in sidequests.
• Physical God The Precursors, again. This game finally out-and-out confirms their nature.
• Pinball Projectile: The Reflexor gun.
• Platform Game: And one of the best of its kind.
• Platforming Pocket Pal: Daxter.
• Playful Otter: Er, ottsel. Close enough.
• Precursors
  • Neglectful Precursors: Literally. See The Gods Must Be Lazy above.
• Primal Fear: Border Patrol for the Wasteland section is Combat Tentacles. Sounds like Narm Charm? Think again.
• Purposefully Overpowered: The Peace Maker and Supernova weapons.
• Racing Mini Game: Very prominent.
• Refusal of the Call: When Ashelin pleads with Jak to return to Haven City, Jak is unimpressed, still bitter over his banishment. "I'm through saving the world."
• Remember the New Guy?: What exactly was Veger doing during the events of Jak II? Given his significance here, especially his apparently strong influence over the city council, his absence in the last game seems a little jarring.
• Remixed Level: Haven City has undergone several changes since Jak II Renegade, many caused by the collapse of the palace at the beginning of the game. Many areas, especially the centre of the city, have been closed off by the wreckage, while others have been damaged beyond recognition, both by the tower and by the Metal Head invasion of the west side of the city. The slums have been mostly rebuilt as New Haven City on the northeast side of the city. Some of this is covered under Chaos Architecture, however.
• Retcon: Some details of this game altered those of the previous game. For instance, Veger was responsible for Young Jak getting into the Underground in the first place, after he took Jak from his father. Then the pendant given to Jak in the last game by The Kid is suddenly a Seal of Mar and can open a door in the Precursor Monk's temple for no apparent reason.
• The Reveal: Lots. Some predictable, some not.
• Riding the Bomb: Daxter does this in the second mission for Torn at the port. This is either Daxter's Crowning Moment of Awesome or is at least one of them.
• Rising Conflict: Jak and Daxter (and Pecker) start out just trying to survive in the Wasteland. By the end of the game, they're trying to stop The End of the World as We Know It... again.
• Rule of Cool: Some of the missions, like Daxter's Riding the Bomb and Jak's Storming The KG War Factory. More like Rule Of Crowning Moment of Awesome in many cases.
• Runaway Train: The explosive cart in the Eco Mine.
• Say My Name: Happens once in Act Three, after Jak's Suicidal Gotcha.

Daxter: Jak? JAAAK!

• Scary Scorpions: The scorpion Metal Heads, especially when you see them swarming around the abandoned North Town ruins for the first time. Fortunately, they're pretty easy to beat.
• Scenery Gorn: Jak's first sight of the Haven City's northern ruins at the beginning of Act Two, and when he infiltrates the Stadium ruins later in Act Three. Borders on being a Tear Jerker for some who experience Nostalgia Factor at either of these points.
• Secondary Fire: The Morph Gun's upgrades.
• Selective Gravity: As well as the standard anti-gravity Precursor orbs, there is a less orthodox version of this trope in action. The Mass Inverter creates selective gravity: a ring expands from the gun, and any enemy caught in the radius will float helplessly in the air until the effects wear off. In that time, the player is free to inflict as much damage as they please, or even to send the victim flying around the level. Video Game Cruelty Potential indeed.
• Sequel Hook: "With all our adventures ahead, you wouldn't last a second without me." And Jak was absolutely right.
• Sequence Breaking: At one point, during the second sewer mission, you're trapped in a corridor by several electric gates and must fight a horde of KG bots before you can continue, or you can use Light Shield to safely walk through the fences and ignore the bots.
• Serious Business: Artifact hunting to the Wastelanders.
• Shifting Sand Land: The Wasteland.
• Shooting Gallery: Tess appears to have inherited this. For some reason, it's changed location between Jak II and Jak 3.
• Shout-Out:
  • One of the bonus features allows you to set up a Ratchet & Clank gun course in Haven City.
  • This troper is surprised no one pointed out the Pac-Man shout-out when Daxter was om-nom-noming on the circuit grid.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Migrated slowly back toward the middle as the game progressed. The world is ultimately not a Sick Sad World, but it's no picnic either.
• Spider Tank:
  • The Terraformer is an impossibly large one. Rule of Cool played to its limit. This makes the Final Boss one of the most impressive in the Jak and Daxter series.
  • On a smaller scale, the Blast Bots and the even smaller KG bots.
• Spring Jump: A new feature of the jet-board allows you to charge it up before jumping, causing Jak to soar high into the air.
• Stable Time Loop: Implied, though unresolved.
• Stop Helping Me!: Ashelin, Samos and Torn view Veger as this: Veger's attempts to beat the KG and Metal Head forces are as foolish and dangerous as you'd expect from a Knight Templar.
• A Storm Is Coming: Damas when he finds Jak.
• Stupid Evil: The Marauders harassing Jak must come from an incurable Complete Monster race because they continue trying to kill Jak and continue to get slaughtered. It gets to a point where you wonder if they want to die.
• Swiss Army Gun: The Morph Gun has a shotgun, a rifle, a sub-machine gun, a lightning gun, lightning-ball gun, an RPG launcher, a shockwave generator, a Reflecting Laser, a drone launcher, an Anti-Gravity generator, a homing-dart gun and a mini-nuke.
• Tactical Suicide Boss: Veger's Precursor Robot and Cyber-Errol insist on raising platforms and sending in exploding drones respectively despite the fact that this gives Jak precisely what he needs to defeat them. The Terraformer, to a degree.
• Take Your Time: Search for Orbs, play mini-games, explore the desert... that Day Star won't come any closer until the plot says it should.
• Techno Babble: Tess spits out a run-on sentence about one of her BFGs. Cue shot of Jak and Daxter with a "Bwuh?" look on their faces.
• Techno Wreckage: North Town is severely damaged and completely abandoned save for the scorpion Metal Heads. See also Scenery Gorn above.
• Temporary Platform: Everywhere.
• Third-Person Shooter
• This Is Reality: Jak and Daxter look directly at the player after Seem's "This isn't a game!".
• Three Act Structure
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Inverted with Samos: in the previous games, he could be quite rude to Jak and Daxter, but he's noticeably mellowed in this game. Compare his interactions with Daxter in Jak II with the same in this one, for instance.
• Trilogy Creep: Jak 3 was originally thought to be the end, but then they released Jak X, Daxter and The Lost Frontier.
• True Companions: Exactly how many of the main characters are now part of it depends on who you ask, but the general consensus is that Jak, Daxter, Keira, Samos, Torn, Ashelin, Onin, Pecker and Sig are the "official" party here.
• Underground Level: The Metal Head Nest in the Wastelands, and a pretty unpleasant place: the tunnel leading to the underground chamber is swarming with constantly respawning, squishy, Zerg Rush-type enemies that would be a nightmare to confront on foot, so never leave the vehicle while you're down here. The chamber itself initially acts as an incubation site, which floods with poison gas once you complete the first mission. When you go down the second time, Big Creepy-Crawlies called Metalpedes have taken control.
• Unexpected Gameplay Change
• Ungrateful Bastard: The citizens of Haven City, when the war breaks out, immediately pin the blame on Jak, who saved them from certain extinction in Jak II Renegade. It's All There in the Manual.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Jak's strange Wastelander costume, Light Eco form, BFG-type Swiss Army Gun and Super-Powered Evil Side will go unremarked in civilian areas... the worst they do is run away if you get too close.
• Up to Eleven: This is essentially what Naughty Dog did with each game mechanic from Jak II Renegade when making this game.
  • Jak now has extra weapon mods, taking the grand total of guns up to twelve. That's three times the number of guns he had in the previous game.
  • There are more vehicles this time around, from desert rides to zoomers to the new and improved Hellcat Cruiser.
  • Expansion Pack environments compared with the previous game: while Haven City has shrunk compared with the original, this is more than made up for by the impossibly large desert region, Spargus City and the Precursor Temple of Doom. There are also missions in the Volcano, the Eco Mine, the expanded sewer system, the Floating War Factory and even the Dark Maker ship.
  • More Timed Missions and Boss Battle challenges, such as the Wastelander Rescue Mission and dark satellite battle, more Blast Bot encounters, and a one-against-three fight with the floating KG vehicles once you report to New Haven City.
  • Some Mini Games, like the jetboard challenge and 'find the orb' timed missions, make a comeback, but there's also First-Person Shooter games, a Riding the Bomb mission, a ride down the Catacombs and even a pac-man style game.
  • Dark Jak returns with new upgrades, and is joined with a Light Jak form, giving a grand total of eight new upgrades.
  • Even the jet-board has new features built into it, such as a permanent turbo option in the desert section and the small shock wave attack.
• Vent Physics: These have been introduced to the ducts scattered around the Port and the industrial section. They only work on your jet-board, and they are crucial for collecting certain orbs.
• Very-High-Velocity Rounds: When you fire a gun in Flash Freeze mode, the enemy's lasers are Painfully-Slow Projectile weapons. It's great fun dodging them in this mode, especially when you can then give swift retribution on the would-be attacker.
• Video Game Cruelty Potential: You can start huge shootouts with the Wastelanders. Get one to start shooting at you, get that one to accidentally hit someone else...
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Daxter and Pecker do not get on very well, but are unambiguously on the same side.
• What Happened To The Metal Heads?
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Possibly the logic behind making the KG Robots major enemies and Cyber-Errol, though the robots are little more than killing machines and in any case they're Exclusively Evil.
• Wide Open Sandbox
• Womb Level: The deepest part of the Metal Head nest under the volcano. Also the Metal Head section of the city and the Metal Head tower.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: Jak now has both Dark and Light powers at his disposal. For Dark powers, he has Dark Bomb, a Dark Blast, Invisibility and a supercharged blast attack. For Light powers, he has Healing Hands, Flash Freeze, Deflector Shield and limited flight.