I'm having a tough time deciding which game to play right now. After a few minutes of selection, I'm down to some of my favorites:

Kingdom Hearts II

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin

Okami

Final Fantasy XII

The Simpsons: Hit & Run (The closet thing I own to GTA, and the dialogue amuses me)

Psychonauts

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal

and

Guitar Hero II

Any suggestions?

[QUOTE="JoshuaOlson"]At the time that they came out they were a great innovation, but after so many years of analog I don't think that I could go back. Using the D-pad for character movement has become uncomfortable and awkward. bitemeslippy

A great innovation??

Look similar at all?

You do realize that you should be ripping on the XBox's controller. That was THE biggest control scheme ripoff I've ever seen. They even copied the L3and R3 buttons! They gave it such boring names, too. Left Stick... Right stick... that's why the only Microsoft system I own (that I can think of off of the top of my head) is this computer.

I loved all the Jak games... I found them fun and a challenge. The difficulty and retrying some missions only made it more fun for me and I got all 600 orbs in Jak 3.

Strangely enough I hated the R&C games. I played them but I found the story and the characters idiotic and uninteresting. The story is a big part for me in games, coming second behind gameplay.

I didn't like the gameplay in Ratchet either, the total emphasis on weapons and also the long loading times hidden by a stupid spaceship cut scene between every single world... really unnecessary... and really gets on your nerves after a while. I'm not asking for much just maybe a quick cut-scene setting off and then arrival.

Even down to the sounds, the bounce sound when wall jumping also annoyed me. It almost seems irrational to dislike something like that but there you go. I'm not bashing mind, this is my opinion and I know they are very popular games... just not for me I guess.

Also I think there just wasnt enough variation in R&C to keep me interested. I enjoyed the Clank missions (can't remember which game it was) a lot because it was a change from the monotonous shooting, get bolts (which you have to actually go round collecting and don't just go right to you after breaking a crate, lamppost or destroying an enemy), buy new weapon.

That's the thing the only real way they change up the gameplay (excluding clank missions, and the odd (pretty good) minigame) is by buying new weapons. I never really saw the need for so many.

I'd recommend Jak and Dax way beyond R&C. The characters are great, the gameplay fun, varied and challenging. You get a jetboard (a hovering skateboard)!!! You have many minigames many of which are challenging. In Jak 3 the dune-buggies (well some could be described as tanks) are great to drive and there are many different types each with their own merits. There are many different types of missions from escaping heat seeking missiles to capturing wild animals so they can be tamed. Or even riding on the back of a missile to guide it towards a certain target.

Well there's my recommendation. Many people love the R&C games and I guess you could be the same. But they wouldn't be my first recommendation. Another few great games: God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Beyond Good & Evil.

pillaysteven

Sorry if shorter-than-normal load times that actually have something going during them in a game with large, detailed worlds bug you.

Personally, I thought that...

 

They are both funny

Equally good(meaning they are good) graphics

R-C has better music and presentation

R-C has more weapons, more unique levels

R-C is not as mind-bustingly hard (though if you crank up the difficulty, it gets quite hard, especially UYA's final level) and Jak games are like, well, HARD. God, I almost hated the third Jak because it was uninterseting, hard and you had to do levels OVER and OVER and the desert theme was horrible.

 Second Jak, I spent six bucks renting that game. I get to the first or second segment, where you are chased by that robot with the spikey wheel, and it goes into it's vision. It took me like 20 minutes to get there, and I spent two hours trying to get past that one part. I spent days and the farthest I got on it was to the part where you swing on the poles. I hate that one.

first one was good. No guns, but good. 

 

R-C: First one was a strong start to a great series.

 

Second one was very good. Cool weapons and very neat levels, and it's puzzles were tricky but not overly challenging. Nice use of gadgets too, but a little too easy(skill points aside, those are always a little tough to get)

Third one was peronally, my favorite. A blast. Neat, colorful levels, sweet, destructive new weapons, cool upgrades, Just right on the terms of challenge, great bosses, a minigame, and a lot of funny stuff. The multiplayer tries to be a lot different than the game, and it isn't particulaly good. But great anyways.

 Numero Quatro was fun, but real short. It is also a lot harder. Cool upgrade and alpha mod system. The gameplay has went from a platformer/action-adventure to an action-shooter. Great shooting action, and co-op is good. Same so-so multiplayer, with a few good upgrades.

 

R-C FTW! 

mattmastuh2

Yeah, Jak 3 was excruciatingly hard. Remember when you had to dodge the missiles through the city on your hovercraft then somehow avoid all the missiles while shooting at a tiny beacon with a gun with tiny shots? That ruined the entire game for me. When I unlocked hero mode, I wasn't "Yay, I get to see the story again!" I was "****, I have to beat that cargo mission again!"

you can't fairly compare them. Kratos is a god, and Jak is a demigod. But, I think we all can agree it wouldn't be Snake, right? But, if Kratos and Jak weren't as powerful, I'd have to say Ratchet. He has shields, Clank, and the Rift Ripper. Ratchet could probably win with only:

Clank

Rift Ripper

and possibly the Agents of Dread.

Well, snake wouldn't win because: Jak would hit him with Dark Giant or his Peacemaker or Ratchet would use his Rift Ripper. I can't say anything about Kratos or Dante, because I've never played Devil May Cry or God of War, but I'm sure they could easily decimate snake as well. 

This is probably a stupid question...