According to a former Naughty Dog developer, Kingdom Hearts played a role in the studio's development of its beloved action-adventure sequel Jak 2.
Josh Scherr worked for over 21 years at Naughty Dog, with the first 13 spent as the cinematic animation lead on gems like Jak and Daxter, Jak 2, and Jak 3. Jak 2 shipped in 2003, and it featured many firsts for the iconic series - Dark Jak, Haven City, and cutscenes with unique character models. According to Scherr, though, it's actually another smash-hit title from many gamers' childhoods that inspired this shift to more high-resolution models in Jak 2.
