NeoGAF

Originally Posted by DMPrince

GAF also liked god hand.

Originally Posted by Slamtastic

That seems like an exaggeration. I haven't played Knack, but come one, Kratos, Donte, Cole McGrath, and some robot thing form a kids game is the least likeable? Does he constantly spout racist jokes while setting fire to nursing homes or something?

I don't get the vast amounts of hyperbole around this game.

I played it for a bit at bestbuy. Bored me to tears. It was just so bland. The environment, personality, gameplay, just bland.

Originally Posted by Odrion

Also is the crowd that enjoys Knack the same one that thinks that anything under 7/10 is a failure of a product?

If not, if you think that 5/10 should be "bland" or "average", then you shouldn't get so uptight about the reviews.

I think the problem is that many of the 4/10 and 5/10 scores are being handed out from the perspective that a 5/10 is junk and shouldn't have been made.

I don't believe in review scores period, numbers are garbage in and of themselves. They lead to fighting over pointless abstractions.

Originally Posted by The Hermit

Reviews mean nothing honestly.

Knack looks like mindless coop fun, but it also looks like a tech demo that isn't worth $60 (more like $20)

Both the art direction like the bland character designs and even the technical aspect (framerate drop) is about as 5/10 as it gets in the industry

On a side note I love that there are reviewers who rate the games after they've been released. Going to subscribe to this guy

I didn't care for it when it got announced, and I didn't care for it after I played some of it at a games show pre-PS4 launch.

I don't think I'd even play it for free if (when?) it gets on Plus (and I get a PS4). It's just so....lame? But then again, I'm not a big platformer fan.

Originally Posted by wwm0nkey

Knack was okay but holy shit that story was just the worst thing I have ever seen in my life. Just bad....really really bad.

I got pretty far (Chapter 10 or 11) and was enjoying some of it but the game has an absolutely horrible Story. It started ok but once the villian is revealed, which is the most obvious "twist" ever, the game becomes total shit story wise.
The art style is something I like, it reminds me of the Dreamworks CG movies and the Voice acting of the game was pretty good in some spots and horrible in others. Knack's voice felt off for the kind of character the developers were trying to make him.

The Gameplay is fun for a while and isn't that shallow but is very repetitive. There are some cool things you can do with Knack and SunStone powers as well as the little changes Knack can make when using other materials to change his appearance and gameplay. I really liked how Knack would use things from his environment to change how the level works, but it wasn't explored well and ends up being shallow pieces to progress in the game (i.e. Mirrors for stealth Knack are used for one thing, getting past laser beams) Most of the levels look good, some do look fairly generic but i think it works well with the art style they chose.

The repetitive nature of the game combined with the horrible characters, story and inconsistent framerate (constantly drops during big boss battles/ areas with lots of particle effects) made this game a DO NOT BUY in my opinion. The limited replay value also doesnt help. I was playing this game trying to force myself to like it, then I played Lego Marvel and basically did not want to pick up Knack again. There is nothing about the game that made me want to finish it.

All in all, id give it a rent...but don't buy. There is a better platformer for PS4 (Lego Marvel)
+ Coop is fun
+ Great artstyle
+ Some Interesting gameplay elements
+ Some Interesting set pieces and levels

- Framerate inconsistency
- Horrible story and dull characters
- Repetitive Gameplay
- Limited replay value

Originally Posted by Zalman

Damn, that's the most negative review I've ever seen from Mark.

Yep. If Mark is THAT negative on it, it must truly be an awful game with few, if any, good qualities. Mark really tries to find something good about every game he plays.

Knack plays like a poor man's Skylanders.

I quite enjoyed it. It was a refreshing title at launch.

Also people complaining about Cerny seems like they are not aware of his history in game design.

Originally Posted by Mifune

Yeah, I'm upset Resistance wasn't a platformer, too. And damn, if only God of War wasn't a point-and-click adventure game.

Being upset that a game falls into the genre it falls into doesn't make much sense.

The game was advertised as one. Cerny even said it harks back to PS1 era platformers like Crash and Spyro. LIES! *throws out bathtub*

Originally Posted by Loudninja

I don't get the vast amounts of hyperbole around this game.

Like saying that it's awesome? =)

I've played awesome games. This isn't one of them. I'm glad you like it though. At least you got your money's worth.

I'm sure there's lots of hyperbole going on here. I doubt SCE would make a lemon.

Or maybe it's just launch title blues, whatever the case just keep calm and play Resogun.

Originally Posted by Dragonzord

Wow. Who do you like listening to?

People who don't have to try so hard to sound like a radio man.

I've seen quite a few of Classic Game Room's videos and it's probably the only place that can get me hyped for games on a constant basis just by the sheer love of video games Mark seems to radiate. This is honestly the first time I've ever seen him put a game in such a negative light and that context makes this review even more brutal.

Yeah the character design is just so fucking off putting that I would never want to play this, the KNACK character and his fucking voice is the worst.

Knack drinks The Fighter Within's tears when thirsty.

Originally Posted by Endo Punk

The game was advertised as one. Cerny even said it harks back to PS1 era platformers like Crash and Spyro. LIES! *throws out bathtub*

I think he's always said this was a 'character action game' with 'platforming elements'.

I almost wish they didn't make the decision to make the game's art direction 'appealing to everyone worldwide' so that it wouldn't really have that 'made in Japan' look. The game would likely have less complaints if they didn't go for that :(~~

Im sorry, but everytime i see a video of Knack i make a WTF face. I really cant believe this is the best idea sony had for a new Ip to show a new system.

The graphics are far from impressive, ok no problem. Every video or screenshot i see is made of rocks, fine, this is not the problem either. The real problem is that the gameplay looks terrible!! Looks like a boring, generic brawler, even the camera movement sucks. Looks like Spybots (remember spybots?) but worst!


EDIT: turns out i dont remember spybots either. The name of the game is Spyborgs. And they dont spy anything, they just fight

Originally Posted by Chinpoko_Master

All of the mixed reviews of the game make me want to play it. Especially when Derrick01 likes it.

Derrick liked Dungeon Siege III.

Originally Posted by jacob armitage

I quite enjoyed it. It was a refreshing title at launch.

Also people complaining about Cerny seems like they are not aware of his history in game design.

To some, Cerny is nothing less than the personification of the PS4 itself. Look at it that way and some of the posts you see from certain posters make a lot more sense.

Originally Posted by DMPrince

GAF also liked god hand.

here we go

Knack being so awful is the only reason I don't want to see Crash come back to Sony. :( I don't trust Mark Cerny anymore, I'm not sure if he could do justice to Crash at this point. Although, Naughty Dog so amazing could make a Crash game fantastic, provided Naughty Dog is just allowed to do their Doge Magic. So as long as Crash goes back to Naughty Dog, I'm happy, too bad Naughty Dog is extremely busy and tied up with other projects. :(

Knack is the best PS4 game. Video maker is fuckwit.

Originally Posted by Endo Punk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVK3eaCs8Lw&app=desktop.

If Cerny is going to make games in the future I hope it's not as shoddily put together as Knack. You can't hope much for launch games but from the system head you expected a little better, at least on the tech side of the game.

Does this IP have a future or should Sony burry it and bring back Ape Escape?

So you are basing your opinions about this game solely on a youtube video? Go to the Official Knack Thread, GAF Loves Knack.


You want me to let you in on a secret? It doesn't have a great story, the gameplay doesn't bring anything really new to the genre, but you know, the game is FUN and ENJOYABLE!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by WhatRobEats

People who don't have to try so hard to sound like a radio man.

That's his regular voice?

Originally Posted by Kai Dracon

I think the problem is that many of the 4/10 and 5/10 scores are being handed out from the perspective that a 5/10 is junk and shouldn't have been made.

I don't believe in review scores period, numbers are garbage in and of themselves. They lead to fighting over pointless abstractions.

Amen to this. We should just get rid of score altogether. That would fix a lot of what is wrong with the gaming industry. I've played plenty of games that score crap and enjoyed the heck out of them and was disappointed with many games that scored great!

Yep, looks awful. I wouldn't play it if I got it for free on PSN+, to be honest. There are just other games more worth my time.

Originally Posted by Prince Vultan

To some, Cerny is nothing less than the personification of the PS4 itself. Look at it that way and some of the posts you see from certain posters make a lot more sense.

It's easy to think that when two products that he was involved get released on the same day. One being PS4 and the other Knack. I mean you'd probably had a hard time convincing someone that didn't know anything about the man before that he actually has a long history with many classic games under his belt.

Originally Posted by antitrop

It's way better if you let HipHopGamer describe it to you.

I lost so many brain cells watching that for 4 mins

I get why people want to like Knack, it was the one PS4 launch exclusive that remotely interested me too. But the closer we got to launch, the more obvious it became that there just wasn't much to the game; the characters, the level design, the gameplay, everything about it looks bland. It looks like they had a few gameplay and level design ideas that they stretched out to 12 hours. I've watched an hour total of people streaming the game over Twitch, and nothing I've seen contradicts this impression. I ended up canceling my PS4 preorder and getting a Wii U for Mario 3D World instead, which has the level design and gameplay variety I had hoped Knack would have. I can't help but think that people wouldn't bother giving Knack the time of day if it weren't a launch first party exclusive.

Whoah, there's people badmouthing Mark here? Utter travesty. Truly the totalbisquit and pewdiepie generation is taking over.

Originally Posted by antitrop

Derrick liked Dungeon Siege III.

I don't take Derrick's approval as a seal of quality. It just intrigues me seeing as how he seemingly hates everything.

It is my opinion that if they reduced the length of game by removing its repetitiveness and priced it at $40 - it would have been perfect. Or online co-op mode would have been good as well. I bought it knowing that it would PS plus free game in a couple months. Knack does benefit from PS4 not so impressive launch line up as it has no competition in its genre.

Originally Posted by Speedy Blue Dude

Knack being so awful is the only reason I don't want to see Crash come back to Sony. :( I don't trust Mark Cerny anymore, I'm not sure if he could do justice to Crash at this point.

As far as I recall, I think the last game that Cerny had as big of a role in was some Sonic game in the early 90s. With Crash, it was a bunch of people including Cerny who worked on that, so it wouldn't just be Cerny.

And I feel sort of bad for Cerny considering that this game was supposed to be a fun side project. :(

Originally Posted by Chinpoko_Master

I don't take Derrick's approval as a seal of quality. It just intrigues me seeing as how he seemingly hates everything.

No, he doesn't hate everything, he just has a proclivity to appreciate games that try something a little bit different, seemingly regardless of the execution quality.

I mean, Spec Ops: The Line was my favorite game of last year, so I can usually see where he's coming from, but I mean... Derrick is Derrick. He said Tomb Raider was the "worst game of the year" full stop. So that's where he's coming from.

damn. and Mark barely hates anything.

This game is made of freaking Rocks.

All I see in this game are rocks and more rocks.

Having not played the game, it does look pretty bland and Knack is a pretty bad character design.

I give Knack 7.5 , it's a good game, not a great game but not a bad game either.

It is replayable and enjoyable. I rather play Knack then Killzone Shadow Fall.

Killzone's two first chapters were horrible adn killed off any hopes for future 2nd or 3rd replays beacuse I don't want to relive these two first boring chapters.

Originally Posted by Green Slime

That's his regular voice?

Look I don't want to make fun of the dude but it really sounded like he was forcing himself to talk like a deep throated radio announcer. Just not my cup of tea. But I want it to be understood that I'm not talking down on this dude. That's not my style.

Originally Posted by Green Slime

Yep. If Mark is THAT negative on it, it must truly be an awful game with few, if any, good qualities. Mark really tries to find something good about every game he plays.

He even liked Damnation. The sense of scale.

I mean he liked Damnation. Dam-fucking-nation.

and I liked it too

Originally Posted by DMPrince

GAF also liked god hand.

What's with this? God Hand is amazing.

I just got through playing ryse... What an aweful game. Can knack beat it for my worst next gen game...stay tooned.

Originally Posted by 3rdamention

So you are basing your opinions about this game solely on a youtube video? Go to the Official Knack Thread, GAF Loves Knack.


You want me to let you in on a secret? It doesn't have a great story, the gameplay doesn't bring anything really new to the genre, but you know, the game is FUN and ENJOYABLE!!!!!!!

The story isn't all that bad. They actually built the design of the Knack character around the whole story, and it was sufficient to keep you engage and play through the game. It isn't ground breaking but it is fun, and that is what is important, at least to me.

It's a good game that doesn't come close to being good enough to deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as 3D World and the people acting like there's some kind of rivalry there are insane. I'd play a Knack 2 but I don't think one will get made, and I'd rather Cerny went further for the core and added more platforming and less beat-em-up.