Support NeoGAF

[Crisco]

Bad reviews don't necessarily mean the game isn't fun. A lot of movies get shitty reviews and are still enjoyable to watch at least once. You can still tap your feet to terrible pop music. But if we're going to pretend video games are art, then they have to be evaluated on their objective artistic merits. That's where Knack apparently fails.

In any case, this is a bigger deal than just one game. Is Sony Japan even capable of producing quality software anymore?

 

[Nakazato]

I'm torn between keeping this or returning it for another game since it will probably get a discount or be offered for free on PSN+ sooner rather than later.

same :\

 

[dragonbane]

And Beyond equally deserved those mediocre scores.

It deserves everything between 4-10. It didn't deserve a 2. That's just bullshit and unfair compared to utterly broken games that normally get these scores.

 

[Ricky_R]

same :\

How bout a Rock-paper-scissors? If I win we keep it, if you win we return/exchange it.

 

[Supermanisdead]

game always looked pretty shit to be honest. slow, short weighty jumps and basic ass combat. why did anyone at sony think this was a good idea?

Yeah, excusing it as a game for kids is pretty lame. The only way that flys is if it was $15 PSN game.

journey was a 15$ psn game.

 

[Robbok]

I was a hard fight for my wife, to get me and my son off that PS4 Display with Knack Demo in a local store. I don´t give a shit about reviews. My Son can´t wait to play it and so do I.

Spoiler

I just asked myself: what the hell did the reviewers expect?

 

[Zarovitch]

It's curious though, people are criticizing it's focus solely on gameplay and not as much on story and they say it's simplistic, with its combat etc. I wonder if knack was instead an Italian plumber in a red jumpsuit, would they criticize the combat system the same?

Most of Mario games are good, Knack is not, that's all.
A bad game featuring Mario can get bad review.

 

[Nakazato]

How bout a Rock-paper-scissors? If I win we keep it, if you win we return/exchange it.

Lol

 

[Tom_Cody]

Meanwhile on Wii U:

 

[mclem]

Yeah that game was the shit, no lie. I think his priorities may have been elsewhere when working on Knack haha

LOL what? Marble Madness arcade was freaking fun !

The shit. Not shit.

 

[p0rl]

This game always looked incredibly mediocre. I find their choice of art style is especially perplexing.

The thing is... I have this nagging feeling that my brother and I would have really enjoyed this game as kids. We used to slog through Streets of Rage and Golden Axe almost daily. I bet there are some kids out there who will have this as their go-to multiplayer game.

 

[KingSnake]

Come on, a game for kids doesn't have to have basic gameplay and be repetitive. That's what mobile games are for. Even those aren't like this always. Don't educate your kid to like games that are not well designed.

What's with this "it got bad scores because it is a game for kids/it is a platformer"? Disney Infinity is at 71-75, Rayman Legends is above 90, Lego Marvel is at 83-84, Skylanders Swap Force has scores of 82-92, even a game like Lego City Undercover that got some bad reviews from likes of Edge is at 80 score. This has now a metacritic of 59. This is no longer in the controversial or divisive category. If this game wouldn't have been one of the few retail exclusive games for PS4 it would have gone unnoticed and with even lower scores.

IGN gave it a 59. IGN, the gaming site that doesn't want to hurt anybody.

This doesn't mean that it will be a bad game for everyone, every game (even the worst ones) have its fans, because people have different things that click with them in a game. But you should understand that there are a lot of reviewers that didn't enjoy it. And if you read the reviews you see why. These are not invented reasons just because it is a game for kids. This is a full priced retail game, not a $20 download.

We used to slog through Streets of Rage and Golden Axe almost daily. I bet there are some kids out there who will have this as their go-to multiplayer game.

Golden Axe was the shit! Don't even mention it in comparison to Knack.

 

[VanWinkle]

Meanwhile on Wii U:

What are you posting that for? Different kinds of games, and nobody would pretend this is going to be like Mario.

 

[Seanspeed]

Meanwhile on Wii U:

But you see, that game was designed to use more buttons.

 

[KingSnake]

But you see, that game was designed to use more buttons.

This shouldn't transform into a Knack vs. Mario thread.

Spoiler

Toad levels. No jump. just d-pad and blow. lol

 

[Q8D3vil]

Glad i canceled my pre-order.
Sticking to pc until they release good exclusives.

 

[codhand]

What are you posting that for? Different kinds of games, and nobody would pretend this is going to be like Mario.

as an owner of knack, and future owner of this, i think it's very relevant to point out how god damn amazing mario will be on h/w that gets routinely mocked here

 

[faridmon]

Meanwhile on Wii U:

As much as I think Knack stinks and the people who ignore the reviews just to justify their future sucks, your post is one idiotic embarrassment.

I mean; So fucking what?

 

[Lijik]

What are you posting that for? Different kinds of games, and nobody would pretend this is going to be like Mario.

A lot of posts in previous Knack threads and hell even this thread say otherwise

 

[Zarovitch]

As much as I think Knack stinks and the people who ignore the reviews just to justify their future sucks, your post is one idiotic embarrassment.

I mean; So fucking what?

I think it's to make joy in your heart, despite knack fun exist.

 

[Broder Salsa]

Watching the knack quicklook and just have to wonder why the fuck they didn't put some actual platforming in there, at least that could be fun. Just jumping on top of stuff with no challenge at all seems extremely boring with enemies popping up everywhere. The game is beggin for some real platforming parts.

 

[thelurkinghorror]

Knack is a low cost game done for bundle purpose, but is not so bad. Without any expectation may surprise you

 

[noobasuar]

What are you posting that for? Different kinds of games, and nobody would pretend this is going to be like Mario.

And yet I've seen a million posts comparing Knack to Crash....

 

[DenogginizerOS]

Come on, a game for kids doesn't have to have basic gameplay and be repetitive. That's what mobile games are for. Even those aren't like this always. Don't educate your kid to like games that are not well designed.

What's with this "it got bad scores because it is a game for kids/it is a platformer"? Disney Infinity is at 71-75, Rayman Legends is above 90, Lego Marvel is at 83-84, Skylanders Swap Force has scores of 82-92, even a game like Lego City Undercover that got some bad reviews from likes of Edge is at 80 score. This has now a metacritic of 59. This is no longer in the controversial or divisive category. If this game wouldn't have been one of the few retail exclusive games for PS4 it would have gone unnoticed and with even lower scores.

IGN gave it a 59. IGN, the gaming site that doesn't want to hurt anybody.

This doesn't mean that it will be a bad game for everyone, every game (even the worst ones) have its fans, because people have different things that click with them in a game. But you should understand that there are a lot of reviewers that didn't enjoy it. And if you read the reviews you see why. These are not invented reasons just because it is a game for kids. This is a full priced retail game, not a $20 download.



Golden Axe was the shit! Don't even mention it in comparison to Knack.

But what if it sells well and people love it? What would you say to these entertain-o-journalists?

 

[KingSnake]

But what if it sells well and people love it? What would you say to these entertain-o-journalists?

Sales define quality now?

entertain-o-journalists? Who are they? These guys should love a casual game, no?

Edit:I'm sure it will sell well, it is one of the few retail games that are exclusive on a hot new console.

 

[flipswitch]

Seriously good choice - I did the same as mentioned in my post above and the streams looked really fun, I watched people play COOP, and dude with his girlfriend, and they loved it!

Same. I have watched several gameplay videos on YT and it doesn't look as bad the scores it's receiving. So I'm definitely picking it up with KZ as my retail game.

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

Meanwhile on Wii U:

Ya but you'd have to buy a Wii U to play it, and no one wants to do that.

 

[KHlover]

Meanwhile on Wii U:

Oh come on. That shit is just uncalled for. I'm as hyped for Mario as you are, but this has nothing to do with Knack's review scores.

 

[dark10x]

Meanwhile on Wii U:

After dealing with one of the worst post launch droughts since Nintendo 64 I think those of us with a Wii U deserve Mario 3D World.

 

[GustyGardens]

I don't know. After all the bad reviews yesterday, I was very close to taking the game back, but since then I've watch a few livestreams, and it still looks like fun to me. I think I'm going to keep it.

That should be your approach to all video games.

 

[Derrick01]

Meanwhile on Wii U:

Pretty game but was that gif supposed to show some kind of deep gameplay? Nothing in that looks more than basic Mario platforming stuff.

 

[kaching]

A lot of posts in previous Knack threads and hell even this thread say otherwise

So I'm assuming you can quickly cite posts of people that explicitly said they expected this to be like Mario? I'm not fully caught up with this thread, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone express that expectation in any of the other Knack threads. Certainly not anywhere near "a lot".

Watching the knack quicklook and just have to wonder why the fuck they didn't put some actual platforming in there, at least that could be fun. Just jumping on top of stuff with no challenge at all seems extremely boring with enemies popping up everywhere. The game is beggin for some real platforming parts.

It seems like enemy encounters can almost be approached like platform puzzles, since the best approach isn't generally to go in like a straight brawler and just try to bash everything, but to employ run/dodge, jump, attack pattern to move from enemy to enemy. Most people demoing the game just aren't playing it that way.

 

[marc^o^]

Meanwhile on Wii U:

Knack fans should rather look at The Wonderful 101, another brawler with some resemblance, with GOTY qualities.

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

Pretty game but was that gif supposed to show some kind of deep gameplay? Nothing in that looks more than basic Mario platforming stuff.

What's going on in that gif is perfect controls and refined simplicity that transcends just about every other character action game out there. But you are right in one sense- that is basic Mario platforming.

 

[Ashes]

Since when is knack a platformer?

That aside, I never did get why this game had its soft sleepy look. Especially for a brawler.

 

[noobasuar]

Pretty game but was that gif supposed to show some kind of deep gameplay? Nothing in that looks more than basic Mario platforming stuff.

"Basic Mario platforming" is more fun and challenging than almost 100% of all retail games released these days. I don't know what games your playing that have as deep of gameplay as Mario.

 

[gamerforever]

I do feel that someone needs to start making some 3D platformers - Mario literally has no competition apart from Sonic who has decided to only play on Wii U.

 

[szaromir]

Pretty game but was that gif supposed to show some kind of deep gameplay?

This gif shows variety and charm, two things that Knack is sorely lacking but one would expect in a good kids game.

 

[dark10x]

Knack fans should rather look at The Wonderful 101, another brawler with some resemblance, with GOTY qualities.

I really wanted to love 101 but it just never clicked with me. Between the overly chaotic action and the constant framerate drops it always felt as if it wasn't fully glued together. Still a much better game than Knack, I'm sure, just not as good as I had hoped.

This gif shows variety and charm, two things that Knack is sorely lacking but one would expect in a good kids game.

Well, Skylanders lacks those as well yet seems pretty popular (no doubt due to the gimmicks).

 

[Grinchy]

I'm not going to claim that some reviewers are wrong before I've even played the game (hell, I have my copy up for sale on 2 different sites), but I can't imagine how the game could possibly deserve a 3/10. That's the kind of score that would go to a broken, unplayable turd. You can argue the game is a 5 or a 6 all day and I won't bat an eye, but a 3? That just seems unreasonable. Maybe it's not unreasonable, since I haven't played it myself, but it seems that way, especially after watching people stream it.

 

[Derrick01]

"Basic Mario platforming" is more fun and challenging than almost 100% of all retail games released these days. I don't know what games your playing that have as deep of gameplay as Mario.

There's nothing challenging or deep in that gif at all. It's just running and jumping on a platform or dodging a boss. That's why I was questioning what the purpose of the gif was.

 

[Odrion]

Knack doesn't look broken. It fact it looks fun if you watch it in ten minute segments.

But it's obvious that there's not a whole lot to it, and it goes on for twelve hours.

But what if it sells well and people love it? What would you say to these entertain-o-journalists?

Well we won't have to worry about that, because neither of these things will happen.

 

[bankster]

Meanwhile on Wii U:

Knack on the WiiU looks great!

 

[equippedwithtowel]

There's nothing challenging or deep in that gif at all. It's just running and jumping on a platform or dodging a boss. That's why I was questioning what the purpose of the gif was.

Well...

 

[iratA]

After watching the Giant Bomb quick look I think I'm still going to get this. The combat encounters look like they require a little bit of strategy. The environments look simple yet seem to have some wonderful textures and high poly counts. Plus 10 hours for a launch platformer sounds great to me.

 

[noobasuar]

There's nothing challenging or deep in that gif at all. It's just running and jumping on a platform or dodging a boss. That's why I was questioning what the purpose of the gif was.

The Mario games still offer me a greater challenger than 99% of other retail products released these days. Basically I'll take what I can get.

 

[dark10x]

The Mario games still offer me a greater challenger than 99% of other retail products released these days. Basically I'll take what I can get.

Wait, what? You must be awful at Mario games then.

Super Luigi U was definitely challenging but everything else was a piece of cake. I certainly wouldn't put it up there as one of the more challenging series.

 

[Zarovitch]

Wait, what? You must be awful at Mario games then.

Super Luigi U was definitely challenging but everything else was a piece of cake. I certainly wouldn't put it up there as one of the more challenging series.

I die a lot more in Mario games than many other games, i must be bad too.

 

[Impeccable]

Knack goes from ignored launch game to a 1400+ reply thread because of bad reviews. Interesting.

 

[Sorian]

Knack goes from ignored launch game to a 1400+ reply thread because of bad reviews. Interesting.

thisisneogaf.gif