Quick Look: Knack

I have a Knack for being around when these videos go up!

Knick knack, paddy whack!

I hope they get the Knack of playing this game properly.

Why is Wheatley inside Knack's chest? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM KNACK?

Particle effects based Hot Dogs is the future of gaming.

8 minutes in and I'm bored of the gameplay, imagine 12 hours of this... Lol

Seeing as they can quick look all these games before the PS4 is out, what will be left to do on the live stream?

This could be good...

@vinny The voice is Travis Willingham, who I Imagine you know best as Dan from Binary Domain!

Also, Resident Evil never changed directional control on you when camera angles would switch around; up always meant you would move forward in those games, regardless of the angle. The first Devil May Cry, however, is totally guilty of that sorta annoyance.

Inb4 Knack apologists.

Little disappointed to see the enemies fade away really. Next-gen whoooo...

This game seems alright, I guess. But I dunno.

You want a cutesy action-platformer: bring me a new Ratchet & Clank, and then we'll talk.

@y2ken: Nexus

i guess Sony wanted their own Kameo-inspired launch title...

So, was Knack invented or discovered?

Secret thing nobody has noticed yet: Knack is the sequel to Dark Souls

Well this doesn't look fun at all, what a tedious and boring game. : /

Well I like when Knack explodes when he dies, and it seems like its not atrocious. Might be good for trophies

Giant Bomb presents Knack: 2013's 2005 Game of the Year.

@y2ken: Psst: http://www.giantbomb.com/ratchet-clank-into-the-nexus/3030-43219/

Knack is wack!

@turboman: Brad jokingly referenced some slight similarities to Dark Souls at around the 9 minute or so mark.

I need a ZZzzzzzznack.

Definitely not a game I would play outside the context of a launch, but it doesn't look terrible I guess. It does make me feel very nostalgic, but definitely not in a good way. It reminds of the really bad 3D action games of the PS1/PS2 era, that I would rent and never beat the first level or two because they're just terrible.

Knack actually looks pleasant.

This seems boooring - to me at least.

Also nothing about it screams next-gen to me, parts look nice enough but nothing great.

This should have been a $40 title.

Gooood question. And I've watched about 2 or 3 live streams from yesterday already at this point. When the Wii U came out the GB stream was the only one I watched/ knew about. I'll still watch for their PS4 stream for that GB flava' though.

No, the skirt is still down.

Windjammers?

haha brad "i cannot agree with your run in fists swinging"

...."of course you cant"

also this game doesn't look thaaat bad, seems like i could get some joy out of it.

Damn, this makes the Warehog gameplay in Sonic Unleashed look exciting :P

7 minutes in and I'm tired of this.

MMMMultiplayer? Though they could also say that instead of "PS4" they meant NEO GEO and with "games" they meant Windjammers, but probably Multiplayer and some of the cross generation titles I reckon.

going to need a new Sly Cooper with this art style pls

2/5 - Knack

Yeah, the combat looks like it hits pretty hard, with a good amount of feedback. The heavy requirement for timing your attacks and dodges in general at least make it seem like something to keep you on your toes, and it looks like it controls really well at that. I think it's the aesthetic that's what pulls a lot of it down, though, as it all looks incredibly bland.

I heard Knack is boring.

are they seriously charging $60 for this? = \

This makes me want to play Crash bandicoot.

I could endure 15 minutes. It reminds me of some classic 90's platformer with an annoying level of difficulty.

About launch games not needing to break new ground.... Super Mario 64 was a launch game... and that broke ground and was fantastic :D

The sound when gathering relics sounds a lot like a sound out of the Lego games. Like the sound when you're quick building something and the legos fly into place.

Giant Bomb, you have once again predicted my Quick Look needs.

Well done.

Edit:

And now to fix the game: First off, make Knack a silent protagonist, physically incapable of speaking. At the end of the Chapter 1 tutorial, have him witness Tony Stark's evil nature. Since he cannot speak, he will be unable to tell anyone. Then his chapter 2 hostility towards Stark is explained and Knack is instantly more appealing. Make Knack's head a Stonehenge-esque statueface instead of a collection of relics, since he won't talk anyways. Designed well, this will make Knack more iconic.

Game/gameplay enhancements

• Ditch Batman Arkham-style slowmo while finishing enemies. Unnecessary.
• Improve camera transitions or else make the camera player-controlled.
• Make inert bombs change to a different colour so players know they do not need to dodge them.
• Give Knack more health, a parry, a guard, or allow him to re-absorb lost relics at the end of a combat encounter, some sort of addition to improve survivability and make the encounters and checkpointing less bothersome. In addition, checkpoint sun energy amount as well, so that it isn't such a gameplay crutch. Eurogamer's video Let's Play touches on this problem in the design.
• Improve Knack's jump height and allow the Sonic air-attack to lock on to enemies at, or even slightly above where Knack is to prevent silly misses while using the technique. Scale physical abilities with Knack's size, so jump height and run speed increase as well.
• Convert the slippery crystal cavern into an ice stage because wtf.

Next-gen showcase feature change: Enemies flee the scene instead of vanishing, a la the hummingbird. Destroyed enemies remain in scene, instead of vanishing. Convert awful cinematic jumps near the end of the quick look to actual gameplay. Have Doctor either stay near Knack as he progresses through a level, with Knack helping the Doctor scale some things, or else remove his presence from the level entirely. Teleporting cinematic moments are so last-gen.

This looks fine. People are being way too harsh on this game.

This looks like a fun little game. A little too simplistic for it's own good, but what's there seems solid.

Knack as a character seems to be pretty goddamn terrible, though.

OK so 24 minutes in and I actually think this looks fun, better than the mainstream reviewers are making it out to be.