Quick Look: Knack

Yeah, the game was definitely made by the book and a bit rough in parts. It's a show of where development for the PS4 is at the moment. If Knack 2 ends up being a thing, I'd love to see what's kept from this game versus what's changed.

@mrfluke said:

yea, this game, is totally OK, not the greatest/amazing, not horseshit, just a OK, 3/5, especially with the context that this is billed as a entry level kids game and a throwback to the era of stuff like crash bandicoot. which you definitely see that in this game.

makes me wonder what the expectation is the press had for launch games.

and i think i agree with the notion that gaming and gaming culture needs to not take itself so seriously, does that mean more games like knack specifically? no, but more games that are more loose and more just about fun are welcomed id think. we're too bloody critical these days. not everyone is so desperate to have this medium be taken deadly seriously by mainstream, some of us just want to run around a game world and fight shit.

See, that's what I'm saying. No one was saying that this game was going to light the world on fire, but the gaming press is acting like it's been wronged somehow. And really, with the gaming media basically whining for the last three years about the lack of new hardware (and make no mistake, most of them were whining, especially here on GB).

And you've hit the bullseye about gaming culture. I know it's over-correction and a need to prove itself after years of Nintendo censorship policies, but this obsession with being more mature all the time is going to be the death of this medium. Seriously, it's like we've just left the Disney princess phase of our culture and now we're twerking and sticking our tongues out in a desperate attempt to look like adults...

I desperately want it to succeed. When retail is full of nothing more than generic shooters with burly dudes holding guns, there's a serious problem that needs to be addressed in the larger market. As to the press? I expect nothing but the usual nonsensical hostility. It's great clickbait to look like some counterculture warrior who only likes indie games.

I was thinking the same thing, which I don't think it's a bad thing at all. I've always felt like Sony was trying to return to PS2 era of greatness with the PS4. Even the design of the system is very PS2 like. That being said, I have always LOVED platformers, and to me this doesn't look that bad. The way people are trashing it, you would think this was on par with Superman 64. Probably wouldn't be ok with spending 60 for this, but I'd be happy to download it for half of that later on next year when I pick up a PS4.

@noblenerf: You know what? I pretty much agree with all of your suggestions.

How could they not have thought of these things?

Listening to this week's Bombcast, though, I guess they probably did think of all those things.

@jedted: Cannot unhear now.

Is it a bad game, no.

Is it the game to blow us in to the next-gen, no.

That really the only problem most reviewers have with it is that it not pushing it. Still it is a step forward in making the Sony line-up of game more open to different genres.

Did Brad (and maybe Jeff by extension) refer to a 2 minute initial install as "harsh"? That sounds like the opposite of "harsh" to me.

could it be developer's engines haven't quite caught up to the hardware yet?. Looking at a game like this it looks like "current-gen" game visually. I'm also with Brad in that I don't care for the character design here.

@duffyside: Two minute intial load time I think.

No, they said the load time is harsh.

This game looks great! If you couldn't die so easily I see how it would become really boring really fast.

This is paced horribly and lacks variety. A kid would be better off playing Crash Bandicoot 2 & 3 than paying $60 for this,

Already own this so I sure how it looks good! *fingers crossed*

Dear god the voice actor of the professor is the same one for Dojima in persona 4

I played this at sdcc and was bored to tears.

Knack Souls : Prepare to Respawn

dark souls for kids

KNACK'S VOICE IS SO NOT OKAY.

TINY CREATURE BIG VOICE D:

Knack joke.

I chose this as my free game when I bought my games yesterday from Target. Shame it doesn't seem that great. I'll play through it and most likely trade it in for NFS.

I would probably have a decent few hours with this game, if it was available to me freely. Otherwise, eh. I might just be too old and numb for cutesy, action-platformers.

Just noticed this too! Can't unhear Dojima now :p

think im just going to ebay my system get like 750-800 for 2 games and ps4 because really no point in having one yet because everything is pretty pathetic tbh

Game looks alright, but nothing I'd need to spend 60 on, much less buy a new console for.

Uh, it's currently at 59 on metacritic, and 3/5 is 60/100 right? I'd say the reviews have been pretty spot on.

Except, despite the math being the same, a 6 on a 10 point scale is very different than 3 stars on a five point scale, and the majority of metacritic sites use at least a 10 point scale, in most cases a 20 or even 100 point scale.

On a five star scale, a 3 typically means "decent", but the way most sites use their scoring system, a 6 means bad. I was also referencing some of the really low scores like the 3s and 4s out of 10 some sites have been giving it.

I haven't played the game, but from what was shown in the quicklook the game seems competently made with a decent style, which doesn't scream 3/10 to me.

I think they're a little too hard on the graphics. It would look great for a 360 game.

Doesn't look fun to play though. Or particularly interesting from a story or art perspective, by any standard.

If its any consolation for fans of Knack, the lore they have set up could easily spin off into a cartoon like Medabots or Pokemon. Find your Knack in life.™

wow this games is getting slated on metacritic - i can kind of see why. boring rubbish for the kiddies. to be fair it is typical launch line-up rubbish though.

This is not a good game. Dull, dull, dull.

Breaking Brad: Knack (on Hard)
haha

checkpoints seem kinda fucked.

Anyone else think there was a secret around 9:40 :>?

Can notifications change location like they did on the 360 or are they always top left? It looked odd to me that they popped up on the left, hiding UI elements underneath within the game while the top right is clear of anything and would've looked better there.

the doctor looks like a fat old TF2 scout

Thanks to that tile, I totally just listened to My Sharona...

Thanks Jeff.

the bucket headed character design for knack looks awful to me

this QL has almost sold me on the game

Looks like it plays like a PS1 platformer...I don't think I'd even play it for free on PS+.

Was hoping to see the giantbomb guys try out the co-op mode in this, so a bit disappointed we didn't get a look at that aspect of the game. Have to say, surprisingly quite liked the combat in this... wasn't expecting that from a title like this.

The dodge mechanic definitely seems to work well, especially if you time it right and get out of the way just as the attack is about to hit before following up with a counter. There was one point early on where Jeff and a goblin traded dodges and hits for a good few seconds, that looked like a great little exchange to me and took me by surprise.

Edit: Agree on the complaints on the games linear level design, would have loved to instead have had several Hub based areas like for example the original Jak & Daxter.

The game doesn't look that bad not as bad as soon comments would lead you to believe it reminds me of Ratchet and Clank with the artstyle and animations. You know if I could somehow fit a PS4 into my limited budget i would proberly get this.

This looks like a game that will be decent when it hits 20 bucks.

this seems... okay, I guess. unremarkable.

heh. are you for real.

We should start keeping track of how many times Brad responds to a statement with "meeeeeh" or "naaaaaah" or neeeyaaahhIi dunno...."

Looks pretty enjoyable.

The combat looks well done to me actually. It looks demanding yes, but tight and responsive enough to where it would be possible and satisfying to actually get good at, and the enemies seem to have a variety of attacks to deal with. It almost looks like a slower/simpler modern Ys game, which I adore...

It's the art-style and character design that's really putting me off most... I just find it absolutely abhorrent for some reason.

This actually looks kind of neat. Wouldn't mind playing this on launch day.