Knack is a game for which I can't figure out the demographic. The cutscenes make it look like a kids' movie, but the gameplay is incredibly basic and brutally hard for no good reason. I recently picked this up at my local GameXchange for $7, having heard about it previously. This is a game I really wanted to like, but frustrating design ideas and a lack of gameplay depth make this game a chore to play.
First and foremost, the enemies in this game deal a ton of damage. I played through this game on normal, but no matter how big Knack grows in size, he dies in two or three hits, tops. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but the game is filled with cheap-hitting enemies, some of which shoot Knack from afar or have attacks that allow them to dash across the playfield for a cheap shot while he's busy fighting other foes.
The core gameplay comes down to replaying each section of the game over and over again until you get a perfect run or collect enough yellow energy to hit enemies with a super attack. The unbalanced damage dealt by enemies makes for a game that is challenging for all the wrong reasons. It's demotivating to have to replay a large section of the level repeatedly because you misjudged one dodge and were one-shotted by an overpowered enemy. I don't mind difficulty; some games can be difficult but satisfying when you beat a tough level. However, the repetitive and unfair feeling of Knack makes for a game that is frustrating—difficult but with no rewarding payoff for completing a level.
What doesn't help the situation is Knack's extremely limited attack abilities. When you start the game, Knack has a basic three-hit combo with which to attack his foes. When you end the game, Knack has the same three-hit combo with which to attack his foes. That's right; Knack has one combo to use throughout the entire game. On top of his limited combo, he also has a mostly useless air attack that has the smallest range I've ever seen. If you're not almost directly above the enemy you are air attacking, Knack will miss his target.
He is also equipped with a mostly useless dodge mechanic. Like God of War (the original God of War, not the new ones), hitting the right analog stick will see Knack dodging out of the way of attacks. However, unlike Kratos, Knack's dodge is just a little too short to be effective, and Knack pauses for a split second after each dodge, leaving him open for attack. It lacks effective range and leaves you open for attack, meaning that it doesn't work as a dodge but can be useful to close the distance and attack enemies after staying out of their attack-combo range. It's better used as an offensive attack than as an actual dodge.
Throughout the game, Knack can break yellow crystals to fill a meter at the top of the screen. When the meter is filled, he can then perform super moves. The game is self-aware of its own difficulty in that, when you die, the meter doesn't drain. In fact, in tough areas, it is sometimes better to expend a number of lives to repeatedly break the yellow crystals to fill the meter so you can unleash a super attack on your foes to clear them out in order to progress.
When the game's difficulty curve kicks in, every new area of this game feels like a challenge mode because of the absurd amount of damage enemies dish out and the sometimes unfair-feeling checkpoints. The frustration could be mitigated if the enemies dropped life pickups or even yellow crystal pickups, but they don't drop anything (at least until you complete an in-game gadget that makes them drop yellow crystals), making the combat feel all the less rewarding. Any and all life pickups are in predetermined parts of the level, and they rarely give you enough life to actually make a difference.
There are some hidden areas in the game, but overall, there's almost no extra exploration to be had. There are hidden chests that contain gadget parts, which, once formed, can enhance Knack's abilities, but I have yet to complete one to see if that improves the game in any way. The game is pretty linear, without much extra to see or find outside of the gadgets.
By the time I completed the first gadget, the tedium of the gameplay had already set in, and it was too little, too late. The gadgets unlock things that should have just been basic gameplay balancing, like giving more yellow energy from the crystals, even if it still doesn't give you that much extra. The gadget and crystal hunt do add more to find if you're a completionist kind of gamer, but if I hadn't decided to do this review last minute, I would probably only play this game for a couple of levels before the repetitive gameplay made me lose interest. It would be a game I would pop in, play a level or two, get bored of quickly, and move on.
I really wanted to like this game. It has a great art direction and beautiful visuals (despite some massive framerate problems in some areas) that can deceive you into believing there's a higher quality product than your first impression would have you believe, but there really isn't much more to it, which is a shame because it feels like this game should have had more to it.
There are some good ideas at play in the game, like Knack growing into a larger form of himself to where he can deal more damage to enemies; however, it's still hampered by the fact that some enemies will still kill him in three hits or less. The whole game just feels unbalanced due to the exorbitant amount of damage dealt by enemies versus the lack of health pickups available and the repetitive lack of any variety in the combat.
I will admit that now that I have beaten the game, which opens up new modes like time attack, the coliseum mode, and the ability to go back and play any section of the game, the game has grown on me more. However, that first playthrough felt like a slog. I have gotten better at facing the opponents and death traps in each level, thanks to the many deaths it took per section, so I have improved at the game. It's growing on me more now that I can casually jump back into a section of a level and play. However, during my playthrough, I lost complete patience with the game for the second half, instantly skipping any and all cutscenes—not just the story ones, but also the mid-level ones that show Knack doing things like jumping off a ledge to get to the next part of the level. The more I play it, the more it grows on me, so I am a bit mixed on the game overall. It's not a great game; sometimes I was convinced it wasn't even a good game, but it's growing on me.
Visually, even with Boost mode on with the PS4 Pro I am using for this footage, the game suffers from a poor framerate in some areas, especially in the giant Knack scenes. The visuals still look really good considering this was a launch game for the PS4. I almost jokingly want to say that Knack is a game that looks like a million bucks but plays like a Dollar Tree special.
From the art direction to the quality graphics to the animation-quality cutscenes and the excellent symphonic music score, you can tell that Japan Studio put a lot of effort into everything but the gameplay, which is a shame. That being said, I don't own Knack 2 as of yet, but in watching some gameplay samples of the game on YouTube, I can tell they made quite a bit of improvements to the game in the sequel. One of these days, I will probably pick up the sequel, which looks to be anywhere from $10 used to $25 for a brand new copy on eBay as of making this video.
The Bottom Line: I really wanted to like Knack a whole lot more than I did. The game is growing on me the more I play it, which could just be Stockholm syndrome. I have gotten my $7 worth of entertainment out of it, but it's definitely a game that is hard to recommend to most gamers out there. This is a game that feels three generations too late and would have made a perfectly bland but forgettable PS1 game. It's not the worst game ever, and I'd say it's a bit better than some of the mainstream reviews made it out to be, but its inflated difficulty, thanks to the unbalanced damage dealt by enemies mixed with its repetitive and tedious-feeling gameplay, really bogs this game down into a slog. That first playthrough is rough, and the game drags on longer than it should. This is a game that overstays its welcome, and I can only recommend it to the most forgiving and patient gamers out there. If you're an incredibly forgiving gamer who can find enjoyment in even the most flawed games, find this game for cheap and give it a shot. It does grow on you over time.
