Knack Review

A Charming, But Flawed Old School Action-Platformer...

Knack was the first PS4 title to be shown off back at the reveal event in February. I along with many did not think it was the best way to introduce the graphical power of Sony's next-generation offering. However, Mark Cerny's team at Sony Japan was behind the project so I definitely had hope in its potential. It was being advertised as a mascot action-platformer in the veins of a Crash Bandicoot. This is not surprising since Mark Cerny is one of the minds behind Crash Bandicoot along with other memorable titles such as Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet & Clank, and Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. For me, the game ultimately ended up feeling like a mix of God of War, Demon's Souls, and Sonic Adventure. Read on to find out if that is a good thing...

Knack is the first retail title that I played on my brand new PlayStation 4 a day after launch. By that point I had already read all of the scathing reviews so I won't lie and pretend that those harsh reviews did not have an effect on my experience with the game. It is difficult not to be underhyped when a game is receiving 5's, 4's and even 3's. 

When booting up the game, I was immediately turned off by the opening cutscene. It goes on about this human goblin war that has been raging on for centuries; the presentation came off as stale and uninspired. However, things only got better from there. Once outside of the first chapter, the environmental designs made it apparent that I was in the next generation. Everything was crisp and sharp with no aliasing to be seen. Lighting effects were noticeably impressive with sun rays filtering through the trees onto individual blades of grass. 

Some of Knack's environments will really impress you...

With that being said, the most impressive graphical aspect is the title character himself, Knack. Although the artistic design may not be for everyone, the technical effort behind the character should be respected. Knack is essentially comprised many individual models, eventually hundreds of them. Within the game, these models are known as relics. One of the major gameplay mechanics of the game is that Knack grows in size as he collects the relics, adding them on to his physical model. However, relics are not the only elements that Knack can absorb. Throughout the game, you will collect ice shards, blocks of wood, and crystal elements.

Each of the last three elements mentioned result in the more interesting sections of gameplay. For example, when you collect wood and absorb the blocks onto your body, you can set yourself on fire and use that to kill enemies or destroy flammable walls. Otherwise, the gameplay mechanics behind Knack are quite simple; so simple in fact that you will only use three of the four face buttons. Knack has the ability to jump, attack, and use a super. There isn't even a light or hard attack, just one punch associated with the Square button. However, you can jump and do a roll attach very similar to the ones seen in Sonic Adventure. 

Knack's Tornado Super

The combat sections in Knack are very reminiscent of God of War in that they are essentially battle arenas. Another similarity to God of War is that there is no camera control. You move from platforming section to platforming section usually with a combat arena placed in between. In these arenas, you will fight anywhere from one to maybe twenty goblins/robots/humans. When assaulted by the larger groups of enemies, that is where the super attacks come into play. After Knack has collected enough sun shards within the game environment, he can use the circle button to charge up. From there, Knack has the choice of three super attacks in total; one assigned individually to square, circle, and triangle. Pressing circle after charging up will cause a blast attack killing all enemies within a certain radius. Square will cause a tornado attack where Knack has the ability to run around the arena sucking up as many enemies as he can before the power up fades. Finally, triangle is used for the only range attack. He blasts multiple energy projectiles to kill enemies from afar.

So where does Demon's Souls come into the mix? You might be surprised to hear that Knack is actually quite difficult. In fact, it can get somewhat frustrating and I mean that in the best way possible. Even on normal, you are going to die and often. But for the most part, the checkpoint system will keep you close enough to where you last died that you want to get right back into the action. You will want to figure out the patterns of each and every enemy in the game so that you can make it through those especially tough areas. If you're like me and are stubborn, you will be determined to find your way through those sections without losing any health. On top of that, there are two difficulty settings above normal: Hard and Very Hard. The challenge helps to keep the gameplay fresh, but does not prevent it from becoming repetitive before the end. If you eventually master Knack's moves and enemies, it begins to feel like you are just going through the motions. 

You will die...often...

Fortunately, by that point the story will hopefully push you to the end. Although I said earlier that I was turned off by the presentation at the very beginning, Knack's story and characters really did grab me quickly. The human stories in particular can be quite sweet. I know it has received this comparison often, but Knack does have a bit of a Pixar vibe to it. It is family friendly, but in such a way that an adult such as myself will want to see the conclusion for each character. Knack's story and the mystery behind his existence is also a driving force behind the story. And although that mystery never pays off with a solid answer, it kept me interested the whole way through the story which lasts about 10 hours. For a full priced retail title, I found this a little on the short side. As already said, there are multiple difficulty settings, but you might not want to play through it a second time with the repetitive nature of the gameplay. One thing that might push you into a second playthrough are the trophies and collectibles. Many of the trophies in Knack rely on you finding all of the pieces to gadgets or crystal relics. With most of the crystal relics, they will be so rare that the only way to collect them all is to have friends that have found them within the game. When you collect any relic, it will show if a friend collected another relic from that group that you can receive. These aspects strengthen the lasting appeal.

Lastly, I wanted to add that I really enjoyed the music within the game. There are many repeat tracks that occur multiple times throughout the chapters, but each contains a simple melody that sticks in your head. You might even find yourself humming a few of them. It reminds me of the difference between the music in Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy XIII. Both have excellent soundtracks, but the simplicity of the music in VII makes it much more memorable. XIII's music is complex with a dozen instruments playing all at once. This can create for an epic feeling, but you won't have those tracks stuck in your head. It's nice that Knack contains a soundtrack reminding me of the old days. I don't really have any strong complaints about the sound design either. Enemy grunts when they attack can be pretty cute, especially from the little goblins. I will say that Knack's voice actor didn't really fit the part for me though. It makes sense that he would have a deep and imposing voice when he grows to enormous sizes, but I think they should have chosen an entirely different voice actor for when Knack is at his smaller and medium sizes. 

Verdict:

Knack is an action platformer from the past, created for a new generation. It has the simplicity and difficulty of the SNES era, but with truly beautiful graphics. The story and characters will push you through to the end even when you start to tire of the repetitive gameplay. Lasting only ten hours, it might not be worth your 60 dollars. However, if you miss the old school challenging action platformers of past generations, Knack is the only place you can find that right now.

SCORE CARD

Beautiful, crisp graphics to show off your next generation console   +2

A well presented story with sweet charming characters   +3

Challenging gameplay keeps you coming back without becoming too frustrating   +4

Simple but effective soundtrack that will stick in your head   +1

Combat becomes boring/repetitive before reaching the story's conclusion   -1

At 10 hours or less, you might want to wait for a PlayStation Plus deal   -1