However, Sony and the developer Japan Studio wanted to give Knack another shot. Knack 2 was announced at the December 2016 PlayStation Experience and was released on September 5, 2017, officially making it five years old as of this writing. The announcement garnered mostly confusion due to the middling reception of Knack 1, and the game’s release went beneath some console owners’ notice. However, a look at the reviews for the two Knack games indicated that something changed between them. To those who’ve played both, Knack 2 is almost universally considered better than its predecessor, and it seems like an effort was made to turn Knack into a memorable PlayStation franchise.
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Knack 1 Was Forgettable
In order to understand what Knack 2 got right, it’s, unfortunately, necessary to reflect on everything Knack 1 did wrong. Right from the get-go, there’s Knack himself. Knack is a golem made of many tiny Relics and has three general forms depending on how many Relics are in him at a given time. This seems like a promising idea, with Katamari Damacy being cited as an inspiration and the design for small Knack being appealing. Unfortunately, it quickly gives way to visual noise as Knack was made to show off how the PS4 can render many small objects at once rather than be a solid character design. What’s worse is that the player has next to no control over Knack’s size, robbing the concept of any real gameplay applications.
Tragically, that’s a good way to describe Knack as a whole. Levels are long and repetitive with scarce checkpoints, and the difficulty is frustratingly high. Despite being billed as a platformer in the vein of Crash Bandicoot, jumping is so de-emphasized that Knack ends up resembling a simple beat-’em-up instead. Most enemies have attacks that can one-shot a small Knack, and health pick-ups are rare. Players can bring a friend along to make things easier, but player two can’t use every mechanic. All the while, gameplay will be frequently interrupted by cutscenes featuring an underwritten cast of bland humans, robots, and bizarrely-implemented goblins. As the cherry on top, there are collectible Relics that basically demand getting pieces from online friends to unlock alternate play styles. Knack comes off as boring rather than laughably bad, the result of having a poor understanding of what its genre identity entails.
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Knack 2 Was What Knack Always Should Have Been
There wasn’t a demand for more Knack, nor were there many more depths for it to reach. How and why Knack 2 exists is a mystery, and generally speaking, the public was justified in dismissing it offhand. However, now that it’s been out for five years and goes for only a few dollars on sale, those looking for an old school action-platformer may want to pick it up. Knack 2 executes all of its gameplay ideas better than the first Knack, even if the story and online integration are still a mess. It feels like Knack 2 is channeling the PS2 God of War 1, as it now has built-out combat options, more diverse and balanced enemy encounters, and even extensive platforming and puzzle-solving where the first game often forgot to have any.
Knack 2 comes off almost like an apology for the first game. The concept of Knack having control over his size is finally integrated into gameplay, and it allows for much more player involvement in navigating the linear levels. Puzzles and vehicles break up the action, and even the occasional gimmick transformation involving Iron or Ice offers some entertaining visual variety in Knack’s attacks. A skill tree keeps the action fresh even after hours of play, and Knack 2 shows an earnest attempt at emulating hack-and-slash tropes by having a Vergil-like boss and elite enemies emulate Knack’s moves. There’s even regenerating health and fully-integrated local multiplayer to ensure that the player is always the dominant force. The game is not exceptional enough to rise above an 8/10 in most reviewers’ esteem, but that’s a huge step up from Knack 1’s plentiful 4, 5, and 6/10 scores.
Is There Hope For Another Knack?
Sadly, demonstrating competence wasn’t enough to mitigate how much of a disaster Knack’s first outing was. The Knack franchise has died almost completely, with an Astro’s Playroom Bot sadly playing with Knack’s pieces being its final mention. That may have been some of Japan Studio staff’s farewell to the franchise, as several staff members departed around the time of Playroom’s release and its remnants were ultimately absorbed into Astro Bot developer Team Asobi. Said studio may be the best option to continue the Knack franchise, but with Astro Bot rapidly gaining popularity, there’s no practical reason for it.
It’s a shame, too, as Sony’s platform has plenty of room for mascot platformers. The PS5 doesn’t have many big-name platformers beyond Astro’s Playroom, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. With Sly Cooper remaining absent, nothing else is coming right now to scratch that itch. If Team Asobi’s next Astro Bot platformer is oriented around PSVR2, then it won’t reach the same audience a normal release would. Even though the Knack name has been tainted, it still has plenty of untapped potential along with the promise of a new setting and story focus at the end of Knack 2. There is still room for a retro 3D action platformer on the market, and the combination of Knack’s potential, Team Asobi’s talent, and a partial rebranding could really turn some heads.
Knack 2 is available now on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
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