The Problem with Knack, the PS4 Title That's Punching Above Its Weight

Push Square: "After somewhat slipping into irrelevancy throughout much of the PlayStation 3 era, Sony’s own Japan Studio is enjoying something of a renaissance at the minute. The first-party workshop – previously responsible for classics such as Ape Escape and Shadow of the Colossus – is almost unrecognisable under the leadership of Sony Santa Monica founder Allan Becker, and it’s showing in the developer’s impressive output. Not content with the surprisingly solid Monster Hunter-inspired action game Soul Sacrifice, the studio still has drizzly digital download Rain and promising platformer Puppeteer in its immediate pipeline. And that’s not all: the formerly furtive outfit is also hard at work on Orwellian-esque adventure Freedom Wars and next generation launch title Knack. But while the latter is garnering an enormous amount of publicity as a consequence of its place among the PlayStation 4’s lineup, is the outing deserving of the attention or punching above its weight?"

[iamnsuperman]

"but shouldn’t we be expecting something a little more from a release that, alongside Killzone: Shadow Fall and DriveClub, is essentially steering the PS4’s commercial charge?"......"but it does make you question how the title expects to justify its price sticker in a launch lineup likely to be occupied by Battlefield 4, Watch Dogs, and more"

I would have agreed if Knack was aimed at a similar crowd. Knack is just a "small" game to get families to buy the PS4 as there was no games for the families/young child crowd (think about when this system is going on sale: Christmas). I can see this game appealing to a young child as it looks like it has charm and simple to play. It doesn't appeal to me as I look past/deeper in games but I am not supposed to like it. I am meant to look at it and go "this seems suitable and fun for my child" as that is who the audience is. You don't get a child COD, Killzone or Watch Dogs.

It is like reviewing a child's game from the perspective of an adult. It shouldn't be done. Think about how a child would look at this game and how easy it is for them to pick up and play it and if they will find it fun to play. That is what Cerny wanted. He wanted to show the PS4 has a diverse (something for everyone) line up. That is why this game came about

[get2sammyb]

A totally fair point. However, if Knack is just a "small" game, why does it cost the same?

[iamnsuperman]

I agree and we don't know. It may be small in technical capabilities but it may be larger in content. We just do not know until it comes out. If it doesn't have a lot of content that a child would enjoy and keep using it in relation to the price tag then this should come up and be criticised in reviews

[fei-hung]

The game hasn't been priced yet so how does anyone know it will cost the same?!

Also, games like Skylanders are also games aimed at children and many more and they are too fully priced. Why does no one complain then?!

[iceman06]

I don't believe "small" is being used by Cerny in reference to the size, scope, or overall length of the game. I think he is speaking from a technical point of view. It's a simple puzzle/platformer. It's not necessarily pushing the PS4 to it's technical limit and probably didn't require a dev team of 700. That doesn't make it not worthy of a full priced game. It just makes it an alternative to the rest of the launch lineup. As many have said, it's more family oriented. It's the E for Everyone title amongst many more mature themed titles.

[dudeOplenty]

@fei-hung

the game is already priced. look it up on amazon. i got the launch day edition with knack and it was the same price as the watchdogs bundle.

small is up to interpretation. i don't see this game as small.. rather, i look at it as standing on the same level as the ratchet and clank games.

i also believe that Cerny is worth supporting.

[Colzer01]

Kids today prefer COD and Mobile games than this game, No kids want to spent their precious $60 when they can bought a similar games on their ipad with less than $10.

[iamnsuperman]

What 6 or 7 year old has $60. A parent could see this as an easy Christmas present and that is the target audience. I agree they have competition with ipad stuff but I would fear my child would break an Ipad a lot easily than a PS4. A child with $60 is more likely to be a younger teenager or an 11/12 year old but then again they are not the target audience either as they are swallowed by the COD craze (even though I don't think they should be)

It is making the PS4 more mass market

[Sephiroushin]

It's not about what they prefer; if you as a parent get your kids COD, or games similar that are not targeted to kids then you just plainly sucks as a parent ...
And even if they do not prefer games targeted to their audience (Kids) and get upset about the games you get them they'll play them and have fun with such games, after all they're just that, kids... They just want to pretend they are adults most of kids behave like that!
And kids do not have money and in case they do have a bank account or something they do not administrate them and much likely can't until they turn 18!

[jeffgoldwin]

"when they can bought a similar games on their ipad with less than $10."

Or free on android. Gotta love apple. /s

[USEYOURFIST]

im getting it at launch so that i have something me and my son, who is 6, can play together. I like the oldskool platformer vibe its got and think it will be alot of fun considering the games Cerny has been a part of before are really good.

[Scatpants]

I have a feeling this game will be 20 bucks like 6 weeks after launch.

[Nicaragua]

90% of all games are 20 bucks 6 weeks after launch - so what's your point ?

[jeffgoldwin]

More like 6 months-1 year, not 6 weeks. And that rule doesn't apply to AAA games.

[Nicaragua]

No - more like 6 weeks, that's why i said it. In the UK where I live some games hit £20 after the first two weeks.

And yeah AAA games too - GOW Ascension, Tomb Raider, Far Cry 3, Bioshock Infinite - all AAA games about 3 months old are going for around £20 in GAME.

[Craigatorian]

more like 30%

[Nicaragua]

@Craigatorian

Listen you don't have to pluck figures out of your ass in order to join in the conversation.

here is a list of PS3 games released in March - http://www.eurogamer.net/re...

Now go compare that to your local games retailer and tell me how many are around the £20 mark. Where i live its pretty much all of them - http://www.game.co.uk/en/ga...

So no its not 30%, its more like 90%.

[Scatpants]

Pretty sure Watchdogs, BF4, COD and Fifa won't be.

[LaChance]

"The problem with the game is that it feels a little dated"

Straight out of the lions den. Nothing shown so far on PS4 feels remotely next gen. Even Kojima thinks Killzone is just some FPS rehash http://n4g.com/news/1234209...

I want some next gen looking games like Ryse, a top quality racer like Forza 5 running at 60 fps/1080p like a next gen racer should. Or a game like Dead Rising 3 showing off physics and scope unseen last gen for instance.

Sorry Sony but you aint get a single dollar from me until you show us the games. TALK IS CHEAP AND CERNY KNOWS DAT.

[iamnsuperman]

If I was going to go with an argument like that I would personally avoid:

Dead Rising 3. It is having issues at the moment ( http://www.gamefaqs.com/boa... ). Could improve by launch but these a big frame rate issues

Ryse: Good looking but is next gen a QTE galore thing because that is all they have shown of it. Seems more bang than substance. It may be just a bad demoing though

[LaChance]

Dead Rising 3 is no next gen racer and is still months away from launch. Frame rate issues are the kind of thing you can smooth out.

"Regardless, killing zombies is a helluva lot of fun, no matter how you slice it. The open-ended nature of the town lends itself well to massacring zed. Nick has more cars at his disposal, allowing him to plow through huge hordes of zombies. I was admittedly pretty impressed by the hundreds of zombies on screen at once. There were times that the framerate dipped quite a bit, which is a shame, though I hope this will be ironed out by release"

When you are aiming for such things you can understand that the framerate may dip. But what I cant understand is why a game that looks as "nothing special" as Driveclub cant reach 30fps. And nobody cars about dynamic lightning, people care about how the cars and track feel, how the game feels and 30fps is just bad for a racer man ... a next gen racer at that.

[Cupid_Viper_3]

@ LaChance

It's such a disappointment to find out that you still exist.

Let me get this straight, So Killzone Shadow Fall, the game MS themselves used to promote the Xbox 1 on their Facebook page, doesn't feel next gen?

I think yourself, and JokesOnYou and GreenGeorge are the holly trinity of all things idiotic. I really believe that idiots from around the world get on their knees every night and pray to you guys to protect them from anything logical or smart.

"Sorry Sony but you aint get a single dollar from me until you show us the games. TALK IS CHEAP AND CERNY KNOWS DAT."

That's the equivalent of someone being stranded in the Sahara desert yet bath mouthing water and shade.

[LaChance]

@Cupid Viper.

Enjoy playing Knack dude. Here's where I'll be come November http://www.youtube.com/watc...

While you'll be on this forum foaming in a Mark Cerny thread. 2m:46s, I dedicate that to you :)

[Cupid_Viper_3]

Dude, it's exactly 7:13 am where I am (west coast)and I should have gone to sleep some 6 hours ago, but I had a major problem and couldn't. Wanna know what it is.

I have this HUGE backlog of games that I have yet to finish, and I've made it a goal of mine to beat these games before the PS4 launch. So I've just 6 hours straight of The Last of Us, Bioshock Infinite is still sealed, I have yet to start Sleeping Dogs (Free with PS Plus) I have yet to beat Golden Abyss on the Vita, Ragnarok Odyssey and Soul Sacrifice are still sealed, yet Killzone Mercenary and TearAway are incoming.

Gran Turismo 6 is almost here, yet I'm only halfway through 5. Beyond 2 Souls is coming up. And then I hear that my pre ordered PS4 is coming with games like KZ ShadowFall, Knack, Driveclub (free) Planetside 2 (free) Warframe (free) Infamous Second Son, and a bunch of other games.

So I'm highly stressed and don't know where the heck I'm going to find time to play all these games.

But the real sad part about all this is that I just checked on N4g before going to bed, and I find out that YOU still exist.

[Rockstar_5]

Lmao how fake is your post hmmmm I would say 100% butt hurt

[wishingW3L]

You're just prejudiced. You're such a blind fanboy that for you everything MS is good and everything Sony is bad. MS could show a golden turd and you'd be all over it saying that it is the best looking game ever no matter what.

Just read your own comment history.

[AnteCash]

Yea gimme forza 5b with removed features, prebaked shadow and lightning no wheater/time of day change, DR3 with brown color , zombies, screen tearing and 18fps, an oh my lord that Ryse is AMAZING with uber grafix ala this:
http://awildpodcastappears....

No jaggies , muddy ,blury or washed out colors.Its screaming NEXTGEN.
/faints

[LaChance]

The worst screen you could find of Ryse looks way better than all the gameplay they've shown for Knack all together.

[AnteCash]

So lets compare killzone and ryse then.
Nothing on xbox can compete with killzone.

[InTheLab]

http://n4g.com/user/comment...

Move along folks. Nothing to see here. This guy clearly works for MS, as all his comments are nothing buf ads for Forza and Ryse.

[Smoovekid]

You will make fun of games before launch, but if I tell you that DR3 and Ryse had framerate problems then you will tell me that they are months from release.

[HeavenlySnipes]

Ryse?

lmao

[nosferatuzodd]

deep down let rise look like a 8bit game you Microsoft fan are hilarious lol and the dark sorcerer look way better than anything on Xbox one Microsoft uses Nvidia graphics card to boost there game with a pc and you guys jumping up and down is just sad come launch day ill will be laughing at a lot of you clowns same thing they did with gears of war i know i have all the gears of war from 1 to 3 to judgement

[nosferatuzodd]

Contrast Dev On PS4's 8 GB GDDR5 RAM: "Still Scratching Our Heads As To What To Do With It All"can you say the same about you're precious xbox 1

[MonkeyOne]

The problem with Knack is that it's going to be a good game.

Because they're all good.

[bjmartynhak]

IMO Puppeteer should be the one instead of Knack.

[Lboogieskells]

Funny how the Xbox one line up, has no child friendly games. I don't want my 4 year old playing Ryse or Titanfall. They have really alienated the consumers buying games for their children this Gen.

[iamnsuperman]

I agree and I think that is a big mistake for Microsoft with Christmas just round the corner. Most of the third parties are not child friendly either

@Below you don't have to focus on either or (which Microsoft keeps doing). There is no flip flopping. Microsoft did totally ignore their core fan bases when launching the original Kinect. Sony still hasn't abandoned the core just because they talk about Knack. They do talk about their other games as well.
Now I wouldn't agree with the Fantasia Music Evolved as a childs game but I agree with the Kinect Rivals and I am wrong for the above statement. They do need to advertise that more as Cerny has been advertising Knack quite a lot. It doesn't need to be a focus but it needs a lot more attention as how many parents will know a game like Kinect Rivals is available if they are not advertising it

[GameCents]

This is a joke right?
MS focuses on casuals and you blow a gasket. MS focuses on core gamers and you still blow a gasket.
Quit flip flopping according to what SONY is up to. It's so transparent and rather pathetic.

They do have child friendly games, Kinect Rivals and Fantasia Music Evolved spring to mind. They just aren't making them the focus right now which should please you and your kind since you guys were jeering that the X1 would be too Kinect focused come E3.

[JohnCartenper]

@GameCents

Didn't you hear?
Now it's the PS4 who is awesomely casual-friendly cause Cerny PBUH said he wants to bring in the mobile gamers and stuff.

So it's a good thing now.

[GameCents]

Fantasia Music Evolved? Kinect Rivals?
Just because they aren't focusing on children friendly games doesn't mean they don't exist.

You hypocrites would be having a field day if MS were focusing their publicity on these games. Now that SONY is high profiling Knack, it has become cool to talk up kiddie games and be "diverse."
Well if you want a shooter, open world game, fighter, hack n slash, racing game, music game, child friendly motion game, user based content creation game/tool, then you can find them all on the Xbox One launch window. How's that for diversity?

[insomnium2]

"Now that SONY is high profiling Knack, it has become cool to talk up kiddie games and be "diverse." "

What an utterly idiotic comment. Where have you been ever since Playstation has been around?

[Hicken]

Wait, so because Sony has ONE major game that's casual, that's suddenly the same as Microsoft's brand-wide push for the casual market? And people pointing that difference out are hypocrites?

Sony and its supporters have always- ALWAYS- bragged about the diversity of their games. Not just in the case of core versus casual, but also in the various genres inside gaming, as well. It's one of the primary reasons people choose Sony over other consoles: because they cater to so many different tastes. I mean, just make a list of Sony exclusives for any given year and see how different all the titles are.

But, somehow, you think people are suddenly being hypocritical for praising Knack?

I think you don't know what the word means...

[GameCents]

They are hypocrites not for praising Knack, but for bagging on Microsoft for not focusing on children games, I think I was very clear on that.

The hypocrisy comes in because they bag on MS for focusing on kid games and they bag on MS for not focusing on kid games.
Why even bring up MS to start with in this Knack article? Just to divert on the topic at hand and try spin some negativity towards the One.

[SuperLupe]

I dont think parents buy 400$ and 500$ consoles for their kids at launch. Its more like when they hit the 250$ range I think.

And Im not sure but dont MS have some kind of Kinect Adventures/Sports 2 coming out ? I remeber seeing a vid it looked quite good.

[Lboogieskells]

I had a Sega Saturn at release as a kid, My family wasn't the most financially stable, but where there's a will there's a way. Never underestimate what a parent will do for their child.

[iceman06]

No they don't. However, if you are a parent AND a gamer...it's a pretty good deal. Yes, MS have the Kinect games and Fantasia. There is nothing at all wrong with either company wanting to provide some diversity to their respective catalogs.

[thetruthx1]

Your child can create many of his own games with Project Spark :) and Kinect Sports is a child friendly game

[JustPlay4]

Project spark is just LBP(ps3) or Spore(pc)
and Kinect Sports is just will sports you dont need to spend $500 for it

[SpideySpeakz]

Yes, the game looks whack.

[thetruthx1]

@justplay4 I doubt anyone would pay $500 for those two games but he'll also be able to play graphically superior games like Ryse, Dead Rising 3, Halo 5, Gears of War 4, Titanfall, Quantum Break, Killer Instinct :)

[wishingW3L]

I thought this was supposed to be platformer like Crash Bandicoot but this game's nothing but a boring braindead button-masher.

[JohnCartenper]

Honestly this game looks terrible, even the design of the characters is appalling

[Inception]

Knacks looks interesting to me. And i need to get my hands on the full game before i give my final judgement. It's my standard procedure for all games anyway.

Besides, this game came from Japan Studio. The same studio that bring me The Legend of Dragoon (well, before they change their name to Japan Studio), Ape Escape, Ico, Shadow of the Collossus, Siren, Patapon, Echochrome, The Last Guy, and Patchwork Heroes which all those games are very fun and gave some impact in my life as a gamer (especially Ico & SotC).

And lookin at their next tittle like Rain, Puppeteer, and Freedom Wars (that i personally really anticipated), maybe some people need to wait until this game release and got their hands on the game before they threw some stones to this game ^^

[Elzer]

Knack is a "great game for a gaming system for gamers" =)

[N2NOther]

"Punching above its weight" implies an underdog. I like the underdog so I may get this game to support it.

[Jaqen_Hghar]

Just make it $40 and a man will buy. Sly 4 and Puppeteer did it and Knack doesn't look as good as those 2 so far but a man hopes he is wrong.

[yewles1]

The Problem with this Article, the one that's not Paying Attention...

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

"Mark Cerny: Knack is a small title. Knack will not be leading the way in terms of utilisation. We'll be looking much more towards teams that have done that in the past like Ubisoft with Assassin's Creed and Watch_Dogs, Naughty Dog with their next titles or Sony Santa Monica with theirs. I think Killzone is going to be doing that. All we are doing ultimately is setting it up so that developers can take it any way that they want go."

[timemuffin]

Guess what. The majority of launch PS4 consoles will be sold to gamers in or around their early thirties. Quite a few of them will have children. I am 34 with two young daughters. I enjoy playing games with them. Both my wife and I have decent careers. The sixty dollar price tag is more than worth it for the hours of fun I'll have with my kids. Even if the game is mediocre that's ok with me.
By the by, did you see the author's pic at the bottom of the article? Douche chills.

[Bowzabub]

Excellent post. Might I add that I am going to be 37 in Sept. yet I myself will play some of these so called kids games. Sometimes they are actually fun to play. Funny how Knack is just a stupid kids game yet these same people FOAM at the mouth about Kingdom Hearts 3 and all of the others. Don't you think that is kinda funny? By the way, Yes I want Kingdom Hearts 3. I expect zero rebuttals... Ooh rah!!

[Bobertt]

I just hope it is long, it looks similar to an indie games and most of those while fun don't last that long.

[gamertk421]

Cerny built Knack, therefore N4G must worship it. It will probably be a disappointment to all but the staunchest Cernyslags.

[breakpad]

if i was Sony i wouldnt choose a character made of bricks and materials for a mascot or launch char ...she should choose an animal (like crash,sonic etcetc) for such a type of game

[kingPoS]

So Knack happens to have childish appeal... How is this a bad thing.

I wouldn't of bought a PlayStation three if all it had were only shooters, fighters and racers.

[andron]

Must... not ... have fun in games...

[Rockstar_5]

Sorry but knack is a fail and I won't be getting it

[Supermax]

Lets keep this about knack pros cons.

[Master-H]

Guys let's just wait until the whole game is released and then we can prosecute it .
Also where the hell is The Last Guardian, Japan Studio ???

[Sadist3]

I guess I'm one of the only hardcore gamers left. Can't believe people are actually making a big deal of Knack and Octodad. These are games that casual/children gamers play I'm sorry, I'm 31 years old and never cared for these types of games. Heck, even when I was 8 I was playing Contra, Castlevania, Life Force, Ninja Gaiden...even then I wasn't playing these weirdo games. Guess I like action, and some people like playing as an under cover Octopus. Sorry, when I buy my Xbox One and PS4, I'm not spending all that money for a game that should be on an iPhone

[Supermax]

I will play knack when it's a free title on ps plus.

[GamerGuy153]

as an honest fan of Playstation, Knack just doesnt look that fun to me, but I certainly appreciate having a variety of games to play. I feel like Playstation has always had a good selection of platformer games like Ratchet and Clank and Sly Cooper, which I have sank countless hours into. I won't be pickling up Knack, but that doesn't mean that it is a bad game, it's jsut not on the same level as other Sony platformers.

[GamerGuy153]

as an honest fan of Playstation, Knack just doesnt look that fun to me, but I certainly appreciate having a variety of games to play. I feel like Playstation has always had a good selection of platformer games like Ratchet and Clank and Sly Cooper, which I have sank countless hours into. I won't be pickling up Knack, but that doesn't mean that it is a bad game, it's just not on the same level as other Sony platformers.

[GamerGuy153]

as an honest fan of Playstation, Knack just doesnt look that fun to me, but I certainly appreciate having a variety of games to play. I feel like Playstation has always had a good selection of platformer games like Ratchet and Clank and Sly Cooper, which I have sank countless hours into. I won't be pickling up Knack, but that doesn't mean that it is a bad game, it's jsut not on the same level as other Sony platformers.

[GamerGuy153]

as an honest fan of Playstation, Knack just doesnt look that fun to me, but I certainly appreciate having a variety of games to play. I feel like Playstation has always had a good selection of platformer games like Ratchet and Clank and Sly Cooper, which I have sank countless hours into. I won't be pickling up Knack, but that doesn't mean that it is a bad game, it's just not on the same level as other Sony platformers.