- Release Date: 15th November 2015
- Developer: Japan Studio
- Publisher: Sony
- Platform Played: PS4
- Platforms Available: PS4
The gameplay feels like a NES-era game, but for all the wrong reasons. Your attacks feel delayed, there is a notable period of time when you can’t move after a dodge and the homing attack knocks you back and stops you doing anything for ages, couple this with enemies that can kill you in a couple of hits and it’s just frustrating, most deaths feel like they’re not your fault and some of the checkpointing means you’ll have to re-do fights constantly. The one good thing about combat is a good variety of enemies, but a fair few will probably kill you straight away and a few times until you figure out their trick (which doesn’t feel satisfying, just makes the whole game feel like you’re just re-doing the same segment over and over with the hope of getting lucky.
Everything outside of combat is very basic. There’s some simple platforming, although with some very bad camera angles at the time. Knack will sometimes do the platforming in a little cutscene, which feels very pointless and means that some of the coolest moments are when you’re not actually doing them (this is the same for bosses). There are some “puzzles”, if you can call them puzzles, and exploration to find hidden stuff by smashing similar-looking holes in walls.
The main mechanic – Knack collecting more relics and getting bigger – is extremely underutilised and is not a gameplay mechanic in the slightest. Sometimes relics will make you slightly bigger, sometimes they’ll just fill your health and sometimes they’ll cause a big increase. You have very little control over your size, it’s all entirely down to what the level designers wanted you to be at that stage. This takes all the enjoyment out of the idea as it doesn’t feel earnt, and then Knack will choose to get rid of parts in cutscenes and between levels (leaving behind a heap of these supposedly powerful objects behind as though they are meaningless). There are sections where you can absorb other items (like ice), but again, this is entirely when the game wants you to. There’s no choosing some over the other, mixing types or anything like that, it just seems like a completely wasted idea.
It’s kind of fascinating, because it’s an absolutely terrible game, but is technically well made.
Poor
