Knack is a platformer that focuses heavily on combat. Knack was released as a PS4 launch title and expectations were high over this next-gen platformer. Unfortunately, for something that has so much combat, the combat system is horrible. You use one button to jump and one button to punch... that's it. The hit detection seems off. You can be right next to an enemy and you will not hit them because the game thinks you're facing just slightly to the side of an enemy. You'll end up getting used to this and can compensate but it can be the cause of your death for many times over the game.
Furthermore, enemies in the game are overpowered. Knack at most can take around three hits before he dies but more often than not, he will die in one or two hits. Considering that there are so many enemies and many of those have continuous move sets where it's one hit after another, it is very frustrating when you constantly die. It gets to the point where you think why the developers bothered to display a health bar when Knack dies so quickly. The damage Knack seems to receive also feels inconsistent. One moment you may survive three hits from an enemy and the next moment you die in one hit.
The key gimmick of the game is that Knack is comprised of relics. These small pieces are pulled together to form a humanoid shape. Knack changes in size depending on how many relics he absorbs and his attack increases as a result. This is satisfying when enemies which take three to four hits when Knack was small can now be dispatched in one hit. Sadly, even when Knack is gigantic, he still dies in one or two hits. The size of the enemies pretty much also increase at the same rate as Knack does so the game doesn't become any easier.
You can't change the size of Knack voluntarily; they're dictated by the developer and what the levels require of you. Knack can be comprised of various materials and this will have different effects. Wood can burn dealing extra damage, or metal will be affected by magnets, slowing you down. However, these are still predetermined and you have no choice of whether you want to be comprised of that type of material or not.
With all the deaths, it should be fine since it'll allow you to keep retrying, right? Too bad the checkpoints are annoying since you are pushed too far back into the level and forced to fight through several combat sections yet again. Considering how often you die, this is a blatant attempt to extend the game time and artificially push up the difficulty. The frustrating combat and rubbish checkpoint system is reminiscent of Jak II but luckily it's not to that degree of horribleness.
Knack has neat aesthetics and colorful environments; this makes it feel like a classic family friendly platformer. It's too bad that the combat leaves such a sour taste. The level designs are extremely linear. They are literally corridors and feels cramped. Some of the battle arenas are fairly small which is annoying when a lot of the enemies have a wide reach in their attacks. That being said, Knack teaches you to be patient and take the game slow. You need to learn the enemy attack patterns and then striking when they are vulnerable.
There is a big variety of environments like the desert, jungle and cities, yet they all end up feeling the same because of the bland gameplay and repetitive level design. The game feels too dragged on as by the time the fifth chapter comes around, you want it to end already and you weren't even halfway through the game. It takes around 12 hours to finish the story mode. The game lacks charm, Knack himself has a great design but the game falls flat as it is generic and has a boring story. The story is poor since it does not lead to anywhere meaningful.
The story hints about at the history between the war of humans and goblins, as well as big mysteries surrounding the relics and ancient structures but they are not answered at all. The ending is unsatisfying and events within the story just happen, there does not feel like there is a clear objective for the characters. There are a lot of collectibles, well, to be fair, there are chests within the levels but more collectibles than there are chests. This means that you will have to play the game multiple times or play the smartphone tie-in three-match game to collect them all. Each collectible is a piece of something bigger such that if you collect all within one grouping, you can unlock gadgets and alternate versions of Knack.
Gadgets give Knack supporting abilities like extra uses of his super moves or an icon that shows up when there is a secret place nearby. Alternative versions of Knack also have different abilities, including varying levels of stats like higher attack and defense. Once you've cleared the game once, two modes are unlocked. One is a time trial in which you attempt o clear a level as quickly as possible without dying. The other mode is an arena battle where you need to survive 10 waves of increasingly difficult enemies. Overall, Knack is a fun game that is heavily marred by poor checkpoint design, bad combat and cheap difficulty. Knack can still be enjoyable but it is definitely not something worth paying more than $10 for.
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