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Knack |OT| Playin' Knack in my Tub!

Sean

Banned
Played Knack at a Best Buy kiosk yesterday and came away underwhelemed.

It took a long time to load up and the graphics were mediocre imo, nothing about it seemed next-gen (I think Ratchet on PS3 is more visually appealing). There was jaggies and framerate drops despite it taking place in a very linear and tiny/narrow city street environment. And the gameplay is extremely basic, it starts to feel repetitive and boring very very quick.

I'll give it a shot when it inevitably hits PSN+ soon, I certainly don't think this is worth $60 after playing the demo.
 

Zalman

Member
Played Knack at a Best Buy kiosk yesterday and came away underwhelemed.

It took a long time to load up and the graphics were mediocre imo, nothing about it seemed next-gen (I think Ratchet on PS3 is more visually appealing). There was jaggies and framerate drops despite it taking place in a very linear and tiny/narrow city street environment. And the gameplay is extremely basic, it starts to feel repetitive and boring very very quick.

I'll give it a shot when it inevitably hits PSN+ soon, I certainly don't think this is worth $60 after playing the demo.
This makes me sad. :(
 

Pop

Member
Played Knack at a Best Buy kiosk yesterday and came away underwhelemed.

It took a long time to load up and the graphics were mediocre imo, nothing about it seemed next-gen (I think Ratchet on PS3 is more visually appealing). There was jaggies and framerate drops despite it taking place in a very linear and tiny/narrow city street environment. And the gameplay is extremely basic, it starts to feel repetitive and boring very very quick.

I'll give it a shot when it inevitably hits PSN+ soon, I certainly don't think this is worth $60 after playing the demo.

I remember someone here saying it looked much better now than it did at the demo kiosk he played. Now I haven't played it for myself but an early demo probably isn't the final build.
 

DBT85

Member
An OT OP I can read in under 3 hours? Perfection.

Looking forward to this.

I've seen a lot of people talking about their kids playing this at demo kiosks and loving it, so even if it's not a hit with the people buying the console, I think it will be with their kids.

Though I think the review scores could be in the 60-70 range.
 
All the best to this game. Hope it does well. Got to try it today, but only very briefly. I can understand the complaints about the game feeling hollow/empty, but I never got a fair shake with the gameplay. Really hoping there is enough power-ups/variety in the gameplay. We only know of invisible Knack so far, right? Are they keeping a lot of secrets close to their chest?
 

Pachinko

Member
I tried this out at gamestop today on their shiny new PS4 demo station. I was surprised at just how long the demo was - felt close to 15 minutes! Showcased a nice slice of what the game was like , I'd like to think there are some epic boss fights in there too. I noticed it's split up into chapters and it seemed that each part of the demo was roughly half a portion of a chapter stage. 8-10 chapters maybe ?

I know if I were to buy the console day 1 I'd probably grab this.
 

tensuke

Member
Oh my sharona!

Oh man now you've gone and got that stuck in my head!


And guys, there is TECHNICALLY (the best kind of correct) online co-op for Knack. You just have to have someone remote in to your PS4 on their Vita and play local co-op, they'll control the second character. Not exactly perfect but...it's there. Lol.
 

gotoadgo

Member
Played Knack at a Best Buy kiosk yesterday and came away underwhelemed.

It took a long time to load up and the graphics were mediocre imo, nothing about it seemed next-gen (I think Ratchet on PS3 is more visually appealing). There was jaggies and framerate drops despite it taking place in a very linear and tiny/narrow city street environment. And the gameplay is extremely basic, it starts to feel repetitive and boring very very quick.

I'll give it a shot when it inevitably hits PSN+ soon, I certainly don't think this is worth $60 after playing the demo.
This is almost exactly how I felt after playing it at a recent expo. I'd suggest people play this before throwing down the cash for a full priced game.
 

dc89

Member
I'm very interested in hearing the impressions from day 1 buyers. I'm seriously considering this as my second ps4 game, but I haven't seen much gameplay

This is how I feel too! The game gives off a real charming vibe, it kind of reminds me of Kameo for some reason. I think it's the orcs and the art direction.

But I'll pick this is up around Christmas time if the reviews are solid!
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
This is almost exactly how I felt after playing it at a recent expo. I'd suggest people play this before throwing down the cash for a full priced game.
I think they screwed up by providing this demo at kiosks as it is a very old build.
 
the underdog of the new gen, i can't wait to play it and it's only looked better and better to me since the lackluster reveal. good or bad i'm gonna support it for setting itself apart from the other big launch titles.
 

Micerider

Member
It's a bit sad that it oozes so little appeal. I'm quite easily enthusiasted but here my reaction was "I might give it a chance on PS+". Waiting for GAF impressions of the final game I can only hope to be surprised.
 

LAA

Member
Hope this game turns out to be awesome. I love games like Spyro (Probably one of my most favourite games of all time), Ratchet and Clank and Jak, the genre has kinda died last gen, so I'm hoping this is a good return to the genre.
 

Midas

Member
My copy shipped from Gamestop last week. Haven't got it yet though, but can't wait to play it. After playing the demo at Gamescom I've been wanting more.
 
It still looks ass to me. Prove me wrong Cerny!

It just hasn't demoed well. Reviews and player impressions will paint a much more positive and better picture of what the game is really like.

This is shaping up to be PS4's Kameo. Fantastically charming title with some great ideas and gameplay but sadly overlooked by the majority until a couple of years after release...
 

Dantis

Member
It just hasn't demoed well. Reviews and player impressions will paint a much more positive and better picture of what the game is really like.

This is shaping up to be PS4's Kameo. Fantastically charming title with some great ideas and gameplay but sadly overlooked by the majority until a couple of years after release...

I think so too. Unfortunately I hated Kameo, haha!
 

WJD

Member
This is a game I really want to like in the same vein as Ratchet and Clank, Crash, Spyro etc but just haven't seen enough of to really impress me.

Will be waiting on reviews/impressions before I dip in.
 
I think so too. Unfortunately I hated Kameo, haha!

sYQox1K.gif


I admit I laughed though, you got me good.
 

Thrakier

Member
So can anyone explain to me while a platformer, provided by the man who build the playstation, an engineer, which looks very, very average at best and not like it's putting any stress on the system, is NOT running with 60FPS?
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
So can anyone explain to me while a platformer, provided by the man who build the playstation, an engineer, which looks very, very average at best and not like it's putting any stress on the system, is NOT running with 60FPS?
I don't think Cerny was actually writing code and, from what's been said, Knack had a very small team and a short development cycle. It looks like it's simply been a victim of being a launch title.
 

Persona7

Banned
The demo for this is so underwhelming in every aspect. I spent a bit of time in the store and heard a few random people comment on how it doesn't look like a generational leap visually.
 

Thrakier

Member
I don't think Cerny was actually writing code and, from what's been said, Knack had a very small team and a short development cycle. It looks like it's simply been a victim of being a launch title.

Probably. But from someone like Cerny I'd expect a "baseline is 60, don't go beneath" baseline. He has to know that something between 20 and 40 is disctracting from the overall experience. Especially when it's about some challenge, like he stated.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Probably. But from someone like Cerny I'd expect a "baseline is 60, don't go beneath" baseline. He has to know that something between 20 and 40 is disctracting from the overall experience. Especially when it's about some challenge, like he stated.
Well, the game has experienced some pretty massive performance increases since the original demos (including that awful store demo). Given more time I'm sure they could get 60 fps.

It's part of what it means to be a launch title. Surely you can see that 60 fps is more of a focus this time around with most launch titles running at 60.
 
Are all official topics for next generation games going to devolve into the constant dick waving we already have about graphics?

My Knack is sitting on my shelf ... waiting.
 

wizzbang

Banned
Gotta be honest, I'm not expecting more than a 5/10 for this one. I'll check it out but it just doesn't look particularly good, feels like what should be a $39 game kind of thing.

Since it's launch I'll probably be trying out most games.
EDIT: I do hope I'm wrong of course :/ who knows.
 

gotoadgo

Member
I think they screwed up by providing this demo at kiosks as it is a very old build.
I really hope it ends up being good as more platformers is a great thing(never enough on Playsation imo), but what I played was very "enter little arena and kill stuff, do some basic platforming, enter little arena and kill stuff, do some ba..." etc. It just seemed really boring and repetitive.
 

DBT85

Member
So can anyone explain to me while a platformer, provided by the man who build the playstation, an engineer, which looks very, very average at best and not like it's putting any stress on the system, is NOT running with 60FPS?

For a large chunk of it's development it had 2 programmers.
 

S1kkZ

Member
the problem for me are not the visuals per se, its the static and lifeless environments. the missing details i expect from a next-gen game, like the bushes/trees dont move or react at all (when knack does his shockwave attack or walks through/past them), same for the cars in the city level and the houses. i want the windows to crack or something to break from the outside of the house, when giant knack runs into it.

and then there is the poor framerate.
 

majorscud

Member
I played this at my local Gamestop. It left me underwhelmed to say the least. I still picked it up with CoD and Killzone from Target's B2G1 so my son and I can play together, but I think it'll be one play through then traded in.
 

Kelegacy

XBOX - RECORD ME LOVING DOWN MY WOMAN GOOD
So excited for this game. I may have to buy another controller to play with my son. But $60 for a controller...ugh, hard sell big time.

These are the types of games that sell me on new consoles. Rayman/Mario for Wii U, Jak for PS2, Kameo on 360. Those colorful type of family games. I think it's easier to sell to the wife too. :)

It's also really the only time you get to see these types of games, and then they drop off the radar in favor of grey FPS corridor shooters.
 

Kouriozan

Member
I really hope it can be a great game, it is my only reason to maybe get a PS4 this year, being a fan of colorful japanese/JRPG games.

But....Everytime I hear Knack, I'm hungry, weird...

dJdgw2T.jpg
 

DBT85

Member
So excited for this game. I may have to buy another controller to play with my son. But $60 for a controller...ugh, hard sell big time.

These are the types of games that sell me on new consoles. Rayman/Mario for Wii U, Jak for PS2, Kameo on 360. Those colorful type of family games. I think it's easier to sell to the wife too. :)

It's also really the only time you get to see these types of games, and then they drop off the radar in favor of grey FPS corridor shooters.

Buy a Vita and enjoy the benefits of playing Co-op with him and all the Vita games and Remote Play.
 
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