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In defence of KNACK, the review-proof game

It's a fine, average game. Not worth of heaps of praise or the endless hate it seems to get.

I really have no idea why this game is so talked about. I've enjoyed it, I can see why others may not, and it's absolutely nothing special.
 
Yonafunu said:
I played the Knack demo about two months ago. First time I've wanted a demo to end as soon as possible while playing it. It didn't help that the demo is actually kinda long. It's soooo boring.
I think it's telling that its sales have become it's focal point, cause the game itself is completely unremarkable.
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You need to add more o's to "so". In one word I describe Knack as "boring"

I wonder if these kids that enjoyed Knack so much play SM3DW.
 
it was one of the two first party turds on offer for the biggest console launch of all time, while mario was encumbered by a piece of hardware being outsold by certain tiger electronics games.

i know it's christmas, but you should stop giving your kids so much alcohol.
 
Knack's ascension to embodiment of that "You'd like to judge that, wouldn't you? Well you can't! It's not for you!" PA comic is sort of hilarious. Heading in to November I thought Ryse would occupy that slot for next-gen launch titles, but then the Yosp "they hate us because they want us to use more buttons :(" interview happened and now we are here.

History will likely remember Knack as a passable launch game that nobody plays in 2015 and beyond because it's been surpassed by so much. Kids liking shovelware doesn't suddenly make shovelware objectively good despite opinions, and the same applies to Knack. It's okay for a game to be mediocre, especially at launch, and the idea that a game should be considered good if it's not totally broken is sort of weird.
 
People are really trying to compare the games and their sales without putting in the balance the PS4 love everywhere against the WiiU catastrophe ?

Would be fun to just exchange both title, Mario on PS4 and Knack on WiiU to see how they sale.

And thought of knack being popular among kids, on a sold out super tech core gamers console lol..
 
This game is actually pretty good. I'd rate it a 6/10. I love the levels where he gets huge. Its refreshing playing a game that doesn't star a white guy with brown hair and a gun.
 
Knack is legitimately pretty terrible, but I'd imagine its extreme simplicity and colorful art would make it particularly attractive to kids below a certain age.
 
Tsundere said:
What.

PS4 just passed WiiU not too long ago, so the sales should be about the same, or dare I say that Mario should still be leading.
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No Knack should sell more than Mario if they are comparable in install base. Knack is a launch game and the only platformer for the PS4. It sits all by itself for eager PS4 owners to buy during the launch window. Mario is on a console most owners bought last year that has seen dismal support from Nintendo.
 
The worst thing here is that he thinks Lego Marvel is one of the best kids games ever made. If that demo is anything to go by, it's a mindless game devoid of any creativity and undeserving of Lego name.

I actually refuse to believe Knack can be *that* much worse than it after seeing many videos of it, and the review score discrepancy baffles me a bit.
 
godelsmetric said:
in the future when nintendo have folded and microsoft are only making office, you'll be playing killzone: cliche title 16 and knack 8: xtreme big titties and ass edition and you'll all rue the day that you pretended you were ironically making fun, but were not-so-secretly really happy of the fact that knack outsold mario

then you'll pop the last of us 19: this time it's aliens into your playstation 8 and cry yourself to a bad night's sleep


well it worked wonders for crash bandicoot
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You, sir are my hero. This is quite possibly the most sensible post I've read on here.
 
Prince Vultan said:
Sounds like a lot of the Media Create threads to me.
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Do people really laugh at games like Tearaway flopping because it felt more like the mourning of a great game underperforming rather than having a gif of Mario dancing with the writing "Tearaway flopped" under it. Everyone was dressed in black and everything!
 
Endo Punk said:
Knack was so bad I don't think we'll hear from Cerny again, until next gen at least.
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It was weird that we were hearing from him at all with the same degree that we had prior to the PS4 launch. A really baffling person to place so much hype on (almost as much as Banderas).
 
WillyFive said:
It was weird that we were hearing from him at all with the same degree that we had prior to the PS4 launch. A really baffling person to place so much hype on (almost as much as Banderas).
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there's an AMD engineer out there with cerny on his dartboard.
 
stilgar said:
So we've fallen this low. I really hope the all gen won't be like this.
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Eh, you'll survive. WiiU is pretty much the second coming of GameCube. WiiU is probably going to under-perform as much as, and take as much flak as, GameCube did, only to get "vindicated by history" approximately a generation or two afterwards.
 
I bet everyone on this site has played and loved "bad" games, specially in our childhood, and there's nothing wrong about it.

The knack bashing is ridiculous
 
I can't help but think that this thread and entire phenomenon of discussing knack vs. mario sales wouldn't exist if Knack had received the review scores it deserves of somewhere around 70-75, instead of the butchering it did get.
 
Arguing that it's review proof just because it's "meant for children" is pretty BS. The game is nothing special, it does what it does. I don't get why people champion it so heavily or rain fire down on it either. It's just...there.
 
I got Knack used and having finished it I feel a bit guilty because I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. In hindsight I would be pretty sad if I let the review scores keep me from giving this a game a shot.

It's kind of amazing that such a simple game can be so polarizing.
 
The game doesn't do anything all that great but it was somewhat a breath of fresh air. Of the launch games I bought it got the most play time. I would like to see a sequel.
 
It's being bundled with a system that is selling gangbusters and in short supply, it doesn't surprise me. People would rather a shit game + a PS4 than no PS4 at all if that's the choice, and it often is.
 
I think Knack is pretty good, but I'm hoping to see a Super Mario 64 style sequel where he can go wherever he wants and get bigger and smaller as you choose, not just when the level does it for you. Also I don't think he's charmless at all, in fact I find him kind of endearing.
 
Starwolf_UK said:
Don't forget the console is in short supply, especially solus. Chances are if you find a PS4, its a Knack bundle. Chances are if you see someone buying a Knack bundle, they open it in store and trade Knack in.
.
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Chances are? c'mon that has to be statistically insignificant
 
Bjomesphat said:
When there's nothing to play on a system, anything will sell.

Red Steel sold over a million. Resistance sold a couple million. Those are both terrible games.
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It's true that launch games often do well just by virtue of being launch games, but I didn't think Resistance was 'terrible' by a long stretch. Slightly above average, but not bad by any means. And I think its overall sales were very good; I seem to recall it had sold about 3.5 million copies.

Speaking of which, considering the PS4 has sold 4.3 million units to consumers, I wonder how many units KZ:SF and Knack have sold. There are probably a few third party games which have sold better, but I imagine both have done pretty well. Would be interesting to see if there's a Knack 2; I suspect there probably will be.
 
Neuromancer said:
I think Knack is pretty good, but I'm hoping to see a Super Mario 64 style sequel where he can go wherever he wants and get bigger and smaller as you choose, not just when the level does it for you. Also I don't think he's charmless at all, in fact I find him kind of endearing.
Click to expand...
Yeah that sounds good.

Also they should give Knack Relic weapons or something.
 
I liked Knack quite a bit. I know it has issues and such, but it doesn't deserve the level of bashing it receives imo.
 
I would take a bat to any reviewer who stated that knack is better than/equal to Mario, but it's not the end of the world that people like it. I don't think its very good, but that's ok too...
 
In a poorly supported kids market where only the excellent Traveller’s Tales Lego games have redefined what’s good and what’s possible
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the fuck

But it’s a game that in the UK is still outselling critical darling Super Mario 3D World by a significant margin. Eyebrows were raised at that, partly due to snobbish suggestions that “people” don’t know a good game when they see one. But the thing is – and this is a blow to the egos of games journalists, marketeers, industry commentators, analysts and gamers – you can’t stop people buying whatever they want to buy, playing whatever they want to play, and enjoying it. Release a game and it’s at the mercy of the masses. But don’t be surprised when the masses take it to their bosom.
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LOL its fucking launch period numbers.
PS4 is selling a lot and kids have fuck all to play on it, so shit like Knack sells. There is no secret here.
 
Since there are completely reasonable, easily communicated shortcomings in the game design of Knack, I don't think I agree with the celebration of its commercial success in spite of that, particularly when it's postured as celebration of another game's relatively lower sales. At least in so far as I like the idea that games the greatest number of people are likely to enjoy be played by the greatest number of people, I feel the opposite as well. I also feel strongly that children's games should have more design effort put into them than less. I don't think anyone's ever said it's impossible to enjoy Knack, but this reaction leaves a feeling of petty, counter-productive gloating in light of sales figures. A game selling isn't the same thing as a game being enjoyed.
 
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