Knack didn’t receive the best review scores. The PlayStation 4 launch title only averages 54 percent on Metacritic, despite many supporters who love the game’s nostalgic feel.
So, what does a veteran gamer and master designer like Hideo Kojima think? As he revealed on his Twitter page, he got some time to play Knack and for the most part, he enjoyed himself.
The following set of Tweets (collected by DualShockers) explains his three-hour time trial:
I was invited by mark and played the Japanese language version of Knack quickly. It’s an action game and it proceeds smoothly.
Operation is simple and easy, but it becomes a very hard game when I change the difficulty. It’s exhilarating when Knack becomes huge. I loved the traps like in Crash.
Knack: I played it for a little less than three hours at Sony Computer Entertainment. It seems that Mark created it very carefully. The next generation feeling is a bit thin, but the art is an interesting attempt.
Also, a father that loves FPS games, if he’s tired of firefights, can he try cooperative play with his children?
All valid points. There are many who would share his viewpoint, especially those who weren’t expecting anything “next-gen” from Knack. Personally, as I argued in my recent review, most critics understood the game’s goal. It’s just that in the eyes of those reviewers, the production missed those goals, instead coming across as a missed opportunity. Kojima, however, appeared to have plenty of fun.
Sure, Knack can be entertaining for a few hours, but…
The problem is that the longer you play, the more of a missed opportunity Knack becomes. You start to realize that each new level is almost exactly the same, only with a fresh coat of paint. You realize you’ve been using the exact same set of combination attacks and special skills since the start. You realize that, in fact, this game doesn’t really have the charm and style you thought it might have. Still, it’s a certainty that when Kojima talks, people listen.
And well they should.
