The return of Knack
What Mark Cerny was aware of the obvious problems of the first chapter we had understood from now on when he decided to write Marianne Krawczyk, who was already the winner of BAFTA for his work on the second chapter of Kratos’ adventures.
He came out of a better, more elaborate story and without the coarse banalities that characterized the arrival of the first Knack adventure.
The story is divided into fifteen chapters, structured with greater order and broader breath, the story once again centers on the troll and robot robots that launch a new attack on the planet in an attempt to represent a real threat and centralize power, but Continuing in the adventure you will find out how much the enemy and the intentions really are different from what was initially contemplated.
Of course, we are still talking about a series directed at a young audience, so it was not possible to expect complex introspections or different tones.
Though it’s a bit redundant and full of moments that will not leave a tangible sign in your memory, the story of Knack 2 works and is entertaining to the end; binds to more diversified environments than the past and adapts to game rhythms, which remain well balanced for much of the game.
Between welcome returns, surprises and a self-closing finale that leaves the door open to any follow-up, the direction Japan Studio has decided to follow is fairly clear: if the audience is receptive, Knack could come back again. Still, despite the obvious improvements, there is still something to make the leap of definite quality.
In two or alone against the rebellious world
We had been suspected during our previous trials and we have to confirm it now too: Knack 2 is quite easy, even at higher levels of difficulty.
If you face the whole co-operative adventure, however, it will really be a walk. Although some differences are known to help less experienced or smaller players, such as some portions of the levels being blocked or less self-propelled platforms than usual, more navigated users will have to go directly from the highest level of challenge to be able to be mindful of a minimum.
Although Cerny has repeatedly stated that Knack 2wanted to be both a game for families and a title able to satisfy the needs of the hardcore players, the story mode remains overly simple, complicates even the very close checkpoints and barrier sections that only in some cases can give some scratch .
The difficulty can not be changed in the race, but when it comes to the end, the new game plus will be unlocked, with the ability to try a new challenge while retaining all the abilities and gadgets acquired.
There will also be two classic modes that will make the happiness of the old school platform lovers: the so-called time attack, with sections of play to be overcome within a time limit to get the most out of the scoring, and the arenas where you have to defeat enemy waves, paying attention to your work so that you can get all the expected bonuses. These modes are undoubtedly the most demanding ones, and those who want to point to platinum will also have to look at and be able to do it.
The game formula has not undergone enormous changes, but it has certainly become less predictable, with variations on the theme ranging from riddles to the need to control the size of Knack in order to overcome some particular sections of the game.
Puzzles are simple and immediately intuitive; some require a minimum of logic, while others stimulate lateral thinking, forcing players to exploit character features, observe the environment, and perform multiple object shifts to continue. There is also the possibility of shrinking your size and bringing Knack back to its basic size so that you can go through narrow passages or jump into small pits to recover parts of gadgets that act as passive abilities or energy portions that serve to accumulate points to spend in the skill menu. Although it is desirable to adapt the size of Knack depending on the game situation
