Knack on PS4: It's free so you may as well

Knack is not a new game and it kind of shows. This game was released back in 2014 and visually speaking it is a bit dated. That is not to say that it looks bad but it just doesn't push the limits of the system and well, I suppose that should be expected from a game that is 7 years old.

However, you do get it for the grand price of "nada" so in that regard I still consider it to be worth playing because it is a throwback to old-school gaming in a way and for people like me, that is still something that is quite fun.

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One of the things that I like about this game is that you can play it right from the start without really any sort of learning curve. The controls are simple and combat is pretty basic as well. You don't really have a massive arsenal of moves to use in battle and I found that simply mad-button-mashing worked in most of the early fights. It isn't until you get to the first boss (which ends up being a regular fixture later on) that you need any sort of real strategy.

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You punch, you kick, you block and that's about it. There is a dodge button (the right control stick) but you don't really need that very often and honestly, I've rarely used it outside of boss battles and even then it probably isn't necessary (keeping in mind that I am playing the game on the "normal" difficulty.)

You play the role of Knack (which should be obvious) and he is some sort of creature that was befriended by a boy who has the ability to transform from small cutesy thing that fits into small crevices into a gigantic robot type thing that bashed the crap out of the enemies. When you are smol, you can't really do any damage so you need to be careful to stay out of this transformation mode any time you are in combat - a mistake I made multiple times in battles because I frequently forget which button does what.

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Small Knack's only real purpose is for the puzzle solving portions of the game or to fit into small ducts that lead to the next section or have some sort of collectible in them - if you are into 100% completion - for me, since these treasure finds don't actually change the gameplay at all, I find a lot of it to be a waste of time since I am not really into achievements and only have 1 friend on the PS network.

I think that hardcore gamers, such as the type of people that appreciate Dark Souls and Nioh type games will find Knack to be exceptionally boring because in comparison, it may as well be considered a kids' game due to the fact that it is extremely easy by comparison. For me, this lack of difficulty was the only reason why I played it as long as I did because the game isn't terribly innovative and if it was complicated, I probably would have given up.

The story is somewhat interesting even though it is a well-trodden storyline of evil magic taking over the world and it's up to you to stop it.

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The game is also completely linear, with backtracking to previous areas not being possible, let alone necessary. There is also nothing really in the way of leveling up despite the fact that there is a skill tree. Sure, you gain some new moves but a vast majority of them don't have any practical application so there isn't much reason to get excited about this. The only real changes that matter over time are the upgrades to your overall power but since those come at regular intervals and there is no way to grind to get there faster, everyone will achieve these powerups at exactly the same time unless you actually tried to NOT get the crystals that are sitting in plain sight. Since everyone will acquire these powerups at more or less the same time it doesn't make much sense to me that this is even included in the skill tree.

So basically if you got this game for free it is worth playing as a more casual experience. Kind of like a break from something that is actually challenging.

I do like that the developers almost completely avoided load times and when you do die (which happens mostly because you fell off a cliff - not from enemy attacks) you respawn almost immediately. Also, cutscenes load immediately, and the action resumes in a similarly instant manner.

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The puzzles are easy enough but if for some reason your brain isn't working and you can't figure out something that was designed to be solved by 8 year olds, they will offer you hints after you have been working on it for a certain amount of time. I am ashamed to admit that I have taken advantage of this feature several times and felt really stupid about the fact that I couldn't figure it out on my own.

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Overall I would say that if I had paid for this game I would be recommending that people avoid it but since it was free my opinion is a lot different. It is a decent time-sink that is easy enough that you can "jump in / jump out" and be able to almost immediately remind yourself about the extremely simple control scheme. This sort of ability to not completely devote your attention to a game is something that I appreciate in certain games. This is available to anyone with a PS4 in the "stay at home initiative" and you don't even need a PS Plus account to download it. This being the case, I can't see any particular reason to not play it.