Knack 2 Critic Reviews

The newly added depth to not only your offensive attacks, but also your defensive options allows battles to feel fresh and rewarding.

If you're looking for a great platformer to play on your own or with friends, this is the one for you. It's fun and it looks gorgeous, filled with combat that provides lots of options to defeat the goblins and the robots.

Knack 2 is an improvement on the first game in every way possible. Mark Cerny and his team have proven that they can take criticism, iterate on it, and then give players even more for their money than was expected.

If Knack’s track record has you worried, I’ll say this; Mark Cerny and company heard the complaints, and this is their response. Knack 2 is all fast-paced action and dramatic plot twists and tight, skillful platforming. It’s not perfect, but it makes a compelling case for the character platformer as a genre. In this era of first-person shooters and gritty action games, that’s a victory unto itself.

Leaving its predecessors legacy far behind, Knack has seriously grown up and become the platformer we deserved all along.

Knack II is the sequel no one expected to see, yet everyone should consider playing, especially if they are fond of Ratchet & Clank, Jak and Daxter, and Crash Bandicoot.

Knack II considerably improves the formula of its predecessor by including, among other things, a fun cooperative game system and a greater number of moves to execute with Knack. However, the story it offers is not so original and the game can be repetitive at times.

While the original game was more of a showcase of what the PS4 was capable of, Knack 2 is a more thoughtful, well-rounded experience.

Knack II fixes many of the problems of its predecessor, delivering a fun action-platformer worthy of giving this series a second chance. The story is still a bit bare-boned, but the gameplay alone will be enough to keep you going until you see the end credits.

In the absence of an epic tale, a torrent of doodads to collect, or some time-devouring crafting system — all the fixtures big business gaming says you need to survive today — Knack 2 just works.

Knack 2 surpasses the original with fun puzzles, a lot of variety and decent combat. The developers clearly listened to the feedback they received and changed almost every aspect of their game for the better. Hats off.

Who would have thought it? Knack 2 is a genuinely great game. The huge breadth of combat options on offer make for a far better experience than anything the initial outing could ever offer, and with a much bigger focus on platforming, the title can start to lay claim to the promises of a Crash Bandicoot successor. Even if you were completely turned off by the original adventure, make sure you give Knack 2 a fair shot because what you find may pleasantly surprise you.

The thing that surprised me most about Knack 2 was how the experience got better as I kept going. The first few missions can be slow, but once the story and combat got their hooks in I found myself having a blast with the game.

Knack 2 is a bright and breezy action romp that keeps up its breathless pace throughout its runtime. Its well-trodden gameplay beats are far from revolutionary, but it is undoubtedly accomplished, and redeems much of what the first game managed to somehow get so wrong. A surprise and a somewhat guilty delight.

When you get down to brass tacks and scattered relics, Knack 2 is a nostalgic, if somewhat sterile, throwback to the happy-go-lucky titles we were getting in droves during the late ‘90s and early 2000s.

The voice acting is superb, as is the dialogue. This is a well-written game about a group of heroes trying to fend off archaic robots built by goblin elders. It’s all voiced and performed well, which is important when you’re trying to hook gamers into buying the adventure you are selling. The start of the story is a bit slow moving, but by the second act you’ll find a good story waiting for you.

Knack 2 makes better use of its protagonist's abilities – and like any good sequel, throws a few more into the mix – but there isn't much story to support the revamped gameplay. Even so, excellent sound and level design get Knack over the line.

Forget the previous part and give Knack 2 a chance. It proves capable of making a comeback against all odds. Although some features may remind you of the first game too much or are a little too childish, Knack 2 is a good game for both young and old.

Knack II completely eclipses its predecessor with a revamped combat system, gorgeous visuals, and a new focus on platforming and puzzles.

While Knack remains an uninspired protagonist, Knack II’s gameplay more than makes up for his bland character. Vast improvements in combat, visual fidelity, platforming, and the addition of cooperative play realize much of the potential the original Knack was meant to achieve. Knack II is a fine example of how a sequel can improve on its predecessor in nearly every way.