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Topic: Sonic: Lost World (Wii U) and Knack (PS4), two vastly underrated games.

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sub12

After downloading Knack yesterday for the PS4 (despite the many critical reviews saying I should do otherwise), it came to my attention that I share a lot the same feelings for Knack that I had for Sonic: Lost World on the Wii U. As we know, both games were pretty much universally panned, however, I found both titles to be very enjoyable (albeit, I’m still playing through Knack). I am a fan of platformers / beat em’ ups, but despite that, I don’t think these games deserved all of the negativity………are they without flaws? No, but are they decent titles?, Very much so……

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Sonic: Lost World = When you go into a 3D Sonic games, a few things should be expected right off the bat, so it amazes me that after all these years since Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast, people are still complaining about the rudimentary story, the cutesy voice acting, and the bro-tude’. This is a Sonic Game!! It’s going to be colorful, a tad cheesy, and in the end, the gameplay is still a bit of “flash over substance”. Don’t go into Sonic: Lost World expecting uber precise “Mario esque” controls, and you won’t be disappointed. Expect level design that varies from dashes of brilliance to areas of frustration.

I still purchase pretty much every 3D Sonic game, and outside of Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 (which was pretty much broken and had a off-putting aesthetic), I’ve have never really been disappointed. Again, I know what I’m getting myself into, I’m not expecting Super Mario Galaxy 2 perfection, I’m expecting a fast, and even flashier Sonic game that is usually a little rough around the edges.

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Knack = I’ll say first off that I’m only about half way done with this game, by why the universal criticism? The graphics are drop dead gorgeous, the level design can be a tad bit repetitive, but it’s also interesting enough to keep me playing for extended periods……….and lastly, Knack has a very solid and challenging (but simple) mixture of beat em’ and platforming gameplay

Knack the character’s ‘tude can get a bit grating, but I think it’s made up for in the presentation and story (told by beautiful and interesting cut scenes). The side characters are nicely designed, and Knack’s gimmick of “growing in size” is a very cool dynamic that’s fun to play in both the “I'm three feet tall” or the “I’m as tall as a building” modes.

I know some reviews complained about technical hiccups, any maybe they were initially prevalent at launch, but for me?, outside of small periods of slow down during Knack’s “massive size” episodes, I see no problems here, it comes off as a finished and polished product IMO

Edited on by theblackdragon

sub12

beatlesgeorge

My problem when I played Knack is lack of control. You can grow exponentially large, but only to the limitation of that level. Everything is predetermine much like when he becomes wood or ice. I feel that hurt the game for me.

As for Sonic, I have yet to play it but judging on the demo I really enjoyed it. But then again I'm not a huge sonic fan. I only played Generations and Colors. I will definitely try it out if you think its similar to those.

beatlesgeorge

Captain_Toad

Heh sonic I can see mention here but Knack after a demo kiosk was way to linear and boring for my tastes.
You can't even pick up a streetlanp you've knock down.

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beatlesgeorge

Captain_Toad wrote:

Heh sonic I can see mention here but Knack after a demo kiosk was way to linear and boring for my tastes.
You can't even pick up a streetlanp you've knock down.

lol that would have been fun.

beatlesgeorge

sub12

Captain_Toad wrote:

Heh sonic I can see mention here but Knack after a demo kiosk was way to linear and boring for my tastes.
You can't even pick up a streetlanp you've knock down.

So far I’m enjoying Knack, although I do agree that the use of physical objects (outside of tanks, etc) would be cool to pummel the baddies with.

The gameplay is simple, but is that a bad thing? It’s also challenging on normal mode, which makes you actually think about how you should approach the larger fights (who to attack first and in which order, should you use the special move or not?, etc.).

sub12

MrWalkieTalkie

After playing through Knack, me and my brother agree that it's simply WAY too repetitive. Also it's story was a bit lost. The main characters just seem to keep switching their main objective.

While Sonic Lost World at least had some variety throughout it's levels, the story was incredibly bland and things just felt missing. And the crontrols a tad bit frustrating.

But in the end, both games hold some special place in our hearts as we did enjoy them far more than critics gave em credit for.

Edited on by MrWalkieTalkie

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sub12

MrWalkieTalkie wrote:

After playing through Knack, me and my brother agree that it's simply WAY too repetitive. Also it's story was a bit lost. The main characters just seem to keep switching their main objective.

While Sonic Lost World at least had some variety throughout it's levels, the story was incredibly bland and things just felt missing.

But in the end, both games hold some special place in our hearts as we did enjoy them far more than critics gave em credit for.

I agree that both games have faults, but your last sentence hits the mark IMO.

sub12

Knux

Two games that I still need to buy.

Knux

Raylax

Protip for a happy internet life: Enjoy the things that you enjoy and don't let yourself be concerned by the opinions or 'general consensus' of other people, especially those people whose opinions you've never been concerned about previously.

This is why I'm rarely on the console boards of this forum - I like to enjoy a game without having 30 other people explain to me exactly why the game is much better / worse than I've personally decided it is

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WebHead

Sonic just can't win nowadays can he?

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sub12

WebHead wrote:

Sonic just can't win nowadays can he?

lol, true, whichever way Sonic Team tries to switch up the gameplay, someone is bound to complain,......but now it's almost trendy to say Sonic sucks.

sub12

JetForceSetGrind

There are better 3D platformers, including from the same devs.

JetForceSetGrind

Blast

Knack didn't receive well because most people think its a tech demo that's not worth 60 dollars and was better off as a PSN game for 15 bucks. If you like the game then fine. Heck, there's nothing wrong with that.
Sonic Lost World got slammed because too many people think it had sloppy controls.

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SCRAPPER392

I'd rather have Sonic.

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kkslider5552000

as would I. Knack from even the more optimistic sources seems to indicate it is our traditional overhyped launch title. Doesn't help that it seems much more like every top-down console beat-em-up I've ever played rather than the 3d platformer it was supposed to be.

...also helps that Lost World is a game I already own on a console I already own of course, but I trust post-Unleashed Sonic Team fairly well and I want to screw with people by playing the mixed opinion Sonic 3D game over the universally beloved Mario game.

Edited on by kkslider5552000

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shingi_70

Sonics problem I felt that it didn't at up the strengths of colors and Generations. Sega's stuck where you don't want the hyper fast gameplay of colors 3D sonic, but don't want slow platforming. LW was an okay step at making a 3D platformer that's fast but rewards delbirate platforming while having stuff for speed runners.

Knack's problem its a PS1 game that takes its story and art ques from the post prince of Egypt and pre train your dragon DreamWorks.

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cookiex

I tried a kiosk demo for Knack the week after PS4 came out (disappointingly it was the only PS4 game you could try out in the store) and it was dull. I couldn't even bother finishing the demo level.

The eShop demo I tried for SLW was okay, but I can't say it warrants a purchase for me.

Edited on by cookiex

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CanisWolfred

Raylax wrote:

I like to enjoy a game without having 30 other people explain to me exactly why the game is much better / worse than I've personally decided it is

You had me until this sentence. It's one thing to enjoy something despite its flaws. Everything has some and acknowledging those flaws helps you understand your tastes and the tastes of others more. But with that sentence you've told me that you would rather not be told why a differing opinion from your own. That's the opposite of understanding. If you can't enjoy something once you realize it has flaws you never thought of, you're gonna have a bad time. Personally, I would much rather hear the "haters" out than shove my fingers in my ears yelling "La La La La La", since to me, knowing that those problems didn't bother me before tells me more about my own tolerances and allows me to understand myself better.

I know that's not what you're trying to say, I'm just saying that you contradicted yourself with your own advice. There's no need to be bothered by other people having a different opinion than you is what you're trying to say. IMO, you should've just stopped at "Not letting yourslef be bothered by other peoples' opinions" - You've already had your experience, you've formed your opinion based on that experience, and no one can change what already happened.

Edited on by CanisWolfred

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RancidVomit86

From what I played of Sonic Lost World I thought it was a good game.

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MasterHiggins

I rate the Spongebob game higher too especially after playing it with my 5 year old.

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