6. Pixar-like Charming Story
Its apparent from the opening scene that Japan Studio is trying to emulate the tried and true animation style of pretty much any high production value animated feature of the past decade. Furthermore, these animated scenes make up a sizeable portion of the Knack experience. Doctor (thats exactly what he goes by) has created a living being from assembling ancient geometrically shaped relics together that cohesively form a body. He calls this being Knack, and more importantly, his greatest creation. With Knack, Doctor hopes to have created a militarized weapon that can change the tide of the war between humans and goblins. To say thats Knacks envisioning of a fantastical world filled with goblins is a bit formulaic for the genre is unfortunately accurate, but the story does succeed with interesting characters and more mature plot points that both children and adults can enjoy. For example, a decent amount of the story deals with Doctor mourning the death of his wife. Children may not wholly connect with the themes, but the bond between Lucas Doctors young and adventurous nephew- and Knack will keep youngsters hooked. Knacks voice is also hilariously deep and initially feels completely out of place, but simultaneously just charmingly works. Its not something I can explain but its immediately noticeable. My only problem with Knacks story is the lack of any climactic payoff. Individual scenes consistently entertain throughout the game, but when its over theres not much to remember. The bigger picture falls short in some areas but mostly, Knack is a welcome tale that mostly succeeds in doing some neat things with video game narratives.