Among Sony’s franchises from the past few console generations, dexterity is easily the most frowned upon. Intended as a PS4 successor to Activision ownership Crash Bandicoot games that defined the early PlayStation years, this action platformer suffered from a lack of clear direction and many poor design choices. It didn’t help that Sony decided to support dexterity up as a major PS4 launch title in response to accusations of too many AAA first-person shooters. The game came out in November 2013 to widespread disappointment, and most PlayStation owners have now glossed over it in favor of other platformers and action games on the market.
However, Sony and the developer Japan Studio wanted to give dexterity another try. handsome 2 was announced during the December 2016 PlayStation Experience and was released on September 5, 2017, officially marking it five years old at the time of writing. The announcement was mainly confused because of the poor reception of handsome 1, and the game’s release came to the attention of some console owners. However, a look at the ratings for the two dexterity games indicated that something had changed between them. For those who have played both, handsome 2 is almost universally regarded as better than its predecessor, and it appears that an attempt has been made to dexterity into a memorable PlayStation franchise.
Knack 1 was forgettable
To understand what handsome 2 I’m right, unfortunately it is necessary to think about everything handsome 1 did wrong. From the beginning there is Knack itself. Knack is a golem made of many small relics and has three general shapes depending on how many relics there are in him at any given time. This seems like a promising idea, with Katamari Damacy is mentioned as a source of inspiration and the design for the little Knack is attractive. Unfortunately, it quickly gives way to visual noise, as Knack was created to show how the PS4 can display many small objects at once rather than being a solid character design. What’s worse is that the player has almost no control over the size of Knack, which robs the concept of real gameplay applications.
Tragically, that’s a good way to describe dexterity As a whole. Levels are long and repetitive with scant checkpoints, and the difficulty is frustratingly high. Despite being billed as a platformer along the lines of Crash Bandicootjumping is so less emphasized that dexterity instead ends on a simple beat-’em-up. Most enemies have attacks that can perform a small Knack in one go, and health retrieval is rare. Players can bring a friend to make things easier, but player two can’t use every mechanic. All the while, the gameplay is regularly interrupted by cutscenes featuring a guaranteed cast of boring humans, robots, and bizarrely implemented goblins. As the icing on the cake, there are collectible relics that basically require you to get pieces from online friends to unlock alternate playstyles. dexterity comes across as boring rather than laughably bad, the result of a poor understanding of what its genre identity entails.
Knack 2 was what Knack should always have been
There was no demand for more dexterity, and there weren’t many more depths to reach either. How and why handsome 2 exists is a mystery, and generally the public had the right to dismiss it casually. But now that it’s been out for five years and retails for just a few bucks, those looking for an old-school action-platformer might want to pick it up. handsome 2 executes all its gameplay ideas better than the first one dexterity, even if the story and online integration are still a mess. It feels like handsome 2 channels the PS2 God of War 1because it now has built-in combat options, more diverse and balanced enemy encounters, and even expanded platforming and puzzle solving where the first game often forgot to have one.
handsome 2 almost comes across as an apology for the first game. The concept of Knack being in control of its size has finally been integrated into the gameplay, and it allows for much more player involvement in navigating the linear levels. Puzzles and vehicles interrupt the action, and even the occasional gimmick transformation with Iron of Ice provides an entertaining visual variation in Knack’s attacks. A skill tree keeps the action fresh, even after hours of play, and handsome 2 shows a serious attempt to mimic hack-and-slash tropes by having a Vergil-esque boss and elite enemies emulate Knack’s moves. There’s even regenerative health and fully integrated local multiplayer to ensure the player is always the dominant force. The game isn’t exceptional enough to rise above an 8/10 in the eyes of most reviewers, but that’s a huge step forward handsome 1‘s abundant 4, 5 and 6/10 scores.
Is there hope for another talent?
Unfortunately, demonstrating competence was not enough to mitigate the magnitude of disaster dexteritywas the first outing. The dexterity franchise has almost completely died, with a Astro’s playroom Bot unfortunately played with Knack’s pieces as the last entry. That may have been the farewell to some of the franchise’s Japan Studio staff, as several staff members around the time of playroom‘s release and its remains were eventually absorbed into Astro Bot developer Team Asobi. This studio may be the best option to continue with the dexterity franchise, but with Astro Bot rapidly gaining popularity, there is no practical reason for it.
It’s also a shame, because Sony’s platform offers plenty of room for mascot platformers. The PS5 doesn’t have many big-name platform games anymore Astro’s playroom, Sackboy: a great adventureand Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Of Sly Cooper absent, nothing else comes now to scratch that itch. If Team Asobi is next Astro Bot platformer is aimed at PSVR2, then it will not reach the same audience as a normal release. Even though the dexterity name has been tarnished, it still has a lot of untapped potential, along with the promise of a new setting and story focus at the end of handsome 2. There is still room for a retro 3D action platformer on the market, and the combination of dexterityThe potential of Team Asobi, the talent of Team Asobi and a partial rebrand can really turn heads.
handsome 2 is now available on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
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