Why Is There A Knack 2? Mark Cerny Explains

When the original Knack came out in 2013, it had a mixed reaction. The game sold pretty well with over a million units out for the door, making it a solid premiere title for the PlayStation 4. However, it also had its fair share of critics, who felt it was too shallow compared to other platformers on the market. Me? I liked it.

And so, we're now getting a Knack 2, which was announced late last year during the PlayStation Experience press conference…and some fans can't help but wonder, "Why?!" Well, there's actually a good explanation for that.

Speaking with IGN, creative director Mark Cerny explained that the creation for the sequel came from the overflow of ideas that didn't make it into the original game. "Well, the reason we are making a sequel to Knack is just that the team had a whole lot of ideas that they just didn't manage to get into the first game. So, in a very real sense, what you're seeing with Knack 2 are the items that ended up on the cutting room floor."

On top of that, lead level designer Kenji Sakai chimed in about the sequel, noting that the team was really in love with the idea of Knack. "We knew there were so many things we could have done with this unique character made of parts, so we did all of these experiments. Some of those ideas were really great, and we wanted to share those experiences with users. That really motivated us to keep going with Knack 2."

In fact, "work started even before we had gotten official approval for Knack 2," according to art director Yoshiaki Yamaguchi. Fortunately, Sony felt compelled to give it the green light.

But not everything was easygoing when it came to the development of the original Knack – although that led to the sequel, eventually. Game director Takamitsu Iijimae explained, "That meant we had a limited amount of time, and the deadlines came before we could figure out how to implement some of the ideas we wanted to include. So I've always had a strong desire to revisit the Knack IP with a sequel."

You can check out some fresh new gameplay from the sequel in the video above, posted by IGN.

Knack 2 will be making its way to PlayStation 4 on September 5th.