When comparing Knack 2 vs Overcooked 2, the Slant community recommends Knack 2 for most people. In the question“What are the best couch/local co-op games for PS4?” Knack 2 is ranked 27th while Overcooked 2 is ranked 28th. The most important reason people chose Knack 2 is:
Having two players on screen amps up the action and adds some fun new gameplay mechanics. You'll add a few new moves to your arsenal such as kicking your friend around, or bodyslamming them into enemies. Pushing your friend off the edge or watching them miss a platforming jump can also be quite funny. Thankfully, they respawn right next to you so you'll never have to wait for them to catch back up to you. If one player is having a particular issue with a tough section of platforming, you can just complete it and then warp your friend to your location. Nobody has to feel left out, and it keeps the action moving along at a steady pace.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Great co-op mode
Having two players on screen amps up the action and adds some fun new gameplay mechanics. You'll add a few new moves to your arsenal such as kicking your friend around, or bodyslamming them into enemies. Pushing your friend off the edge or watching them miss a platforming jump can also be quite funny. Thankfully, they respawn right next to you so you'll never have to wait for them to catch back up to you. If one player is having a particular issue with a tough section of platforming, you can just complete it and then warp your friend to your location. Nobody has to feel left out, and it keeps the action moving along at a steady pace.
Pro Difficulty level feels just right
The platforming and puzzle solving feels like just the right amount of difficulty without being overly frustrating. Most environmental puzzles and challenges have pretty clear solutions while still requiring you think a bit. Most of the challenge stems from being able to execute the jumping or other platforming mechanics just right, as opposed to trying to decipher cryptic or unintuitive jumping schemes. If you fail, checkpoints are usually nearby, so you rarely ever have to replay much.
Pro Solid gameplay with interesting platforming elements
Knack 2 has all the goodies and puzzles of most platformers - moving platforms, traps, tricky jumps, and pushing blocks onto pressure switches. But, what makes it interesting is that Knack can change his size and use various elemental armors to solve the environmental puzzles you encounter.
If there's a small doorway or opening, you can shrink yourself to fit. If there's moving gear puzzles, you can freeze them in place with your ice armor to open and close passageways. You can also make a stone version of yourself to depress pressure plates. You can only jump so many platforms before gameplay starts to feel stale, so the addition of these clever mechanics is a refreshing change and helps keep you interested until the end.
Pro Engaging mix of enemies
There's a good mix of enemies, and the game likes to change them up often enough to where adjusting your strategy is necessary. For example, some may have an electrical shield that will have to be disabled before you can hit them. Other enemies will throw projectiles at you which have to be dodged. Some carry heavy shields that you have to break before you can damage them. Each one requires a different strategy and use of your abilities. All in all, there's enough variety in enemy types to keep you engaged and keep the fighting fresh throughout your run.
Pro Simple to pick up and learn
Whether you played the first Overcooked or not, Overcooked 2 is easy to figure out right from the get-go. The recipes for each dish are familiar even if you're not much of a chef, so you can remember which raw ingredients you need as you make your way around the kitchen and work with your co-op partner(s). Once you play a few rounds, you should have a good handle on things, helping you focus on getting everything done as quickly as possible from there on out.
Pro Hilariously fun couch and online co-op for up to four players
Playing Overcooked 2 with friends is the best. There's so much going on at once in the kitchen, with barriers moving in your way, hazards popping up like cars in the middle of the road separating the two halves of your area, and ingredients, dishes, and half-prepared dishes to move from one place to another. Working together and communicating with your friends through couch co-op or online play is a constant stream of laughter and excited shouting as you mess up, learn, and hopefully get things done. If you don't have anyone to play with, then you can hop online for matchmaking instead.
Pro Fast and frantic cooking action
Overcooked 2 is really fast-paced and keeps you on your toes. You play as a chef in a crazy kitchen with a ton of things going on all at once, with you mixing, preparing, and cooking in between the chaos of moving platforms and environmental obstacles. There's a time limit constantly ticking down at the bottom of the screen; finishing your tasks on time or ahead of schedule earns you a better score in the end. Tossing ingredients to your teammates across the kitchen, or across the moving platforms or obstacles like bodies of water, is a fresh new addition in this game that wasn't in the first Overcooked, making things even faster this time around. It's such a manic yet well-done mix of many different genres and ideas that all come together in the best ways.
Cons
Con Characters are underdeveloped
Knack, the main playable character, seemingly only serves to pummel enemies and platform around the levels. He has very little personality, oftentimes only uttering generic lines such as "let's do this!". Additionally, he never seems to build up any kind of relationship with his human buddy, the protagonist Lucas. In fact, there's barely any meaningful interaction or dialogue between the two at all. This underdevelopment makes it really hard to have any connection with the characters.
Con Can be incredibly frustrating
Trying to work at such a fast pace with so many obstacles and general mayhem going on at once can wear on you after a while. There's a lot to keep track of at once, and it's easy for things to spiral out of control as your mistakes pile up. If your group isn't doing well and you're running out of time, you might find yourself losing your patience with your team and yelling at them. This might not be the game for you if you don't have a team that's willing to be patient and cooperative with each other, even when you're not doing so well during a particular round.
Con Single-player isn't as fun as co-op
If you only want to play alone, then Overcooked 2 might not be the best game to pick. All the fast-paced fun from co-op mostly comes from communicating with your team and trying to pull off your task together before the time runs out. You control two characters at once while playing alone, but this still lacks the team-based chaos that makes the game so addicting. You could instead go online for matchmaking, though you might get paired with people who don't want to talk or work as an actual team.
Con The controls are a bit sluggish
There's something about the controls that feels heavy and deliberate, and not necessarily in a good way. The feeling goes against the fast-paced nature of the gameplay that demands you in one place and then the next. If you played the first Overcooked, you may notice the difference right away. This change shouldn't be too much of a hassle, though it's still noticeable.