I don't know about spoiled COD/AC/BF gamers, but innovations and new input methods are useless/cumbersome to me.  I grew up loving gaming (Crash BAndicoot, Sonic, Mario, Spyro, gauntlet etc.) because it was both simple and difficult.  But when you mix complex and difficult, gaming is just not FUN anymore.  That is why games like Knack and Ryse are so refreshing for me.

Lets start with Knack.  It reminds me so much of EARLY Crash, Spyro and Mario games.  You don't need to have a comand for all 15 inputs on a controller for a game to be fun.  I HATE the AAA games because If I go on vacation and don't play for a week or so I have to look at the manual to remember the button scheme!  Is this what we as gamers want?  I bought all the classic PS1 games on PS3 and never once did I have to look at manuals, I pressed a few buttons and remembered how to play in seconds.  Knack follows this trend.  It is REALLY difficult but simple.  I saw reviews saying simple was a con, and simple made it boring and there is no innovation.  And I was thinking: "what the hell is up with this new obsession with INNOVATION?"  Unless your in the younger COD generation, innovation is not what made you fall in love with gaming.

Next with Ryse, It reminds me of the gauntlet and the early God of War titles.  AGAIN, simple but challenging.  I don't need 30 powers to choose from, give me a sword and a shield and throw everything you got at me.  IN addition it has an excellent story in my opinion.  So in games like gauntlet and God of War, I expect simple, challenging and story driven.  Not is the gameplay repetitive!  Its set in the Roman Empire for Christ's sake.  If its going to be true to the time period then obviosly the war fighting was done is the SAME way for years, so how can you innovate on reality?  All they had were swords and shields and arrows.  So if they fought wars for YEARS like that, I'm sure for 8-12 hours you can deal with the repetitiveness.

Just my two cents.

Both are great concepts that lack polish.

That said, Ryse gets points for its graphics, story and bad-assery. That is something metacritic won't tell you.

But Dead Rising 3 destroys both. That's the best launch title.

I didn't like Ryse so much, I found it boring. But I did enjoy Knack, I thought it was pretty good. Nothing spectacular but easy to pick up and play just like the OP mentions.

Man, go with wii U and you will be happy.
SM3DW would be a marter piece for you.

I completely agree with you on games not needing to be complex to be fun. In my opinion Outlast is one of the best games on PS4 and it's so simple as far as gameplay, but it's done so well.

As far as Knack and Ryse; I've played only played about half of Knack but what I did play was fun. It's one of those simple attack and dodge mechanics games. It's an art style targeted for kids it shouldn't have complex controls anyway. I haven't played Ryse, so I can't give my opinion on that, but from the videos and reviews I've seen it seems like the lack of enemy variety created a stale game the longer you played. One thing about Knack I noticed was that there were so many different enemy types. Having more variety can go a long way in keeping the gameplay fresh, but you're right games don't need to innovate to be fun games.

Reviewers always take graphics and story into account when rating a game, so I'm not really sure what you mean here

Fair enough. I am saying that while their metas are near identical, most core gamers you approach would prefer Ryse due to those points I mentioned.

That said, that is just my take and hope this doesn't escalate (that goes for others who read this!). These are the flops of our launches people......no need to get defensive here (not you celador but prospective fans).

I haven't played either of them but Ryse seems like the better game from the videos and reviews I have watched and read, so I agree with you there.  I just wondered why you picked that one out as a game where Metacritic doesn't tell the whole story, when really it very rarely, if ever, does.

But that's Metacritics problem, not yours or mine

Ryse is a lot of fun, the MP is a hidden gem no one talks about I'm having a blast with it's MP and I thought the campaign while gameplay might have been repetitive on higher difficulites does offer a challenge to keep me entertained, and graphics whoa nothing else to say.

Knack I have not played but have no doubt it is not nearly as bad as some will lead you to believe I did not get it because I have a feeling it will be the first PS+ retail freebie.