Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series (2022)

I always heard good things about the Klonoa series. It's the kind of game that isn't exactly mainstream, but not that underground either. The kind of stuff that you have to play if you actually care about games. So when Namco finally made a remake of both games, I decided to purchase it and finally try it out.

And then I forgot about it and kept it on my shelf for like two years anyway here's my review.

Back in the 90s, video game companies were obsessed with having their own mascot. Everybody wanted to be the next Mario or Sonic, so companies started to develop tons of games starring silly little guys they could plaster on the cover. It's been three decades since, and despite the quality of the originals, people are starting to get nostalgic over the mascots they grew up with, and to capitalize on this nostalgia, companies are starting to remake them

While I originally planned to talk about the two games separately, they're actually very similar, so I think treating them as two chapters of the same story is best. Yes, it's still pretty obvious that these are two completely separate games that came out 4 years apart, but the remake does a great job homogenizing them, doing its best so they fit together seamlessly.

In the Klonoa series, you play as Klonoa, a silly little cabbit who travels from dream to dream saving all the people inside. As a dream traveler, people can call for his aid and he'll show up to save their world from any imminent danger. While he doesn't get much character development, I feel like this is done on purpose, as the games are more about the worlds you're saving rather than Klonoa himself. He's more like a force of nature rather than a character.

For me, the story is the weakest part of the series, as it's all over the place, and can suddenly turn super serious. While it's interesting to see each new world and learn their history and characters, there's a huge tonal dissonance between the story being told and the "wahoo!"-style of gameplay that comes immediately after. It's impossible for me to take the game seriously, especially in the first one.

Klonoa plays like a 2D sidescroller, but takes place in a 3D environment. This was a pretty novel idea back in 1997, and still hasn't been replicated as often as you'd think. Paths twist and bend in 3D space, intersecting each other and making the levels feel open and exciting. The puzzles and bosses all take advantage of this new dimension as well. The designers made the most out of this concept every time they could, and they did it flawlessly.

Honestly, I don't really know how to feel about this game gameplay-wise. A lot of the time the level design can feel weird and unintuitive, and trying to land certain jumps can be clunky, weird and even frustrating. It's not hard per se, but a ton of cheap deaths await you in these games, and there's a lot of room for improvement in these aspects.

And yet... I couldn't stop playing. Something about the momentum-based movement just hooked me in and made me continue every single time. Klonoa's moveset revolves completely around picking up enemies and throwing them in different directions. And despite having no other abilities, this single action is strong enough to carry the entire game on its back. I hate to admit it, but despite all its flaws, I had a blast playing through these games.

While I really like the presentation of the game, I couldn't help but notice it felt somewhat... cheap. Klonoa has a very strong and defined graphical style, so it's gonna look good no matter what, and the soundtrack is really nice to listen too. It's just that something about the whole thing feels a little off, like they didn't have enough budget for the game.

The voice acting, however, is completely fucked. It fluctuates between clean audio clips for your character in gameplay, and old, crusty audio files from two decades ago for the cutscenes. I appreciate the developers trying to preserve the original vision but it's super inconsistent and very, very noticeable when it happens.

In conclusion: I had a lot of fun playing through the two main Klonoa games. Overall, the games are very flawed. The level design can be frustrating, movement can feel clunky and unfair, and the first game's story gave me actual whiplash... but I just can't bring myself to say they're bad. It has a very fun gameplay loop, and I just couldn't stop playing. I finally get why people are nostalgic for this franchise, and if I played them when I was a kid, I'd definitely be nostalgic too. 8/10

When I reviewed Door to Phantomile five years ago, I said it would have been "twice as fun if it replaced its 'lives' with a more forgiving checkpoint system." The Phantasy Reverie Series' "Easy" mode grants that wish, and both games in this collection are so much better for it. Now I can play these as true puzzle platformers, experimenting with level traversal without constantly sweating my life count. I love it!

There are other, smaller improvements I appreciate. You can fast-forward (or skip) the glacially-paced cut scenes. There are boss explanations, which really come in handy for some of the more obtuse battles. And to my surprise, the retooled visuals won me over: The games look beautiful and feel very consistent with one another, it's really a treat to play them back to back.

While the games themselves are not without flaws and I'd love to see some behind-the-scenes material included, this is unquestionably my new favorite way to play these unique platforming gems. Let's hope a GBA collection won't be far behind.

(Played on Switch with an imported physical copy)

When I accepted a review code for this game I expected a sweet and easy experience. Something to relax a little between "bigger" games. After all, how complicated could be a game about a cool... rabbit? cat? That I enjoyed as a kid.

I don't know why I keep understimating how hardcore gamers we were as kids, because the final levels of Klonoa and its sequel kept kicking my ass and the limited lives forced me to go over and over again the same extremely long levels. I could have played it on easy with infinite lives, but I'm just an idiot.

Anyway. Lovely couple of games with great level design, some unexpectedly clever puzzle-platform sections and a nonsense plot that was more tragic than expected. You can read my full review in spanish here.

Both games look good, but I really miss the low-poly and cel-shaded aesthetics of the classics. I wish this compilation let us play with the original graphics.