This game rules. i love all the dialogue. klonoa is finding out what kind of person he is by going out in the world and growing up and just trying to come to terms with why guntz is such an asshole and i found that really endearing
this shit was damn good but started to get tiring and repetitive as it went out. lasted like twice as long as I expected. but very surprisingly good otherwise !
This game has some of the best writing in the series and is also just really fun anyway
A minimap would make this game 10x better and I'm not kidding.
Replayed the game now thanks to the English patch where now I also understand the plot and other things of the gameplay, a very fun game in some repetitive sides, but I think it is precisely a test game given its RPG nature as opposed to the traditional platform, all in all really a solid and good game
It's fine overall and even has some interesting ideas. However starting from Volk the enemies get kinda spongey and the stages take too long so the game gets kinda tedious.
Also being a jrpg, it has a lot of dialogue compared to the usual klonoa games, but sadly it doesn't do much more from the usual jrpg cliches.
Also being a jrpg, it has a lot of dialogue compared to the usual klonoa games, but sadly it doesn't do much more from the usual jrpg cliches.
This is a game that, I'll admit, if you played it like you would a handlheld game, as in... short spurts as you're riding the bus/train, etc, then it becomes a perfectly good 7/10 that'll last you a very long time.
If you played it like me though, beating it over a weekend and playing very long sessions at a time... you'll become quickly tired of it, with how drawn-out the level design feels especially, and how non-varied the gameplay is, and considering the fact the game is only in english via a translation patch, thus mostly requiring an emulator to play... that's most likely how you'll end up playing it.
It is saved by the cute artstyle and portraits, and the various character interactions are wonderful too, it's just... a very repetitive game.
If you played it like me though, beating it over a weekend and playing very long sessions at a time... you'll become quickly tired of it, with how drawn-out the level design feels especially, and how non-varied the gameplay is, and considering the fact the game is only in english via a translation patch, thus mostly requiring an emulator to play... that's most likely how you'll end up playing it.
It is saved by the cute artstyle and portraits, and the various character interactions are wonderful too, it's just... a very repetitive game.
Simultaneously peak and mid.
Peak mid, if you will.
The writing is extremely cute and charming, yet it is obviously juvenile in a way the console games aren't. Guntz's arc is solid and more mature than the rest of the game, but the game doesn't go any deeper than a Power Rangers show. Still, the writing is very funny and very earnest. I found myself smiling a lot at the dialogue and there were moments that I found genuinely moving, though the intended audience is squarely for children rather than the all-ages mature writing of DtP and LV.
The fan translations insistence on making the dialogue swear-heavy is very stupid, though, and single-handedly justifies localization as a concept if fans shove in four letter swears into a very Rated E game.
The music is either really dinky and simple or inexplicably very good tracks (ignoring the tracks from other games) with highlights being the vocal theme and the moon area's theme.
I enjoy the gameplay...kind of. The weapon diversity is really fun to play around with, and I like how each character has their own gimmick. The color gimmick is actively detrimental, though, and more often than not puts the player in unfair situations in cases of enemy groups with mixed colors. Since you're forced to have each attack button locked to a specific color, this locks move variety for every character that isn't Klonoa and even then he would appreciate a lot more move diversity in some of his weapons.
There's a lot of other decisions that are baffling like the OBNOXIOUS level curve, mashing being the enforced way to optimize combat, the existence of the healing enemy in a lot of room layouts including as a summonable mook for the final boss that can fully heal the guy if you're unlucky and don't have a special move prepared, and the lack of i-frames giving some enemies like the Shield Moos the ability to kill you VERY quickly.
If you play this, just level Klonoa and Guntz. This way the level curve is anywhere near tolerable without 10 hours of overall grinding. While Pango is enjoyable, his usefulness unfortunately falls off hard and all his weapons do the same thing.
Overall, Klonoa Heroes was an experience I enjoyed but the game also got on my nerves so badly I had to put this down for four months before picking it up again. I really do think an ARPG game would work very well for Klonoa. Mature the writing and make it more in line with the console games; get rid of all the jank that makes the game more limiting and unfair than it needs to be; and don't make every single boss have 3000 HP and have so much defense the fights last for 10 minutes with minimal variation. Do this and there's very solid potential for a stellar entry into the series.
As-is, only play this if you have extreme patience for grinding and GBA jank. You don't lose a lot of the experience watching an LP instead.
Peak mid, if you will.
The writing is extremely cute and charming, yet it is obviously juvenile in a way the console games aren't. Guntz's arc is solid and more mature than the rest of the game, but the game doesn't go any deeper than a Power Rangers show. Still, the writing is very funny and very earnest. I found myself smiling a lot at the dialogue and there were moments that I found genuinely moving, though the intended audience is squarely for children rather than the all-ages mature writing of DtP and LV.
The fan translations insistence on making the dialogue swear-heavy is very stupid, though, and single-handedly justifies localization as a concept if fans shove in four letter swears into a very Rated E game.
The music is either really dinky and simple or inexplicably very good tracks (ignoring the tracks from other games) with highlights being the vocal theme and the moon area's theme.
I enjoy the gameplay...kind of. The weapon diversity is really fun to play around with, and I like how each character has their own gimmick. The color gimmick is actively detrimental, though, and more often than not puts the player in unfair situations in cases of enemy groups with mixed colors. Since you're forced to have each attack button locked to a specific color, this locks move variety for every character that isn't Klonoa and even then he would appreciate a lot more move diversity in some of his weapons.
There's a lot of other decisions that are baffling like the OBNOXIOUS level curve, mashing being the enforced way to optimize combat, the existence of the healing enemy in a lot of room layouts including as a summonable mook for the final boss that can fully heal the guy if you're unlucky and don't have a special move prepared, and the lack of i-frames giving some enemies like the Shield Moos the ability to kill you VERY quickly.
If you play this, just level Klonoa and Guntz. This way the level curve is anywhere near tolerable without 10 hours of overall grinding. While Pango is enjoyable, his usefulness unfortunately falls off hard and all his weapons do the same thing.
Overall, Klonoa Heroes was an experience I enjoyed but the game also got on my nerves so badly I had to put this down for four months before picking it up again. I really do think an ARPG game would work very well for Klonoa. Mature the writing and make it more in line with the console games; get rid of all the jank that makes the game more limiting and unfair than it needs to be; and don't make every single boss have 3000 HP and have so much defense the fights last for 10 minutes with minimal variation. Do this and there's very solid potential for a stellar entry into the series.
As-is, only play this if you have extreme patience for grinding and GBA jank. You don't lose a lot of the experience watching an LP instead.
Voglio premiare il design che come al solito in klonoa raggiunge un certo picco, anche se non come negli altri titoli, oltre a ciò aggiungo il fatto che sia comunque godibile, più che altro non ha la forza creativa degli altri Klonoa
I wish I could say this game is worth your time, but to preface: I really don't think it is. I guess being the last non-localized Klonoa game doesn't automatically make you good. I am still glad that the game got translated for those who care though.
Gameplay gets repetitive extremely quickly. There's a handful of weapon types to try as you go through the game, but the game runs on the same principles throughout. You have three types of attacks: red, blue, and yellow. Red/blue attacks are your standard attacks, you can only deal damage to enemies with red health bars using red attacks, and vice versa for blue. Yellow is your special attack(s), which requires SP from your SP meter to use. Enemies with yellow health bars can only be damaged by special attacks. If you have no SP, you have two options: down a drink that refills your SP gauge, or attack the otherwise invincible enemies until your meter is adequately filled. You do this for generic maze-like levels that only really differ in visuals. Each area tends to have at least one unique property to it, but they're mostly negligible.
I think the most critical flaw of Klonoa Heroes is the grinding. It trickles down into the rest of the game's mechanics. If your level isn't high enough, you won't have very many stat points to apply to your equipment. In that case, you might consider sacrificing points in one stat to put into another, but your character really just needs to be firing on all cylinders at all times. Sacrifice agility, and none of your attacks will land, enemies can more easily land crits on you. Lowering your self-defense is self-explanatory. Lowering your attack/special stats can make fighting enemies extremely tedious, or downright impossible. Cap this off with a pitiful EXP gain rate, and the game just becomes a complete slog. There was this part in area 5 that I think was supposed to be "the grand return of Gantz", but I had to spend the entire 5-6 room long chapter weaving around enemies. No matter how I allocated my stats, I either died instantly, couldn't hit anything, or dealt poor damage. And to add insult to injury, dying kicks you out of a stage completely, and halves your current money total, which is complete overkill in a game that requires you to grind so much. I'm glad the game lets you save between rooms; Whenever I died, I just soft reset to save myself the extra grind.
As for the story, it's honestly kinda weird. The premise seems to be a soft reboot of sorts, reusing characters and concepts from all across the Klonoa games, recontextualizing them for its own story. While I feel like the story is a bit typical, I actually really enjoy how they use the character portraits. There's a lot of effort to convey different emotions, and even actions to a certain degree. It's creative and admirable.
Overall, this game just transformed into something overly drawn out for no real reason, and I don't really have the desire to keep playing it. It kinda sucks, because I like most other Klonoa games. I guess there was a good reason why the series went into its first hiatus after this game's release.
Massive props to the OST though. A lot of good GBA renditions here, my personal favorite being the one of Volk City from Klonoa 2.
Gameplay gets repetitive extremely quickly. There's a handful of weapon types to try as you go through the game, but the game runs on the same principles throughout. You have three types of attacks: red, blue, and yellow. Red/blue attacks are your standard attacks, you can only deal damage to enemies with red health bars using red attacks, and vice versa for blue. Yellow is your special attack(s), which requires SP from your SP meter to use. Enemies with yellow health bars can only be damaged by special attacks. If you have no SP, you have two options: down a drink that refills your SP gauge, or attack the otherwise invincible enemies until your meter is adequately filled. You do this for generic maze-like levels that only really differ in visuals. Each area tends to have at least one unique property to it, but they're mostly negligible.
I think the most critical flaw of Klonoa Heroes is the grinding. It trickles down into the rest of the game's mechanics. If your level isn't high enough, you won't have very many stat points to apply to your equipment. In that case, you might consider sacrificing points in one stat to put into another, but your character really just needs to be firing on all cylinders at all times. Sacrifice agility, and none of your attacks will land, enemies can more easily land crits on you. Lowering your self-defense is self-explanatory. Lowering your attack/special stats can make fighting enemies extremely tedious, or downright impossible. Cap this off with a pitiful EXP gain rate, and the game just becomes a complete slog. There was this part in area 5 that I think was supposed to be "the grand return of Gantz", but I had to spend the entire 5-6 room long chapter weaving around enemies. No matter how I allocated my stats, I either died instantly, couldn't hit anything, or dealt poor damage. And to add insult to injury, dying kicks you out of a stage completely, and halves your current money total, which is complete overkill in a game that requires you to grind so much. I'm glad the game lets you save between rooms; Whenever I died, I just soft reset to save myself the extra grind.
As for the story, it's honestly kinda weird. The premise seems to be a soft reboot of sorts, reusing characters and concepts from all across the Klonoa games, recontextualizing them for its own story. While I feel like the story is a bit typical, I actually really enjoy how they use the character portraits. There's a lot of effort to convey different emotions, and even actions to a certain degree. It's creative and admirable.
Overall, this game just transformed into something overly drawn out for no real reason, and I don't really have the desire to keep playing it. It kinda sucks, because I like most other Klonoa games. I guess there was a good reason why the series went into its first hiatus after this game's release.
Massive props to the OST though. A lot of good GBA renditions here, my personal favorite being the one of Volk City from Klonoa 2.
This review contains spoilers
I stumbled upon the fan translation that gives the game the full English experience for me to understand what was happening in the story and gameplay. And it's a pretty damn good game overall I must admit and one of my top favorite Klonoa games.
Story: This is a full reboot of the series at the time, where the same characters are in a new alternate universe that combines Klonoa 1, 2, and a hint of Dream champ tournament into one full world while still being fresh.
In this universe, there are hero medals that signify a certified hero that ranks up based on certain actions. And Klonoa's dream is to have one and become a hero as well. Klonoa and Chipple find a rare flower that brings good luck if it ever blooms but barely does. Klonoa plans on giving it to Lolo, his childhood friend who's an Apprentice Priestess that just got accepted to study at the sky temple. However, that was interrupted when the road to Bell hill was blocked by monsters and that's where the priest is supposed to pick her up. Klonoa being the kind-hearted friend wants to help her dash out the monsters to reach bell hill.
While doing so he stumbles across a cocky gun-wielding hero named Guntz who beats up Klonoa and takes the flower for himself as a reward. Once Klonoa came back to have a rematch with Guntz and won. Guntz can see what potential this kid has as a hero and partner, in which he requests him if he wants to come with him on an adventure. Klonoa sees this as an opportunity of stepping closer to his dream of being a hero, and so he agrees to join while being nervous at the same time. Later on, the duo came across the treasure hunter Janga who Guntz has personal beef in the past, and ditches Klonoa to go after him.
During this, Klonoa meets a relaxing yet tough hero Pango, who's is trying to find a cure for his son's sleeping disease, and decided to tag along with him for the time being. They later made it to the sky temple when reaching the top Klonoa finally has a hero medal and has officially become a hero with the lowest rank so far. Out of nowhere, the devious clown Joka appears and kidnaps Lolo so they can use her to revive a rumor of ancient evil. And it seems that Janga is part of this plan as well. So it's up to Klonoa, Pango, and potentially Guntz to save Lolo, find a cure for Pango's son, and stop Joka & Janga from committing this plan.
The story as a whole is pretty simplistic and does follow most JRPGs tropes but it's still fun regardless. The trio of Klonoa, Pango, and Guntz bounce off each other pretty damn well. Both Klonoa and Guntz have pretty decent arcs throughout the plot. With Guntz being very cold and greedy he has moments that are pretty shocking and somewhat heartless to a person that comes out and genuinely cares for his peers and doesn't let his hatred for Janga get in the way while still being a cocky, foul mouth bastard (actually was shocked for how much he curses in this game lol). Klonoa is a lot different compared to previous games, he's a lot more immature and childish but still has that kind-heartedness and his arc of becoming his own as a hero through sheer determination is such a treat. And Pango is such a chad bro. The game talks of themes of what it means to be a hero, the corruption of being one, and to keep moving forward. It's not the best GBA story but for what it trying to pull off it ain't half bad.
Gameplay: It's a top-down view action RPG. The combat revolves around attack in the corresponding color(blue and red) with the weapon of your choosing. You also build a special meter by holding the A and later on the B button to do some massive damage and kill the enemies with yellow health bars. Since it's an RPG you level up and gain stat bars, which can stack up your stats based on the choice of which stat you want to improve like Strength, Special, Defense, and Agility through the weapons and armors that you choose.
Klonoa weapons are a mix of range and melee like swords, hammers, rings that shoot orbs, boomerangs, etc. Guntz is all about that range like dual-wielding guns, bazookas, Multi Rocket launchers, Laser guns, etc. Pango is Bomberman with many explosives like bombs, big bombs, and grenades. I love the many weapons to choose from by buying in the shop. There are also things to equip that give you enchantments and items to buy that heal and increase your special bar along with other things.
The bosses are also pretty damn good with the expectation of one I don't like revisiting. They have patterns that are pretty challenging and keep bringing out the next attack they pull out in their next phase. And they use the combat at its best in my opinion with many attacks that need the corresponding color.
The combat feels very fun to just plow through the enemies through it does feel repetitive at times but it does shake things up in each world with a variety of enemies (though most of them are recolors) and the game reasonably gets harder over time. There are also other parts of the game which are the puzzle and diving suit levels. I quite enjoyed the puzzle levels as a nice change of pace where u take out green bugs and get the keys without being caught by one of them. The diving suits are a hit and miss for me. I like how they magnet gold and exp but the controls are very slippery that the later levels with them are unbearable sometimes. Especially when one of them is the only level in the whole game that has a time limit. Forgot to mention the Mamett Dolls, they are mini medals of this game where you either collect them randomly or go to Momett's house to fight previous bosses that are tougher than before. And gain rewards based on the amount you have.
So overall the gameplay is pretty solid with decent combat, customization, and some variety for better and worse.
Presentation- The sprites look pretty great and are very well detailed, same with the backgrounds. The music is alright with five tracks I like at best. But this is the GBA we are talking about. The main theme of the game called Sign of a Hero is the highlight and a banger in my opinion. The cutscenes are portrayed in a VN style but the movement of the portraits makes them pretty dynamic and interesting throughout.
Issues- Later on in the game, the Agility stat becomes important with enemies dodging your attacks despite hitting them on contact and it gets annoying real quick. Switching items feel pretty awkward with just pressing the L button. It needs a map because I can get lost very easily in the later levels. And not much post-game content or replayability after beating the main game outside of beating harder versions of the bosses through Momett's house as I said.
Conclusion- Honestly would've mind if Klonoa Heroes continued as a spin-off RPG series from the main games that could've expanded on everything. But Namco shot the Klonoa series dead for 14 years until we have the announcement for the new remakes of 1 & 2 that could potentially sell well and maybe make the series survive for another decade. Just let Klonoa keep moving forward to a higher and better future Namco.
Story: This is a full reboot of the series at the time, where the same characters are in a new alternate universe that combines Klonoa 1, 2, and a hint of Dream champ tournament into one full world while still being fresh.
In this universe, there are hero medals that signify a certified hero that ranks up based on certain actions. And Klonoa's dream is to have one and become a hero as well. Klonoa and Chipple find a rare flower that brings good luck if it ever blooms but barely does. Klonoa plans on giving it to Lolo, his childhood friend who's an Apprentice Priestess that just got accepted to study at the sky temple. However, that was interrupted when the road to Bell hill was blocked by monsters and that's where the priest is supposed to pick her up. Klonoa being the kind-hearted friend wants to help her dash out the monsters to reach bell hill.
While doing so he stumbles across a cocky gun-wielding hero named Guntz who beats up Klonoa and takes the flower for himself as a reward. Once Klonoa came back to have a rematch with Guntz and won. Guntz can see what potential this kid has as a hero and partner, in which he requests him if he wants to come with him on an adventure. Klonoa sees this as an opportunity of stepping closer to his dream of being a hero, and so he agrees to join while being nervous at the same time. Later on, the duo came across the treasure hunter Janga who Guntz has personal beef in the past, and ditches Klonoa to go after him.
During this, Klonoa meets a relaxing yet tough hero Pango, who's is trying to find a cure for his son's sleeping disease, and decided to tag along with him for the time being. They later made it to the sky temple when reaching the top Klonoa finally has a hero medal and has officially become a hero with the lowest rank so far. Out of nowhere, the devious clown Joka appears and kidnaps Lolo so they can use her to revive a rumor of ancient evil. And it seems that Janga is part of this plan as well. So it's up to Klonoa, Pango, and potentially Guntz to save Lolo, find a cure for Pango's son, and stop Joka & Janga from committing this plan.
The story as a whole is pretty simplistic and does follow most JRPGs tropes but it's still fun regardless. The trio of Klonoa, Pango, and Guntz bounce off each other pretty damn well. Both Klonoa and Guntz have pretty decent arcs throughout the plot. With Guntz being very cold and greedy he has moments that are pretty shocking and somewhat heartless to a person that comes out and genuinely cares for his peers and doesn't let his hatred for Janga get in the way while still being a cocky, foul mouth bastard (actually was shocked for how much he curses in this game lol). Klonoa is a lot different compared to previous games, he's a lot more immature and childish but still has that kind-heartedness and his arc of becoming his own as a hero through sheer determination is such a treat. And Pango is such a chad bro. The game talks of themes of what it means to be a hero, the corruption of being one, and to keep moving forward. It's not the best GBA story but for what it trying to pull off it ain't half bad.
Gameplay: It's a top-down view action RPG. The combat revolves around attack in the corresponding color(blue and red) with the weapon of your choosing. You also build a special meter by holding the A and later on the B button to do some massive damage and kill the enemies with yellow health bars. Since it's an RPG you level up and gain stat bars, which can stack up your stats based on the choice of which stat you want to improve like Strength, Special, Defense, and Agility through the weapons and armors that you choose.
Klonoa weapons are a mix of range and melee like swords, hammers, rings that shoot orbs, boomerangs, etc. Guntz is all about that range like dual-wielding guns, bazookas, Multi Rocket launchers, Laser guns, etc. Pango is Bomberman with many explosives like bombs, big bombs, and grenades. I love the many weapons to choose from by buying in the shop. There are also things to equip that give you enchantments and items to buy that heal and increase your special bar along with other things.
The bosses are also pretty damn good with the expectation of one I don't like revisiting. They have patterns that are pretty challenging and keep bringing out the next attack they pull out in their next phase. And they use the combat at its best in my opinion with many attacks that need the corresponding color.
The combat feels very fun to just plow through the enemies through it does feel repetitive at times but it does shake things up in each world with a variety of enemies (though most of them are recolors) and the game reasonably gets harder over time. There are also other parts of the game which are the puzzle and diving suit levels. I quite enjoyed the puzzle levels as a nice change of pace where u take out green bugs and get the keys without being caught by one of them. The diving suits are a hit and miss for me. I like how they magnet gold and exp but the controls are very slippery that the later levels with them are unbearable sometimes. Especially when one of them is the only level in the whole game that has a time limit. Forgot to mention the Mamett Dolls, they are mini medals of this game where you either collect them randomly or go to Momett's house to fight previous bosses that are tougher than before. And gain rewards based on the amount you have.
So overall the gameplay is pretty solid with decent combat, customization, and some variety for better and worse.
Presentation- The sprites look pretty great and are very well detailed, same with the backgrounds. The music is alright with five tracks I like at best. But this is the GBA we are talking about. The main theme of the game called Sign of a Hero is the highlight and a banger in my opinion. The cutscenes are portrayed in a VN style but the movement of the portraits makes them pretty dynamic and interesting throughout.
Issues- Later on in the game, the Agility stat becomes important with enemies dodging your attacks despite hitting them on contact and it gets annoying real quick. Switching items feel pretty awkward with just pressing the L button. It needs a map because I can get lost very easily in the later levels. And not much post-game content or replayability after beating the main game outside of beating harder versions of the bosses through Momett's house as I said.
Conclusion- Honestly would've mind if Klonoa Heroes continued as a spin-off RPG series from the main games that could've expanded on everything. But Namco shot the Klonoa series dead for 14 years until we have the announcement for the new remakes of 1 & 2 that could potentially sell well and maybe make the series survive for another decade. Just let Klonoa keep moving forward to a higher and better future Namco.