Magical magical very special game wow. There’s some legit alchemy going on at Namco with how well every aspect of this game from the art direction to the stage design to the music to the story to the everything coalesces into this perfectly-realized experience. It’s not a particularly complex game or anything but it’s just sooo satisfying to simply exist in, the 2.5D gimmick really does wonders in making each level feel like a genuine space. It’s weird because the actual stage layouts are quite video game-y but they never feel like empty backdrops for platforming, those are all real, tangible places where my buddy Klonoa lives! I feel like most conversation around Klonoa (the game, not the sweet wahoo boy) tend to focus on the big late-game tonal shift—and I get why, it’s incredibly memorable and effective. But I worry that overshadows just how memorable and effective everything else here is too. This game just has a one-of-a-kind vibrancy to it that I find really captivating. But if you’re reading this you either already know what I’m talking about or you haven’t played Klonoa yet, in which case: go fix that right now!
Recently played this one on the Phantasy reverie series.
Being a big fan of videogame "dream-walker" mascots likeNights, Rayman, Kirby, ecc.... I was already expecting to find a similar charm while trying Klonoa.
And... yup I wasn't wrong. Klonoa has a lot of things that ties the quality of its title to other similar mascots on the market: you got the oniric environments and music of Nights into Dreams, the floatiness and bubbly platforming of Rayman games, and eve the contrast between whimsical and surprisingly darker tones present in the Kirby games..... also Klonoa's adorable speech and scrunkly lingo reminds me of these other platforming mascot, it's adorable when talks gibberish.
It's one of the first platformers to combines the 2D scrolling with 3D environments, leading to level designs and puzzle solving that are really interesting, and abke to make the experience stand out.
Though I gotta say, sometimes this type of level design doesn't always hit, as platforms and interactible objects can blend with the background or lead unprecies throws, especially if you are gotta shoot at a thing on the horizon.
The game can als be kinda brutal when it comes ito it's puzzle solving and platforming, particularly on the later stages, as a single mistake can result in the immediate lost of a life. Difficulty in platformes like this is always welcomed in my opinion, but sometimes this can contrast too much with the more cozy gameplay of other parts of the game (One of the final puzzles sepcifically, the one with two birds that can result kinda tedious since it leaves you with a really small time window to execute it).
The overall story, while kinda short in lenght, also took me by surprise: it has a mostly cozy and xhildish vibe to it, but it's not afraid to showcase more nightmarish scenarios, both in some character design (I love how Ghadius just seems taken from another game entirely), and in some istances in the story.
Overall I can totally see why it is considered a classic. I personally don't consider it the best platformer of its generation, but it is a really charming expericne, and a great introduction for a beloved platforming mascot. Give it a shot if you want!
Being a big fan of videogame "dream-walker" mascots likeNights, Rayman, Kirby, ecc.... I was already expecting to find a similar charm while trying Klonoa.
And... yup I wasn't wrong. Klonoa has a lot of things that ties the quality of its title to other similar mascots on the market: you got the oniric environments and music of Nights into Dreams, the floatiness and bubbly platforming of Rayman games, and eve the contrast between whimsical and surprisingly darker tones present in the Kirby games..... also Klonoa's adorable speech and scrunkly lingo reminds me of these other platforming mascot, it's adorable when talks gibberish.
It's one of the first platformers to combines the 2D scrolling with 3D environments, leading to level designs and puzzle solving that are really interesting, and abke to make the experience stand out.
Though I gotta say, sometimes this type of level design doesn't always hit, as platforms and interactible objects can blend with the background or lead unprecies throws, especially if you are gotta shoot at a thing on the horizon.
The game can als be kinda brutal when it comes ito it's puzzle solving and platforming, particularly on the later stages, as a single mistake can result in the immediate lost of a life. Difficulty in platformes like this is always welcomed in my opinion, but sometimes this can contrast too much with the more cozy gameplay of other parts of the game (One of the final puzzles sepcifically, the one with two birds that can result kinda tedious since it leaves you with a really small time window to execute it).
The overall story, while kinda short in lenght, also took me by surprise: it has a mostly cozy and xhildish vibe to it, but it's not afraid to showcase more nightmarish scenarios, both in some character design (I love how Ghadius just seems taken from another game entirely), and in some istances in the story.
Overall I can totally see why it is considered a classic. I personally don't consider it the best platformer of its generation, but it is a really charming expericne, and a great introduction for a beloved platforming mascot. Give it a shot if you want!