klonoa 1 is an INCREDIBLY special videogame. it prides itself on its dreamy visuals, cozy vibes and unique platforming mechanics: the wind bullet is a joy to use and the game also makes use of its 2.5d nature in a super interesting way that ive never seen done before. stages are a constantly unfolding diarama of fun puzzle platforming and by the end of the game, phantomile really feels like a living, breathing world that you've traversed through.
but what really makes this game special in my opinion is its ridiculously cruel ending sequence. throughout the game, ur friend huepow helps u platform by literally being the wind in ur sails-he's the wind bullet that allows u to inflate and use enemies for progressing through levels. he's also klonoa's best friend. he comes off as a bit cold early on but you can really see him warm up to klonoa and see him as a friend. but the thing is that its all a lie. klonoa's from a different world entirely disconnected from phantomile. he was needed to bring balance to the world so he was brought in by huepow and given fake memories in order to be motivated to save the world. this is all revealed to the poor kid right in the final cutscene of the game and he's just SHATTERED.
he refuses to accept the truth. but at that point, he's forced out of phantomile. he gets sucked into the vortex while crying and screaming and all huepow can do is try and fail to pull him back. its so so fucking depressing and it seems like pointless tragedy at first glance, but the way this connects to the second game makes it all worth it i think
im still floored by the boldness of the devs to end such a warm and friendly kid's game in such a cruel way. incredible stuff