Review of the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series, a long-awaited remaster

Once upon a time there was Klonoa. More precisely, it was 1997, the early PlayStation era continuing to offer gamers pearls that are now ingrained in the collective memory. Calculate: exactly 25 years have passed. And given that the same gamers have been clamoring for a remake, remake, or at least an updated version of the adventures of the weird black cat with very long ears, Bandai Namco has finally decided to please them. In short, these are returns that have been welcomed for months: we recently welcomed Pac-Man Museum+ on almost all consoles.

But let’s go back to Klonoa and back to the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series exactly. It is a bundle of two well-known parts of the series, namely Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (the aforementioned 1997 title for PlayStation 1) and Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil (2001, next released on PlayStation 2). .

It is not at the capacity at that time as it has undergone a good refurbishment. It cannot fully restore the same magic of that impeccable style that accompanied the appearance of the hero for the first time, but it is necessary and sufficient for both today’s and yesterday’s players to enjoy the product, at least with a good graphic and technical sector. .

There is no shortage of real news. But you’ll have to read ours to know everything Review of the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series.

A new graphic design

As mentioned, the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series is one of them. reform Contains two well-known episodes of the series that have been faithfully reproduced by Bandi Namco in terms of gameplay and content, but have been graphically revised and corrected. The title is currently available on any console and PC via Steam, and may even hit the target marked with the magic words “4K and 60fps”. Now, we’re pretty sure that’s the case with PlayStation 5; However, the author completed the main adventure of both episodes on Nintendo Switch, as the appeal of portability was so tempting. And here, keep in mind, 4K is unthinkable even remotely, graphics are around 900p. On the framerate side, however, the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series has always done very well, even without being fixed at 60fps.

In fact, we were convinced of the choices about adaptation. new graphics. Because frankly, it was impossible to reproduce the magical mix of pixel art and world 2.5 from the first PlayStation, as it was on next-gen consoles. Therefore, the artistic direction decided to follow the path of filling, color saturation, caricature of each floor (whereas in the first Klonoa they remained in most cases on a black background). The choice may or may not be liked, but it actually works, allowing anyone who has never heard of the epic to approach it without turning their noses for purely graphic-technical reasons.

Moreover cutscenes The game menus as well as all have been rebuilt from the ground up (yes, always in high definition). These are not always obvious aspects, so it’s good to highlight them.

the content of the refactoring

this the content of the refactoringbut they are not limited to this. Now, the two games remain the same in terms of their offerings; Methods of use vary. For example, various difficulty levels were introduced, from “easy” to “normal” at the beginning. In easy mode, the hero’s maximum hearts are five, the damage is reduced by a third, and the lives are practically infinite, so finishing the game is an impossible task. In Normal mode the challenge is as it once was: Klonoa only has three hearts, damage from enemies is standard, and a game starts with three available lives.

Completing the main quest, then hard modeWhere perks are replaced by evil: those who, in due course, have studied both parts well will likely find their satisfaction here.

It’s also now possible to play both Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil, accompanied by a friend who plays the roles of Huepow and Popka, respectively. Here is the inspiration cooperative mode It should be true from famous examples like Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Odyssey, because the second player actually has a controller, but not to guide a character through levels, but to increase Klonoa’s jumps within the same.

“support jump“(that’s the name of the feature) needs to be recharged after every use, but it’s clear that when used strategically it can be very useful on a platform like Klonoa, making it easier to reach certain platforms that would otherwise need longer spins or careful meditation of resources in the surrounding environment.

A timeless classic

Formula “timeless classicBut how else could Klonoa actually be described? The older ones will certainly have fond memories of these two single returns from their youth; On the other hand, newcomers, black cat does not. I don’t know at all, maybe because of the tag they will wonder and try to save it. You can still agree on one thing, or at least that’s our opinion: both Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2: The Veil of Lunatea still have a sense of being and having fun. The weight of the years is felt only in the individual aspects: the size of the levels and The total duration of individual adventures is two, maximum three hours.

However, try to compare level design, ideas, the use of surrounding enemies and why Klonoa fascinated you when you were young will once again come to you. Each level was and remains very rich in content, including gems to collect, secrets, eggs whose presence can be predicted even on the basis of a shadow on the ground, bosses who need a certain approach. others less. The hero’s only weapon, his ring, is as simple to use as it is effective: Klonoa can’t just “destroy” enemies, he places them inside his ring.

After practically hitting them, he uses them whenever he wants: knocking down a wall, jumping higher, reaching an object far away. Not to mention the carefree and sunny taste complo, so simple that it is not even considered today. Isn’t that simplicity missing too? A simplicity that belongs to a period of our life that is sadly past and therefore lost?