Welcome to our review of Klonoa Phantasy Reverie, a true classic brought back to life!
Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series brings back “Klonoa: Door to Phantomile” and “Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil” remastered in one collection to fans new and old. Get ready to set off on an adventure to save the world! Released initially in 1997 by Namco, Klonoa is a side-scrolling platformer featuring a colorful character roster and vibrant game world, it’s up to you as Klonoa to embark on a journey to save Phantomile.
For the franchise’s momentous twenty-fifth birthday, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil are receiving the remaster treatment in a two-in-one set—titled KLONOA Phantasy Reverie Series slated to hit the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation5, PlayStation4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Steam. We played the game on Xbox Series X as that is my personal favourite console of the moment.
The graphics have received an elegant revamp while Klonoa’s beloved world and classic gameplay have been faithfully preserved. The remaster also features an adjustable difficulty level, allowing franchise newcomers to delve right into the action, and long-time fans to get reacquainted with ease.
Klonoa holds a rather special place in my collector’s heart as it is one of the games that I always wanted to own. I did acquire it over the years of collecting, but somehow it has always flown under the figurative radar and I never got around to playing it. When this collection was announced, I did doubt to put the game on my backlog or to just wait and see what the remaster brings to the table.
I am glad I did decide to wait, not just because I tend to dislike motion controls of the WII, I just prefer my controller. Upon starting the game, it was clear that Bandai Namco did an amazing job with the upgrade of the graphics, very smooth and crisp to the touch. I am surprised at how fluent this game appears on screen, it almost feels like a brand new game.
Klonoa not only feels like a new game, but it just plays very well too. Now I should mention the controls do take a few tries to get right, that double jump off of an enemy, while easy after a few levels, more tedious at first. Another thing I should mention as well, the approach to 3D is kind of weird and when the ground turns left, the entire playfield turns the same way. It took some getting used to, but I guess it has its charm?
In itself, Klonoa is a basic side scroller, very high Mario vibes and I mean that in the good way. The action slowly gets harder, the platforming as well. A Superb game that got a bomb of a remaster. If anything, I would say that the games should have been a lot longer, so you could enjoy them a lot more and that is basically it. The downside to a game being it not long enough. What a luxury right? Well, the both games do add up to around 10 hours total, but it still feels like it is not enough.
In conclusion, Klonoa Phantasy Reverie is really one of the best remakes I have seen in a long time in the platforming genre. A Strong 9/10 for sure!
9/10
Tested on Xbox Series X
