Klonoa Fan Club ~ Phantasy Reverie Series OUT NOW! Demo on eshop! Rupurudu!

Last edited by Barnsy! on Mon Jul 18, 2022 2:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I was desperate to play this day one and was looking forward to this for months - but didn't end up playing it until this weekend :fp:

First couple of visions from the first game cleared, very early impressions; I like this a lot!

- Platformers are my favourite games, there's some platformers I love it but generally listen to a podcast or something while I play it (Kaze on replay, one of my favourite games falls into this category - the platformings great but the characters, worlds and enemies aren't that inspired) - Klanoa however deserves my full attention! I really like slipping into the skin of my Klanoa avatar [gross] and hanging out in the world; I like the colourful graphics, lovable characters and the vibrant world gives it a fuzzy vibe.

- So far its decently challenging, it has a very Nintendo difficulty scale. The base game of getting from the start to end should be achievable for most players, but 100%-ing is a lot more challenging. This isn't a criticism, but I've had to revisit a level to get all the items - the way the path curves and overlaps and goes off in different directions I've been unsure which is the direct path to get to the end of the level and which is the optional path to pick up collectables and I think I've been locked out of backtracking - I'm not sure I maybe wrong about this?

- Its crazy to think this game came out in '97 seems quite a head of its time, paths visible in the background that you can get to later in the game, the ability to not just throw enrmies in the 2d plane but also across the fore/back grounds is very cool. I hadn't heard of this IP before this compilation was announced but I can see why it has an enthusiastic cult following. I wonder if [like Crash after the remakes were released] we'll get a new game at some point?

- In terms of this compilation package - its cool. I like that you can fast forward the cutscenes pressing 'R' (I don't think I've seen that in games before apart from the text, most games you either have to skip or sit through the whole thing). I'm a big fan of platformers that have X [the most up button] as the jumping button as default (I'm thinking BotW and not many others) feels more natural to me than 'A' or 'B'. It would have been cool if mid game you could switch been remastered and original graphics like with the Alex Kidd remaster, or even just have the original games available at all.

But yeah, its pretty great so far

Barnsy! wrote:...First couple of visions from the first game cleared, very early impressions; I like this a lot!... its pretty great so far

Glad you're enjoying it, Barnsy. Another satisfied Klonoa Club member :toot:

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Barnsy! wrote:...Alex the Kidd...

...but I'm still gonna have to make a thread ban request because of this

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jawa_ wrote:
Barnsy! wrote:...Alex the Kidd...

...but I'm still gonna have to make a thread ban request because of this .

Everytime

. Arghhhh, I even know [after it being pointed out here before] it's Alex Kidd now. I used call one of my best mates 'Alex the Kidd' all the time as well. I've sneakily edited my post now, but you know 'gate, horse and bolted'!

...

. I reckon most people do actually say Alex The Kidd :lol:

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There's the Barnsy post we've been waiting for!

I've been expecting you to post your first impressions since release and the longer it has taken, the more I've been worried you actually hate it or something :lol:

I'm glad that isn't the case and that you're enjoying it!

Barnsy! wrote:the way the path curves and overlaps and goes off in different directions I've been unsure which is the direct path to get to the end of the level and which is the optional path to pick up collectables and I think I've been locked out of backtracking - I'm not sure I maybe wrong about this?

Yeah you can definitely get locked out, although if you deliberately kill yourself you can always respawn at the last checkpoint. The signposting of what is and isn't progress isn't perfect, but you can usually tell if you're about to be prevented from returning once you get familiar with the game(s). I definitely agree on the difficulty assessment of easy to complete but with the challenge being in the collectables! It's almost three levels - getting to the end of the level (easy), finding all the people (medium), collecting all the gems in one run (hard).

Well colour me a teensy bit disappointed

I can definitely see that song being divisive :lol:

It was in a PS2 Taiko no Tatsujin game which looked pretty cool!

I love the hoverboard levels though, they are my favourite parts of Klonoa 2!

OrangeRKN wrote:I can definitely see that song being divisive It was in a PS2 Taiko no Tatsujin game which looked pretty cool!

I love the hoverboard levels though, they are my favourite parts of Klonoa 2!

The hoverboard isn’t unfun I just really like ice levels

OrangeRKN wrote:There's the Barnsy post we've been waiting for!

I've been expecting you to post your first impressions since release and the longer it has taken, the more I've been worried you actually hate it or something I'm glad that isn't the case and that you're enjoying it!

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Finished Vision 3-2, which was probably my favourite stage so far. I've been not moving on until I've collected everything from each stage so far - but the difficulty is ranking up (beat the boss of 3-2 with 0 lives and one hit left), so I think for the remaining levels I'm going to get most items and polish the rest off later.

Also, I love that Klanoa has a pac-man cap

Honestly I think Klonoa is my favourite platformer mascot design. The cap is a not insignificant part of that :lol:

Barnsy! wrote:Also, I love that Klanoa has a pac-man cap

I haven't even got the game and I love that Klonoa has a Pac-Man cap :toot:

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Tried the demo of this yesterday. Out of interest OR what's your favourite of the Klonoa art-styles/aesthetics? I was watching some videos recently and reckon there's about four? The 2D-sprite original, the cel-shaded, the Wii one with its more prominent shadows and then this with its bright and vivid colour?

deathofcows wrote:Out of interest OR what's your favourite of the Klonoa art-styles/aesthetics?

Not this one, unfortunately. It's not bad but I find it quite bland in comparison, be it against the stronger cel-shading of Klonoa 2 or the sprites against early 3D of the first game (although this version of Klonoa 1 is better than the Wii remake at least). There's also less character to the menu and UI elements in this remaster, although that's getting into the specifics rather than a judgment on the overall art style!

This person did an update title screen comparison, the timestamps/chapters make it easy to jump between all three version of the first game:

The wii one is using the English dub voice for the wahoo which is the most criminal part, but that aside you can notice some other differences - like the subtle but significant syncing of the title letters flying in against the music, which is only timed correctly in the PS1 original.

One of the things that might sound quite minor but stands out to me in both games in this remaster is the look of the portals that enemies sometimes respawn from. In the original games these were bright blue swirls (in the first as a sprite, in the second as sfx but keeping a similar appearance). In these remakes they are very dark black portals which don't stand out nearly as much.

I did boot up the first game on Vita last week for comparison and yeah I think it is the best looking version still, the sprites against low poly look is just a really strong one and the lower detail and resolution makes the environments feel more full. I think that's a problem a lot of remasters have, in that faithful recreation of areas makes them feel sparser when scaled up in detail but without adding anything in.

I don't dislike any of Klonoa's art styles, even the wii game which I'd rank lowest is still fine looking! I have a soft spot for Empire of Dreams on GBA (I think you're ignoring those games in your art style list which is fair enough), but as a 2D game that lacks the interesting central hook of 2.5D. As I don't own the original PS2 Klonoa 2 and haven't played that in a long time, I'll have to give my vote to the PS1 original. I still think it holds up today - obviously old but still novel.

Any thoughts on the demo anyway?

Finish 4th Vision;

Grandpa

and that's 2 done as well

good games. i has made me interested in meeting part of the design team

Glad you like them anyway shy guy :lol:

Also sorry for the emotional pain Barnsy

I should love this game, on paper it’s right up my street. But the controls just feel …horrible? So slippery. gooseberry fool just spawns out of nowhere and hurts you and I find it really difficult to distinguish background from foreground.

Hound wrote:I should love this game, on paper it’s right up my street. But the controls just feel …horrible? So slippery. gooseberry fool just spawns out of nowhere and hurts you and I find it really difficult to distinguish background from foreground.

To be honest, I've had a bit of trouble with distinguishing background and foreground too (perhaps the original cell shaded art gave a better sense of depth maybe?). Its a me issue rather than the game but there's been a couple of times where I've tried to jump to a platform that was actually in the background. I have had a bit of trouble judging where to throw enemies into the background so I hit switches and items, timing and precision has been a bit difficult for me in the more intense boss fights.

Reading that makes me think about how cool a 3DS port would have been

OrangeRKN wrote:Reading that makes me think about how cool a 3DS port would have been

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That would have been amazing! Having Klonoa run round the interconnected 3D environment where the paths loop round in actual 3D, the bits where paths run perpendicular to each other and the environment shifts around Klonoa, and seeing enemies flying off into the well distinguished backgrounds :wub:

Klonoa Fan Club ~ Phantasy Reverie Series OUT NOW! Demo on eshop! Rupurudu!

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