Released in 1997, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile is a 2.5D platformer for the Playstation. In it, you take control of the titular character Klonoa as he goes on an adventure to rid the dreamland of Phantomile of the evil Ghadius, who’s trying to turn the world into a land of nightmares.
Developed and published by Namco, the game was directed by Hideo Yoshizawa, who is best known for his work on the original Ninja Gaiden trilogy. In the mid to late 90’s, Yoshizawa grew interested in creating a cinematic platformer that featured more storytelling than what had long been standard in the genre.
Upon its release Klonoa received rave reviews, with critics like Ron Dulin from Gamespot praising its visuals and lack of repetitive gameplay. Similarly, IGN would go on to give the title their “Editor’s Choice” award and even claim that Klonoa was “arguably the best (platformer) on the market”
But… Does it hold up? And, seeing as Namco is interested in the franchise again (thanks to their decision to remaster/remake Klonoa and Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil for the Nintendo Switch/Xbox Series X/PS5 in the Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Series), how does it shape up when compared to what the genre has been up to lately?
Thanks to InfiniteComboReviews for the cameo. Check out his stuff over at:
Chapters:
00:00 – Cold Open
2:31 – Intro
8:00 – Question of the Day
8:52 – The Basics (Gameplay Review)
13:00 – The Execution (The monomyth, digging deeper)
31:12 – The Wii-make (A… review of the Wii version?)
37:50 – So does Klonoa: Door to Phantomile hold up? What would my “dream” Klonoa game be like?
43:28 – Outro
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NichePlays is a retro gaming review, discussion, appreciation channel by Nicholas Caesar, a writer and video editor from New Jersey. In each of his videos, Nicholas tries to mix his love of comedy and pop culture with the video essay/game review format in a way that is part Girlfriend Reviews, Scott the Woz and Cinemassacre, and part Game Sack, SomeCallMeJohnny, and StopSkeletonsFromFighting. His favorite consoles include the Nintendo Switch, Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Oh and he (I, let’s not kid ourselves) tries to do it in a fun, approachable and level headed way. Because like, they’re games. It probably isn’t that deep.
#Klonoa #Playstation #Retrogaming #retrogames #nintendowii
20 Comments
NichePlays
2 years agoHey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this review! The next one on deck might be another 4 (hopefully not 5) weeks away as it’s proving to be my longest video ever and is an episode of A Positive Spin dedicated to Back to the Future for the NES!
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show more show lessMike Ritiques
2 years agoFor me when I see if a game holds up its simple. Is this game enjoyable? Are there certain things holding it back.
show more show lessEg clunky controls, slow jrpg battles, limited continues. That sort of thing.
All the games I cover are from a non nostalgic point of view so I've kinda got used to how older games have played. However I don't like the point of view that you should force yourself to like something because its influential. For example Ocarina of Time doesnt even crack my top 5 zeldas. NES games I especially struggle to get into.
RealZealAndroid
2 years agofor the life of me you cant spend 45 minutes of someones life bitching about a game and then say that you liked it/recommend it thats not how reviews works. such wimpy clickbait
Mittens Lamar
2 years agoIf I was IGN I’d say this is a 20/10, sir. Seriously, great video as always. ❤️
Shamaboy
2 years agoAs someone who never grew up with Klonoa. Playing Klonoa 1 few years ago, I definitely feel that this series pushes 2.5D to its limit whether we are talking about visuals or level design. I can’t think of many modern platformers that that really push 2.5D outside of just visuals. I feel with this reason alone that Klonoa still stands out to me to this day.
What I also think what makes Klonoa special to me is just how the story, characters, and overall themes makes it feel a adventure that resonates with people all ages and thats especially impressive for a platformer in 1997 when most games still didn’t care about giving you a good stories at that time before Metal Gear Solid 1 knocked at our doors.
Overall, I’m happy that new Klonoa 1+2 remaster is coming out on all supported platforms this time. I hope many people give this series a shot
show more show lessMackinnie
2 years agolong story about how you didn’t get this classic ps1 game. Did you even write this yourself? You millennials are a bit too young to understand great games like this one. And fyi the “bonkers” animation you made fun of in Sonic Adventure DX wasn’t even bad. It’s just matched to the far superior Japanese voice over for the game and not the western one
show more show lessblueG
2 years agoAww yeah Klonoa, used to love this game. Such a fun world and the 2.5d felt mind blowing at the time.
I remember it taking a good 4-5 trips to Blockbuster before the one copy they had was finally in stock, was definitely worth the wait.
Vance Vagell
2 years agoQotd: if the game has fundamentally fun mechanics and gameplay loop, and isn't trapped in it's era with drudgery (like sparse save points, one hit death, etc.), I think that's what keeps it replayable forever. Great video as always!
H.D. Beird
2 years agoGame looks alright, but yeah, NiGHTS definitely sells the whole Dream thing better. But I would say that, cause NiGHTS is my fave game
NightMaren Nemo
2 years agoI do agree with you in saying the game could take advantage of the dream world setting which is essencially what they did near the end of the game. regardless i still think the ps1 game is absoulutley beautiful with its graphics. jugpot falls and is one of many favorites
Little Nemo The Dream Master and the Nemo arcade game are 2 games that do capture that dream world setting quite well in surreal level design more so with the NES game
show more show lessCharlie Username
2 years agore QOTD:
My biggest consideration is how approachable the game is from the start, and how accessible it is to play throughout.
For example: jumping into Shantae 1 (GBC) or Zelda 1 (NES) is ROUGH. because unless you've memorized the game, you're gonna need a map or a guide next to you if you want to get through the game without dying a lot. And when all you wanna do is jump into a game and get to the fun, that's quite a hurdle to have to deal with. And it becomes an even harder sell when (for exampe), games like Shantae and the Pirate's Curse and Link to the Past have in-game maps, Quest markers, and a snappier UI to get you from menus to gameplay quicker.
Compare these two examples to games like Mega Man 2 or Secret of Mana, where you can jump in, have the game clearly lay out what you're supposed to do and how you're supposed to do it. There are no peripheral obstacles that get in between the player and the fun. I believe the differences between these examples highlight the distinction between an "old game" and a "dated game."
show more show lessInfiniteComboReviews
2 years agoI totally forgot that I did a bit for this video XD
Joplin Rice
2 years agoBig fan of your videos and excited to watch this one. I just beat Klonoa for the first time thisyear on my Vita and I am working through Klonoa 2 on my PS2. They are absolutely incredible games!
GameMasterHerb
2 years agogreat video and i think there's a reason Klonoa never caught on a ton, even if it is great.
if you like the way this game looks, plays and crave a modern branch of this sort of game, check out Demon Turf:Neon Splash
Glitch Hunting Gamer
2 years agoI always find it difficult to low effort comment on your videos because they are always so we'll constructed and thorough.
This was a franchise that was lost in the mascot era for me. After watching this I think it would be a relaxing play time.
You overall positive video makes me want to put it on my list. Anyone who thinks you are destroying their childhood have missed details in the video or just did not watch.
show more show lessjellyg0d
2 years agoReally nice video as usual! I forgot to comment when I finally watched it this weekend but as usual I enjoyed your take on this game a lot. The PS1 version really does look fun and I wish we owned it back then. But there’s always the upcoming Switch version to check out. Apparently it will come with difficulty settings which is nice.
As to your QOTD I dont really have any metrics. Some games are tough to replay when you’re aware of all the QoL updates of later entries but that doesn’t necessarily mean a game doesn’t hold up imo
show more show lessVERISIMILITUDE
2 years agoAmazing intro!!!! Doctor Shlock’s Klonoa Goa Emporium!!!😂😂😂😂
VERISIMILITUDE
2 years agoVery similar, but not the one owned by Nintendo!!!😂😂😂
Samantha Decante
2 years agoFunny review!
Leo Hendrix
2 years agoIt’s klobin time