It’s been a long time since the last time I played this saga, probably somewhat around 20 years ago but I always wanted to return to both Phantomile and Lunatea, something got stuck in my head and those were lovely memories from easier and past times. Now let’s jump to the year 2022, the impossible happened, Klonoa is coming back with a remastered version of the main two games, Door to Phantomile and Lunatea’s Veil, with this Phantasy Reverie collection. Is it worth your time? Do they still hold up for modern standards? Let’s find out.

Let’s start talking about both stories with Door to Phantomile which is the beginning of our story. We are Klonoa, a young boy from Breezegale, a small village from Phantomile. One day we experience a strange dream in which a strange ring drops from the sky and a strange entity appears, Huepow. To your surprise it seems that it wasn’t a dream and it really happened but things are about to start now, a strange aircraft crashes near your village, once you go inspect the incident you discover a strange figure and its minion are kidnapping a little girl, our mission will be saving her as we discover the truth of what’s going on.

We don’t know what happened after our adventures in Phantomile, however, we are about to start a new adventure in a new land, Lunatea. We wake up in this world without knowing what happened but we (as players) know we are being observed by someone. Almost immediately after you wake up, both Lolo and Popka, our new friends in this adventure, will tell us where we are, who we need to talk with and what they think it’s going on. What started as a small adventure will lead into a much bigger one sooner rather than later.

Both stories are quite liviane, keep in mind both games were designed with younger audiences in mind, however, I find both quite enjoyable no matter your age. In both cases there’s a great setup with their own rules, Phantomile and Lunatea have different sets of rules however, by the own nature of this saga, you will soon find shared elements between both places, it works as a bigger picture than their respective worlds. Characters are also extremely enjoyable in both cases.

Huepow, Lolo, Popka, even villains like Joka or Tat (which, for some reason, I always loved the way she talked) are all not that deep but deep enough to enjoy their presence. Main characters do have enough presence to know them better and some side-ones too.

Make no mistake, while both games were created with younger audiences in mind, that doesn’t mean they are exclusively for kids, in both cases there are dramatic moments, some extremely iconic nowadays as they were completely unexpected.

There’s little more I can say about the narrative side without spoiling things but, What about visuals in both cases?

Well, you see, Klonoa Door to Phantomile was a PSX game with a very peculiar but rather amazing visual style with 2D sprites and a somewhat 3D look, however, it got a remake treatment for the Wii which redo all the assets from the ground (likely got some inspiration from PS2 Lunatea’s Veil) and this remaster surprisingly drops in the middle of those two.

Phantasy Reverie’s version is clearly redone, it’s clean but at the same time tries to emulate the original more than the Wii version. Klonoa’s character looks more like the original, backgrounds are less detailed than on the Wii and I think the reason for this is that they want to go after the original visual feeling. It’s more colorful and has a pixel filter that is great and confusing at the same time. I used it for a few levels but ended up using the vanilla visuals.

When it comes to Lunatea’s Veil, you will immediately notice that it doesn’t look like the original, that’s correct. While no assets seem to be different, the visual filter changed to make it more streamline with the Door of Phantomile, that’s a good way of not making a huge difference between the two in the same collection. Lunatea’s Veil also has more details, more effects and in general it feels like a natural evolution for a game that came out 5 years after the original and on a completely different platform, If you ask me, Lunatea’s Veil is extremely beautiful at times, I might be biased given how I remember it when I was a kid and what I experienced but in general it is a great step up.

Both games hold really well today and their level design is still extremely engaging. The way it moves as a 2D platformer but in a 3D environment makes it an extremely compelling experience, I don’t think there’s anything else like Klonoa right now and that’s something to consider as an achievement.

Music is also a great part of the game and I’m happy to say that it sounds as good as the original movie sequences, there are great themes in both games, they too hold really well.

I could say the same about the gameplay loop. There are two main actions to consider in this game: grab and hold an enemy to use it and jump/ hold in the air. As you can see it’s really basic but the way they designed the levels makes it an extremely engaging experience, sometimes there’s no room for a mistake, you do it or you don’t.

You will notice this a lot if you try completing these games at 100%, mostly trying to get all the gems per level, you need to focus and jump correctly, run at the requested speed and not get hit during the process, and there’s also the side levels which are meant to be beaten only by those who are used with the controls and the movement, they are challenging but really gratifying once you beat them. Going after the 100% sure is an experience.

I think it’s a good moment to talk about performance. I completed both of them on the Steam Deck, do not worry, they run perfectly out of the box, as a matter of fact, thanks to the pre-compiling shaders I think it eliminates some little stutters present on the windows version of the game. Battery held really well, performance was steady at 60fps with all settings at max and in general I would say I enjoyed it more playing them on a handheld than on my main computer, I guess they are that kind of game that for some reason I tend to enjoy more on a smaller screen due to memories.

And I think that’s about it, Klonoa Phantasy Reverie collection was all I wanted for a proper comeback. Visuals are great, gameplay is still engaging and it transported me to my childhood playing them on the Playstation. Usually I would say “it’s not a game for everyone” but f*** it, I will say this is a great game for everyone, for those who want to revisit this old saga, for newcomers, for kids and for adults.

Klonoa is back and for that I’m thankful, from the deepest part of my heart, thanks Bandai Namco for bringing back this old friend from past days, I’m glad to say that the final result is well worth your money and your time, heck, I went after all the achievements and the 100%, that shows you how much I loved this.

I hope you enjoy it at least half of how much I enjoyed it, my best wishes to all of you.

Thanks.