Klonoa has always been that franchise that looks like it’s for children, but has a deeper, sadder message to deliver to it’s audience, and Klonoa 2 strikes hard with that thought. On top of that, the gameplay continues it’s puzzle solving in simple forms and platforming that doesn’t require a lot of effort apart from some speedy slide levels. While this game is not easy, it is trying to hit a child audience, and for that I appreciate it all the more for.Graphically speaking, Klonoa isn’t really all that impressive, but the art style more than makes up for it. From foreign like character designs to levels that feel like they could be apart of the same world yet not. Klonoa 2 does a great job of making you feel like you’re in a dream, and with the way some of these characters and enemies act, it feels like it.Action is just your standard jump and shooter gameplay, with the twist that you can only shoot enemies when you grab them, and will often use these enemies to reach higher places or unlock certain areas. The game does a great job of utilizing this mechanic to it’s fullest and while it never gets insanely difficult, by the end you may wonder how you pull off some of these jumps or solve certain puzzles. Thankfully the game has an amazing difficulty curve to it.Most of the story is at the end of Klonoa, with a lot of the previous bits just being you running around ringing bells for one reason or another. While the story doesn’t really advance till the end, the way it uses a lot of it’s cutscenes to help strength character bonds and interaction really helps the ending land even harder than it ought to. Klonoa is a slow burn kind of story teller, and while I think everything about Klonoa 2′s set up is wonderful, it really would be a disservice to spoil any of it. At the least, you should try to play this delightful game if you ever get the chance because it’s something that sticks out in my mind like a dream.
I can’t think of the last time I sat down to play a game and I smiled so much that my face actually started to hurt. That’s what Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil did for me.
While not as innovative and different as I had hoped it to be, there is no denying that Klonoa 2 kicks the same amount of butt that it's predecessor did.
All in all it's not really much of a replay incentive as the levels are fairly simplistic and very linear. However, it's worth hanging on to the game solely because it can be hard to find, and also because it's a unique experience on the PS2.
Pretty 2.5D platformer that sits halfway between the original Sonic games and Super Mario Galaxy in terms of sophistication. It has obviously been superceded by truly 3D open world platformers since, but it's still an enjoyable addition to the genre if you like this type of thing.
While the story might be its one weak point, with classic trope of "save the world from darkness", it is clearly not intended to be its focus, as storytelling is instead done through the vibrant environement and levels, with beautiful scenery, accentuated by gorgeous music scores that makes this a dream-like experience from start to finish.
Also the fact that they bothered to create a language from scratch and then have it voiced, while arguably unnecessary just shows the love the people creating this game have put in it. Impressive in its own right.
Very good gameplay and style, this platformer would be, perfect for children and the young at heart. Personally I found it too cute, never could get into it and ended up selling it. I think the only platform games I still own are Jak III and Ratched III (they feature guns, alright), oh and a Pac Man one, so I guess it's just not my favourite genre.
It is a very good game though for what it is.
SummaryThe sequel to 1997's sleeper platformer hit "Klonoa: Door to Phantomile" finds our floppy-eared, baseball cap-wearing hero collecting dream stones and over-inflating his enemies with air bullets while protecting the dream world of Lunatea in this "2-D style" action game.