Retro Review - Klonoa: Empire of Dreams
A Good Spin-Off of a Beloved Game
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile is a game that is special to me, hell, it made it to my top 100 games of all time! I decided I wanted to play the rest of the series, but in chronological release order. Between Klonoa: Door to Phantomile on the Playstation 1, and Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil on the Playstation 2, sits Klonoa: Empire of Dreams.
What in the Hell Is a Klonoa?
Klonoa is the name of a non-specific anthropomorphic mammal, who can jump and hover. With the power of his "Wind Ring" which shoots "Wind Bullets" he can grab enemies and blocks. While holding an enemy or block, he can double jump by throwing them beneath him.
Along with Klonoa, you get Huepow, the being inhabiting and powering the Wing Ring. If you've played Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, this makes no sense, but hey, it's a spin-off, I guess it doesn't need to make sense.
Where in the Hell Is a Klonoa?
Klonoa: Empire of Dreams takes places, well, in the Empire of Dreams. Who would've guessed? At the opening of the game, Klonoa and Huepow awaken in this land for the first time, and are captured by the Emperor, Julius. Julius tells them that they will be executed, unless of course they can defeat the four nightmare monsters (our bosses at the end of each world.). In this land dreams are illegal, and Klonoa and Huepow were dreaming!
The plot is simple in premise, and also simple in execution, but I'm happy with how it worked out. I don't need a puzzle platformer to have a complex and deep plot. However, I am sad that the plot doesn't address the ending of the first game. And I am not sure that Klonoa: Empire of Dreams2 will address an of them either!
What in the Hell Do I Like About Klonoa: Empire of Dreams?
Klonoa: Empire of Dreams switches up the gameplay, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile often feels like a platformer with some puzzle elements, but Klonoa: Empire of Dreams is a puzzle game first, and a platformer second. This is a great change of pace for the portable spin-off, as you can do a level or two and then put the game down, quick and easy. Well, they start easy.
I am fairly bad at puzzle games, and when I say "fairly", I really mean "notoriously." Long time readers may remember that Wario Land 3 almost drove me insane. I can say, thankfully, that Klonoa didn't drive me insane, I had a very pleasant time with the puzzle difficulty! I can also say that I did not look up a single puzzle solution, something that is very rare for me. Now, the puzzles do get hard, and some of the platforming timing gets… trying, to say the least.
However, the puzzle levels in each world are broken up a bit! Each world contains an optional hoverboarding level, in addition to an optional auto-scrolling level. These were some of the highlights for me, really emphasizing the platforming nature of this game, more so than the puzzle nature of the game.
Looking at the game's visuals independently, I believe that Klonoa: Empire of Dreams ranks among the best games on the GBA. Gorgeous spritework, excellent backgrounds, cute animations. The music was fitting enough while playing, but nothing that stuck out to me to re-listen to after the fact.
What in the Hell Don't I Like About Klonoa: Empire of Dreams?
Honestly, not much! I really enjoyed this game. It's not perfect though. For one, the boss fights can feel a bit annoying, with the "Mode 7" attacks that come from the background. Second, while the puzzle difficulty wasn't too much for me in the main game, the post-game level EX2 absolutely broke me.
Outside of the minor mechanical complaints, I am genuinely upset that Klonoa: Empire of Dreams doesn't address the prior game in the series at all. I understand "it's all a dream" but it's frustrating to me!
Outro
Overall I truly enjoyed my time with Klonoa: Empire of Dreams, and I am excited to move onto Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil in a couple of months!
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