[PSX] Klonoa

[Tyto]

Anyone else remember Namco's Playstation platformer, Klonoa: Door to the Phantomile, or it's PS2 sequel Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil? I know the first Klonoa got redone for the Wii, so I'm sure it'll ring some kind of a bell, although I'm not sure how many people have ever played it. Admittedly the Wii version's cutscenes somehow managed to look worse than the original PSX release.

In any case, I was just thinking back to what a great twist end both games had and was wondering if anyone else remembers any games with a genuine twist end. I don't mean just the predictable subversion of the obvious cliches either; I mean a truly out of blue/left field/thin air, no one saw it coming, kind of plot twist.

As a kid, the first Klonoa game really did just leave me confused and depressed when I first finished it and to this day the final cut-scene still manages to be gut-wrenching.

I've never heard of that game, what did it play like?

Yeah I heard about this game but I never got a chance to play it though T~T


Its similar to the Sonic's games in 3D..... I give it a try :p

[Tyto]

It was a cute 2D platformer and is really pretty basic. One button jumps the other button shoots "wind bullets" from a magic ring. Klonoa can jump, and then hold jump while in the air to flap his adorable ears and hover for a few seconds. The wind bullets inflate his enemies and let him hold them over head, hitting the wind bullet button again throws a held enemy. Certain enemies are too big to carry and just inflate where they are and can be walked upon, or hit with another thrown enemy to destroy. When jumping with an enemy in hand Klonoa can throw the enemy downwards to double jump. There are also a few enemies with special effects, like a propeller enemy that when inflated and held lifts you upwards.

Oh and a part of what made the game special when it first came out was that Klonoa could interact with the foreground and backgrounds by throwing enemies towards or away from the screen. Things like triggers would be hidden in the background, or the 3D maps would have a later part of the level visible in the background with enemies jumping forward into the player's layer of animation.

But aside from being a fun, and back in the day fairly unique platformer, the story blew me away as a kid. Not to ruin things, but...

 

After going on your magical adventure through 3 different kingdoms of wind, water, and forest, and then the sun and moon kingdoms on a fantastical quest to save the "Songstress of Rebirth" from the mysterious villain Ghadius, you're met at the endgame with a cute cinematic of Klonoa and his best childhood friend, Huepow, the spirit of the ring that allows Klonoa the use of his wind bullets. The two have a moment together and Klonoa expresses his excitement at having saved the world and being able to live happily with his best friend again. Huepow however is less than blissful and finally comes clean with a huge confession:

Huepow, who was earlier revealed to have been the prince of the Moon kingdom in disguise, in fact has never known Klonoa. Klonoa is what is called a "Dream Wanderer", and was called into this world from his own by Huepow in order to defeat Ghadius. All the memories Klonoa has, of his family, friends, and everything he has ever loved, is a lie fabricated by Huepow in order to motivate Klonoa into saving his world. Now that the evil is vanquished and the Songstress has begun her Song of Rebirth, the world will return to normal, and as a result, Klonoa's existence will also be erased from the world, as he does not belong there. Before Klonoa can do much more than deny the claim and insist his memories and his friendship with Huepow have to be real, a hole opens in the sky and whisks Klonoa away, leaving Huepow to grieve for the loss and cruel betrayal of his friend and savior.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPOHIYqWPFY

 

The second game for the PS2 is a whole other boat of fun though, in that it plays well into the original game's controls and improves on them with some truly clever camera work, unique new gimmicks in level design, and an expanded play time. The story begins similarly in that Klonoa is in a world not his own and embarks as a kind of savior to gather the 4 elements from 4 major kingdoms: La-lokoosha, Joilant, Volk, and Mira-mira, by reaching and ringing each of their sacred bells. Later, the major villain appears as the leader of a 5th kingdom, Hyuponia.

While the typical gaming logic would dictate that the 4 colored orbs collected throughout the game are in fact the elements of Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth, that is not the case. The elements are actually the emotions or states of mind of Joy/Fun, Aggression/Frustration, Tranquility, and Uncertainty. The final kingdom and it's ruler, the King of Sorrow, complete the set of human emotions.

Upon confronting the King and asking why he wishes to destroy the world by making "the 5th Bell" appear, the King responds that he is doing no such thing. In fact the 5th bell has always been there, but the people of Lunatea have simply drawn a veil over their eyes and refused to see it. The King argues that because the world of Lunatea has so long refused Sorrow the very right to its existence, that Sorrow will now engulf Lunatea and deny the world its existence in return.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v61F2aiCrQ

So, suddenly in what had otherwise been a perfectly child-friendly game, we find we've been playing through a sort of personified metaphor of the human psyche: specifically that of a young adolescent coping with repressed trauma. With some possible implications that it could in fact be the world in the mind of the Klonoa's dear friend from the first game, Huepow.

Also it looks like this has just been designated a Klonoa general thread. But I do still want to know if anyone has any games that they think really pulled a slick one over on its players.

[Zehutsumei]

I have played the remake of Klonoa on the Wii and I've beaten Lunatea's Veil. Both are awesome platformers, although they aren't very difficult.