So, I'm not sure if I should post this review here, since this isn't just a review of the quality of the collection itself, but it's also my experience with these games for the first time, and it just so happens that the Phantasy Reverie Series is how I got to experience them firsthand, so, here we go:

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile:
A cute 2.5D sidescroller, with a brilliant platformer mechanics for its time, a cute and imaginative character designs and artstyle, a catchy soundtrack, and a story that will pull at your heartstrings, especially that ending 😭, this game was a better Kirby 64 than Kirby 64 itself, just an all around good game.

It's interesting how this version of this game is basically a revamped, HD remaster of the failed Wii remake (or the "Wiimake" as the fans refer to it), but, with a more saturated, colorful palette, and no longer having awful English voice acting, Phantomilian is the only spoken language you get to hear in this game, also, they changed Klonoa's Wiimake model to a character model that heavily resembles his PS1 incarnation.

I may try the original PS1 version one day for comparison, but overall, yeah, I liked what I played.

Rating: ☆☆☆½

Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil
The direct sequel to Door to Phantomile, it's an improvement of the original in almost every way, more fun levels (especially those board levels) more enemies with unique gimmicks, more cast of compelling and sympathetic characters, and a story while simple, will probably gonna make you cry if not at least make you teary eyed by the end of it.

And just like its predecessor, Lunatea's Veil has an amazing soundtrack, shout out to Stepping Wind, a certified Mira Mira Classic, the theme of Joilant, which sounds like a copyright friendly instrumental version of Gaston's theme song from Dianey's Beauty & The Beast, and of course, the haunting theme of The Ruin of Sadness.

This is an excellent platformer, that I'm glad was freed from its PS2 prison over 20 years later thanks to this collection, so more people can experience it, an easy recommendation.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Now, related to the collection itself, I know some fans are disappointed with the visual overhaul that MonkeyCraft, the studio that handled this collection of remasters, have given to both games, and how they look bland in comparison to their original incarnations according to them, and I get it to a degree, but personally, I don't see it as a total deal breaker, maybe the reason I feel that is because I didn't grew up playing these games, so, nostalgia bias isn't affecting my judgment here, but, I dunno.

That said, for a collection that supposed to celebrate the series' 25th anniversary, it's quite lacking and bareboned, since it does not include the spin off games that were on the PS1, the GBA, and even the Wonder Swan, that one handheld system by Bandai that never left Japan, Kirby's Dream Collection, this is not.

Which is why I'm reluctantly giving this collection 3 Stars out of 5, and this is me being really generous with it.

But yeah, with that aside, I'm glad I got to finally play these two games for the first time thanks to The Phantasy Reverie Series, it's the easiest, most convenient way to try out these classics without relying on piracy or looking for affordable physical copies of them on Ebay or whatever.

I already did my part of buying a physical copy of the collection nearly two years ago, to show Bandai Namco that there's a demand for more adventures featuring the young Dream Traveller, whether or not this will work, I have no idea, but hey, thanks to this collection, getting into the main series have never been easier.

So yeah, if you haven't played a Klonoa game before, and you wanna experience the main games for the first time, you can't go wrong with the Phantasy Reverie Series.

Wafuu!
Klonoa 1:
An adorable game with a more emotional ending that I was ready for. The platforming was tight, and the balloon mechanic in general was super enjoyable to play with as well. Especially the last level you unlock after getting all the unlockables in every level. That stage was my favourite. It's short but worth every minute. Extremely high recommendation from me!
Klonoa 2:
I loved these games too much. I wish this was a bigger franchise with more games. It was a tearjerker both times. But you know, I think I prefer the gameplay of 1 but the story of 2. 2 felt a bit unprecise with the ring sometimes.

This collection legit made me love Klonoa. I never tried the series before but now the Wahoo Boy can join my list of "Favorite Silly Dreamwalker Scrinklos" (the list also includes Rayman, Nights, Kirby, Kat from Gravity Rush and I guess Dom fro Inception?? I dunno)

I gotta admit: I feel as a collection is kinda lacking, at least compared to other types of similar bundles: it lacks a lot of extra features you can look for in stuff like the Megaman collections, so Concept arts, galleries, or other little extra things that are always appreciated (even the title screen lacks a theme, like come one that was the easiest thing)

But aside from that the game featuers are incredible: two amazing platformers that offer an amazing environments full of oniric characters, a gameplay that combines floatier 2D platforming with a unique 3D puzzle solving, and stories that... will honestly leave you speechless on multiple occasions.

Admittely I feel Klonoa 1's charming aesthetics and stronger story moments are not as well represented and I kinda wish there was an option to play the original version...

But aside from that this collection is important: it revives and gives justice to one of the most underrated mascots in the videogame pantheon, and just trying it out may help this little guy come back more in the future.

Klonoa is great, I highly recommend it!

I've always wanted to play the Klonoa games when I had found out about them in middle school. Partly due to his character design. It was series that flew under my nose for most of my life mainly cuz I never owned a Sony console growing up. I even missed out on the Wii remake on Klonoa 1. The Phantasy Reverie remakes were my answer and initiative to actually start playing these games.

K1 -
As of writing this log, I had beaten K1 over a year ago, so my memory is a little hazy on how I felt at the time of beating it. What I do remember was actually enjoying my time with it. I kinda felt surprised the first time I played the game and realized how simple it was control wise. It was really only jump and air bullet. I don't know why, but I thought it would have more movement based controls. The game was simple, but the level design expanded with what you can do with grabbing, throwing, and jumping off enemies. Personally, I thought that Klonoa's little Yoshi hover felt weak to use (which I understood that it wasn't meant to act like Yoshi's and give you extra height). My thoughts on the gameplay were further elevated when the level design required you to throw enemies into the foreground and background. The game's worlds and levels were colorful and creative. It's really leaning into the dream world aesthetics. Overall, my experience with K1 was pretty good. This was a brand new experience for me as I had never played the original. I had even forgotten the original game used sprites instead of 3D models.

K2 -
Going into K2 after just beating K1 was a little weird. I had that same expectation that I had going into Klonoa 1 about there being more controls for gameplay. K2 remains the same in gameplay to K1 with a few additions in enemy types and levels. The new additions being hoverboard levels and unique enemy types that you can pick up. The hoverboard segments weren't bad but I felt that they were kind of lacking. Controlling Klonoa on the board felt limited. Making turns felt slow and I wish there was a great sense of speed in the levels. Again, the level design in the sequel is great and I would say even better than K1. From the platforming to the puzzles, K2 stands out from K1 while still being the same gameplay.

My Final Thoughts -
In both segments, I had not talked about the story of either game. I feel like that be whole a pages of my thoughts on both games' stories. But I mention it because of how I experienced the stories in this remake. Prior to finishing K2, I was slightly spoiled with a cutscene from the PS2 version. Something about the way THAT version of the game looked and that cutscene left me questioning why I'm playing the remake of K2. The lighting and the outlines on the characters were drawing me in more than the look of the remake. While I don't think Phantasy Reverie looks bad, it lacks visual identity that the originals had. Also, I looked at gameplay of K2 after finishing the game and it looked significantly faster. There was a feeling of floatiness in the remakes that I just got used to, but I was not the biggest fan of how it fully felt. I am aware this remake was made in Unity which could affected the physics or this was consciously done by the developers. I feel that learning about the previous versions of Klonoa 1 and 2 shouldn't affect my overall experience with both games. I enjoyed them, but I think I feel more incline to replay them in their original versions.

Gonna preface this by saying that I quite like Klonoa 1 a good bit after playing a demo endlessly as a kid and ADORING the Wii remake some years later. Klonoa 2 is probably one of the greatest 2D platformers made, in my opinion, offering a touching story, gorgeous level design, and some of the best music I've heard in a game.

This HD remaster might be one of the most disappointing things I've played but in a way of seeing how many details were removed from Klonoa 2 and how...off things feel in Klonoa 1. It's very frustrating being super detail oriented! So many missing animations, lighting effects, visual touches, and lacking cel-shading really don't do it many favors.

That said, if you wanna play Klonoa and are pretty averse to other methods of playing the games, this isn't a bad collection by any means, but for $30 for a couple cult classics which lack some details that the originals really shine with...It's a bit of a hard sell.

Alright, so: it's a good way to enjoy two classic platforms.

I have to say that Klonoa 1 loses a lot its charm from the original game, being a hybrid of 2D and 3D. Klonoa 2 is fine like that.

It still felt a cheap remaster, especially for the cutscenes. But as the most approachable way to get into these 2 games it's a valid option. But debatably the og PS1 Klonoa would be better than this remaster.

I don't have much to say about the Klonoa games after (mostly) completing the first two, courtesy of the Phantasy Reverie Series remake collection - and not in a bad way necessarily. They are both enjoyable platformers with a combination of simplicity and unexpected challenge spikes that come with the whole PS1-era platformer territory, and you can tell from the first couple of levels if the game is for you; both games are also largely identical beyond the addition of awkward "snow"board sections in Klonoa 2 (as is customary with mascot platformer sequels). Had I become acquainted with these games during my formative years in another lifetime, I might have become so captivated by their whimsical characters and suddenly dramatic stories that I could very well have a Klonoa OC hiding somewhere in my internet history. As it is, coming to these for the first time in 2024, they're not quite so tight and remarkable that they'd offer a unique experience to truly wow a seasoned mascot platformer veteran. The later-game challenge revolving around split second reaction speeds isn't quite my thing either, and often feels like a test of patience more than skill. Cult classics then and understandably so, but the kool aid isn't quite for me.

holy fuck, video games.

a wonderful collection of two incredibly good platformers, way worth the price of entry.

klonoa 1 is a genuine masterpiece, and i can't overstate that enough. of course after playing the psx version, i prefer that more but this is still great. the difficulty is fine-tuned, the score is great, the physics feel just right. i fell in love with that game, one of the best platformers of all time for sure

klonoa 2 is a bit of a mixed bag but still incredibly strong. the level design ranges from a bit bland to INCREDIBLY COOL, it fluctuates but the highs are pretty high. the story is deeper this time, but honestly i think i prefer the more subdued narrative 1 had. 2's story doesn't have as impactful conclusion. especially not when it comes to boss fights. 2's boss fights are a huge step back, but mainly the final boss. i think including the new hoverboard mechanic was cool, but the phase afterwards is uhhhh terrible.

either way, go buy this and maybe we'll get another one of these in 20 years. maybe.