Klonoa 2 took me by actual surprise.
Playing it by the Phantasy Reverie Collection, I tried it immediately after finishing Klonoa 1, which I thought was a cool neat title, with some major flaws.

I was expecting to see just some minor improvements from its sequel... and oh my god if I was wrong.
Klonoa 2 takes the formula of the first title and expands upon it creating one of the best 2D platformers I tried in recent years. An almost immaculate title that expands on the predecessor in every single way.

The gameplay is cozy, but not absent from surprisingly platforming challenges, that doesn't seem unfair or stright, able to make the floatier jumps endearing even to platformer veterans.
This includes skateboardng sections that while common in platoformers like this, are still really fun to navigate and repeat.

There is a lot more enemy variety, that leads to Klonoa having an incredibily varied and interesting pool of abilities, and environmental puzzles that are always fun to try to solve. Even the bosses are incredibly memorable for how they use the environment and overall abilities of our protagonist to create some really memorable encounters.

The first game was able to convey the feeling of a dream-like world solidly enough.... but oh my god the sequel did it so much better: there is not a single environment or level in this game that feels not creative: you start off with a stormy coast, to then go for a more classic forest course... only to jump into a circus, haunted house, the middle of CIVIL WAR, underground factories, floating island that reminds me so much of Laputa, giant undersea deserts, and probably one of my favorite levels I have ever seen in a platformer: the Maze of Memories. Some of the most creative realized environments I have seen in a dream-like world, sold by the stellar presentation and the amazing music.

The story of the game is also incredibly charming: yeah I liked the overall plot of Klonoa 1, but man the stakes and characters introduced in the sequel lead to much more memorable interactions, showcasing a more confident but still adorable protagonist and more deeper characterization in characters like Lolo and Leorina (also the side characters are really fun, like Tat or Popka)

I can't stress out how much this gem took me by surprise: it's not the longest experience in the world, but every single minute of it is absolutely worth it.
A must play if you are a fan of platformers.

Who would have thought a dated jrpg from 1997 would now be one of my favorite games of all time? It took a while to work up the will to play, but the time felt right after beating Rebirth. I knew it was going to be great, but the old PS1 style mixed with people being possibly blinded by nostalgia made me a bit skeptical. Nope, it’s just that fucking good.

For 30 hours I was completely absorbed in the world and its characters. For such an old game that isn’t a pixel jrpg, it’s amazing how its art style somehow holds up in a weird way. It takes some getting used to, but within the first hour all those chibi egg beater hands became charming as hell. The whole experience of FF7 feels like a time capsule of good vibes coupled with a story that surprisingly mirrors some issues that we are currently facing today in society.

I could go on about all the things I loved about my time with FF7, but honestly I think it’s still a must play to this day. Don't sit on the fence like me. If you love the remakes so far, do yourself a favor and play the original. If anything I’m way more excited to see the conclusion than I was before.