is this really a win for klonoa? namco puppeteering his corpse with the prospect of future games that may not deliver or even get made? i'd rather this series die if this is the quality we can expect from it.
nevermind the obnoxious practice of holding series' hostage like this, it's deeply upsetting that the only compromise we get is a butchered representation of what came before. because god forbid people play old playstation games that "look dated" next to other games releasing today despite there not being a good way to experience how the original games were presented to begin with. you'd think more people would push back against this; especially considering the cries for more klonoa content from those who grew up with this series, but to my surprise basically everyone seems to be eating this up no questions asked. every few years this happens, an old series gets a spark of life in miserable fashion and sometimes it leads to something greater, but even with the best outcome i think its a bad precedent to set. sure crash bandicoot 4 crushed all expectations and is in the running for best game in the entire series, but it rubs me the wrong way that it came as a result of scrubbing away the hard work done by the original developers back in the late 90's.
i understand that much of this stems from publishers more than developers (it's not like they've been very forward thinking when it comes to the preservation of old games to begin with) but when companies demand stringent deadlines with no regard to quality control of course the product will come out half baked, no matter how much love was behind the wheel of it. i don't have a bird's eye view on the development of this project, but i can't imagine it was enjoyable or flexible to work under. even if their hearts were in the right place, theres no chance they had the tools needed to really do this series the justice it deserves.
no matter the circumstances though, this is what we're left with. a botched collection of beloved titles that, for the foreseeable future, is the only way to comfortably play these for most people. i'm not upset that it's overpriced or not stuffed with extraneous crap to justify the cost, i'm upset that this is the standard for preservation the industry is setting for itself. who cares about the game's legacy and how it impacted people, just slap a name on it to excite fans looking for to rekindle memories of better days gone by.
best case scenario we get a new sequel out of this collection and it really delivers on fan expectations, but is that really the lesson to be learned here? treat the past as a frivolous step to success so we can move onto the next new shiny thing? i can't help but feel deeply cynical over the industry if this is how we think we should celebrate the past. klonoa deserved better
nevermind the obnoxious practice of holding series' hostage like this, it's deeply upsetting that the only compromise we get is a butchered representation of what came before. because god forbid people play old playstation games that "look dated" next to other games releasing today despite there not being a good way to experience how the original games were presented to begin with. you'd think more people would push back against this; especially considering the cries for more klonoa content from those who grew up with this series, but to my surprise basically everyone seems to be eating this up no questions asked. every few years this happens, an old series gets a spark of life in miserable fashion and sometimes it leads to something greater, but even with the best outcome i think its a bad precedent to set. sure crash bandicoot 4 crushed all expectations and is in the running for best game in the entire series, but it rubs me the wrong way that it came as a result of scrubbing away the hard work done by the original developers back in the late 90's.
i understand that much of this stems from publishers more than developers (it's not like they've been very forward thinking when it comes to the preservation of old games to begin with) but when companies demand stringent deadlines with no regard to quality control of course the product will come out half baked, no matter how much love was behind the wheel of it. i don't have a bird's eye view on the development of this project, but i can't imagine it was enjoyable or flexible to work under. even if their hearts were in the right place, theres no chance they had the tools needed to really do this series the justice it deserves.
no matter the circumstances though, this is what we're left with. a botched collection of beloved titles that, for the foreseeable future, is the only way to comfortably play these for most people. i'm not upset that it's overpriced or not stuffed with extraneous crap to justify the cost, i'm upset that this is the standard for preservation the industry is setting for itself. who cares about the game's legacy and how it impacted people, just slap a name on it to excite fans looking for to rekindle memories of better days gone by.
best case scenario we get a new sequel out of this collection and it really delivers on fan expectations, but is that really the lesson to be learned here? treat the past as a frivolous step to success so we can move onto the next new shiny thing? i can't help but feel deeply cynical over the industry if this is how we think we should celebrate the past. klonoa deserved better
MalditoMur
1 year ago
Although I can see the confusion around Klonoa 2's emulation (which by the way is now pretty accurate with very minor glitches), the thing is: you can't excuse lack of information for lazyness. And I'll die on the hill a lot of people are plain lazy regarding technology, they want everything given off. Most of my friends, who are gamers by the way, would happily play a 60$ rehash just because they're too stubborn to "deal with the hassle" (some of them having gaming rigs!). I have to go out of my way to help them setting up the emulator, which takes like 5 minutes? With information I learned by just watching the most recent YouTube video you can find. Then, suddenly, any problem regarding the game's initial release is forgotten and they start actually playing with any limitations from the time. It's pure unapologetic laziness from their part.
Like, I get it, the common ground, the casual folk, the townspeople who play maybe 3 to 5 games on the year, yes, I excuse them. They aren't Klonoa's checkout anyway, it's clear they won't even hear from the guy like, ever. But self called gamers? These people play with pretty complex machines, we're not asking to know how they work from an electrician's point. You can learn a lot of this just asking the right guy, or watching a tutorial on YouTube. It's not hard, it's not hassle, they just don't want to do so. And it's fine from a decision standpoint, play what the hell you want to play, but excusing the videogame industry shithole with that is not a very good look.
Having said all of this...
Yes, I think the hate is overblown (that's Backloggd most of the time), but it comes from a place of caring. You said it yourselves, most people are content with their products. To me that's an A+ on my book, and I already was pretty critical with some folks on this site regarding that energetic sense of tribalism and dismissal; not a good image to shit on anyone who's not the people's people. However, it is a valid position to be hesitant and critical about it, because they're not lying. It is a pretty shitty remaster job, all things considered, and represents just another hinch of how badly the costumer (and the artistry) is being treated with all this: asking plus money for some cashgrab soundtrack (which was back in the day part of the base game!) and some hats. With a pretty barebones graphical treatment and a pixel-filter joke as a bonus. People being somehow okay with a mediocre remaster job doesn't excuse it at all, even if they're loving it. Unless you want to be the system's advocate.
But this is a big-winners situation anyway, those oblivious to be happy about it are quite the majority. And it's okay. And for today, I decide to be with them. This remaster sucks, but at least it revived a cult: I've seen the best from the Klonoa fanbase in regards to inclusion, sense of union and overall sweetness. Gosh, Klonoa Sweep has been good for my dopamine.