In truth I haven't played a Klonoa game in a while, but as a whole it's taken up a good chunk of time. Kaze no Klonoa (Klonoa of the Wind), simply the Klonoa series in America, is probably one of my favorite series. With cutesy graphics and characters, it's pretty hard for me personally to not "awwww" at the sheer amount of adorable in the game. Not that cuteness is all Klonoa has to offer though. The series consists of about eight games if I'm correct, five of which are in America, most of which are side-scrolling platformers.
The titular character of the Klonoa series is a cute little guy with a debatable appearance.
He's either rabbit, or a cat. I'm of the opinion that he's a rabbit, despite Namco calling him a cat. Cats don't have long ears or short tails (well, most don't), but then again rabbits don't have fangs or eat meat (Klonoa's very fond of hamburgers). Many a fan has settled this predicament by referring to Klonoa as a cabbit, which I find a very charming little name. All in all, he's adorable and undeniably sweet.The basic plot line for a Klonoa game, while it varies from title to title, is this: Klonoa, aside from wind-inspired title, is also known as the Dream Traveler. Someone in another world calls for help, and (to my understanding) Klonoa is transported there in his dreams. Much like Musashi (see last post), he doesn't get to go home until the job's done and the world's saved. Unlike Musashi, the Pacman hatted cabbit takes it all pretty well; in fact he normally either A) doesn't realize it's not his own world to begin with, or B) gets pretty attached to his surroundings and his new bestest buddies.
The graphics and bright colors give the games a cute made-for-children feel, and in fact they are very playable by children. However, when I play through Lunatea's Veil, as well as the other games, I always feel some kind of melancholy behind all the happiness present in the game, especially when some of the darker themes come into play. One of my reasons for enjoying the game is that it can be so light-hearted and cute, but still manages to get serious when it wants to. Lolo for instance, a recurring character from Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, suffers from acceptance issues and ridicule from her peers.
I love Klonoa music. It's whimsical, beautiful, and cheery when appropriate. Depending on your position in a level, the background music shifts to something more appropriate. In the first level of Lunatea's Veil the music starts off pretty solid, but once you waltz into a cave, it switches to a track that kind of has an echo to it, but still contains the theme of the previous song. Most of the tracks are instrumental pieces that really set a level's feel, many of which may seem moderately slow and mellow.
I'll cut this off here before I start rambling too much, so um... happy gaming!
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