Episode 10 - Pigs and Other Shapes - Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil

I may leave this world, but we’ll always be a podcast. Welcome back to the podcast, and to the third episode of Fanbruary, in which we play games suggested by you the listener. For this installment, we’re going to be talking about Klonoa 2, a 2-or-2.5D platformer on the Playstation 2. This is a game that thrives on novelty, with the interesting ways it uses its enemies as items and creative foreground and background elements for both traversal and puzzle solving. And of course, being from the early 2000s it has to also feature hoverboard levels which play very differently to the platforming and boss fights. Basically, the variety makes this game novel and with a tight runtime it ends up feeling paced pretty well, even if some of the later levels drag a bit. We’re going to be talking about how the game uses, and in some cases forces, its 3D design elements, our thoughts on mascot character design, and just how many stages can be donuts. Thank you for joining us again this week! Klonoa 2 has been a recurring suggestion so we’re glad to finally play it. Unfortunately it was not suggested to us twenty years ago when we could have experienced in its original context, which I think would have helped us appreciate the unique things the game actually does. Still, it was an interesting look back, and the things that it does well are still genuinely interesting. Were you able to play this game when it came out, or is it new to you as well? Let us know over in the Discord or in the comments below! Given that this is literally the last day of February, we’ll likely bleed a little into Farch, but be sure to stay tuned, because next time we’re talking about Roadwarden!