I love this analysis so much, thank you for putting it out! You mentioned how Klonoa seemed less involved in this world than in Door to Phantomile, but that might be on purpose. Klonoa was pretty traumatized at the truths he was told at the end game, maybe he was trying his hardest not to get involved or be attached to anyone because he was still processing his own grief. Maybe that's why he made a sad expression after the cutscene in the Mirr-Mir level. Klonoa was empathetic but still seemed to still hold himself back from really reaching out to Lolo. Just a theory to add on though. Honestly, I love this game so much and thank you again for doing it justice!
Great video! It's great to see someone really delve into and analyze this game to the level you did. This game really means a lot to me on a personal and spiritual level and I don't think it really gets the credit and praise it deserves. I mean, it's been nearly twenty one years since it's release and it only just NOW got a re-release. I think part of what I love about the game is a lot of the ambiguity of the details of the game. I can agree they don't delve too much into certain things, (part of that I imagine is to balance the storytelling with the pacing of the gameplay. This is a platformer designed with kids in mind) but I feel the brevity of it all leaves a lot of food for thought without sacrificing the overall quality of the story telling itself, which is an achievement in of itself. With Klonoa, I can't help but feel that he doesn't actually remember what happened in the first game, but on some level, he does remember the feelings he's experienced and even instinctively echoes what Huepow told him in the last game when saying goodbye to Lolo. It all ties back to the intro text crawl in both games talking about the nature of dreams and how despite forgetting most if not all the details of the dreams we have, we certainly know that we had those dreams. While Klonoa doesn't remember his time in Phantomile, he on some level seems to understand and emphasize with the characters in Lunatea and even chooses to help the King of Sorrow despite probably not knowing why. The fact he chooses not to question this seems to imply that he doesn't think too hard about anything and simply wants to do what's right. In that sense, he's a pretty tragic character I think. Building bonds with those he comes into contact with only for him to be taken out and forget everything and repeat the cycle over again. Can't help but feel that they were building up to something with these two games only for it all to be dropped, as every game after that from what I've seen seems to have followed their own canon. Probably due to lack of financial success and going for a different market. As for Leorina, I feel like she's one of those people who was saddened by the state of Lunatea and genuinely wanted to fix things, but became cynical over the nature of her training as well as how self-absorbed and isolated the different kingdoms have become. She probably even felt that perhaps La-Lakoosha itself probably had no real desire to make things right and so decided to abandon La-Lakoosha and find her own way of gaining power to solve the world's problems. This self-imposed isolation, as well as the King of Sorrow's influence, only fed her negative thoughts and made her callous and spiteful to the world around her. At some point, she probably thought, "Who cares what happens to these people? They clearly don't care about the state of the world, so why should I care if Volk gets blown up because I just so happened to need this ring?" It all just bubbles up over time to where she decides she wants to become the world's "savior" by using her power to change the world, but in a way that punishes them all. Going back to La-Lakoosha, its problems aren't as obvious as the other kingdoms I feel. They value wanting to obtain spiritual growth and enlightenment. However, instead of confronting their sadness directly, it seems many of them see the act of becoming and being a priestess as a solution to their problems. And so many of them judge each other based on their ability as a priestess as well as becoming one. Hence why some of them choose to ridicule Lolo, it helps them feel better about themselves, at least in the moment. Even the High Priestess, who seems to be well aware of this societal problem, doesn't want the fifth bell to be rung and for the Kingdom of Sorrow to come back. She herself is probably afraid of what will happen if everyone is forced to confront sadness. It's this issue that inevitably leads to the challenges both Lolo and Leorina end up facing. As a Christian though, part of spiritual growth comes from acknowledging every part of yourself. And by trying to ignore certain parts of yourself, you are only creating a road block within yourself. And it's a lot harder to overcome than you would think. We are irrational creatures and will do anything we can to avoid the proverbial elephant in the room. One last detail I kinda like is how Popka and Tat contrast a lot in how they deal with their respective partners. Popka chooses to berate Lolo over wanting to give up and admit defeat and helps her get back on track, whereas Tat, who really cares a lot about Leorina, doesn't seem to fully agree with what she's doing as inferred by her facial expression during the scene where Leorina reveals the fifth bell. However, she chooses to remain passive and let Leorina do her thing. Sorry if this is all comes off as rambling, but this game really makes me feel introspective in a lot of ways. It truly is a masterclass of a game.
We really do need more Klonoa analysis videos on CZcams, 'cause this is a prime example on how to do it right. Nicely done on this video! Games like Kingdom Hearts and Sly Cooper are all well and good, but for me, the PS2 peaked with Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil.
Your comment on La-Lakoosha's comparative lack of negative qualities in the scope of the rest of the unbalanced worlds was one of the major criticisms I had, glad to hear it echoed. Brings to mind the Mystics from The Dark Crystal (a similarly peaceful and meditative group) and the film's framing of them being two broken parts of a whole alongside the Skeksis, despite never really showing what was quite broken about them in the first place (at least on a surface level). Fantastic video, consider me subbed and looking for any opportunity to share this in future!
Thank you for this. This is one of my favorite game series of all time and I’m glad it’s back in the current Sphere of things And doing extremely well I might add. I hope we get potentially that canceled movie. The game board games. And A couple of more games as well. Also I’ve been looking for a analysis or breakdown or review of the story and no one has said to you also you have like 45 subs dude you need way more thank you Ps I bought it for my switch and pc Including the DLC for both of them Also the king of sorrow is honestly one of the most well written characters I’ve seen in such a rather simplistic game with very heavy themes
I was finding a video about klonoa’s lore since i want to know more about this game, and just gotten interested about the series yesterday. And I love this so much, you’re extremely underrated and you deserve more recognition.
I loved your video. I believe you got almost everything right, but I do believe you got two GIGANTIC points wrong. The name of the kingdom of sorrow is Hyoponia. The songs of Klonoa 1 play there. Also, the King of Sorrow is very similar to Klonoa from the first game. I do not want to give a definitive answer, but: What if these are Klonoa dreams? This is his journey through grief - having Mira-Mira, Volk, La-Lakoosha, Hyoponia and Joliant represent, respectively, Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance -. It is out of order, but the world is out of balance because the dreamer - Klonoa - doesn't want to be sad. The king of sorrow even look like Klonoa from the first game. I do think this is a point to consider. Otherwise, I really loved your review and was glad someone did it! I really love these games!
Wonderful video! This game had a profound impact on me when I finished it at age 13. I am 27 now. It still had the same impact on me after replaying the remaster. That goes to show you how great the story and characters are. I really enjoyed your analysis and it made me think about things I never even realized before. Please make more story analysis videos! You're very good at it.
I love this analysis so much, thank you for putting it out! You mentioned how Klonoa seemed less involved in this world than in Door to Phantomile, but that might be on purpose. Klonoa was pretty traumatized at the truths he was told at the end game, maybe he was trying his hardest not to get involved or be attached to anyone because he was still processing his own grief. Maybe that's why he made a sad expression after the cutscene in the Mirr-Mir level. Klonoa was empathetic but still seemed to still hold himself back from really reaching out to Lolo. Just a theory to add on though. Honestly, I love this game so much and thank you again for doing it justice!
Great video! It's great to see someone really delve into and analyze this game to the level you did. This game really means a lot to me on a personal and spiritual level and I don't think it really gets the credit and praise it deserves. I mean, it's been nearly twenty one years since it's release and it only just NOW got a re-release.
I think part of what I love about the game is a lot of the ambiguity of the details of the game. I can agree they don't delve too much into certain things, (part of that I imagine is to balance the storytelling with the pacing of the gameplay. This is a platformer designed with kids in mind) but I feel the brevity of it all leaves a lot of food for thought without sacrificing the overall quality of the story telling itself, which is an achievement in of itself.
With Klonoa, I can't help but feel that he doesn't actually remember what happened in the first game, but on some level, he does remember the feelings he's experienced and even instinctively echoes what Huepow told him in the last game when saying goodbye to Lolo. It all ties back to the intro text crawl in both games talking about the nature of dreams and how despite forgetting most if not all the details of the dreams we have, we certainly know that we had those dreams. While Klonoa doesn't remember his time in Phantomile, he on some level seems to understand and emphasize with the characters in Lunatea and even chooses to help the King of Sorrow despite probably not knowing why. The fact he chooses not to question this seems to imply that he doesn't think too hard about anything and simply wants to do what's right.
In that sense, he's a pretty tragic character I think. Building bonds with those he comes into contact with only for him to be taken out and forget everything and repeat the cycle over again.
Can't help but feel that they were building up to something with these two games only for it all to be dropped, as every game after that from what I've seen seems to have followed their own canon. Probably due to lack of financial success and going for a different market.
As for Leorina, I feel like she's one of those people who was saddened by the state of Lunatea and genuinely wanted to fix things, but became cynical over the nature of her training as well as how self-absorbed and isolated the different kingdoms have become. She probably even felt that perhaps La-Lakoosha itself probably had no real desire to make things right and so decided to abandon La-Lakoosha and find her own way of gaining power to solve the world's problems. This self-imposed isolation, as well as the King of Sorrow's influence, only fed her negative thoughts and made her callous and spiteful to the world around her. At some point, she probably thought, "Who cares what happens to these people? They clearly don't care about the state of the world, so why should I care if Volk gets blown up because I just so happened to need this ring?"
It all just bubbles up over time to where she decides she wants to become the world's "savior" by using her power to change the world, but in a way that punishes them all.
Going back to La-Lakoosha, its problems aren't as obvious as the other kingdoms I feel. They value wanting to obtain spiritual growth and enlightenment. However, instead of confronting their sadness directly, it seems many of them see the act of becoming and being a priestess as a solution to their problems. And so many of them judge each other based on their ability as a priestess as well as becoming one. Hence why some of them choose to ridicule Lolo, it helps them feel better about themselves, at least in the moment.
Even the High Priestess, who seems to be well aware of this societal problem, doesn't want the fifth bell to be rung and for the Kingdom of Sorrow to come back. She herself is probably afraid of what will happen if everyone is forced to confront sadness.
It's this issue that inevitably leads to the challenges both Lolo and Leorina end up facing.
As a Christian though, part of spiritual growth comes from acknowledging every part of yourself. And by trying to ignore certain parts of yourself, you are only creating a road block within yourself. And it's a lot harder to overcome than you would think. We are irrational creatures and will do anything we can to avoid the proverbial elephant in the room.
One last detail I kinda like is how Popka and Tat contrast a lot in how they deal with their respective partners. Popka chooses to berate Lolo over wanting to give up and admit defeat and helps her get back on track, whereas Tat, who really cares a lot about Leorina, doesn't seem to fully agree with what she's doing as inferred by her facial expression during the scene where Leorina reveals the fifth bell. However, she chooses to remain passive and let Leorina do her thing.
Sorry if this is all comes off as rambling, but this game really makes me feel introspective in a lot of ways. It truly is a masterclass of a game.
oh my GOD i love this video. we need more klonoa analysis in this world....
Thank you!
Great analysis video! Klonoa 2 is my favourite childhood game, and now as an adult I love the message that it brings even more!
I hope you played the latest game Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series!
@@davidmorrison2135I did! It is a great remaster!
We really do need more Klonoa analysis videos on CZcams, 'cause this is a prime example on how to do it right.
Nicely done on this video! Games like Kingdom Hearts and Sly Cooper are all well and good, but for me, the PS2 peaked with Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil.
Your comment on La-Lakoosha's comparative lack of negative qualities in the scope of the rest of the unbalanced worlds was one of the major criticisms I had, glad to hear it echoed. Brings to mind the Mystics from The Dark Crystal (a similarly peaceful and meditative group) and the film's framing of them being two broken parts of a whole alongside the Skeksis, despite never really showing what was quite broken about them in the first place (at least on a surface level).
Fantastic video, consider me subbed and looking for any opportunity to share this in future!
Thanks for making this. It made my day better.
Thank you for this. This is one of my favorite game series of all time and I’m glad it’s back in the current Sphere of things And doing extremely well I might add. I hope we get potentially that canceled movie. The game board games. And A couple of more games as well. Also I’ve been looking for a analysis or breakdown or review of the story and no one has said to you also you have like 45 subs dude you need way more thank you
Ps I bought it for my switch and pc Including the DLC for both of them
Also the king of sorrow is honestly one of the most well written characters I’ve seen in such a rather simplistic game with very heavy themes
I was finding a video about klonoa’s lore since i want to know more about this game, and just gotten interested about the series yesterday. And I love this so much, you’re extremely underrated and you deserve more recognition.
I loved your video. I believe you got almost everything right, but I do believe you got two GIGANTIC points wrong. The name of the kingdom of sorrow is Hyoponia. The songs of Klonoa 1 play there. Also, the King of Sorrow is very similar to Klonoa from the first game. I do not want to give a definitive answer, but: What if these are Klonoa dreams? This is his journey through grief - having Mira-Mira, Volk, La-Lakoosha, Hyoponia and Joliant represent, respectively, Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance -. It is out of order, but the world is out of balance because the dreamer - Klonoa - doesn't want to be sad. The king of sorrow even look like Klonoa from the first game. I do think this is a point to consider. Otherwise, I really loved your review and was glad someone did it! I really love these games!
Wonderful video! This game had a profound impact on me when I finished it at age 13. I am 27 now. It still had the same impact on me after replaying the remaster. That goes to show you how great the story and characters are. I really enjoyed your analysis and it made me think about things I never even realized before. Please make more story analysis videos! You're very good at it.
Thank you very much! I plan to make more story analysis videos, so I hope you stick around!
Damn a video essay nice stuff
That Leorina's transformation looks like a witch from Madoka.
Beautiful work man
What did you mean with the talking to Lolo doesn’t deserve but needs.
47:28 speaking of Steven Universe, I noticed many of the show's episode plots would fit in a Klonoa game
Do you have ideas for Klonoa and Lolo's potential strong bond
Did you know the Phantomile language is based on Japanese language
My son