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Next Friday, Klonoa makes his grand return after over a decade out of the limelight. Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series launches on 8th July, and it sees Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil get the remaster treatment. But after such a long break since the Wii remake and multiple other spin-offs, what is in Klonoa’s future?
In an interview in Lock-On’s upcoming fourth issue — which you can pre-order here — the collection’s producer, Ryo Ishida, hopes that the upcoming remasters will lead to more Klonoa games in the future (thanks, VGC!).
Ishida recognises that the main target of the Reverie Series is the long-time fans who have been begging for the Dream Traveller to make his return, but also hopes the collection is successful as it may lead to “opportunities”:
With Klonoa, since there’s been large gaps between the release of the games, at this 25th anniversary’s timing, we decided to release this title so people can play the original [games] first… And if this remastered version is loved by the community, there might be opportunities to further expand the Klonoa IP and do other remasters of other titles as well… The first goal and idea behind the [Phantasy Reverie Series] itself is to spread awareness and reignite the Klonoa IP.
Klonoa is most famous for his two Sony platforming games, but the adorable black and white mascot also had adventures on the GBA, WonderSwan, and even a beach volleyball game!
In the same interview, marketing manager Moa Ikeuchi also backed up Ishida on the collection’s target audience, and reiterates that the passionate fanbase is what has made these remasters possible:
The main target is veteran gamers who still love Klonoa. As you know, Klonoa is a title and character that is still loved and supported by many people. It’s because of these veteran gamers and our existing fans […] that we were able to successfully reinvent and reveal the remastered version on the 25th anniversary.
Alongside the memories that our existing fans have, we have also made the game more appealing and [suitable for younger gamers] and also people who haven’t [discovered Klonoa] yet. That’s why even though our main target is veteran gamers, we hope that a large variety of game fans will enjoy and experience the charm and appeal of the original Klonoa games.
We would love to see Klonoa’s return make a big splash, but the series has always struggled in sales. Around the time the Wii remake came out, series creator Hideo Yoshizawa said of a third game that “it all depends on the sales of the new Wii game”. However, in the game’s first week of release in 2008, the Wii title only managed to rack up 5,800 sales.
Hopefully Phantasy Reverie Series does a bit better and we all get that Beach Volleyball remake that we’re looking for! If you’re itching for more Klonoa before 8th July, you can hop on over to the Japanese eShop and download a free demo right now.
Would you like to see more Klonoa games, new or remastered? Let us know in the comments!
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