Klonoa 2

Dragged out levels including repeats and snowboard gimmicks, dialogue-forward focus, and choppy pacing with NPC interruptions make this much more of a slog than 1, though the beautiful art is holding its own (plus more crazy camera tricks this time!). Memory maze is nice, but overall I was feeling disappointed until the final normal level, where out of nowhere the game drops "Kingdom of Sorrow." Empty living rooms ominously sit atop shooting spires as spindly stone bridges wind between, all draped in a sickly sunset orange. A simple melancholy melody plays as you meander around the long paths, but tracks from key scenes in 1 randomly move into the foreground, recalling the world of Phantomile now lost to Klonoa. I love weird and evocative stuff like this, so I have to give some props, even if the angle here feels underdeveloped and basically unrelated to the rest of the game.