[MarioNumbers]

Been seeing this as the hot topic of debate on social media in the past year or two: whether or not a hypothetical Klonoa 3 or new entry should rely on completely new characters or bring back old ones.

For me? It's a lot more complicated as I feel Namco has basically backed themselves into a corner with such a long wait, and I feel a third game would also need to be outright conclusive. It's to a point I feel the best course of action to go is a brand new location while utilizing a blend of both new and old characters. (Mostly new, old ones would need to have their inclusion justified with how much they are involved, let alone having character development of their own I guess in the case of someone like Lolo.)

Best example I can give, despite it's execution being arguably lackluster is Pac-Man World 3: That game only brought back one character outside of the usual mainstays while everyone else was new. The issue is that game had all the new characters with really jarring designs that clashed with the usual Pac-Man cast.

I think the closest I've seen to anything remotely resembling what I'd want out of a proper Klonoa 3 are these old sketches, DeviantArt user DarkSpeeds made back in the mid to late 2000's.

Spoiler

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Aside from that, I guess I just want to see Klonoa finally have some sort of mental breakdown should Lolo be involved. I want to see the dynamic from Lunatea's Veil where he had to comfort her flipped on it's head.

[rapappa the pepper]

I don't want any returning characters, i'm, honestly tired of the existing characters, and i feel like, the fact that they do return makes the endings pointless.  And obviously these concepts you sent here are derivative of Lunatea's Veil... The game all care for, and, sorry but Klonoa isn't all about Lunatea's Veil...

The direction? Do something new, again, i feel like, Klonoa's greatest strength is in presentation and world building, but the gameplay, while good, is nothing really that special and gets old (The Klonoa games are honestly not that replayable), and i wanted them to take swings, go beyond grab enemies and throw them, do like, what Kirby's Adventure did, where you just had to grab and shoot enemies previously, now each enemy has its own abilities. This is something i thought of Whispers of Wind having, but you don't "consume" the enemy per say, it's more-so every enemy that is thrown does something different or while you hold it does something different to your self.
Go crazy with the background and foreground mechanic, it's, honestly surprising the game that utilized it the most, was the very first one, Lunatea's Veil did have it, though not only did it not expand upon the idea, it, barely utilized it.  Take Tomba 1 to 2 as an example i guess on how it should be done.
Oh, and i would've liked it to go back to DtP's fast pace, more action oriented game, as i think every game since has, kinda put me to sleep at times.

I think Klonoa should be older this time, roughly his Wii's "age", and make it naturally evolve to be more about reaching adulthood, rather than, of course, yet another story about teenager and emotions.

As a whole though, most of the ideas for what i would've liked for a new Klonoa game, was in Whispers of Wind, but that, won't turn into a game... There is more to it that wasn't said for the game part though.

[MarioNumbers]

I wouldn't want it to be all LV at all, though I feel the series has already kind of given DTP more than enough love with certain characters that come back not counting remakes. (Huepow was commonly used in the spin-offs even)

Pac-Man World 3 is really the best direct comparison I can give, aside from the usual Pac-Man mainstays, the only past character they brought back was Orson. (The gray ghost in Pac-Man World 1 who is revealed to have controlled Toc-Man in it's ending)



It otherwise had a slew of new characters, it's just that design-wise they incredibly out of place and jarring.

[rapappa the pepper]

By what i meant is...

Lunatea's Veil brought a whole new world with whole new characters, no re-used ones aside from a few enemies.
None of the characters from any game should return in a similar fashion really.

[the_darai]

I think it should continue how LV did; new characters, new world, no real continuity (unless you look really hard for references from other entries) With maybe some new moves to help spice it up a little bit.

On the other hand, I'd like some characters from the spin-off games to be canon, so to speak.

[MarioNumbers]

I guess the other thing on my end is I don't exactly see Klonoa as the type of mascot franchise that can actually go on forever like Mario per say. 1 and 2 felt connected, even if the direct correlations were mostly subtle. (Hyponia, Klonoa being more older and introverted, The ending can also be argued to have some ties to the first game with Huepow's last interaction) I just feel the spin-offs kind of derailed that direction, then again it was stated all of them were kind of made to appease Namco, who wanted to try and gear the series more towards children.

I dunno, I feel it'll be a lot harder, let alone likely a lot more expensive and ambitious to make a satisfying conclusion after the series' prolonged dormancy unless they really want to risk another decade long wait for more sequels. And that's IF they even want to consider the spin-offs as actually canon.

Doesn't quite help Kumiko Watanabe will likely be entering her 60's in a few years. Don't know how long she could keep up Klo's voice before it starts to become more gravely. But hey, that's my personal tedtalk. I'm obsessed with Vidya Mascots so I've overanalyzed a lot of them for comparison.

[rapappa the pepper]

I don't imagine Klonoa having some kind of conclusion honestly... Like, to me it felt like L'sV was already kind of a conclusion to DtP, and i'd imagine they'd be some kind of duology series if it had to be a series. The name "3" isn't really necessary if you ask me, nor are they fully connected games, and some-what self-contained, though like y'all said, it's some-what in some ways.

But they are at the end of the day self-contained, you don't need DtP to understand L'sV, you don't need L'sV to understand DtP, and that, is why the number is nothing and shouldn't really quite dictate why it should exist.

[RAYDEN]

I firmly believe that the third entry should stick to its universal storytelling roots and indeed continue with what was established with Lunatea's Veil in which all main games must be self-contained experiences.

It would be a shame to see it go the way of Kingdom Hearts 3 where it pretty much trimmed back its Final Fantasy crossover and even the Disney contributions feel much less substantial compared to the previous games. It was done in an attempt to breach into fanfare for its own independent storytelling aspects, but it all only makes sense if people got to play the whole mess of side-games that I'm pretty sure only a fraction of the KH fanbase ever got to play. This is why the main storyline of these games is all over the place.

So I dearly hope Namco doesn't treat the Klonoa spinoffs the same way into the third main sequel. Just like the first two, we need a tale that can appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds, and I think at the very least introducing great characters like Pango, Chipple and Guntz into the main canon could mean we can finally see their full potential realized. It is all a matter of diligent execution.

And I wouldn't mind if it would be the last Klonoa game we get as long as it is a satisfyingly proper sendoff to our fellow cabbit friend 

[MarioNumbers]

I firmly believe that the third entry should stick to its universal storytelling roots and indeed continue with what was established with Lunatea's Veil in which all main games must be self-contained experiences.

It would be a shame to see it go the way of Kingdom Hearts 3 where it pretty much trimmed back its Final Fantasy crossover and even the Disney contributions feel much less substantial compared to the previous games. It was done in an attempt to breach into fanfare for its own independent storytelling aspects, but it all only makes sense if people got to play the whole mess of side-games that I'm pretty sure only a fraction of the KH fanbase ever got to play. This is why the main storyline of these games is all over the place.

So I dearly hope Namco doesn't treat the Klonoa spinoffs the same way into the third main sequel. Just like the first two, we need a tale that can appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds, and I think at the very least introducing great characters like Pango, Chipple and Guntz into the main canon could mean we can finally see their full potential realized. It is all a matter of diligent execution.

And I wouldn't mind if it would be the last Klonoa game we get as long as it is a satisfyingly proper sendoff to our fellow cabbit friend 

This I vouch with. I'd rather the spin-offs not be treated as canon; they already kind of derailed the series a lot and feel disconnected from the emotional storybeats. I said it before: They can bring back and recontextualize characters from the spin-offs, but they'd have to be reintroduced. Any returning characters from DTP or LV I'd like kept to a minimum, and even then if someone like Lolo returns; they need to have some purpose or story justification rather than some short voiceless cameo.

I'm honestly kind of glad more people getting into the series are basically seeing DTP and LV as the only real "canon" games. Pac-Man World 3, storywise, is basically all I can really ask for what I want from a sequel save for its confused tone, art direction and shallow forced combat system. I don't think a K3 would be easy to self-contain entirely without coming off as unsatisfying without some proper buildup: I imagine Klonoa would be older and a lot more shell-shocked, probably purposefully wanting to not get attached with anyone he meets and keeping his interactions with new people he meets a lot more brief.

This isn't just me being a sucker for shipping or whatever, As someone who's had a lot of similar life struggles; I imagine Klonoa never wanting to really make new friends after leaving Lolo. He's good at masking his true feelings but is still otherwise hurting inside, and eventually: he's gonna mentally crack.

[HaggisD1]

I just want the game to have really good gameplay.
Extra "levels" like in the Wiimake, that you might enter if you find a certain collectable or all collectables.
Maybe adding a speedrun mode, or mini games that you can unlock.
Or crazy uniqe extra vision like the handheld games.
New enemies and obstacales.


I don't want characters from DtP and LV return in this game.
I'm conflicted about the characters from the sidegames. They never were in the main entries so they would be
"new characters". But on the other hand it would feel like seeing somone you know only by seeing at a location you just happen to be at  .


I just don't know what I want when it comes to the story, I don't care that much when it comes down to it.