My Favorite Klonoa: Door to Phantomile Music Tracks

 Klonoa: Door to Phantomile was a game made by Namco and released for the Sony PlayStation in 1997, later remade from the ground up for the Wii in 2008, and that remake was later used as the basis for a rerelease for modern platforms in 2022 in a compilation with its sequel, called Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Series.

The story has a focus of dreams, and the gameplay is a simple platformer with puzzle elements where you move in 2D but in a dynamic 3D space, and you interact with the foreground and background, a style often called "2.5D." I like to compare the simplicity, accessibility. and cute aesthetic of this series with the Kirby series, (I've called this series "Namco's Kirby" before) but the gameplay is not quite the same.

I had heard of Klonoa for several years, but my first experience with the series was the Phantasy Reverie Series version on Nintendo Switch, bought as part of a shopping spree to add games to my collection. And I'd say, it's one of my favorite games that I bought on that spree! I don't super love it, but it and its sequel, Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, are solid games of their time. It's charming, the gameplay is unique, the story is engaging, and...
it has great music! One of the great things about the Wii remake and the Phantasy Reverie Series rerelease is that they kept the original music in, and that's what I got to experience. Here are my four favorites.

This is the theme for level (or as the game calls it, Vision) 1-1, titled The Beginnings of Gale. It's a great, pleasant first impression. Though it wasn't one of my favorite tracks until I listened to the soundtrack by itself some time later. I like the rhythm of it, and there are some great moments, like at the 0:25 second mark, and the 1:13 minute mark.


This is the outdoor theme (the indoor themes are the same theme but with the melody instruments removed or subdued) for Vision 2-2, titled Beyond the Backwards Waterfall. As the title suggests, the flow of the waterfall has been reversed, and Klonoa must find out why. I don't know how to describe this track. It's the first one in the game that really struck me (before I listened to The Windmill Song) When I shared it with my brother, he said something to the effect of "this is doing something really interesting musically." (and when he listened to the rest of the soundtrack, that's what he said about the whole soundtrack!) I'll have to take his word for it, because I can't put my finger on what it is. But what I can say about it is that it feels dreamlike and adventurous.

This is the outdoor theme (more accurately, theme for most of the area) for Vision 6-1, titled The Legendary Kingdom. It's the semi-final level in the game, and it takes place in a skyborne, crystalline kingdom. This uses different instruments from the rest of the game, and it has an ethereal atmosphere. I don’t know what else to say. I’m not good at describing music in detail. The beginning is oddly foreboding. It’s uh… cool when it gets to the chorus (or whatever the instrumental version of that is) which itself is a leitmotif from the first cutscene in the game. 

Now this is the reason why I wanted to make this post. This is the outdoor theme for Vision 6-2, titled The Time of Restoration. It's the final level in the game, and it really feels like it. I've been listening to this track a lot lately. It's definitely my favorite track in the game. It's ethereal in a different way from Untamed Heart. It instills a sense of determination and foreboding, of "it all comes down to this." The percussion and bass gives it an air of intensity. And... I love every part of this song. I don't know what else to say.
The indoor theme (which went unused in the Phantasy Reverie Series version) is great too! Especially the beginning. When I listen to this, I like to hum instrumental karaoke. 


And those are my favorite Klonoa themes! I was hoping this post would go into more detail about these songs, but like I said, I'm not good at describing music. Oh well. I like this soundtrack a lot better than the one in the sequel. Few tracks really stuck out to me the way these tracks did. My favorite track in that game, MOONLIGHT MUSEUM Ver. 1, didn't originate in that game, but in a side game of the same name from the obscure Japan-only handheld system Bandai WonderSwan!

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