You may not have heard of Little big adventurebut if you do, it's likely you'll remember it fondly. It appeared on PC in the final months of 1994, then found its way to PlayStation and other platforms. It didn't move millions, but it gained cult status for its unique atmosphere, inventive controls, and memorable story of a despot, a rebellion, and a chosen one. Understanding Twinsen's quest means truly understanding his origins, so it's worth recapping.
Little Big Adventure was the first game from French studio Adeline Software, followed a few years later by a sequel. The developer (2.21) brought back part of the original team for this remake, including composer Philippe Vachey, revisiting a memorable musical theme – as well as new creations from the LBA fan community. Designer Didier Chanfray said the Little Big Adventure series was always intended as a trilogy: the goal now is to remake the original two games in a modern style, before finally completing the whole. Exciting stuff for long-time fans.
Twinsen's Quest mostly follows the story of the original game, adding a small prologue and changing a few characters to modernize the 1994 damsel in distress narrative. The hero Twinsen begins the story proper incarcerated in an asylum by the evil Dr. .Funfrock (seriously). His crime: having prophetic dreams about the end of the world. Twinsen must break free and discover his own role in the prophecy while setting out to rescue his little sister, traveling the planet across a colorful range of biomes, from the streets of Citadel Island to the icy mountains of Hamalayi in passing through the sands of the White Leaf Desert.
But what was so magical about this game in 1994? The first thing that struck you was the graphics. High-resolution (640 x 480 pixels) 2D isometric backgrounds were populated with characterful, low-poly 3D figures. Twinsen was beautifully animated, jumping athletically, tiptoeing and throwing powerful punches. The second thing to note is the controls: Twinsen was able to change moods, allowing different actions. When he was “normal” he walked around and chatted with people, when he was “athletic” he ran and jumped, an “aggressive” mood allowed him to fight, and being “stealth” meant sneaking around, every not sounding on a curious note. bass. Ingenious…and now a little horrible.
You see, Adeline initially opted for tank commands. Coupled with fairly tight spaces to navigate, an unwieldy racing mode, dangerously slow walking, and the need to pause the game briefly while changing moods – not to mention loads between split, non-scrolling screens – the experience was terribly stilted. At the time, it was inventive and new; unfortunately, the evolution of control systems now appears to be a dead end. If you're still hung up on nostalgia, take a quick look at a video of the original game and it won't take long for the rose-colored glasses to slip off your nose.
All of which is to say that (2.21) had quite a challenge revisiting a cult favorite after all this time. Some important design decisions were necessary, and they were made. The tank controls are gone, and this may sound like sacrilege, but the entire ambiance system is gone too.
Now, as you might suspect, you can push the stick a little for sneaking, a medium amount for walking, and all the way for running, instantly covering three of your moods. But expect whatever you want: that's not how it works. Even if you move the stick, Twinsen still runs. Clicking the stick will toggle a walk, but it's completely useless, and now we're back to moods anyway! We looked all over the controller for a way to tiptoe around and hear that double bass, but it seems like the “low-key” vibe was just gone. This feels like a missed opportunity, but you have to admit that the big challenge here was making it possible to jump and punch without having to switch between special states – and that alone justifies saying goodbye to the game's quirky control system. 'original.
So ultimately we have a pretty normal way to navigate the world and the game should succeed or fail based on the charm of its exploration and story. Fortunately, these are mostly intact. The new visuals – 3D backgrounds rather than isometric pixels – are all a bit playful and pleasant compared to 1994. The sound effects have always been exactly in this style, full of boings and squeaks, so the visual overhaul works. Popping anthropomorphic robot elephants with your magic ball or dodging rifle fire from soldiers as you walk past is more fun than ever. Unfortunately, it feels like there are some gaps in the animation – particularly the way Twinsen stops dead when you release the stick, returning to a standing position.
Progression in the game mainly consists of a long sequence of fetch quests and passing messages from one humanoid rabbit or ballplayer talking to another. Finding the last bit of dialogue that will unlock the next section can be maddening when it comes to traveling between multiple locations, and we had our share of moments where you just have to try everything. But the story that eventually unfolds is somehow compelling. Combat isn't the game's strong point, so it's just as well that there isn't too much of it until later stages. Throwing your magic ball is clumsy and unreliable and throwing punches is the same. The platforming is just as poor but just as sparse, with the jumps being heavy and certainly unsatisfying.
But the real bad news in this case is that Twinsen's Quest is seriously lacking in polish. We encountered several bugs where we had to reload; various NPCs prompted dialogue then said nothing; Twinsen spent hours of gameplay questioning everyone he met about Pirate LeBorgne, even after we resolved that part and moved on; critical progress points were easily missed…it was difficult at times.
Conclusion
Little Big Adventure has always been a charming and quirky game. In modernizing it, version 2.21 had to ditch the mark control system and revamp the wonderful isometric graphics – two major selling points. What's left is still charismatic, but bugs and a general lack of polish hold it back. For both new players and original fans, this is an original adventure game – but one that won't be remembered for 30 years.
