A classic adventure like those that are no longer made. Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest review.
By Frankie MB [23/11/24]
Twinsun's most famous quetch is back!
I have defeated the world's largest army with balls. I have set foot on every island and continent on the planet Twinsun and sailed its seas on a catamaran. I have flown again in Dino-Fly. Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest has given me the same good feeling I had almost 30 years ago. Without relying on nostalgia, mind you, since it reclaims the charm of classic video games at every stage. An old-school style adventure? More like the kind of games that are made more and more punctually.
Just to put it into context: the original Little Big Adventure is one of the great wonders of French video games from the 90s. You may have heard of it by its initials (LBA) or you may have known it by the name of Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure. Its return more or less follows a trend with other great French gems of its time, such as Alone in the Dark, Outcast or the sequel to Flashback. And that, whether you like it or not, means that this remake has to be measured both by what it retains from the original work and by what it brings to the player. Especially for those who are completely new to it.
Because Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest is absolutely reverential to the original game, but it's not a remaster. It's not exactly the same, but with updated graphics. The story has been tweaked (very slightly) to make the hero's journey more interesting, the gameplay has been rethought from top to bottom without giving up any of the original features, and, as if that weren't enough, original composer Philippe Vachey is back and has re-recorded every piece of music for the occasion. Much to everyone's delight.
A dream reunion? Just as we will celebrate the successes of this remake, of which there are many, we also have to pull our ears over different bugs that we have encountered after the first few stages of the game. Problems that, for the most part, are solved by loading the last saved game. And we will not deny it: in Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest you will end up saving your progress very often. Almost as much as in the original.
As a result, Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest is much more than an attempt to modernise the classic: what it achieves is a reunion with those games capable of fascinating players of any age, encouraging their curiosity and heroism without treating them in a condescending manner and, ultimately, inviting them to save an entire planet armed for the vast majority of the time with a ball. Or, rather, with a magic ball.
A little video game with big adventures
Do you know what the quetches are? You'll easily recognize them: they usually wear their hair tied back in a huge ponytail and, for all intents and purposes, they are one of several species that, along with the elves or the rabbits, inhabit the planet Twinsun. Little Big Adventure is the story of one of them, but not just any one: Twinsen is a wizard! Although he doesn't know it yet.
Twinsen lives with his sister Luna on the Citadel Island, watching how everything around them is changing at an enormous speed: after several experiments, Dr. FunFrock has spread clones and experiments all over the world with the promise of creating a better society. Some see it as progress, but others have already realized that in reality: it is a dictatorship.
And what does good old Twinsen have to do with all this? For years he's been looking the other way and living a relatively normal life, watching as friends and neighbors were subjugated or joined the rebellion. The other reality is that, unwittingly, Dr. FunFrock's armies kidnapped the wrong guy's sister... And it's just a matter of time before he awakens all his powers.
To make a quick analogy, if the first Rayman platform games draw heavily on the charm of the Super Mario classics, Little Big Adventure 's way of infusing a sense of adventure is very similar to the first The Legend of Zelda games : there's a superb mix of elements including combats in which we improve simply by playing and overcoming dungeons, barter chains, and a great cause that will take us to different environments that we must overcome in a non-linear way. With no help other than our adventurous instinct and a magic ball.
Although combat is not one of the game's main attractions, it is one of its best features: Twinsen can throw a ball so that he can take advantage of the rebounds to cause damage or access certain mechanisms. We can also fight bare-knuckle, mind you, and little by little we will increase our repertoire of artifacts: magic flutes capable of unfreezing lakes, jetpacks with which to commit robberies in museums, the honorary membership card of an elf club, a catamaran...
But in the end the message that is conveyed is that to be a hero and save the world you don't need a really powerful weapon, but a genuinely adventurous spirit, a jetpack for certain stretches, and an extra bit of determination. Well, and a little bit of magic. Which is curious because in this remake of Little Big Adventure the way we use it has been completely redrawn.
How Twinsen's Quest's minimalism always works in its favor
A very special note is in order: the studio [2.21] was founded to bring this project and its possible sequels to life, and it features many of the members and developers of the original game. This is constantly evident. You hear it through the soundtrack re-orchestrated by Philippe Vachey himself, but also through each and every element that both games share.
Don't get me wrong: despite some (slightly) tweaks to specific plot aspects, Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest features the same maps and premises. Our hero can ride the same vehicles and almost all puzzles are solved in the same way. There's a reverence for what's already there and the new aesthetic doesn't challenge the original, but rather imbues it with timeless minimalism.
The studio [2.21] has missed the opportunity to recover the original graphics with a button, as so many other restored and re-released games have done, but the reasons are almost understandable: the interface and the management of the menus are completely new and, despite the fact that the development of each part of the adventure is the same, the recreation of each of the scenarios and the care put into giving them new life is quick to appear when comparing both titles. Above all, it is worth remembering that the vast majority of the interiors and dungeons in Little Big Adventure from 1994 were rendered images.
The result? At the presentation level, Twinsen's Quest opts for the aesthetics so typical of indie productions with elements that are very easy to understand on screen, so that the player does not need to be reminded at all times where they have to go with text on the screen, but the care put into giving new life to each section is always there.
Screenshot of the Temple of Bù in Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest (2024)
Screenshot of the Temple of Bù in Little Big Adventure (1994)
In terms of gameplay, however, the changes are much more pronounced. If you played Little Big Adventure, you'll soon remember that Twinsen had five modes (Normal, Aggressive, Sporty and Discreet) that determined everything we could do. We could only run and jump in Sporty, while to talk we had to change modes and, if things got ugly, we could go Aggressive in the most literal sense. In Twinsen's Quest everything has been unified into one, and that means having to cut the action and take fewer breaks. But the stealth sections are still there. At least, until our magic ball has gained enough strength.
The return of the magic ball's bounce system could not be missing in this remake, and although previously the Twinsen mode determined its range and curvature, now it is betting on reinventing it by offering the possibility of throwing it at two heights, setting a target and even using the right stick of the controller to gain precision. How to improve all of the above and achieve more damage? Simply by advancing in the game. Something that we will notice, in fact, in the details that our own magician's suit gains.
Although the jumping system is not as intuitive as in other games focused on platforming action on isometric levels, once you internalize that some scenarios were designed to stop before hitting the bounce (due to the change of state) you will be able to adapt better to each dungeon and the launch of the magic ball. Later you will give new powers and abilities to the game, but by then you will have internalized the most essential, and Twinsen's Quest will have captivated you. However, and as we already mentioned, this remake also deserves some ear pulling. And that's even though the ears on the wings are very small.
Twinsen's big adventure in the face of the inevitable passage of time
One of the great things about the original Little Big Adventure is that, like all great adventure games, it always catered to all types of players, including those with just enough experience with video games. The problem is that since then we have become accustomed to greater ease and shortcuts, which may frustrate the youngest members of the family. Something that the studio [2.21] is fully aware of.
Despite not giving us a compass or an arrow to tell us exactly where to go, or writing under the health bar what we should do, Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest offers help in the form of a diary that is drawn as we go (a la Return to Monkey Island ) in which we write down what we have achieved and what is pending. In addition, the map tells us where we should go. But that, perhaps, will not prevent the player of 2024 from looking for certain solutions on the Internet. Not because it is excessively complex, mind you, but because today's games are much easier and Twinsen's Quest does not lead you by the hand.
The above is not a bad thing, mind you. Personally, I give it a special added value. However, that does not mean that this great celebration in the form of a remake stumbles on its own stones. Or, rather, on the potholes of so many Double A projects produced and released in Europe. After the first few bars of the game we have encountered several bugs in Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest. Some are problems with the sound, which overlaps or duplicates; others prevent us from advancing and in certain cases the game leaves the image static indefinitely with the music playing.
Within these problems, one consolation: as in Little Big Adventure, autosaves are frequent throughout the adventure and, in addition, you can save the game in two simple steps. You do not return to the exact position you were in, but you do return under the same conditions. And that, whether you like it or not, makes us more reckless than necessary when our hero already has certain acquired powers and has improved the magic ball quite a bit.
While there's no doubt that love has gone into breathing new life into Little Big Adventure, and the presence of much of the original team does more than just add extra points, a more polished final result would have been greatly appreciated, so that we don't resign ourselves to returning to the last saves when the sounds of explosions and jumps start to overlap when crossing the resistance camp; or that we avoid talking to certain characters that have nothing to do with the story because maybe, just maybe, we'll be left with the static screen again. And although the game has never suddenly closed on us, for the preparation of this analysis (on PS5) we had to exit and reset it twice.
In fact, if you play with a PS5 DualSense you'll like to know two details: the adaptive triggers react when throwing Twinsen's magic ball, you notice the vibration even when you're close to motorcycles or ground vehicles, and, in addition, the LEDs light up when you get close to any interactive element, such as characters you can talk to or boxes in which you can find health or coins. Small details that add up.
So, do the problems cloud the result? When you weigh the successes against the failures, the date leans in favour of everything achieved and recovered with this return. Because Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest may not be the biggest adventure game of this year, or last, but it is the return of a classic that vindicates the way to experience the genuine classic heroics of video games, for both young and old players. Recovering a type of adventure that today comes to us in dribs and drabs.
Our opinion
With the analysis done and the cards properly laid on the table, a confession: Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest has been a very special reunion. It is one of the childhood games that both my brother and I had, and its sequel (LBA2) was the first game that he bought himself.
We enjoyed the remake together, passing the controller around instead of swapping chairs like when we played on PC, and we remembered every section, every scene, and we also enjoyed discovering the new characters, which there are. If your goal and expectations with this return of Twinsen are aligned with ours, you will be fascinated. Like that child you once were.
In many ways, Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest isn't looking to revolutionize what it already did well, or leave its own mark within the adventure genre, and labeling this remake as indie and measuring it against other contemporary gems would be unfair to both the legacy of the original and the new projects that are looking to find their own place. However, in the end it all comes down to one idea: rescuing a special game and giving it some extra love by bringing it back to life.
I can't tell you if the same technical issues we saw appear in the other versions (we played on PS5). But I can tell you that, although this remake deserved some extra polish before its release, they are problems that do not overshadow a larger initiative and that it has been in the best hands when it comes to giving it new life. Making rediscovering the dungeons, the small and large cities or each relic of the Sendells also part of the experience.
So Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest partly loses that drive to rub shoulders with French-made video games and adventure references in order to stick to the original work. To its successes, to what worked and to the sensations of heroism and discovery. Revalidating the concept that where there was fire, there are still embers. Although in the case of the intrepid Twinsen, what there was was magic. And although playing with him again, and like him, has been quite an experience, in the end it has been like meeting an old friend again after a long time. One to whom we have a special affection.
Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest Price and Editions
The digital editions of Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest are priced at 29.99 Euros on both PC and consoles. Additionally, on Steam it is possible to get the Digital Deluxe Edition for 39.99 Euros which includes the soundtrack, the art book and early access to a wizard outfit that will be unlocked in the game. For reference, it is possible to purchase the Deluxe upgrade separately and the outfit can also be purchased separately on consoles.
In addition to the above, Microids will release on the 5th of December of 2024 the limited-run physical editions of Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest for Nintendo Switch and PS5 that include the corresponding copy of the game along with the contents of the deluxe edition (digital soundtrack, digital artbook and outfit) plus a lenticular print for a more than reasonable 36.99 Euros.
Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest Duration
According to my PS5 time log, it took me over seven hours to complete Little Big Adventure: Twinsen's Quest. It can actually be completed in a little less, although to be fair I've played and replayed the classic quite a bit and it didn't take me too long to adjust to the new controls. However, in the absence of a rewind option, I'll also confess that I've frequently returned to my autosave games when I've failed more than one jump or to avoid overlapping sounds in certain areas.
| The best | The worst |
|---|---|
| Genuine classic fun with plenty of adventurous spirit. | We encountered bugs and various problems after the halfway point of the game. Fortunately, almost all of them disappear when you recover the last autosave. |
| You won't miss the original gameplay: it feels the same, but it's much more comfortable. | |
| Now we want the same treatment for the sequel! |
Source: VidaExtra