Little Big Adventure 2

Little Big Adventure 2 (LBA 2) is a computer game made by the core team who created the first Alone in the Dark.

It was later re-released by Activision in June 1997 in both North America, and in Brazil, under the name Twinsen's Odyssey. In July 1997, both Electronic Arts and Virgin Interactive Software re-released LBA 2 - Virgin Interactive Software doing so under the name of "Twinsen's Odyssey". LBA 2 sold over 600,000 copies worldwide.

The game is a sequel to Little Big Adventure (also known as Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure). LBA 2 was also the third game created under the label of Adeline Software International. The game features three dimensional environments and full motion video, and all of its music is in CD Audio quality.

In early previews - mostly of the 1996 pre-release version - there were some drastic differences from the final version. Examples include the ferry being in the style of the ferry in the original Little Big Adventure, the woodbridge on Citadel Island being intact rather than broken, Emerald Moon having a Twinsunian blue sky, and differences in the characters (mostly Zeelichians) - most notably the Franco guards seen on Twinsun after the invasion.

Plot
The game's introduction is as follows:

Hello, I'm Twinsen, the hero of this adventure. Can you see me up on the box up there with my girlfriend Zoé? That's my trusty friend Dino-Fly on the right, and that's a portrait of Sendell, our benevolent goddess, who breathes life into everything. Thanks to the medallion, and the magical powers she gave me, I was able to save our beautiful planet Twinsun. I had to investigate all the islands to save Zoé, and prevent our world from being destroyed. The terrible dictator FunFrock had the entire planet in his grip - until I came along. [pause] Yep, I'm proud to say, Zoé and I are expecting good news. We'll soon be hearing the pitter-pat of tiny feet, so we got to hurry up and get everything ready. Our world lives in peace nowadays, everything's calm, and we all have our place in the sun.

After Twinsen defeated FunFrock at the end of Little Big Adventure, Twinsun was peaceful... until a sudden storm covers Citadel Island. The Dino-Fly, a creature encountered in LBA 1 is struck by lightening and crashes in Twinsen and Zoe's garden. Twinsen seeks help from Ker'aooc, a healing wizard, who lives on Desert Island. But ferry crossings are cancelled. He aids Bersimon, the island's weather wizard, resulting in the clouds disappearing. After the storm, alien creatures, who call themselves Esmers, land on the planet. They claim to be peaceful, but seem suspicious. The Esmers then show their true colours by capturing Citadel Island's children and wizards of Twinsun, and taking over the planet. Twinsen and Jerome Baldino travel to Zeelich, the Esmers' planet, in order to stop the Esmers. Here, Twinsen is to confront the Emperor of Zeelich, who is preaching the word of the planet's god, Dark Monk.

Zeelich is two-layered planet. The upper layer is located above the sea of toxic gas that plagues the planet. It is the home of Francos and Sups races. The lower layer is located beneath the gas, and houses Mosquibee and Wannie races. The whole planet is ruled by Emperor, as its inhabitants await the day when the prophecy will be fulfilled, and the Dark Monk, the shadow god, will emerge and clean Zeelich from gas and monsters which inhabit it.

Twinsen eventually gathers together four fragments making up a key which must be placed inside a little temple on Celebration Island. He unmasks Dark Monk, who is really FunFrock, the villain from the first game. He kills FunFrock, and returns to stop the moon of Twinsun crashing into the planet something the Esmers had meant to happen.

In the ending sequence, the species of both planets have united, and have a party on Citadel Island. Twinsen and Zoe's baby son has also been born, who is heard but unseen.

Gameplay
Little Big Adventure 2 has two viewing modes - for outdoor scenes a 3D perspective view is used, and for indoor scenes it uses a 3D isometric perspective (the game field is rotated 45 degrees). All characters and vehicles are 3D polygon-based objects, allowing for full rotation and movement abilities. The interior game field is divided in scenes (a small block of the game that is active). When the player exits a scene the game is saved automatically under a savegame called AUTOSAVE.LBA. However, unlike Little Big Adventure, it is possible to save the game at any point. After completion of certain tasks the player is presented with a full motion video sequence. All text in the game is spoken by the characters. The LBA world is considered extremely large and varied for games of its time. There are three planets to visit, with Twinsun and Zeelich containing their own islands, each with their own unique graphical style. Essentially every character in the game is interactive and will respond differently when Twinsen speaks to them.

Like its predecessor, LBA 2 is real-time adventure. It combines several action game/arcade sequences and some elements from the role-playing game genre. The game's gameplay is partially free-roaming, allowing the player to travel around the islands once they have been "unlocked" by completing certain objectives; there are also many tasks which are optional or non-linear. Certain locations in the game are initially blocked from the player until they progress to a certain stage

Interactivity with the world is important in Little Big Adventure. Almost all characters can be talked to, and enemies are often performing tasks while the game world is active. The artificial intelligence in the game was particularly groundbreaking at the time, with enemies often running to alarms to alert other guards to the player's location, opposed to games like Doom released in the same timeframe where enemies can only chase and shoot at the player.

Music
The music of Little Big Adventure 2 is composed by the French composer Philippe Vachey.

Characters
Twinsen is the hero of both games. He previously saved his planet in the first game. He and Jerome Baldino travel to the planet of the mysterious aliens, Esmers, to stop the vile plot created by their ruler. He is voiced by Sylvain Caruso in French, and David Gasman in English.

Zoe is Twinsen's wife. She and Twinsen are expecting a baby, Arthur. In Little Big Adventure, she was captured by Funfrock and Twinsen had to save her. In the ending, it is implied she gave birth while Twinsen was on Zeelich. She is voiced by Catherine Margaillan in French, and Jodi Forrest in English.

Jerome Baldino (better known as Baldino) is one of Twinsen's best friends. He and Twinsen travel to Zeelich, the Esmers' home planet. He also develops a modified version of the protopack, a gadget from the first game, called the Superjetpack. He is voiced by Gay Marshall in English.

Dino-Fly is a dinosaur with wings, who flies Twinsen around the islands. Prior to the beginning of the game, he is struck by lightning, and must be cured. He previously appeared in Little Big Adventure. He is voiced by Gay Marshall in English.

Johnny Rocket is a sup (or Esmer) celebrity of Otringal, Zeelich. He is a secret member of the rebellion and aids Twinsen in his quest against the Empire of Zeelich. He is voiced by Joe Sheridan in English.

The Emperor is the ruler of Zeelich. He is a short sup who is usually located in his palace. During the game, however, he is hiding in the secret fortress island CX. He, alongside the planet's god, Dark Monk, is going to use the reactor located on the Emerald Moon (orbiting Twinsun) to crush it with the planet. He is doing this as a part of a deal he struck with Dark Monk, as the god helped the Emperor to gain control over his people.

Dark Monk / FunFrock is the antagonist of the game. FunFrock (who was also the antagonist of the first game) had somehow got to Zeelich, and disguised himself as a Zeelichian god, and he is not seen until the very end of the game. He firstly is known as a messiah-like figure who will cure Zeelich from its plague: toxic gas and it's monsters. However, it is soon revealed that he desires to destroy Twinsun with the Emperor's help. During the final chapter, "Dark Monk" appears, revealing himself to be FunFrock. His true goal is to destroy Twinsun to gain the power of Sendells. Twinsen battled through many new clones and finally defeats his arch-nemesis. He is voiced by Christian Erickson in English.

Sendell is Twinsun's goddess. She helps Twinsen save Twinsun once more in the ending cutscene. She is voiced by Jodi Forrest in English.

Reception
Robert Coffey of Computer Gaming World said, "With its unparalleled sense of marvel and imagination, engaging story, and deft mix of action and adventure, Twinsen's Odyssey is a true delight and simply the most charming game I've ever played".