Little Big Adventure 2

The score to Little Big Adventure 2 done by Philippe Vachey is a true orchestral experience. He's done other games like Time Commando, Toy Racer, and most notably Alone in the Dark. The composing of Little Big Adventure is done with an orchestral setting and a few synthesizer works. It's very diverse and unique in that most of the melodies start out very slow paced then steps up and build upon that. This method creates some distinguished moods where you really feel the changes and environments shift as the music develops. The feel can go from a serene paradise-like mood that changes into a more broken version of itself, or from dark cavern mood that goes into a more military theme. You can even hear some kind of Arabic feel to it following it up with desert-like theme.

With "Honey Bee" its easy to hear there is something going on and it did not turn out quite as it should. When you go through "Zeelich" you are presented with deep horns giving you the feel that you are in a rather dangerous place, but then it shifts to a more city kind of situation where you can imagine people on the street running from a military power. The sounds never get tiring because he used a lot of instruments to create the feel of the whole score.

"Emerald Moon" presents a big lighted cave with a mysterious mood that rings out in power. It's almost like you can imagine the water and the reflecting of the water off the walls. After that it quickly and gently shifts to a more aggressive theme with big drums, horns, and an orchestral type of music. This is done in a way that I've never heard any composer do before, and it is so harmonically executed for the better of the score; it makes you just really want to know what happens in the ending. All the tracks are like a little story for you to follow. It's a really great way to do a score because it presents diversity and it's smart well thought out changes, and incredible quality of instruments used this score has it all.

The only bad thing is it's so short, going through the feeling of looking at a paradise with peace getting interrupted by some kind of mysterious power is incredible to listen to, which is exactly what is experienced in "Song of Gabriel". Each tune is only three minutes and the whole score is 22 minutes long so it's short. However, it's good and I would rather have a short and good score than a bad and long score. This is a must for any orchestral minded gamer, and you won't find a better score in any game. Although the score is short, it will keep you interested for days to come; the choice of instruments and the changes of mood will make sure of that. Well I think it deserves a score of 10 even on a overall look because a lot of people will properly like the score for what it does. If you enjoy something from Hitoshi Sakimoto, this is a must in every sense because its different in a lot of ways you ever heard a game soundtrack before.

Nothing beats this piece of unique work. Philippe, do more please.