Syberia

This game has really stuck with me. It's been forever since I played through it, but I remember being really impressed by it: it was one of the first adventure games I ever played, and it really got me into the genre. I remember thinking about how Kate's character evolved over the course of the story, and it's truly impressive how fully realized her character is. The setting is fantastic - probably the strongest part of the game. The puzzles are standard, probably a little easy for most experienced adventure gamers, but they were at an excellent level for me. I never got too frustrated, and they were over quickly so I could continue with the plot. There was a real sense of satisfaction with discovering new locations, and I absolutely loved exploring this highly detailed, beautiful world.

It's a great adventure. I don't know why it has mixed reviews. PROs: Beatiful graphics. Original and interestings story. The puzzles makes sense. No pixel hunting at all! CONs: Traveling from screen to screen could be a little slow and boring when you get stuck with a puzzle.

Great game!

A great story, this is what Syberia is. The story of a girl looking for her destiny in a strange but fantastic world, a world that is ancient and futuristic at the same time. Beautiful graphics, wonderful soundtrack and some memorable characters, who you know more through letters, newspaper clippings and conversations with other characters than talking directly to them. Syberia is like a movie. Its realistic graphics contribute to that. But that's not the only reason. The game may be a little slow -you must read a lot at some points to learn about the plot- but as a compensation, the game is rather easy. There are not real puzzles, you won't get stuck more than, say, twenty minutes. The actions you must do are so obvious that more than one time (and two) you will solve something even before knowing that you need to solve it. Also, when a new important "door" opens, you don't need to go back to the rest of the game places even if you can, because it becomes clear that you will find all the clues in this new situation without walking so much. This makes the action faster and lets you enjoy the real goal of the game: its story. Another good thing about Syberia as an adventure is its gameplay. You won't never carry more than three or four objects at a time (she is a human!), and there is no possibility of using one of the items of your inventory with the others, which avoids that annoying ritual of most adventures when you don't know what to do. The places where you can use objects in the world are showed clearly without any effort, so there is not any pixel hunting. I mean, the objective of the game is not making you think a lot or annoy you with a difficult interface or a complex gameplay. You can just enjoy the plot while you advance through it. This kind of game needs a name as an adventure subgenre. "Film adventure", maybe. Comparisons between this Syberia and The longest journey are unavoidable, but they are very different games, although both of them are based on a solid script and a similar environment and both of them have a girl as the main character. Wether or not you are a classic adventure player, you should try this game. You will notice significant differences between Syberia and other adventures if you are a Lucasfilm kind of player (as I am), but you will enjoy it anyway. Don't try to compare, just relax and play. You will remember this journey all your life.

"Syberia" was released during the second wave of adventure games (post-2000) and is the first part in a steampunk (or is it clockworkpunk) duology (now apparently a trilogy as the third part is in the making). I fell in love with the game a long time ago and now revisiting it I can say that it withstood the test of time flawlessly. The first thing one notices about the game is that it looks beautiful. All the places are rendered so vividly that it seems they come alive. After playing this game you will definitely remember Valadilene or Komkolzgrad as you you have been in those places yourself. The game sports a very memorable musical score as well and the background noises and the voice acting fit the mood too. OK, some people think the acting to be sub-par, but I disagree. At least the voices of Kate and Oscar (however annoying his character might be) fit the story perfectly. So of the conversations on the phone might grate your teeth, but i must wonder if it was not intentional. As this is a point'n'click adventure game obviously there are puzzles. So how are they? Actually I would call them very easy. That may be disappointing for hardcore adventure gamers, but I relished in a chance to experience the story without a need to wander around for hours without having the slightest idea what to do or the need to use a walkthrough. Inherently, "Syberia" is a coming-of-age story despite Kate being an adult. From her first appearance as an always hurrying, no-nonsense lawyer firmly rooted to the ground we can see her change. We see her opening her eyes to the wide world around her. It is her former friends and colleagues on the phone that nail it how shallow her life was until she started on the big quest. If I have any quibbles it is that "Syberia" and "Syberia 2" are in essence one big game that was split in two, so the first part ends on a sort of cliffhanger note. But that shouldn't detract you from the enjoyment. If you like point and click games with great story, visuals, music and not too hard puzzles, this is a game for you.