Syberia

ooog gog, why not release this and its sequel for mac as well? I actually own the originals, and with a bit of tinkering got them to work in wine. the problem is of course that there are 3 discs per game and for me, one of the discs had corrupted files! it's a pita to have the cd in the drive/cdimage mounted too. plus wineapps tend to bit-rot and stop working after a while. Now this phenomenal game is on sale, but I don't know if I can justify buying a game I already own, that wont work on my machine :/

The Longest Journey is the origo point amongst the point and click adventure games. Syberia managed to do something that no other adventure games could do before: it had almost the same emotional effect on me as The Longest Journey (the first, and in my opinion the only one) did. It's a beautiful, touching game. Maybe the puzzles are not too challenging, just like in The Longest Journey, but the emotional reward is on such a high level compared to most of the adventure games released these days, that it is definitely worth the price. I do not really like games made these days, especially casual ones, I only know less than a dozen games which I would recommend because they are really worth the time someone "wasting" on them. Syberia is one of the few.

I quite enjoyed the games. The cheesy sideline with Dan back in New York made me chuckle and was a good way to break up the story a bit. I had a dificult time finding the pilot for his blood though and took me a while to realise I need to lower that lifted barrel looking thing to its original position for the pilot to appear (cause he's gone in it!). I like the ending and it makes me want to play the second series straightaway. There's still so many questions left to be answered.

Even 13 years after Syberia's original release date I'd be surprised if anyone playing this game for the first time won't be astounded by how beautiful the world depicted is. No doubt a bold move back then, considering how the genre was declining in popularity in favor of FPS and 3D environments. The story is ok at best, puzzles don't appear very well thought of and, let's admit it, often insult the veteran adventure players, and the user interface lacks polishing, so why rate it any higher than 3 stars? And the reason is, quite simply, the well added element of nostalgia, which games strived but rarely accomplished to achieve. From the beginning it became clear a great amount of work went into capturing that small town's charm and for those in love with France's countryside it surely grabbed our attention. Kate Walker is a NYC lawyer who represents the interests of a toy company which plans to acquire the famed automaton's factory in Valadilene, a small quaint town that has seen better days. Starting with the funeral march of its owner, and after a turn of events, you set on a mission to find the deal come through, not expecting the journey to transform how you view what you do and who you are. Good voice acting and, except for that I-speak-words-from-many-European-languages part, well written dialogue keep it believable despite the fantastical, anachronistic setting. Be advised, though, the slow pacedness never picks up and you have to wait until the 3rd part is released to (probably) have a proper ending. I also discourage from buying the second part since it feels more like a filler for the final act, it's even slower, doesn't add any character development, and doesn't solve any of the problems that, I consider, were tolerable in this game but not 2 years after. I doubt they even thought of them as problems but as what made the game quaint. Microïds/Anuman: believe me, they did not.

I like this game very much. Is so simple, but the story is really interesting and the places are all in a continuos theme, a bit steampunk and retro. Love the nature in Syberia, is so... natural :) I belive that the backround is hand sketched. The music is amazing, thank you gog.com for the goodies. So, the story starts with Kate Walker, a lawer that came to Valadilene to buy an old automatons factory, but is not as simple as she thought... The controls are ok, 4/5 stars here. To finish my review, the game is very releaxing and if you decide to buy it, make sure that you buy Syberia 2 too, because the story continues.