Syberia 3: The Complete Journey

After playing the first two games back-to-back and enjoying them greatly, this came as a punch in the face. I'm playing with a mouse and keyboard, and boy the controls SUCK big time. This isn't a 'point-and-click' game anymore. This is a 'point-and-drag' torture game because it's not enough to figure out the puzzle, you have to simulate the exact motions with the mouse for some puzzles (i.e. unscrewing a screw = circular motion etc.), which feels like a really evil way to increase difficulty of a primitive puzzle. Just... why? Controlling Kate's movements is just as annoying in 3D, sometimes due to camera angle I can't get her through a door for example and she'll keep running into walls. It would be useful if you could switch to an overhead view at least, or something. Interacting with unimportant NPCs is ridiculous, they won't even turn or look your way when talking to you. Graphics are mediocre, especially for 2017 -- even with 'beautiful' graphics setting a lot of stuff is extremely low-resolution, like it was made in the early 2000s at best. Animations also feel like they're unfinished half the time. It's generally lacking the charm and mystery of the first two games, and NPCs are lacking any personality whatsoever. Overall, can't well recommend unless you're a completionist and fan of the series.

If you only look at screenshots, this is a pretty game. It has a nice atmosphere, it has its own visual style and the puzzles are mostly good. But when you play it, its many flaws are obvious. The fixed camera that worked well in the previous games is far too often annoying or even stupid. The game would problably be better if it was played in first- or third-person view. The UI disappearing at times is one such flaw. Then the entire story feels like there are all these people who want something done but are too lazy to do it themselves, and so ask Kate Walker to do whatever needs to be done. The Youkols feel like some sort of Eskimo parody. The villains seem like they were added as an afterthought, and their motives are unclear for the entire game. I said earlier that the puzzles are mostly good. There is one big exception. It requires you to do several things in quick succession. If you fail you must start over. That puzzle is the worst in the entire game. This could have been a good game, But there are many little things that add up to make it terrible.

As a fan of the Syberia series, I was excited to dive into Syberia 3, but boy, was I in for a frosty disappointment. Zero stars, folks. Zero. The icebreaker puzzle. It's the point where my patience hit an iceberg and sank faster than the Titanic. The game expects you to switch gears on a machine using either a mouse or a gamepad. Easy, right? Wrong. The cursor disappeared more often than my motivation to keep playing. On the gamepad, the lag was so bad I couldn't react in time. I gave up and uninstalled the game. There are better ways to waste time, like watching paint dry. The puzzles are an absolute joke. Manipulating the mouse to open a door? Whose brilliant idea was that? Or how about twirling the mouse around like a DJ to unscrew something? Really? In a point-and-click game? It's like the developers decided to throw logic out the window and replace it with a sadistic mini-game marathon. And the story? Infantilizing. Instead of an engaging narrative, we're stuck performing tasks that are directly told to us and often make no sense (dive to open the gate? Really?). Most puzzles have their solutions lying around in the same room or nearby, which is just lazy design. Predictable and boring. Overall, Syberia 3 is a colossal waste of time and nerves. The puzzles are terrible, the controls are infuriating, the game is unoptimized and lags on an RTX 3080 (laptop), and the story is as deep as a puddle. Save yourself the frustration and steer clear. This game is an iceberg of disappointment.

Good game. Would've been a great game if it wasn't so buggy. The controls leaves much to be desired. The graphics are okay, but the animations are pretty bad, especially the facial ones (not on par with other 2017 games). The puzzles are weak and can be frustrating due to buggy controls (e.g. The mouse cursor will just disappear and clicking on anything becomes impossible. This happens way too often.) Voice acting was good for some characters, while others were pretty bad. One of the characters is supposed to be a young fella, but he sounds like a 50 year old dude with lung cancer. Overall, the story is interesting at most, but the gameplay could use some polishing. If you want to buy it to see Kate Walker's latest adventure and enjoy the somewhat pretty graphics and landscapes, wait for it to go on sale. I bought it when it was at around $12, but I've seen it go as low as $10.49; it might even go lower.

Ich liebe die Syberia Reie und auch der 3. Teil hat mich gepackt, wenn auch mit bitterem Nachgeschmack. Was ein ganz klarer Kritikpunkt ist: die verfluchte Steuerrung. Und auch die Lags und ewig langen Ladezeiten, bei Locationwechsel zerrten an meinen Nerven. Aber gut... Geduld ist eine Tugend, sagt Omi immer. Die Stimmen (Ich spiele mit deutscher Synchro), waren okay. Da ich vorher nochmal Syberia 1 und 2 gespielt hatte, dauerte es einen Moment, mich an Kates neue Sprecherin zu gewöhnen. Aber im Nachhinein hab ich mich wirklich in diese Stimme verliebt. Sie passt ganz toll zu Kate. Die Grafik hat mich von der ersten bis zur letzten Minute gepackt. Genauso auch die musikalische Untermalung (Ich hab selten so einen tollen OST in einem Game gehört, wie hier!). Und die komplette Atmosphäre war der Hammer (mir ist es so eiskalt den Rücken herunter gelaufen, als man mitten in dem verlassenem Vergnügungspark stand. The stuff of nightmares - brrrr!). Auch die Story war okay, wenn auch teils etwas nervig. Da ging es gerade weiter im Programm weiter und prompt hielt die Gruppe wieder und alle drängelten ("Schau mal Kate. Eine Nacht des roten Mondes. Wir müssen natürlich, bevor wir weiter ziehen, ein voll krass wichtiges Ritual abhalten. Im Tempel. Wir haben aber keine Ahnung wo der ist. Such ihn mal und beeil dich gefälligst. Immerhin ist der Mond nur heute Nacht und wir hielten es natürlich auch nicht für nötig, dir das im Vorfeld schonmal zu erzählen. Ach ja und du musst dich natürlich auch noch beeilen, weil der bekloppte Oberst mit seinen bewaffneten Hündchen uns an den Fersen klebt") . Auch die Logik haperte manchmal etwas. Ich persönlich hätte mir ja gewünscht, wenn auf die Vorgängerteile etwas mehr eingegangen wäre. Und allgemein mehr Hintergrundstory. Ich hab immernoch keine Ahnung, welche Rolle dieser Oberst eigentlich spielt, außer der böse Hampelmann. Das Ende hat mich übrigens richtig frustriert. Fühlt sich nicht nach Sieg an. Bin traurig :'(