Syberia II

The game itself has a very snow and ice type of aesthetic, truly worthy of living up to the country that bears it’s name.

Good conclusion, finally getting to Syberia and such. However, the logic of the puzzles counters the fun characters and rich world (richer than the 1st game I would argue). It's not a bad old school point and click if you need to scratch that itch. Keep a walkthrough handy.

Where the first game brought me tears (when Anna wasn't able to get on the train to meet Hans and the love she has for her brother. Also, Helena who loved Hans.) and joy (finally meeting Hans) and rich story (The family backstory), I felt a little frustrated in the sequel. I missed the little towns we visited in the first game and there were items that I missed completely because either I couldn't see properly, or I missed the icon changing to examine the item.

I wasn't sure what to expect with a sequel, as I'd really enjoyed Syberia (1st). But this game has the same high quality graphics, music etc...However, it seemed rather short campared with Syb 1. Some of the pointers to solutions are very obscur having no logical relationship to the problem (no spoilers but the sequence for the train controls -- in the Youkol Vilage) lacked a logical basis so I had to rely on Kate saying "its stuck" or "that won't work" etc and went forward by elimination (perhaps its me and others haven't encountered this sort of issue). Also, why does old Boris (ex Syb1) suddenly appear in his out of control plane: convenient for Kate but lacks a logical relationhsip with that scenario. The ending, once I mastered the mammoth calling device, came at a rush. It was quite moving, but very abrupt: and poor little Youki gets left locked in the gate mechanism cage having given such stirling service on several ocassions. The interruptions from the New York office were irritating and served no purpose (we know what is happening to Kate!) and jarred with their rather crude language. Not sure what Sokal was thinking of by introducing them and the dumb seeming detective. I can see the possibility for a sequel in that Kate had been left with a ship and Kouki on Syberia Island whilst Hans has gone off into the distance. Perhaps it already exsist as this game came out in 2004.

Overall a good game. On the positive side, one should mention: + Interesting and unique story + Beautifully rendered images On the negative side: - Riddles often lack depth (NOT comparable to e.g. Myst) - Most of the time is spent searching instead of thinking