After the mediocre experience with Syberia 3, I wasn't having any big expectations of 4. It had me pleasantly surprised, though. The new adventure is better in every respect. The first thing I noticed is how much more smoothly the game runs compared to the demo, which had noticeably lower frame rates. Graphically, the game is very impressive - with its use of unique architecture, sun rays, shadows and reflections, in either day or night, it manages to evoke an immersive, almost magical environment that fits perfectly with the narrative. Walking through that mountainside I remember thinking if Skyrim looked this good today, it would easily eat up another 400 hours of my life. :P Using mouse with keyboard worked fine this time around, and I had no need to switch to gamepad. Puzzles were challenging but not too hard, with the exception of one particular map puzzle which got me quite frustrated. But after taking time to think it through logically, I was able to solve it as well. If I had to consult a walkthrough at least once in each of previous games, it was not the case this time. To sum it up: Syberia 4 is a cleverly written visual delight with a heart-wrenching story. The first half of the game progressed kind of slow, but after that I felt compelled to see it through the end. And when the story reached its climax, it raised some hairs on the back of my neck. As was the case with its predecessors, it left me craving for more just as it ended. Very much looking forward to the next adventure of Kate Walker!
Adventure games are supposed to have puzzles, whereas in this game they are basically non-existent. The last puzzle is an exception and a real face-slapper, since most actions before that are trivial. The crowdfunding demo showed a lot of promise. I'm sad to say that mostly, I feel, it was underdelivered. In comparison, the demo featured a lot more objects to investigate and interact with, far more mysterious and eerie prologue and at least three or four different paths which you could take to complete it. I was also looking forward to some answers for the mystery behind Silent Hill-ish radio from the souvenir shop. Nothing about it in the final game, though. Keeping in mind that this is a low budget project and a very first from the Red Martyr, it does end up being a pretty solid product overall. The lack of puzzles is compensated by some rather outstanding writing and dialogues. Be prepared for a lot of reading, and a lot of walking. Double-clicking makes the character run so this speeds up travel a bit, and in some cases there's also a handy dialog option to get to a certain destination immediately. For better orientation there is also a non-interactive map of town with surroundings, and a 'task list' with active/completed sections. The art is compelling and fits the setting nicely. All of the text is enriched with voice acting, which generally does not disappoint, especially in the case of playable characters. You can tell when the actors put their souls into the role. The music isn't very varied, but there were a couple tunes that got stuck in my head long after I was done playing. This is all a credit to the overall atmosphere and mood. Lastly, a tip - keep at least one save game from previous area as a backup. I made a mistake not to and got stuck almost at end. D: As a backer I really, really wanted to give this a better score, but the things that irked me were just too prominent. Great potential this team has, and I'm looking forward to more from them.
First off, I was pleasantly surprised that another Syberia installment is already on it's way, considering how much time had passed between 2 and 3. The demo looks absolutely amazing. Unsurprisingly, it is also very taxing on your hardware. There is a substantial FPS drop in crowded areas, but I suppose that is to be expected from a Unity engine. *cringe* Playing with keyboard & mouse didn't feel as cumbersome as in Syberia 3, where I had switched to PS4 controller pretty early on. Seems I won't have to this time around. Judging by some comments, not everyone gets the apparent nod to the Russian punk band 'Pussy Riot', but I personally like it. And I don't care if Kate is bisexual, even if it is some kind of PC stunt - I'm a big boy, I can handle it. :D But what does bother me is that Kate doesn't sound like Kate anymore, which is odd since IMDb says it's the same actress as in all previous games. Maybe she had a sore throat or something, or maybe they used a different actress just for the demo. *shrugs* Anyway, the plot is intriguing enough for me to want to dig in and see it through. My main complaint with Syberia games is that they are all so darn short. For instance, if Syberia 1 and 2 were combined into a single game, it would have been just the right length for such an adventure game. I mean, the puzzles aren't so complicated that they would make you stuck for long. We'll see how the latest installment fares in this regard. All in all, it should be a fun experience. Also, bonus points to developer for making this available on GoG from the start! (unlike Syberia 3)
Siege of Dragonspear is a bold attempt to bridge the story gap between Baldur's Gate and its sequel. It is something BioWare could have and should have done when they were being pleaded to make BG 3. Be as it may, Beamdogs made a worthy enough effort and I thank them for that. For they haven't only enriched the BG saga by remastering the two epic games and tying them together -- with this expansion they also brought a closure to another great game that they previously remastered. On the technical side, version 2.3.67.3 does still have some annoying bugs, albeit nothing show- stopping. I haven't tried the multiplayer, though. The newly added graphics are nice but I wasn't impressed by some of the flame animations. Some fights are too damn difficult on Core Rules. Could be it's just bugged that way. There's certainly room for improvement, overall. I did enjoy the voice acting and the soundtrack. Plenty of colorful companions to choose from and create a fun group. Yes, despite the noticeable cons this game deserves a solid 4 stars. About the folks who are bitching and moaning about some kind of perceived political agenda being shoved down their throats -- I didn't get any such impression from the game. Then again, I don't live in Mosesland. Since all of the kerfuffle has diminished the already slim chances of seeing IWD2 and PS:T remasters, I'll conclude my review with following: There's a special place in Avernus for those of you who contributed to this fiasco, and Belhifet is eagerly awaiting your wretched souls.
After finishing the Wild Hunt I can say that it managed to justify all its pre-release hype, and then some. A compelling, emotionally involving story with tons of intricate side quests, places to explore and things to do, rich lore, fantastic visuals, epic sword-fighting choreography and a brilliant soundtrack come from the top of my mind. The game runs smoothly on a mediocre system and hasn't crashed on me even once in two months of playing it. The few things that did irk me include: numerous typos in English translation, bugged targeting system, the broken animation of "crate-carrying guy" and a couple other graphical glitches. Nothing dramatic or irreparable. I've been a gamer for 20+ years and I measure games by the overall impression that they leave on me. Congrats to CDPR for making Witcher 3 topple Planescape: Torment as my all time favorite!
