It starts interesting enough, with an unusual gameplay mechanic, but down the road, you realize that the story becomes duller until the bad ending and that the gameplay mechanics are tedious, so I advise you to play with a walkthrough. The puzzles were not hard, but speaking to patients can be annoying.
This was announced as a spiritual sequel to Planescape: Torment, one of the best RPGs of all time. To make a sequel, even spiritual, and relate it to that game, you really have to know what you're doing. Even though there were people involved who worked on PS: T, this game went off somewhere. The story was good, but the gameplay, design, and pretty much everything else were off at least for me. I finished it just to see the story, but I wouldn't recommend it, especially to those who loved PS: T.
Syberia games were never among the best adventure games I've played. They have their flaws, but they have a soul (for the lack of a better term). Syberia 3 looks gorgeous thanks to Sokal's art direction and improved graphics and that's about that in this game. The writing is bad and full of illogical decisions as if players were idiots. The controls are clunky and awkward, camera angles are annoying, and you can't cancel cutscenes or skip dialogue or save whenever you want, but you have to rely on checkpoints. Worth playing only if you've played first and you want to play because you like the series. Even then lower your expectations. Or just skip the game.
It may lack the humor of other LucasArts games of that period, but The Dig might be their best game. This is the game for fans of a good SF story that deserves a remake so it can be made the way it was imagined for the first time. Or Spielberg could go back to his original concept and make a movie which would be awesome. Puzzles can be frustrating and monster design, although good, is not believable when it comes to making them advanced race.
As someone who grew up on LucasArts point-and-click adventures and Broken Sword, this gem immediately intrigued me. It takes you less than 3 hours to complete and while the art is gorgeous and the voice acting is top-notch, the story left me wanting for more. Quite simple and predictable after 20 minutes of playing. Want to see the next game from this studio.
Set in a world of STASIS, The Brotherhood's studio debut game, where Cayne is a God, Bone Totem is another masterpiece of storytelling. It has a creepy atmosphere that, along with the music, keeps you anxious as you play: great voice acting and art direction. The creators were influenced by H.R. Giger (there is even an image of a xenomorph in the game), but there is also Lovecraft and Mesoamerican influence in there as well as some of the movies, primarily "The Bone Tomahawk". The only remark I have is that it's too dark. Yes, it's set in darkness on the bottom of the sea, and creators wanted to achieve the feeling of player being trapped there, but still we miss some of the great visuals.
Syberia I and II should've been one game. That's more clear once you finish the second part. Yes, it would've been too long if combined in this form, but both games are full of unnecessary parts that could've been trimmed. I prefer the first part, as the second one can drag on in certain places. Also, puzzles are not logical and sometimes it's hard to find items needed to progress. Art style is gorgeous, but I have a feeling that Benoit Sokal was too in love in his work that he refused to trim certain areas just to show off his vision. Unfortunately, it can be tedious running around through all those screens just to get from one point to another. However, I still recommend it as it has an emotional story (a few holes regarding her New York employer, but what to do). Ending is moving.
Syberia I and II were supposed to be one game, but developers thought it was too big so they divided it. They were right, it would've been too large a game, however, the first part is full of unnecessary parts (pretty much the last third of the game) that don't add to the story and prolong the agony by making us run from screen to screen, which can be tedious considering animation and not be able to skip/quick run through the screen. The story is interesting, the art design is gorgeous, but that's about it. Side characters are cardboard cutouts, dialogs with friends and family on the mobile phone are horrible, and puzzles are almost nonexistent, which makes Syberia look like an early HOG. It's the art design and story that makes you play it and make it worthwhile your time.
I remember being disappointed when Broken Sword 3 came out as it was in 3D, however I enjoyed playing it. Sure, the old charm was gone, but it was Broken Sword with everything that comes with it. Angel of Death is a half-baked product that shouldn't have been published. Bad writing, poor controls, lots of dead items in inventory, not able to skip dialogue, all those plot holes that we were supposed to ignore... It's been 17 years since this game came out and I've just finished it now after playing it for two years. I think it says it all, and I'm a fan of the series.
While I had fun with Lost Horizon, the sequel is bad, to simply put it. Too short, too buggy, with lame puzzles and story. As if developers just stopped caring at one point. Also, introduction of QTE was totally unnecessary. Play the first, skip sequel.
