This is like the definition of perfect small game, the small castle is packed with interesting rooms to explore, there's virtually no garbage that would clutter the gameplay in order to lenghten the game as is done in case of so many games. The characters are weirdly charming, in most text based games I dread all those boring text boxes I have to skip through, but these were fun to read. I would say that the base price of ten euro's seems still a little step for 2-3 hours of gameplay, I got it for two and I'm happy with the fun/euro ratio.
FatDragon already said it all and this will be buried somewhere deep in the reviews, so I'll keep it short. Syberia feels like geriatric simulator, it takes ages to get somewhere, then you do some meaningless thing like switch a lever and you have to run across the whole map again, which takes ages. When the characters are flat, they are mostly just annoying. The story has some charm to it, but it's presented in the most boring fashion, so many things are done here just to slow the player so he doesn't run through the game in 2 hours (honestly running through locations is like 80% gametime or at least it feels like it). Honestly, you've annoyed and frustated me Syberia.
Rookie storytelling mistakes done by clearly talented team. Instead of one campaign, you get seven short ones. Each of them gets different special "gimmick" in the overworld: you mine gold, you manage expedition, you have to feed your people. But these systems are so shallow, I've started to loathe the overmap and just wanted to get to the next combat. I've not played the latest XCOM so I can't compare these two, but the combat has sort of "boardgame" feel to it. I like it, it is clean and fun, but it doesn't offer enough "meat" to last more than few hours. Enemy runs to cover --> flank him --> shoot him --> repeat, ocasionaly you use special power, but flanking is where it's at. Because campaigns are so short, character progression is close to nonexistent, you simply don't get that "sense of pride and accomplishment" that comes with growing your guys. I've played games with weak gameplay because of great story (Bard's tale wink wink), and the combat here is not bad, it's ok, but it would need help from other game mechanics to make great game, sadly it's the best part, which maked Hard West just somewhat enjoyable. TL;DR;: If this were a cowboy, he would have a fairly decent shooting arm, face that seemed to change so often you wouldn't care about it, and he would walk with a slow limp, taking forever to get to a shootout.
