Syberia

Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDING!
Review: Every good thing that the other reviewers have said about this game is true.

The graphics, the sound, the voice acting, the character development, the addictiveness, the longing for a sequel!

I must concur with a fellow reviewer who lamented the ending. I was SO disappointed by it, and at the time I didn't know that there was a sequel scheduled for release in October 2003. Luckily for me, I just played the game, so I don't have as long to wait as others may have had :-D.

The puzzles were a little easy, though not contemptuously so. In any event, everything else was so sumptuous and large scale, that that is eminently forgivable.

In closing, I say BUY BUY BUY this game. You will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: One of the special games
Review: Every once in a while, I come across a game that sticks with me long after the end credits. Syberia is one of those games. I completed it almost a year ago, and yet I felt compelled to come back and write a review on it.

In terms of interface and gameplay mechanics, it's a fairly standard point and click 3rd person graphic adventure. Yet, from the moment the game begins, it's obvious that there's something special here.

The first thing that will grab you are the graphics-- they are quite simply amazing in every way. Watch the way the rain spatters on the ground during the opening cinematic, or the fluid movement of every character, or the way the in-game water moves and reflects. More importantly, you'll soon realize how much care went into making this game's world have a certain look-- forlorn, desolate, yet teeming with amazing mechanical inventions that provide just enough of a light-hearted touch to steer the game from being drab.

The second thing that will grab you is the music. While it may get repetitive after several hours of nonstop gaming, and may swell in the wrong places at times, it's still beautifully written, and does a spectacular job of adding to the mood of the game.

But what will grab you the most is the story and the characters. Designer Benoit Sokal takes a relatively dull-sounding plot, and makes it fascinating. You are Kate Walker, a New York lawyer sent to a small French village to handle the sale of an automaton factory. Upon arriving in this village, you find out that the owner has just died, and the sale cannot go through as planned. But you also learn that the owner had an eccentric brother, who is now heir to the factory, but who has been missing for several years. Your task, naturally, is to find the brother. It doesn't sound like a thrilling plot, but the magic is in the telling and through the locations you visit while searching for the owner's brother. Kate Walker is not your standard video game character, either. She's very real. She changes throughout the course of the game. Her priorities change, she grows as a person, and she comes to realize who she really is deep down. The character development we see in her comparable to what we see in some of the better novels out there, yet somehow the designers managed to work it all into a very playable game.

I will say there were a few things that bothered me about the game early on. Unlike other games of this genre, you can't interact with the background scenery as much as you may want. You can't click on every interesting thing on the screen and get a description. This was particularly disappointing because the backgrounds are so wonderfully drawn, making you really want to learn more about everything you see. On the positive side, this limitation allows you to keep moving through the story, since unimportant items will usually not be interactive.

The puzzles in Syberia are very well crafted into the context of the game. You rarely feel that the puzzle is interupting the plot because it just fits into the flow of things. You also rarely get hopelessly stuck. Most puzzles can be figured out through some sense of logic and deduction.

The characters you meet during your quest are as fascinating as the game world itself. They all have distinct personalities, and by the end of the game, you're bound to remember a few quite fondly. Again, it's like reading a great novel in that sense.

As much as I enjoyed Syberia, I should warn you that it probably won't appeal to you if you play computer games strickly for an adrenaline rush. This is a game about story and character development. It's an intelligent, thoughtful game that doesn't race along. There's only explosion in the entire game, so take that as fair warning. There are also no real "bad guys" to speak of. This didn't bother me at all. In fact, I found it a refreshing change of pace.

One last warning, and I'll try to say this without giving anything away. The ending feels premature. It ends without a full conclusion, and this is slightly disappointing. On a positive note, this was done because the full conclusion will be revealed in Syberia 2, which is due for release in October 2003.

If you enjoy good a good story, thoughtful gameplay, interacting with a cast of well-developed characters, and sumptuous graphics, you would be really shortchanging yourself by not giving Syberia a chance.

Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary game!
Review: What I like most about this game is that I keep remembering it, thinking about it, wishing for more, waiting impatiently for the sequel. The graphics are stunning and the progression through the game was so logical that I never got frustrated, I just kept playing and playing and playing...all the way to the end. And then, the ultimate compliment, something I've never done before--I immediately played the whole thing again! I don't think adventure games can get any better than Syberia!

Rating:
Summary: Adventure Fans
Review: This game is a must get for Adventure Game Fans because it is the best game of its type in a long time. As you would know if you are are a Adventure Game doer, there are not very many of them made any more because to many bad ones spoiled it for the rest. So, get this game because it is very, very good.

Rating:
Summary: *Robot Voice* "Hello.....Kate.....Walker"
Review: Syberia is one of the best games I have ever played. I have re-played it atleast a dozen times because I loved it so much.

The basic story, you are Kate Walker a shy lawyer from New York, whom seems to have a habit of letting EVERYONE walk all over her.

You are sent to Valadilene (Val uh dee lin) in the French Alps, to oversee a take-over of the once popular Voralberg Toy Company. You are greeted with an unexpected twist, the owner, Anna Voralberg has died and seemingly with no heir.

You learn, however that there IS an heir, Hans Voralberg, Anna's younger brother. He left Valadilene a long time ago, to study mammoths. It is up to Kate to find him, so he can sign the paperwork that will give his consent for the factory to be sold.

Over the course of the Journey, Kate finds herself. She learns who she wants in her life, and who she needs to kick out of it.

This game is absolutly wonderful! If you have seen screenshots and you think the graphics are gorgeous, wait until you see the ACTUAL game in play, the graphics are ten times better.

One of the greatest things about this game, besides the graphics, plot, voice acting and creativity, is the character development. I am a writer, and I am in the opinion that if you want an audience to sympathize with the main character, he/she has to develop and grow like a human being. Well this game did that, you watch Kate develop and grow as her Journey continues, up until a climax that will leave you wanting a sequel.

I have always been a fan of Dreamcather Interactive's games...but they out-did themselves on this one.

I really hope that you will buy and enjoy this game as much as I did.

-Majestyic

Rating:
Summary: Dull
Review: The graphics are not great despite what people keep saying here. The Myst and Riven graphics blow this one away...Remember Myst3 and how poor the graphics were in comparison to Myst and Riven? This game is on par with Myst3.

The plot is boring and is not aided by the script that must have been written by a 6th grader (sorry - no offense to all you 6th graders out there). I was ready to strangle the retarded kid after only 2 encounters...and the robot man is equally insipid and annoying. The heroine is also pathetic when on the phone kissing-up/whining to her boyfriend.

If you enjoy spending hours wandering around aimlessly and pointlessly, get this game... otherwise spend your hard-earned dough elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Slow, enjoying, yet still somehow dull
Review: The game is beautiful. This is easy to see from the opening scenes, and the first steps of gameplay. However, the movements become slow, and the puzzles pointlessly boring. And though the game claims to be an adventure game, it still lacks ANY action at all. What happened? Didn't someone working on the project, stop and say "This game may play in 8-10 hours, but it feels like an eternity".

This game would best be displayed as art, on a wall monitor in a millionaire's home. The graphics were nothing short of beautiful, but the gameplay, and focus both took the backseat. Find something else to play.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Game to Play
Review: Good adventure game. Graphics are fantastic. I was only disapointed that the game ended. Would have loved to have had more game time, seemed a little short. (I guess I was spoiled from Longest Journey)Definately worth playing.

Rating:
Summary: Where are the mammoths?
Review: I really enjoyed playing this game. The puzzles, overall, were intuitive. I was disappointed when the game ended. It seemed it came too quickly, didn't resolve all of the loose ends, and since so much of the game revolved around mammoths, and seemed to promise them, I expected to see some.

Rating:
Summary: Not fun!
Review: Adventure games are generally pretty much hit or miss. With that state of mind, Syberia is way off target. You play the game as the dull/boring/dense femme Kate Walker. You get submerged into Kate's life (you even get her cellphone) and are sent to get a contract signed by the Voralbergs for a toy company.

All starts out well and fine until you notice something. The game is boring. The conversations you have are horribly scripted and predictable. The puzzles you are to complete are laughably easy. The graphics are gorgeous so in Syberia you do a lot of senseless walking. In fact, this game could probably be sold as a walking simulator.

You listen to boring conversations and trudge through your "mission." You get annoying phone calls from Kate's annoying mother, boyfriend, and bestfriend keeping you up to date on her terrible social life. Just when the game starts picking up pace Kate's cell will ring. It's enough to make you want to get rid of phones for good.

The plot is atrocious. There are many flagarant plot holes that just plain irritate you.

Play Monkey Island. Play Grim Fandango. Play The Longest Journey - those are entertaining adventure games. This one is simply pure fluff that will have you yawning for twenty some hours straight.