BJ's Syberia 2 review

[Bacardi Jim]

See it here in the Conservatory.

[Ghostlady]

Interesting review BJ. Since I am not a die-hard Syberia fan, I read it with some walls up. Syberia was a good game with great graphics, great story and good voice acting. The downfall for me was too much conversation, especially at the University, too much walking and not enough interaction. So, I not excited about the walking you refer to but I am excited about more puzzles and the graphics. How was the snow by the way. All the early-on screenshots looked gorgeous with that snow.

[Bacardi Jim]

The snow was lovely. Perhaps prettiest of all was whenever Kate walked over a puddle of melted snow and her reflection shimmered in the water.

I am not exactly a die hard Syberia fan either. But Theresa and I both enjoyed this game more than the first one.

[Fairygdmther]

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BJ, I'm glad you wrote this one! I had some very mixed feelings about this game, but actually didn't like it as much as the first. You mention that there was less plot to the story, and that was true. I, too noticed the discrepancy in the portrayal of Hans, and wondered about that. As far as Oscar taking those without tickets, I thought he expalined that he had been forced to, and was actually pushed aside to allow one of them to run the train faster. I was also disturbed by the number of plot threads left unresolved: 1, What is Kate going to do now? 2, How will she get back to wherever she's going? 3, Why can't you free the Youki from the cage? 4, What will happen to the Youkols now - will the mammoths start coming back to them? 5, Was this whole train and track built for this one trip? 6, Was the mammoth toy lost with the train car? What was its significance?

The ending was so expected that it was in some ways an anticlimax. For me it left more questions than it answered. Did Hans go to die with the mammoths? Or was he rejuvenated enough to live with them for a time? why was there so little interaction between Kate and Hans near the end? Were there Youkols actually living on Syberia? We saw only the dead body of one, but the structures seemed to be in good shape - were there some still living there or had they truly all died out?

Oscar's goodbye was very poignant, as was the end scene, but it still left me wanting more, somehow. And I know this is really dumb, but at the end of S1, Kate had gotten Hans to sign over the toy factory, but then she left - did the contract ever reach its rightful owners in NYC?

BJ, I don't expect you to answer these questions, but perhaps you had more insight than I did as to the resolution of these issues. Overall, I guess I would have rated it what you did. It was beautiful, but also repetitive, and in places, annoying. Your review was, as usual, compelling and informative. I always enjoy your insight, and your cut-to-the-chase approach is so refreshing compared to either the pandering or scathing reviews one so often sees. I think you need to post a link to this at JA+, just so Betje doesn't miss it.

FGM

[Bacardi Jim]

I did so, FGM. In the thread titled "Snake Oil cheap!"

[Fairygdmther]

I was just heading over there to check things out! Can't wait to see it!

FGM

[Fairygdmther]

Hmmm - relatively mild comment from Betje, I wonder why...

FGM

[Tanuvein]

I agree with Fairygdmthr, it left more questions unanswered than the first. Also, to me, it lacked the emotion of the first one. Most importantly, however, it did not have the surreal feel that the first possessed. Throughout the original Syberia, I felt as if you were in a sort of alternate bizarre world, but the second one seemed quite normal. Not to mention the puzzles seemed more artificial than the first. It was still good though, just rather dissapointing to me.

[Fairygdmther]

Tan, I agree with you about the surreal feeling the first one had, especially in Validilene and Aralbad. The second one only had that in the dream sequence on Validilene, and the final scene.

FGM

[Bacardi Jim]

Did the Validilene dream sequence remind anyone of a particular sequence in another game?

[Fairygdmther]

Well, the sepia used kinda reminded me of the dream sequence from Sanitarium. Is that the one you mean?

FGM

[Bacardi Jim]

Exactly! And not just the sepia tones, but the mission: to get a doll to someone in the dream-past.

[Fairygdmther]

Oh, yeah, right, I uh, meant to say that, right...

Jim - give up on me, willya? My mind just doesn't hold all the info yours does. I hadda stretch to even come up with a game that had anything like that.

FGM

[joem]

I'm currently playing Syberia2. This has got to be the best atmospheric games I've played. Along with Syberia1. The first one had a great fantasy setting and so far, so does the second. Both of these games tell a great story, and this, for me, makes up for any shortcomings in the puzzle department. I don't have to mention the art in the game, beauty speaks for itself. I also enjoy the dialogue, which adds to the game instead of being silly.
If a game tells a good or interesting story, I'm interested. I am not such a gamer that demands better all the time. It's too bad that there doesn't seem to be a Syberia3. If B. Sokal wants to put out another fantasy game with the same type of gameplay, graphicks, etc I'll buy it and enjoy it.
I've found a copy of Amerzone and bought it. Since I'm running XP, I had a little compatability issue, but now I've found a way to fix that, so after Syberia2, I'm going to Amerzone.

[Bacardi Jim]

Amerzone was my favorite of the three.