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Community Playthrough #29: Syberia
Which screenshot won the “Best Screenshot of the Chapter” award? Mine or Intense Degree’s? 
Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale
The best. Syberia has the best intro, no matter what you think of the game. It doesn’t wait, it doesn’t explain, it’s short - it grabs you from the beginning. What the hell did I just see? They’re human, but look like robots. They’re robots, but look like human.
Your’s Diego. Great shot I might add. And the commentary is spot on too.
Personally, the fact that the cutscenes play perfectly on the Dsi XL is nothing short of amazing, it is still moving to watch this intro play.
I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.
I’m going to be limited in time to play (and post online) these next couple of days. Should have more time again the couple of days before the deadline, though, so I should be able to keep up without problems. Just not the next four-five days.
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
[Don’t worry. We both know that Syberia is not a hard game to be followed. Basically, I would bet that you could keep up both leading the casual playthrough and playing this one simultaneously (except if you are one of those people that cannot play more than one game a time, that is).
Playing, but I forgot how much walking there is in this game. And how many times the words “I don’t need to go down there.” are spoken because there is nothing to do in the current screen. And I forgot how “touchy” the controls are as in you can’t talk to the notary unless you’re sitting in the chair, and you can’t sit in the chair if you are standing in front of it.
As to the second part, yea, I know I can multi-task. But this is/was the first casual game playthrough. It is/was also my first time leading a playthrough. And, knowing some people’s opinions might be favorably changed regarding casual games if the playthrough was successful, I figured I needed to keep my focus where it would do the most good. It’s winding down now.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
I forgot how much walking there is in this game.
Well, you do control Kate Walker you know…
A lot of work coming these days, but I’m gonna keep up with this tempo no problem.
I forgot how easy this game actually is.
Well, you do control Kate Walker you know…
Now THAT is really funny! That explains everything!
I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.
A lot of work coming these days, but I’m gonna keep up with this tempo no problem.
I forgot how easy this game actually is.
Perhaps, fortunately “easy” in terms of difficulty, does not involves little enjoyment in this game. I think Syberia is one of those games that flows easily, you’re never stuck too long on the same scenario or walking around without knowing exactly what to do. And though the story is simple in principle it always pushes us to go further and further in Kate’s journey.
” I remember. Somebody died. It was me.”
~
I have finally managed to play the first part of the game, and let me say that I had almost forgotten how beautiful a game it is, picking only two screenshots is almost like Sophie’s Choice, but here goes:
This is my favourite scene in the whole game, perhaps not the most visually beautiful screenshot, but the most beautiful scene imo.
(Click on the pictures to see full size)
Selecting a second image was a bit harder, but I finally decided on this one:
I don’t know why, but there is just something about half broken statues overgrown with moss and weeds that appeal to me. Also I can’t help wondering if there is something symbolic about this statue, and if so if it is meant to represent Kate, the Voralbergs, the Automaton business, the village of Valadilene or the whole world. Perhaps it is a bit of all of the above - though the more I think about it the more I see it as a symbol of Kate’s state of mind.
And since I’m not good at restrictions, here are a few more screenshots (out of competition (assuming that I’m not too late anyway)):
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
@rtrooney. You made me think. Any proposals - anyone - for varying Kate Wanderlust’s comment, when she checks the rooms in the hotel in Valadilene (“no need to go down there”)?
- I am sure this one is a room with a view
- Behind this door Microïds has hidden all the items you can’t pick up in the game (after Presto’s BIT)
- I think I can see a Segway automaton through this keyhole (and look, a travel map of Valadilene!)
The NPC’s are a bit more communicative - and interesting - in the Barrockstadt episode (though the bow legged hotel owner with his moving belly behind his apron is a great character as well). Still have to chuckle when the phrases of the man on the barge are translated by his - loudly speaking - wife. He speaks - not very well - at least five languages, probably more that I couldn’t figure out (French, German, Spanish, Flemish - Sokal’s homeland - and Russian).
@Renacimiento: Indeed (now playing Barrockstadt), the player gets a lot of (mostly verbal) weenies, so he/she knows what to do. And replaying the game makes it a bit “easier” of course.
@Iznogood. I considered the first one too, and as it was used frequently by Microïds, they must have thought the same (as they did with the stairs with the mammoths in Barrockstadt, see e.g. their Facebook pages with the cast). The scene with the music box is indeed a beautiful find (and a clever transition to the flashback). Liked your interpretation about the statue, and I guess you are quite right that it has a symbolical meaning. The last shot: of course! Second from last shot: it was one of the rewarding elements that they used some locations from the first game in the second game (like this nice one and the mansion in Valadilene).
A few random thoughts on the game:
I forgot how much walking there is in this game.
Well, you do control Kate Walker you know…
He He very funny, I never though about that, perhaps because the walking never did bother me. Another thing just occurred to me, it is not just the walking, when calling the office we also have to sit through several seconds of good-awful phone muzak before getting through to the boss, and in general the game likes to take its sweet time about everything. It is not a fast-paced game and the story only unfolds slowly - I kind of like that.
When I first played the game I was too impatient to fully read through Anna Voralberg’s diary, but this time I did and I have to say that it almost brought a tear to my eye. Reading the whole story of Anna her brother and her farther really added something to the experience.
Perhaps it is a bit early to discuss, but another thing I like about the game, is that the story starts out as being the story of the Voralbergs, where Kate is only really a supporting character. She is the protagonist but the story is about the Voralbergs, this however gradually changes and as the story progresses it also becomes more and more about Kate.
I actually like that you can’t click on hotspots to hear Kate’s comments on them, I mean I can see for myself what I’m looking at and that it is a beautiful automaton or whatever, I don’t need the game to tell me that. Hotspot commentaries also have its place and can add to a game like Tex Murphy, but completely omitting them and letting us use our own eyes and thoughts instead of the protagonists also has its place, and is one of the things that makes this a very different game from most AG - If only they had also omitted that annoying “I have no reason to go down there” and simply replaced it with a “no go icon” or something similar, then it would have been perfect.
If Oscar tells me one more time “that not all departure conditions have been fulfilled” then I’m going to throw him of the train.
Driving a train on the common railway net without any clearance or coordination with the appropriate authorities, isn’t that just a train-wreck waiting to happen?
Perhaps Oscar has been communicating with the railway control centres, but given his inability to “fulfil the departure conditions” on his own, then I somewhat doubt that, besides I can’t even begin to imagine the red-tape you have to go through to get permission to drive a privately owned train through several countries. And I can’t imagine that the whole trip is on the Voralbergs privately owned railway tracks.
A bossy boss that is putting pressure on and stressing Kate, a demanding and selfish boyfriend who doesn’t really seem to care about Kate, a silly and shallow friend more interested in shopping and a mother that is like mothers is most - All important parts of the story as I see it.
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
THE WALL!!!! 
If the music box scene is the most beautiful one in the game, then meeting the rectors of the university has to be the funniest one, I’m still lmao after that scene.
(out of competition)
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
I had the same reactions when I was confronted with Anna’s diary. I dislike diaries (etc.) in general, for (though it is sometimes unavoidable or even necessary - one can’t “show” everything as there are of course restrictions in budget and developing time} a game isn’t about reading long texts in books/notes etc. It’s the same with the Amerzone book in Barrockstadt, and the lecture was a much better way to convey info to the player. But perhaps that’s just my taste. It’s indeed a moving story, and I was also glad to read it this time completely.
A “no-go icon” or something similar would have been much better. It is one of the few small flaws in the first chapter and should have been removed after testing (I always wonder why many developers don’t seem to make use of the enormous player experience some have, as is demonstrated at AG in various threads - some seem to have played almost every adventure).
I liked the omission of hotspot names (the icons indicate what is relevant). I agree that no comments are needed like “what a beautiful automaton,” but we know that comments as player feedback can accomplish that the player becomes more involved with the game, its characters and events. (A beautiful example is the indie game Anna’s Quest - to become a Daedalic game - that shows how functional and surprising player feedback could be). But then, you are right that the game is quite original in letting us use our own eyes and have our own thoughts, and in that respect I am not sure if such feedback - by using comments - would have improved this particular game.
About Oscar and the train. Don’t throw Oscar of the train, please. It’s his condition (an automaton, bound by rules and instructions). The nice thing is that he seems to become a bit more lenient later on the story. As you know the game isn’t playing in the real world (in that case it would include many “inconsistencies”). And we know it isn’t a real train: a clockwork-operated train that you have to wind up at stations (the train ticket mentions that it is a “mechanical railway.”)
About the New Yorkers. A contrast between the new world and the lost world, I know, but the script lines could have been a bit more subtle. Such people exists of course, but everyone (four) being like that was a bit too much imo, even in this symbolic world.
Perhaps, fortunately “easy” in terms of difficulty, does not involves little enjoyment in this game. I think Syberia is one of those games that flows easily, you’re never stuck too long on the same scenario or walking around without knowing exactly what to do. And though the story is simple in principle it always pushes us to go further and further in Kate’s journey.
While Syberia is considered an “easy” adventure game, it is nice not to even think about using a walkthrough - just some common sense will solve most - if not all of the puzzles.
Syberia is another of the story and character driven adventure games - where the journey is half the fun. I found Syberia 2 to be a little more difficult in the puzzle department - but not much so - I am playing Syberia 2 directly after this.
I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.
Perhaps, fortunately “easy” in terms of difficulty, does not involves little enjoyment in this game. I think Syberia is one of those games that flows easily, you’re never stuck too long on the same scenario or walking around without knowing exactly what to do. And though the story is simple in principle it always pushes us to go further and further in Kate’s journey.
While Syberia is considered an “easy” adventure game, it is nice not to even think about using a walkthrough - just some common sense will solve most - if not all of the puzzles.
Syberia is another of the story and character driven adventure games - where the journey is half the fun. I found Syberia 2 to be a little more difficult in the puzzle department - but not much so - I am playing Syberia 2 directly after this.
Yes, it’s one of those games where you never really consider using a walkthrough to continue (something I hate doing and I believe that is something we all hate doing). And as you say you, if you happen to be stuck .. just using a little of common sense and logic the solution is always close and makes sense, unlike other games where you find incredibly difficult puzzles in which the only purpose seems to be to block your way.
Definitely the journey is half the fun or perhaps all of the fun, the first time I played Syberia I was somewhat anxious to get to the end, to finish the trip, but the pace of the game, in addition to its story, and the experience that Kate was going through, and considering how much I was enjoying it, to my surprise I found myself wishing that the trip never comes to an end.
” I remember. Somebody died. It was me.”
~
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