Syberia: The World Before Review (Aleena)
It’s been almost 20 years since I played the first Syberia in 2002. The first games were really much like many adventure games of that time, with a strong story presentation in the first few hours, and then mostly puzzles to advance to the next tiny bit of story or cutscene. The excellent world building and visual design by Benoït Sokal was already there, and displayed lots of details and creativity, that was what differentiated Benoït Sokal’s games from the rest. In terms of story though, they were minimal, those games played more like a graphic novel with a short script. One of the few high quality AA adventure game of those years nevertheless, and they were indeed different from the ones that came before or after.
Benoït Sokal did have some good games over the twenty-five years that passed between Amerzone and the latest Syberia. He continued evolving and improving on several aspects of his games, many of which he did with his own game studio “White birds productions” with total freedom to pursue new stories, but somehow, all those games never achieved the same type of success the first Syberia had... and still interest was going strong for a new Syberia game. None of the games released with his own studio exceeded that and after many years he had to close down.
It was then in 2017 that after 15 years Syberia 3 released… the game was just not good unfortunately. Gameplay wise, and story wise. The visual design and world building by Sokal were there, but the rest of the game elements just didn’t work. You could even say the visual presentation by Sokal was, comparing it to the first two games, “uninspired”.
Another three years passed and it was in the middle of a Pandemic in 2020 that a new Syberia game: Syberia 4 (The world before) was announced and in the form of a playable demo. I think many people (including yours truly) were skeptical, although the demo was certainly intriguing and it was possibly, one of the main reasons, that I've played the game and that I’m writing this review now.
Syberia 4 is the absolute best by far of this series and one of the best adventure games period.
The team that worked with Sokal learned of their previous experience and developed a game that is as beautiful to look at as it is fun to play. You could say the game plays “smooth” as there’s a constant “flow” of actions the player does as well as the camera that follows our character and the story the game tells as it keeps the narration going at all times, the gameplay moving and taking the player for a ride.
This time, the story takes center stage. You do play your character(s) and you are first place doing everything, but everything you do through gameplay ties to the main narrative, and it is full of surprising and emotional moments. The characters are endearing and interesting and you will care about them. But what’s more effective this time around, are the several links this fictional story has with real world events. Although this is a fictional setting, its ties to historic events (second world war) brings more weight to what is happening in game. The subjects this game brings forward though are not limited to a specific historic period and they ring true to many periods in time. It is the beauty of Syberia The World Before: their characters are faced with universal themes that are recognizable and relatable.
The story in this game is fascinating and gripping all the way until the end and the game mechanics are well designed, modern and updated for the first time in years for an adventure game… it is the perfect combination of world design, visual design, character creation, game story, gameplay, music and sound design (the music in this game’s story really plays an important part).
It is then sad, and almost poetic in a way, that the creator of this series, Benoït Sokal, passed away some months before the game release in 2022 without probably seeing how the final product turned out to be and how well it was received after all these years. It is also, a great send off to his life’s work and truly the best adventure game we could ever get from Msieur Sokal and the team that worked with him all these years. A true work of passion and undeniable heart put in every step of this timeless adventure.
I’m not crying you are crying! This review is ©2022 Pablo Costa.