Kate Walker concluding her inner and outer journey
Syberia 2 was a highly emotional game for me. Games in general have a hard time dealing with emotional shades that are not in black and white, that are, you know a bit more finesse oriented... But not this series, the Syberia series managed to tightrope onto a highly personal storyline, one where detail and careful examination of the protagonist's inner emotions are delivered through the game itself, through the gameplay, without the player being told, explicitly what to feel. Still, it's an adventure type of adventure (!) so don't expect a tear jerker. Nope, Miss Walker is on a quest to fulfill someone's unexpressed but apparent wish to locate the last living mammoths of the world. But, that initial quest, that was presented in the first game is now shifting to a kind of story and realization that goes a bit deeper than that. You see, Kate is followed by an automaton companion that, in the end will prove to serve a different purpose than what she though... Yeah, it's a game about sacrifice, passion, dedication, finding meaning in one's life, all sort of high level themes. But none of these are fisted in your face, nope, they are gently pinned to a game that is still a fun, puzzle and exploration filled classic adventure. Plus, the static images of which the game consists of are seriously beautiful, canvas a world that while grounded in reality ahs enough mystery to rile you to see more. A genuinely beautiful game this one is, as is the entire series. The kind of story that this game tells was hinted in another Benoit Sokal classic, Amerzone, though Syberia is much more finely produced in terms of storytelling. Both, though, are worth a play for adventure fans and for those looking for a rich, at the edge of fantasy storytelling and great classic point and click mechanics.
