Syberia: The World *Way* Before an emotional breakdown
“The good old Syberia” — I said to myself while seeing the notification pop-up about the release about the latest part of the famous series by Benoit Sokal. “But how are they gonna tie this mysterious woman into the story?” — should have been my question from the very beginning…
~Please beware of the spoilers ahead~
Ah, Syberia. It brings nothing but the sweet memories of a childhood spent playing these remarkable first two parts. Having to deal with annoying, yet lovable, Oscar, looking for the brightest engineer Hans Voralberg and embracing the adventurous nature of her very self — Kate Walker.
Well, would be like that, if it wasn’t for the bland, quakey third part, that pretty much starved me of any hope that the company is capable of making any great continuation of a series. And was I wrong? For sure I was!
Being partially sceptical as to what this game may offer I cautiosly added it to my Steam library and waited… For myself to finish replaying the previous parts, of course, so I could get a better glimpse at a story overall. Time passed and I finally got my hands on it. And, oh my, was it unsettling...
For starters, we’re introduced to this girl, Dana, who seems to have no particular connection neither to Kate, nor to Syberia overall. And so my first question arises: “why is she here?”. If in previous parts pretty much all the characters were sort of familiar and came from the initial story, in this case we plainly start off a sequel FROM a scene WITH an unknown lady. I do hold no grudge against her, a beautiful girl with a relatable story, but the introduction of this sort to me seemed a bit vague. Anyhow, the scene with a concert is quite magnificent and gives you an impression that Hans Voralberg has left something of his genius here, looking at the beautiful automatons raising at the square.
We’re then thrown into the world of Kate Walker and OH MY, WHAT HAS HAPPENED WITH HER? She’s changed, first of all, in her appearance, which is pretty obvious looking at the pictures of her in the older games, but also just checking her eye color… She seems to have been enslaved in a jail near Syberia which is not even considered to be a governmental organisation — some thugs from the previous game pushed her into the mine and she’s been working there ever since. As for me, I would not have called it the best explanation as to “how did we get here” moment.
She’s got a girlfriend now, which dies less than midway into Kate’s sequence, which would be nothing special, if it wasn’t used for an entire motivation of Miss Walker throughout the game… To me, it’s pretty weak for a player, who knows very little of Katyusha and perhaps even less about the current Kate to justify her escaping into the unknown having just one picture of a woman who looks like her (well, sorta) and a couple of sad goodbyes at her disposal.
We’re at the same time introduced to the drama of Kate’s past — her mom died and she wasn’t there for the funeral. This piece I found especially sad, touching and, may I say, right for the series, considering how poorly was Syberia 3 tied into the long-lasting lore of Kate and everyone she has met in her life. I do remember Kate’s mother from previous parts, she seemed nice and I do care about her. So, this is where I started my slow process of trusting Microids with my experience with this ~very tech demanding~ masterpiece.
Followed by an amazing piano soundtrack by Iron Zur (who remained with the series from Syberia 3), we are exposed to both heroines time after time. Firstly, without a considerable connection between Kate and Dana, we just see the occasional flashbacks into the past. To be more precise, the times before, while and after World War Two. Later on, as Kate proceeds with her search, every small item related to Dana leads to a throwback into the time when Dana had a memorable occasion in her life. Sometimes it’s living people telling these stories to Kate, sometimes the letters. Sometimes we’re introduced to a scene where Dana serves the drinks and sometimes it’s a heartfelt talk with her beloved alpinist, Leon. And these two definitely hold a special place in my heart.
As I delved into the story, greedily consuming hours of gameplay, looking into every little detail that would even remotely be related to the story, I found myself just the same as I was playing the first Syberia. Extremely curious was I about this miraculous Hans Voralberg, I became just as passionate about exploring Dana Roze — her life, her memory and her mysterious connection to Kate.
The beautiful music box in a form of a swan, a symbol of Vaghen, left from Kate’s mother, together with the possible relation of them, shattered mid-way as we discover a heartbreaking fate of Dana’s pregnancy. This story never stops being tragic, especially with the fate of Dana and Leon’s relationship, but that is what makes it touching, real and magnificent. Just like the previous Syberias before this one.
The stunning conclusion at the end and a scene with both Kate and Dana playing the piano is what’s got the best of me. I don’t suppose I have cried quite as much as when I watched this wonderful cutscene played out. It was hinted throughout, then difused, then brought up again at the very end as a final nail on a coffin of my stability — Dana was, in fact, Kate’s grandmother.
Although not meeting in person, two characters became close, as I have with them. Kate, seemingly ready to end her adventures, having taken Oscar in a form of a hedgehog (or something) with her, having talked with mad and all-accusing-but-nonetheless-forgiving Olivia over the phone, finally hops on a train and is ready to go back to New York to face justice. At this point I was almost ready to accept it as an ending and breathe a sigh of relief, but something was unsettle inside me. I felt like it isn’t right, I was questioning everything side-by-side with Kate and then… Here it was. An iconic jump on a train in the very last second. And that is when I knew,
This Syberia got me pretty well.
