As soon as I finished Syberia, I knew I wanted to experience the sequel--immediately. So, I rushed to Target and picked up not only Syberia II but also three other GAGs: Schizm, Rhem, and Journey to the Center of the Earth, which I hope to review here as soon as I get to them. I think, however, that I will be mostly reviewing classics for awhile, particularly historically significant titles like King's Quest and the like.

Anyway, back to the game at hand. First off, I can't imagine playing Syberia II without having first completed its prequel. I would strongly recommend against doing so. Part II includes a "recap" of the first game, but while this short movie is entertaining in its own right, it would be a very poor substitute. You'd be much less invested in the characters if nothing else. In some ways, Syberia II is inferior to its predecessor, yet it's worth the time of anyone who was engaged enough with part I to complete it. The end of Syberia II brings wonderful closure to a thoroughly engrossing story.

There are some subtle enhancements to the interface here. One thing I really like is that the mouse pointer icon for "move to the next scene" also indicates which direction you are moving (n/s/e/w/u/d). This is useful because the hot zones for moving to another scene are often quite large, and it was never clear before if there were in fact two different exits where you might only see one. Unfortunately, there is one such spot in part II, which is a real beast...This was one of the spots I had to consult a hint site, because I just didn't realize that location existed--and the only way you'd know is if your mouse pointer just happened to stray over that point (e.g., no visible clues). There is at least other situation like this in Part II--I doubt anyone would be able to get through the "Youki Village" without hints, because there is no way to solve one puzzle without strolling the mouse pointer over a very small part of the upper portion of the screen. I'll just say it here: Keep an eye on those icicles!

Another difference is that dialogue options disappear after they're used once. This could be bad if you happen to miss a key piece of dialogue (the old one would let you repeat as much as you wanted to). The plus is that the dialogue is a bit more realistic, although if you do them out of order you still end up with absurdities (as though the NPC has no recollection of what you just asked.) Looking back on it, I don't think the dialogue system in Syberia is as coherent as it should be. I guess the key problems are ensuring that your avatar can't ask about things she is unaware of. I'm also not a big fan of aporias involving dialogue--(i.e., I don't want to have to choose the right dialogue path to get the key I need to open the door). Usually, the NPCs in games are so primitive that focusing the player's attention on them too much is generally bad for immersion. Half-Life 2 took care of this by only having NPCs on the screen for very limited times--it's easier to portray things realistically if you can limit the context. One way this is really problematic in Syberia is with the cell phone; you can only get through to people when you're "supposed to" to advance the action. This is especially in part 2, where the "office" is desperately searching for you--yet when you call, you get a machine and don't leave a message. Same with Mom!

Nevertheless, these are very minor issues. One has to look pretty deep to find bad things to say about II. Perhaps my favorite part of the game is a rather "Floyd-esque" moment. *begin spoiler* Your automaton companion must sacrifice himself to save his inventor and creator, Hans. In a rather touching scene--again very reminiscent of Floyd from Planetfall--the automaton's body opens and clamps around the living flesh of Hans. Oscar thus "dies" so that his maker can become a cyborg. It's a very effective plot device for a number of reasons. I was attached to Oscar and was stricken by the whole matter. *end spoiler*

The game tries to infuse pathos into the game via the cut scenes, where the camera lingers over the facial expressions and body language of Kate and other characters. I always appreciated these conventions in films; it's easier to let yourself have an emotional reaction if the camera shows you the faces of people having the appropriate reaction. I often have this experience watching comedies with other people: I look at them to judge their reactions, and if they are visibly humored, I tend to be as well, whereas if they aren't affected I don't. Then again, I "canned laughter" doesn't do anything for me; too forced; too contrived. Anybody else out there like me?

Movie-like "meanwhile cuts" also occur throughout the game to give the player an idea of what's happening back at the office. While I enjoyed the cutscenes, I lost interest in what was happening back at the office and wished the game would quit interrupting me to show it (basically, your old boss has hired a detective to find you. He doesn't...) The first game very wisely failed to cut back to the office; instead, you kept in touch with what was happening "in the real world" via conversations on your cell phone. The new convention here of actually ripping you out of the action and showing you a cutscene that your character couldn't possibly have witnessed was a poor, but not show-stopping, choice.

Another of my favorite parts of Syberia II--besides the Oscar scene described earlier--would have to be the eerie "death dream" sequence. It looks as though the developers took some scenes from the first game, applied a sort of sepia filter, and changed it up a bit. That might sound cheezy, but it's very effective in the game--rather unsettling, in fact, since it also touches on child abuse. I got chills playing through this section. It's very effective because, as a player of Part I, you do have a "deja vu" like experience revisiting these same, yet altered scenes. But another reason to play Part I before Part II!

In short, Syberia I and II are excellent, truly wonderful games that embody the pinnacle of what I might call the "Late-90s" era of GAGs. It's not 3-D FP, and the textures and such are all pre-rendered, but fun--yes, very much so. If Microids ever develops a third entry in the series (there are still plenty of gaps that could be filled), I'll preorder.

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