Syberia 2 will have you scratching your noggin as you face increasingly arcane puzzles in this unnecessary sequel.
For me, Syberia 2 did not live up to the standard of its predecessor. By this I don't mean that it does not look or feel as good as the original. Two key things have changed, or perhaps been done differently, that impacted on our enjoyment of the game. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly in terms of game progression, the puzzles became somehow more arcane. Secondly, the narrative seemed a lot weaker than the original.
Unlike Syberia we needed to refer to online walkthroughs on several occasions, especially in the section between finally leaving Romansburg and arriving at the subterranean Youkal village. Often the solution to some puzzles just failed to make sense in the context of clues (if any) available to Kate. No
doubt they make perfect sense to the game designer, but as game players we were often left wondering "now just how would Kate know to do that?".
Tracking down the missing Hans Voralberg in the original game was a more interesting premise than getting the train to Syberia itself. It is difficult to understand why Kate would be so committed to helping Hans get to Syberia to see the mammoths. Likewise, the motivation for Kate's legal firm in engaging a detective to track her down behind the scenes is not fully explained either.
The whole "meanwhile back in New York" story in the original Syberia involving Kate's best friend and Kate's boyfriend was far more entertaining and helped explain her ultimate decision not to return to New York. Indeed the all the "meanwhile back in New York" legal head office cut scenes in Syberia 2 could have been cut without impacting the overall story.
Oscar, the annoyingly pedantic automaton, who is a key character in Syberia is less used in the sequel. With Oscar largely side-lined, Syberia 2 adds two inept villains who appear and disappear conveniently to progress the narrative, such as it is. Syberia 2 also adds a Disney-like "cute" animal character, a youki, so be prepared to lower your narrative expectations.
The amount of backwards and forwards walking, especially in Romansburg and later at the Youkol village, with the aptly named Kate Walker ,became rather tedious as the story seemed to be progressing all too slowly. The first section in Romansburg and the nearby Monastery, while interesting places to explore, just seemed to go on forever until you finally "unlock" the sequence of, at times tedious, scripted events that let you proceed to the next destination. After Romansburg the game proceeds at a more rapid pace, that is if you can work out the puzzles.
The most interesting environments are Romansburg/Monastery and the Youkol village as they are both large with lots to explore and see, albeit involving a lot of walking. However while these environments were large and wondrously illustrated there was not much to do apart from solving the various puzzles as only a few NPCs engage in dialogue.
Visually Syberia 2 is easily on par with the original, albeit there is an emphasis on snowy forest scenes, rather than the magnificent towns in the original. The cut scenes are of an exceptional standard and provide a good reward for the at times tedious gameplay that triggers them. Alas there is a definite dearth of those fantastical machines that make the original Syberia so memorable.
Gameplay is identical to Syberia. You point and click and Kate walks to the intended location and/or picks up objects and/or activates apparatus to progress the narrative. It is the arcane nature of some of the puzzles in this iteration of Syberia that, without access to a walkthrough, may cause you to give up in frustration.
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened with its step by step in-game hint system if you get stuck is a great way to keep you engaged. The path to a particular puzzle's solution is revealed step by step such that reading a step may trigger you to try something you haven't before without revealing the subsequent steps or the whole solution in one go. More adventure games could use such a hints system ... it certainly would have made Syberia 2 more enjoyable.
As noted Syberia was the first "recent" adventure game I played and was indeed drawn in by the story itself and beauty of the hand painted illustrations that form the backdrop to the adventure. Since then I have played another three adventure games, Dracula: Origin and two Sherlock Holmes adventures. Alas while Syberia holds its own Syberia 2 compares poorly to these other games and is perhaps ultimately an unnecessary sequel in any event.
Unlike the ending of Syberia, which arguably does not need a sequel, Syberia 2 leaves the story open as Kate is left stranded in the middle of nowhere while Hans is happy in mammoth heaven. Quo Vadis Kate? It appears that yet another sequel, Syberia 3, is in the works however after playing Syberia 2 we will await the player reviews before investing further in this adventure franchise.
OVERALL: My copy of Syberia 2 came as part of the Syberia Collector's Edition and I would not really recommend buying it separately even if you enjoyed the original Syberia as much as I did.