Syberia: The World Before - Limited Edition for PlayStation 5

Product Information

I fell in love with this game right away. That's important to note, because when The World Before was first announced, I was skeptical, as I suspect many Syberia fans were. That’s because the ill-fated third game in the series had left such a poor taste in my mouth, to the point where I almost wished the franchise would end there. Then Microids released the playable prologue for Kate's fourth adventure, and while it was still rough around the edges at that point, it hinted at enough possibilities that I became cautiously optimistic. Having now completed the full game, I feel confident in saying this is the game fans have been waiting for since the Syberia series began. As a poignant reflection on Kate's growth as a character, however, it will best be appreciated by longtime fans. Hey GoldenSun, thank you so much for this amazing guide! While following it, I noticed a few things:

A full 100% walkthrough of Syberia: The World Before, showing solutions to every puzzle and code in the game.Unravel the intertwined fates of Kate Walker, a New-York attorney whose life was turned around by the call to adventure, and Dana Roze, a young and promising pianist in Vaghen whose career is threatened by the shadow of the Second World War. Escape prison, visit abandoned cemeteries, explore high mountains and feel the thrill of adventure. One criticism that could perhaps be leveled at Microids is that it takes an incredibly long time for the narrative to gain any steam. The early hours are very much spent walking through the beautifully rendered world at a snail’s pace, engaging in what are, quite frankly, uninteresting conversations. You’ll come across very little in the way of anything that challenges the player in the early stages, and while it does allow for Microids to flesh this world and the characters out well, it does also create a bit of a barrier to entry for anyone who appreciates a bit more instant gratification. Overall, though, I’m sure anyone who does manage to persevere will find that those early hours were well spent, as taking that time to focus on the world and characters really help later narrative beats resonate that much more.

Syberia: The World Before Collector’s Edition will be available in November 2022 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. The PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch versions will be released in 2023. Indeed, when it comes to Dana’s sections, many ‘puzzles’ are really daily routines in disguise, such as serving the right drinks in a bar. This is a smart way, I think, for The World Before to spend quality time with its characters and story, as opposed to directing everything towards advancing a wild adventure. As such, I would almost call it a kind of visual novel, not in the sense that there’s loads of reading to do, but that it develops the kind of epic saga that would suit a book. Discover two captivating stories with incredibly high stakes written by Benoît Sokal and Lucas Lagravette. The game follows two timeframes with two characters: Dana Roze, a young pianist in the small fictional Central European country of Osterthal (resembling a mix of Austria, the Czech Republic and Switzerland) in the 1930s and Kate Walker, the protagonist of Syberia series, who is now imprisoned in a salt mine in the fictional Eastern European region of Taiga in early 2000s. Dana graduates from her conservatory by performing the local anthem dedicated to the city of Vaghen, where the fascist Brown Shadow faction (an analogue to National Socialists) have begun to persecute the ethnic minorities and force them into ghettoes. For the secondary objective "Explore the Stalls Before You Talk to the Antiques Dealer" in "Antiques District", you don't need to interact with the door at the end of the alley.Syberia – The World Before is a great story-driven adventure game reminiscent of older classics just before the genre died off for a bit. As a newcomer to the series, Dana is a fantastic lead character and those returning will enjoy discovering her story through the protagonist Kate. I originally reviewed the game on PC, but console players now have the chance to experience the story. Let’s see how it holds up. Syberia: The World Before is more of an emotional journey than a physical one for its two heroines. It primarily explores who Kate is as a person, but the link between the two women, separated by time, is satisfying when ultimately revealed. As with the first Syberia game, this one ends with a moment that feels like both an appropriate ending and an excellent launching point for further adventures to come, though sadly any new tales will have to be told without the oversight of Benoît Sokal, who passed away before this game was complete.

Having made its way to PC earlier on in 2022, Syberia: The World Before, has finally made its way to consoles. Being the fourth installment of a beloved franchise is already a daunting task, but, with series creator, Benoit Sokal, sadly passing away during the development cycle, the pressure was firmly on development studio Microids to continue Sokal’s legacy and deliver something that maintained the high standards the series is known for without his valuable oversight. With that in mind, it’s with great pleasure that I can confirm that Syberia: The World Before isn’t just a fantastic narrative adventure, but a title that the late Sokal would have been immensely proud of. Syberia: The World Before was announced by Microïds on August 19, 2019, by which time it had already been in development for a year. [3] The game was released for Windows via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.com on March 18, 2022. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions were released in November, 15 2022 while PlayStation 4, and Xbox One ports were released in October 19, 2023. Although the Switch port was delayed and will be published sometime in 2024. [4] Plot [ edit ] Explore the fantastic and poetic world of Benoît Sokal, with its breathtaking sceneries and iconic characters.Taiga, 2004: Kate Walker survives as best she can in the salt mine where she has been imprisoned, when a tragic event propels her into a new adventure in search of her identity. The dual running narratives also have gameplay implications as you will find yourself in control of Dana as well as Kate here, with the game switching to Roze as Kate digs into and uncovers more about her life. The moment-to-moment experience doesn’t change too much between the protagonists, with the core gameplay loops involving the solving of many, many puzzles and sleuthing your way through environments as you look for intel and anything else you can interact with that might help move the narrative along. As ever, you accompany perennial protagonist Kate Walker, now an investigative drifter who stumbles into intrigue and turns it into obsession. In this case, in the process of escaping enslavement in a Russian salt mine (where she ended up after the events of Syberia 3) and learning of the death of her mother, she finds an old painting of a girl who looks quite a lot like her. For our anchorless hero that poses a question which can’t be left hanging.

Despite being set in 1937, it’s a story that, at times, feels especially relevant in 2022, a year in which it has felt as though we are inhabiting a world that at times has felt like it’s edging closer to war on a scale the likes of which haven’t been seen since World War II. I was genuinely moved on a regular basis, especially when the story casts a light on how damaging blind hatred can really be.

Pros

The Budapest Film Symphony, led by the internationally acclaimed composer Inon Zur (Prince of Persia, Dragon Age, Fallout…) created a sublime score, and interpreted meaningful themes for the characters and locations throughout the game I’m also not sure why the lore needs to offer up an alternate version of the World War 2, where Hitler and the Nazis are replaced by a fascist organisation called the Brown Shadow, which sounds like an unpleasant Marvel supervillain, and the main victims of their persecution are referred to as Vagerans instead of Jews (although one note explains that the Vagerans are Jewish). It all feels a little too vague, as you hear talk of “nasty times” and “people like us” rather than historical specifics. But that’s the nature of the beast, and won’t deter genre fans, while any dropped story beats are made up for by the overall rhythm of a compelling plot. And ultimately, the game’s heart is there, not in its machines but in those human stories, in Dana and especially in Kate. It’s her curiosity and longing for meaning that drives this series, and precisely what we need for a good adventure. The World Before allows her to shine, and long may she continue.