Syberia: Was there a point? SPOILERS!

[Greywing]

I've just finished the two Syberia games and I'm feeling a bit... emotionally non-plussed, and with a ton of unresolved questions.

Sure, Hans Voralberg went off with the mammoths but that left Kate Walker all alone at almost literally the top of the world with no way home. There was reference earlier in the game that the ark returns to the Youkol village automatically but that means Kate would have to get to it and survive the journey back to then be stuck in the wilderness with only a broken train and a nomadic tribe for company.

Storywise, I never really felt the growth of Kate's character like I did with April or Zoe in TLJ/Dreamfall. In the first game, she's driven by her job and in the second, to help Hans. Sure, Hans seemed a sweet old man but nothing to really engender Kate to leave her life behind to hunt down a mythical land with him. And why the subplot of the detective following Kate if there was no pay-off? No confrontation, no resolution - just a voice on a phone that eventually gives up the chase. Finally, how come the tracks for Hans' clockwork railroad went right to the Youkol village, when he'd never gotten there before?

I suppose Syberia was a spiritual journey for Hans and Kate alike but the game seems to abandon the lead character with no explanation or resolution. There's a lot about the game that I feel the player is just supposed to unquestioningly accept but that comes across as shoddy storytelling to me. The final scene of Hans riding off with the mammoths was supposed to be emotional but instead I felt kind of numbed to it. <Or are there alternate endings depending on the position of the pipes and the 'radar' dish?>

I was going to hunt down Amerzone but if this is the kind of storytelling I can expect from Sokal's other games, I think I'll pass.

Any thoughts?

[Citizen Klaus]

I've only ever played Syberia 1, but your comments pretty fairly summed up my feelings concerning that game. Sokal's greatest strength as a developer, I suspect, is their ability to create memorable settings. Their plotting and character development seem somewhat lacking, but environments like Valadilene, the university, and that Soviet mine are downright eerie in their emotional impact. Syberia, I felt, was a game that traded a lackluster finale for a stunning midgame progression. At least, that's the only way I can rationalize the ending.

As for Amerzone, though, I'd stay away. Most of the reviews I've read say it's pretty dire. Same storytelling quality as the Syberia series, but served with some half-baked gameplay. Think Myst.