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Mento

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The Comic Commish: Syberia

By Mento 2 Comments

It's speedrun fever here on Giant Bomb and gaming circles elsewhere right now, as SGDQ 2015 continues to exploit, explain and expedite its way through a number of beloved games (and Sonic) for the sake of charity fundraising and our collective entertainment. What better way to honor their celeritous struggles than with a super leisurely graphic adventure game? Before we begin though, I'll just throw out the standard boilerplate for The Comic Commish: For every month this year, I'm taking a brief pause from all my screenshot LP-ing to create a screenshot LP of a game that was gifted to me by a generous Steam donor. This is just my small way of repaying their kindness or, occasionally, debasing myself for their amusement by earnestly playing their gag gift.

Here's what we've encountered so far in The Comic Commish '15: Harvester - Long Live the Queen - Luftrausers - Papers, Please - NiGHTS Into Dreams. If you'd like to see me "get all lugubrious for the lulz" (as the kids say), feel free to send me (at KingMento on Steam) whatever dreck you have lying around in your Steam gift folder. It appears I am socially obligated to show my gratitude with a documented playthrough regardless of however miserable the game might be, so take advantage all you will (and someone's already sent me Bad Rats, before you get cute).

Syberia

I knew next to nothing about this French adventure game, only that it was old (2002, which isn't too old) and that it looked a bit like Myst in that it used the same format of a lot of late-90s graphic adventure games (and many games in general from this time like Resident Evil and FF7) with pre-rendered backgrounds and static camera views for its environments, and put models for the characters on top. I'm not sure we were at in 2002 with this genre, as it had more or less retreated to the European mainland at this point, but Syberia still looks pretty good. The protagonist Kate Walker isn't quite as uncanny valley as I was anticipating (though the designers were wise to not animate her too much during cutscenes), and the game's backgrounds are picturesque (which, I dunno, is probably a word that loses all meaning when applied to actual pictures).

But there's even more interesting stuff to dig up by looking into the game's background. Microïds isn't the first French developer that comes to mind - I'm usually considering the big corporations like Ubisoft or Atari SA (formerly Infogrames), or the smaller, arty studios of my youth like Delphine, Coktel Vision or Silmarils - but they've been plugging along since the Amiga era and continue to produce moderately popular games in their home nation and elsewhere. Lots of adventure games of late, and Syberia is one of their two biggest along with Post Mortem/Still Life (from which I also own games). Syberia also has the influence of Belgian cartoonist Benoît Sokal, who got into video game development in his middle-age and hasn't slowed down. So yeah, there's an odd arty-farty French pedigree to this game. Look forward to that I guess.

(Shout-out to @omghisam who gifted me this game and its sequel years ago.)

Welcome to Syberia! Check out this lensflare-heavy intro. Like some bad Canadian TV show about hunting relics.
Welcome to Syberia! Check out this lensflare-heavy intro. Like some bad Canadian TV show about hunting relics.
We arrive on what is presumably the funeral for Toyman. That's a Superman villain everyone's familiar with. Good goof, here.
We arrive on what is presumably the funeral for Toyman. That's a Superman villain everyone's familiar with. Good goof, here.
We also get a glimpse of our (humanish) protagonist Kate. We still don't know what's going on, but then this is a game all about mystery. That's not just me being flippant either; the game's appeal is entirely predicated on setting up mysteries and then resolving them. More on that later, however.
We also get a glimpse of our (humanish) protagonist Kate. We still don't know what's going on, but then this is a game all about mystery. That's not just me being flippant either; the game's appeal is entirely predicated on setting up mysteries and then resolving them. More on that later, however.
The game lets us take over shortly thereafter. Interface is super basic: the icon changes depending on what you're pointing at, allowing you to take items or get a closer look at tabletops or notes.
The game lets us take over shortly thereafter. Interface is super basic: the icon changes depending on what you're pointing at, allowing you to take items or get a closer look at tabletops or notes.
The game's got a lot of text too, in the vein of these collectible notes and journals. It also serves as a practical means to tell the player all they want to know about this location: Valadilene is an alpine village kept solvent by a large clockwork toy manufacturer. The automatons, as the locals prefer to call them, are all over the place and lend the town a retro Victorian-era charm. It's odd that the game insists that the place is on hard times because of modern technology rendering the local cogs-and-gears industry obsolete, because it'd be crawling with steampunk nerds were it real.
The game's got a lot of text too, in the vein of these collectible notes and journals. It also serves as a practical means to tell the player all they want to know about this location: Valadilene is an alpine village kept solvent by a large clockwork toy manufacturer. The automatons, as the locals prefer to call them, are all over the place and lend the town a retro Victorian-era charm. It's odd that the game insists that the place is on hard times because of modern technology rendering the local cogs-and-gears industry obsolete, because it'd be crawling with steampunk nerds were it real.
The first
The first "puzzle" is simply finding the key for this little bell-ringer and hitting the button. It's very simple, hardly Fireproof's The Room, but it's also a subtle and intuitive tutorial and those are definitely preferential to big arrows everywhere.
I don't know what this two-bit font they're using is called, but I don't care that its capital
I don't know what this two-bit font they're using is called, but I don't care that its capital "I"s still have dots. We're briefly introduced to both the innkeeper here, Kate herself and Momo.
This is Momo. The game has a recurring theme of
This is Momo. The game has a recurring theme of "idiot savant". Momo talks in broken third-person English but is a whizz with mechanical gadgets and is the protégé of the CEO of Voralburg Manufacturing, the aforementioned toy factory.
I should say
I should say "former", because she just died. That was her funeral before. That puts Miss Walker here in a fix because she's supposed to be here to sign off on a contract to sell the manfacturer to a giant toy conglomerate back home in New York. Fair warning: both these captions and the game itself is extremely narrative-heavy.
We're dumped in our hotel room. It's a cozy enough place, but the only things we can look at are our suitcase and a fax left on the table. The game has ample opportunity to fill its screens with hotspots that simply fill in more story, but opts not to. The game can definitely be a little too economical in spots, which is a shame for something so story-focused and clearly spent no expense in creating all these pre-rendered settings.
We're dumped in our hotel room. It's a cozy enough place, but the only things we can look at are our suitcase and a fax left on the table. The game has ample opportunity to fill its screens with hotspots that simply fill in more story, but opts not to. The game can definitely be a little too economical in spots, which is a shame for something so story-focused and clearly spent no expense in creating all these pre-rendered settings.
There's something to be said for economical puzzle design in adventure games too, of course. I played this game for several hours and didn't get stuck because I lacked some item I couldn't see. We're even told about this fax ahead of time, so there's no missing it and wandering around the town ratiocinating on what to do next.
There's something to be said for economical puzzle design in adventure games too, of course. I played this game for several hours and didn't get stuck because I lacked some item I couldn't see. We're even told about this fax ahead of time, so there's no missing it and wandering around the town ratiocinating on what to do next.
Our mission, if it wasn't clear to us yet, is to get Anna Voralberg to sign over the property to our corporate client. Aren't many games that put you in the high-priced
Our mission, if it wasn't clear to us yet, is to get Anna Voralberg to sign over the property to our corporate client. Aren't many games that put you in the high-priced "biz cas" shoes of a lawyer and then tasks you with doing actual law work for the first hour or so of the game.
But yeah, looks like I've got a little more to do here than to stick a contract under the nose of an old lady and make her sign it. Kate's mobile phone comes into play a few times, but while I have a list of contacts to call I don't think we're quite talking Metal Gear Solid's codecs. If anything, they tend to call me at certain points of the story and are busy signals the rest of the time. I'll admit that I haven't tried calling them too often; it's not like you need a lot of hints for this game.
But yeah, looks like I've got a little more to do here than to stick a contract under the nose of an old lady and make her sign it. Kate's mobile phone comes into play a few times, but while I have a list of contacts to call I don't think we're quite talking Metal Gear Solid's codecs. If anything, they tend to call me at certain points of the story and are busy signals the rest of the time. I'll admit that I haven't tried calling them too often; it's not like you need a lot of hints for this game.
More faxes! These were still a thing in 2002. Actually, I guess it's still sort of vital in the lawyering world to send official documents to and fro. I just tend to put faxes in the same place in my mind that telegrams and the ravens from Game of Thrones live. Anyway, we need to find this notary fellow and get the scoop on how to proceed from him. To the lawmobile!
More faxes! These were still a thing in 2002. Actually, I guess it's still sort of vital in the lawyering world to send official documents to and fro. I just tend to put faxes in the same place in my mind that telegrams and the ravens from Game of Thrones live. Anyway, we need to find this notary fellow and get the scoop on how to proceed from him. To the lawmobile!
Well, no, I'm just going to walk there. It's a nice day and I really have no idea where he is, so this is the part of the game that lets you explore a bit.
Well, no, I'm just going to walk there. It's a nice day and I really have no idea where he is, so this is the part of the game that lets you explore a bit.
Not that there's much to see. This old man here essentially explains why there's no other NPCs around: the ailing local industry meant everyone moved out to seek employment elsewhere.
Not that there's much to see. This old man here essentially explains why there's no other NPCs around: the ailing local industry meant everyone moved out to seek employment elsewhere.
Going north lets us pass over this bridge and to the chapel on the hill. The game doesn't look half-bad in motion, and if you aren't here for the scenery there's a
Going north lets us pass over this bridge and to the chapel on the hill. The game doesn't look half-bad in motion, and if you aren't here for the scenery there's a "running" speed for Kate. I'd prefer a screen-skip if you double-click an exit or some sort of navigable map, but at least a run is something.
The chapel's presently closed. I get the sense that it won't be forever, though.
The chapel's presently closed. I get the sense that it won't be forever, though.
Heading south, I pass through this door. It needs something to work, which the game was kind enough to inform me.
Heading south, I pass through this door. It needs something to work, which the game was kind enough to inform me. "Not yet, bucko" is the message here, in so many words.
She says this about every entrance that isn't (presently) story significant. Even those that aren't
She says this about every entrance that isn't (presently) story significant. Even those that aren't "down" anywhere, like this raised doorway. The localization from the original French isn't always perfect, which might actually explain why there isn't too much incidental text in the game. What there is mostly fine from what I've seen.
Oh sweet, I can pick up a brioche and maybe a croissant and... nope, closed. The baker says that because today's a day of mourning, so all the businesses are closed. His is the only
Oh sweet, I can pick up a brioche and maybe a croissant and... nope, closed. The baker says that because today's a day of mourning, so all the businesses are closed. His is the only "business" I've found that isn't the hotel though, which of course isn't closed. I suspect he's just lazy.
This is either an ugly mailbox or the notary is screening his guests. In which case, I need to present that fax in order for it to let me in.
This is either an ugly mailbox or the notary is screening his guests. In which case, I need to present that fax in order for it to let me in.
This one wasn't too tricky either, though you don't often think to use notes (which are kept on a separate inventory screen) to solve a puzzle. The automaton reads it, while the notary looks through its eyes with a periscope device. Why not just get a secretary?
This one wasn't too tricky either, though you don't often think to use notes (which are kept on a separate inventory screen) to solve a puzzle. The automaton reads it, while the notary looks through its eyes with a periscope device. Why not just get a secretary?
So, yes, apparently the game is not ten minutes long and there's another snafu.
So, yes, apparently the game is not ten minutes long and there's another snafu.
Anna left a note to suggest that her younger brother, whose death was faked long ago by their jerkwad father, is still alive somewhere in Siberia (hence the name, I suppose). As we'll find out, Anna's brother Hans is also responsible for the designs of all the automatons in the city, and continued to send blueprints to her from his travels around the world.
Anna left a note to suggest that her younger brother, whose death was faked long ago by their jerkwad father, is still alive somewhere in Siberia (hence the name, I suppose). As we'll find out, Anna's brother Hans is also responsible for the designs of all the automatons in the city, and continued to send blueprints to her from his travels around the world.
The notary decides to recuse himself from the rest of the game with the flimsiest excuse I've seen yet.
The notary decides to recuse himself from the rest of the game with the flimsiest excuse I've seen yet. "Sorry, too tired to help. Good luck!". We're on our own if we want to find out what happened to Hans.
Y'all are probably dozing off too, so let's wrap this up.
Y'all are probably dozing off too, so let's wrap this up.

I guess the focus with this LP was less to show off the excitement and thrills of Syberia and more to explain, precisely, what the game is all about. It's not Myst, at least not quite; the puzzles so far (I'm a few hours into it, though still in Valadilene) have been more genteel and so while the sense of mystery is still as pervasive as it is in the Miller brothers' pioneering adventure game Syberia's been less inclined to really challenge the player analytically. In a sense, it feels like every modern "casual" adventure game that tends to involve a lot of hidden object scenes and straightforward inventory puzzles and is really more focused on conveying genre fiction with a handful of video game trappings. Your Angelica Weaver: Catch Me When You Cans and the like, or maybe the various critically-acclaimed "walking simulators" that are more interested in exploring what this medium can do for storytelling than looking for a new way to challenge players via the standard skill-focused paradigm. That's not a knock against Syberia's comparative simplicity; on the contrary, as it's neither one of those early FMV adventure games which is far too obtuse for its own good nor does it look embarrassingly dated in 2015. I'm enjoying the pace and mystique of the story and while the English voice-acting isn't great, I tend to give smaller foreign developers a pass in that regard. But yeah, it might just a little too leisurely-paced and soporific for most, and the moment you stop caring about the central story thread or its characters is the moment you put it away and never look back. Keep in mind that I'm probably less than 20% through this game - I'll report back if it starts ramping up the difficulty.

I'm going to stick with it because it's relaxing as heck and not particularly challenging, and I'm a very lazy person who likes both those things. It's a good tonic for the busy and weird Metal Gear Solid 4. The sequel's a bit more recent, so I might want to try that too depending on how this one ends, and apparently there's a third entry that's due any day now. The series is presently (for the week of July 27th to August 2nd) on sale too, but then I imagine it's been on sale a lot in its lengthy tenure on Steam.

I'll leave you all with the eponymous Comic Commish, as I predict where this game will eventually lead:

No Caption Provided

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