At the beginning of Silberspiegel Refuge (Part 2), it's enough to examine the objects on the table to complete the secondary objective "Inspect the Common Room". 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. Explore the fantastic and poetic world of Benoît Sokal, with its breathtaking sceneries and iconic characters.

This journey will take us across continents and through time periods to experience a journey rooted in the turmoil and tragedies of the twentieth century. 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.The plot of The World Before is split across two timelines, with Kate in 2005 attempting to figure out what happened to this young woman, Dana Roze, and segments where you play Dana herself, starting in pre-war central Europe. Much of the story for both characters takes place in and around Vaghen, a fictional city in a fictional country somewhere between Germany and Switzerland. Kate visits locations frequented by Dana over 60 years before, seeking clues in any remnants and memories that endure. Vaghen, 1937: Dana Roze is a 17-year-old girl, who is beginning a brilliant career as a pianist. However, shadows begin to appear over her future as the fascist threat of the Brown Shadow hangs over Europe, at the dawn of the Second World War. The story benefits from this care. Dana’s tragic love story caught up in rise of fascism is more intimate than most adventure games manage, giving her purpose and determination that the grieving Kate hungrily latches onto. Not to mention for the most part it’s a tightly plotted and directed mystery that gathers momentum throughout. Dive head first into the universe created by Benoît Sokal with this latest installment of the famous Syberia series. In this new adventure, play as Kate Walker and Dana Roze, two women capable of moving mountains to uncover the deepest buried mysteries.

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. 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 ] At a technical level, Syberia: The World Before is a bit of a mixed bag. It’s a title that is dripping with detail at every turn and looks absolutely stunning. While it should, theoretically, only take you around twelve to fifteen hours to roll credits, my playtime became wildly inflated as I couldn’t help myself poking around the intricately designed environments and soaking in the atmosphere. This was especially true of Roze’s chapters, with the 1930s setting and the slight steampunk leanings, the series is known for creating a truly spellbinding look. This has always been a series that oozes style and originality, and it feels like, with the current generation of hardware, the developers are finally realizing their vision in full. 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.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. 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.