back in the day i played the longest journey and syberia point & click adventure games shortly after they were originally released. aside from the lucasarts catalog (and probably telltales' sam & max offerings) i consider them to be the finest released in the genre. well, over the past year i have endeavored to play all 5 of the sequels that i missed out on starting with dreamfall 1 & 2, then finishing with syberia 2, 3 and 4. i'm not going to try to encapsulate a review of each game in a single post, but i will share some thoughts and maybe expound on them some more later.

dreamfall 1 & 2 - the writing & story telling is exceptionally strong, intricate & nuanced just as they were in the first game. i think going off on a tangent & taking out april ryan as the central character was a mis-step, but tornquist somehow makes it work remarkably well. frankly, april ryan's antagonists are the glue that tie the sequels to the first game rather than the heroine herself. her role is so (deceptively) understated, connecting to this new storyline really wouldn't have worked if they weren't able to get the same voice actress to reprise her role which was so gregarious in the first game. her story arc reminds me of the messianic return of the heroine from the miyazaki animated feature nausicca of the valley of the wind. from a gameplay standpoint the puzzles are non-existent...you're really just engaging in an interactive 14 & 20 hr movie respectively. the story progression manages to stay engaging and the first sequel goes all out to create an atmosphere of menace while the next sequel is perhaps the most successful attempt at full world immersion i have ever come across in an adventure game (surpassing the last express). the master reveal of the machinations from the hidden villain is satisfying and while the endgame winds down in an anti-climactic playing out of pre-ordained prophesy, the cap that tornquist puts on the entire series is PERFECT!

syberia 2, 3, 4 - so i played syberia 2 all the way until the very last area before i realized i had completed the game before. i definitely remembered a couple of the cutscenes, but since they were used repeatedly in all of the marketing i figured that's where i'd seen them before. as soon as i got to the island i instantly knew the solution to all the remaining puzzles (how the hell could i forget the ice puzzle which by far was the hardest in the game?!). this does not bode well...i can't with a straight face say that syberia 2 is a memorable game, but it is a good game and a REAL adventure game. i struggle to rate any of the other sequels higher, but syberia 4 probably tops it.

syberia 3 gets universally trashed by everyone, but it's really not a bad game. the problem is that it's so completely broken it's technically impossible to complete the game, even patched, without someone elses' savegames which the game publishers themselves (attempt to) provide. oh, and the game is incredibly racist and ends on a completely unnecessary & annoying cliffhanger.

syberia 4 is an impressive offering both visually & storywise. it uses the unity engine & while it probably pales against other titles cross-genre, it is the most visually opulent adventure game i have ever played (and yes, it & syberia 3 still just qualify as adventure games...just turn off all the hints and there is some challenge). aside from the not very innovative puzzles, my only complaint about the otherwise creative & exhaustive storytelling is that there is a plot hole so big you could drive THAT train thru it. i hesitate to mention it because it would reveal a spoiler partway thru the game and you don't realize the hole until another surprise spoiler further on, but it has to do with the leni reifenstahl type character. one nice touch thru all the sequels is the return of the same voice actress for kate walker. she is VERY good, but her performance is a little uneven in sequels 3 & 4 early on in the games. assuming the voice sessions were recorded sequentially, it's as if it takes her a little time to get back into the role. given the spans between the games i almost questioned if it's even her at first.

syberia 4 & dreamfall 2 are nothing if not ambitious...SORT of reminds me a little of how grim fandango swung for the fences. i think syberia 4 ultimately had more success than dreamfall 2 though.