Syberia the World Before - like all Microids Syberias before it is, confused but has the spirit.

Don't get me wrong, this game is magical. Its beautiful and wonderfully detailed, in the world of Benoit Sokal who created this steampunk-esque alternate universe. TWB is so beautiful and a feast for the eyes and the art and music is so beautiful, it will be stuck in your head for days.

However, like all Syberias before its always a 'one step forwards, two steps back'. Every single Syberia has improved on the last whether technologically or creatively - but it has also had drawbacks. Its a double-edged sword. LIke all game companies, have improved on the games each time, it also everytime makes you miss and prefer the old controls or the old movement controls, etc.

After the disaster that was Syberia 3 - where they lost their way without Benoit after he passed and tried to take what he had and ran off with it a random and predictable direction that ultimately betrayed his creation - they listened and returned to the original method; beautiful character stories about discovery, adventure and puzzles.

But TWB while it had better controls than Syberia 3, still was clunky in the click-and-hold system it had tried to do in 3 and you would often go in a direction you had not intended and takes some getting used to.

THE MOST ANNOYING PART is the Overly Efficient auto-save. How can an auto save be OVER efficient, you ask? Well, previously Syberias had a manual and auto save function - which was useful since you had achievements that required you to do puzzles in one go and it was helpful to just 'main menu' and come back and start again. But SOMEHOW, some genius at Microids decided to do away with 'save games' and just have a super efficient auto save that, while it is a very good system, the lack of a manual save feature means that one mistake means you have to REPLAY THE ENTIRE GAME just for one extremely specific achievement.

THAT same GENIUS also had the mad idea that you cannot skip or fast forward cutscenes or conversations. Which makes the above point even more annoying if you want to speed run the game. Don't get me wrong, its beautiful game but it gets ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ tedious the third time you're forced to do things and the whole point of an adventure mystery is to discover something NEW not replay the whole thing when you know whats going to happen already.

Which makes it difficult for people to make game movies of this game - which is a pity because as mentioned its a very beautiful game. Because, while ultimately the story is set for you and your choices don't really matter, you still want to know how different dialogue choices make different reactions. AND it makes sense now why there's a severe lack of guides and walkthroughs because its ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ tedious to replay and figure out. Most players find out the HARD WAY, which i did, how to do certain achievements.

Therefore: one step forwards, two steps back. Microids is a little confused but got the spirit. While its a better game than all the previous 3, its the most annoying and disgustingly frustrating.

Another thing I will note narratively, there are a lot of plot points that are left behind. Like how Kate's ex-best friend (who's being a b word in this game) cheated with Kate's ex-fiance and then married him in Kate's absence. She never admits that it might have been a factor as to why Kate left and somehow likes to poke her nose in Kate's family's affairs by taking care of her mother. Granted, that's nice but its an AITA reddit thread waiting to happen (AITA for cheating with my bestie's fiance and then taking on the daughter role to her mother while she's MIA in Europe and imprisoned in a slave mine?) Then there's the whole Syberia 3 plot which unfortunately is canon. Then there's Anna/Sarah's baby snatching. Was it the original plan from Dana's parents to give the baby to the Zimmers who they owe a great deal to. And while understandably, you would not have a lot of emotional attachment to a daughter you never knew lived, it seems convenient she didn't confront the Zimmers for it. And they seemingly just let Dana alone during WW2 as a Vagaran. And happily made of with her baby. All of it seems so unresolved and leaves the plot (while it is not the main idea) quite unfulfilled.

Edit: thankfully, Microids managed to give me a solution that enabled me to get 100% achievements which is more than i can say for MOST game companies who just say 'play the game' even when there's an issue with said game they designed. Arguably, this redeems them and even elevates them as a game company that actually cares about the experience.