BenjaminBunny

beautiful review!

Who is this Johann? I approve. Anyway, I enjoyed reading your review, quite tastefully written.

I think that eventually I will play this game, with a walkthrough on the desk beside me just to experience the story. Be nice to play it in French too...

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Kurufinwe

No idea. He has a profile page, though.

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Ninth

Beautifully written, and a plasure to read.

I mostly agree with all your points, except that I didn't find the interface that bad, nor the last two chapters that better than the first two (I loved the ending, though).

EDIT: Oh, and I found the french voices excellent, as usual with the Sokal games.

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Fairygdmther

Kurufinwe - I found your review interesting, intriguing, and well-thought-out, but...

But did you like it?

Lynsie

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Kurufinwe

I wish I knew. Playing it was mostly a chore (especially in the early parts), but, in the end, I'm glad I've played it. It was very hard for me not to give up in the first parts, because there are all those design flaws (actually, the gameplay in the first part reminded me less of Syberia than of Amerzone, which is a game I absolutely hated), and the plot is so slow to start. So I was there, solving puzzles that were at worst unfair and at best uninspired, with no idea why I should even bother running all those errands.

Parts 3 and 4 are better, because the plot is starting at last, and you begin to understand Ann and the things going on around her. This is especially true in part 4, where you start knowing why you're doing all that, and you feel the tension building up. And the puzzles got better then; still not very challenging, but, I felt, fun and more interesting, instead of pointless and tedious as they are too often are in the earlier parts. So part 1 was really painful, part 2 boring, part 3 really started grabbing my attention, and part 4 was great, both plot-wise and gameplay-wise.

And, when the plot finally picked up (at the end of part 2), it really struck a chord within me. After the end sequence, 'wow' was all I could articulate. But that's just me, and I feel you really can't extrapolate what your reaction will be based on mine. I mean, Syberia kept pulling on triggers that never fail to work (giving up your old life, sadness mixed with optimism, nostalgia, robots wih a soul, etc., etc., etc.). Not so with Paradise. The game is extremely dark and pessimistic. And it's not the elevating kind of dark that you often meet is classical tragedies, with great feelings, and sacrifice, and love leading to death, and whatnot. It's about things (lands, countries, lives, relationships...) gone to waste. I really responded to it very strongly, for some reason. But I can't guarantee than you, or anybody else, even if you loved Syberia, will respond to that story in the same manner. I know many people who didn't.

So, once again, I'm glad I've played it, but the playthrough itself was often not all that enjoyable. And, even if you can look past all that, I'm not sure you'll appreciate what it has to offer. But if you feel that's the sort of story that might appeal to you, then, by all means, play it; because then it'll be worth it.

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Wouter

Well written review. I agree with most points though i would have scored it way lower (2,5/5). Honestly, after reading the review and especially the negative points, which have such a big impact on the game, i wondered how you came up with such a high score.... But that is, after all, a personal opinion.

I would recommend to anyone wanting to play this to wait for the patch, promised for the end of this week. On my high-spec and modern config, it was virtually unplayable and totally ruined the playing experience.

That said, even with a patch, the game will never be super. It's empty on all accounts imo.

Kurufinwe

I didn't encounter many bugs, but I still definitely recommend that people wait for the patch. One thing is certain though: I was not going to lower the score because of bugs that were going to get fixed, and rather quickly. You may not remember it, or maybe that only affected the original French version, but it took Syberia three patches to correct all the bugs. As long as the company exhibits good communication with its customers, and a willingness to fix the bugs fast, then I'm not going to be too hard on them.

"It's empty on all accounts": I think this is where we disagree. As I said the review, and earlier in this thread, I think this is Sokal's most accomplished story. I actually think it's one of the most accomplished story I've ever seen in a computer game. I would gladly have given Paradise a 4 if there hadn't been all those design flaws (awful pointer, pixel-hunting, unfair puzzles in the harem). BUT, as I said in my review and earlier in this thread:

1) The game is not really entertaining, and so you need to trust Sokal and let him tell the whole story before making up your mind about it. And that is mostly due not to design flaws, but to artistic choices. It's probably not what would be usually considered 'wise' choices, but, then, I thought the pay-off was impressive in the end, and who am I to tell that it would have worked as efficiently if the story had been handled differently?

2) The story is not for everyone. Not everybody is interested in hearing about such a bleak, pessimistic view of mankind. And if the story just leaves you cold, then you're definitely going to wonder why you spent your time playing this game. If you call the game empty, then the story obviously didn't 'work' for you. Well, I hope that, by reading my review, people will be able to figure out whether it'll work for them or not before buying the game. If it achieves that, then I feel I've done my job.

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mszv

Wow - brilliant review!

I'm looking forward to playing the game, flaws and all. I think Sokal does things with story that most games never even try to do.

Wouter

I never installed nor needed any patch for Syberia so i can't really compare.

As for the story, yes it could have been interesting but they didn't manage to get it across to the player. Due mainly to uninteresting and empty personnalities (name me one interesting person in this game... i didn't encounter any). Persons can only come alive through conversations and this is, in the end, where they got it wrong imo. You are at best, only scratching the surface of most persons and most don't play any big part in the story.

Also, i think they failed to show us a "bleak, pessimistic view of mankind". In fact, i never thought of being at the virge of civil war or anything of that kind.

Two strong moments for me: between world 1 and 2 (the cut-scene) and especially at the end of the 2nd world (when the narration starts and then the fab cut-scene). At those moments i thought it could go somewhere but it didn't.

But after all, these are just personal opinions and it's interesting to read what you saw in this game.

Kurufinwe

This is all probably best left for the spoiler thread. I said I'd post in there at some point, and I swear I will. I'm just slightly tired of writing about Paradise right now.

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