More than 20 years ago, Benoît Sokal’s Syberia defined a generation of adventure games. It was a masterpiece of “clockpunk” atmosphere, moody storytelling, and unforgettable characters. Now, in an era of high-profile remakes, Microids and Virtuallyz Gaming have attempted to resurrect this classic, completely rebuilding it with modern visuals, redesigned puzzles, and new controls for a 2025 audience.
The goal was to preserve the soul of the original while shedding its archaic, 2002-era skin. As American lawyer Kate Walker, you are once again sent to a remote French village to finalize a factory sale, only to be drawn into an impossible journey across Europe with the automaton Oscar to find the mythical island of Syberia.
The result is a visually charming package that, unfortunately, is only skin deep. While the new controls and camera are a godsend, they only make it easier to navigate a world that is fundamentally padded, vague, and frustratingly outdated.
“A beautifully remastered adventure that will charm and immerse you in its clockpunk world. Rediscover the magic of the original with enhanced visuals and an unforgettable journey.”
While the charm is there on the surface, the journey is an exercise in patience that even the most nostalgic fans will find testing.
A Faithful and Stunning Overhaul
The best thing about this remaster, without a doubt, is the modernization of its controls and presentation. The original’s static, pre-rendered 4:3 backgrounds and “tank controls” are no longer present. In their place, we have full 3D environments, a dynamic camera that follows Kate, and modern analog stick controls. This single change makes the game playable in 2025.
The world itself, true to Sokal’s Art Nouveau-inspired vision, is as beautiful as ever. The new models, enhanced textures, and modern lighting systems bring the clockpunk world of Valadilène and its automations to life. The developers also offer “Performance” and “Quality” modes, which are a welcome modern touch. For anyone who loved the original, seeing this world in a new light is a genuine treat.
A Modern Veneer on an Archaic Core
Unfortunately, the problem is everything else. The new controls simply allow you to run back and forth faster. The pacing is egregiously bad, padded out with endless, mind-numbing backtracking. You will spend minutes at a time jogging across the same few screens like a “headless chook” because you missed one tiny, non-obvious item.
The story and puzzles are hopelessly vague, and the stakes feel non-existent. Kate herself feels completely lost, fumbling through a plot she barely understands. The puzzles are fine, but they aren’t memorable, and the game’s idea of “smoother” design seems to be just fixing the one or two puzzles the original fan base despised, while leaving the core “find the pixel” vagueness intact.
Worse is the voice acting. While it’s the original audio, it has not aged gracefully. It is stilted, awkward, and completely devoid of emotion. As one player put it, the main character “legitimately sounds like those annoying AI voiceovers on TikTok.”
The Un-Remastered Past
The most baffling decision, and the one that shatters the immersion, is the handling of the original cutscenes. They were not remade. Instead, the original 2002-era FMVs are simply enlarged, resulting in “yuck-looking” compressed, low-resolution scenes that clash horribly with the new in-game graphics.
This cheap-feeling approach extends to the sound design, which is often completely absent, leaving key moments in an awkward, eerie silence. It feels less like a full remaster and more like a beautiful new coat of paint applied over a crumbling, rotted frame. Syberia – Remastered has a soul, but it’s buried under layers of outdated design that its new quality-of-life features just can’t save.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ Beautiful Visual Overhaul: The art style is timeless, now with modern lighting and models. | ❌ Egregious Pacing & Padding: Constant, boring backtracking. |
| ✅ Modern Controls & Camera: A massive QoL upgrade over the 2002 original. | ❌ Stilted, Outdated Voice Acting: Kate sounds like a “TikTok AI voiceover.” |
| ✅ Classic, Moody Atmosphere: The clockpunk world is as charming as ever. | ❌ Un-Remastered Cutscenes: Original FMVs are low-res, blurry, and clash with new graphics. |
| ✅ Performance/Quality Modes: A nice modern feature to have. | ❌ Vague Puzzle & Story Design: Feels dated, with non-existent stakes. |
| ❌ Weird Lack of Sound Design: Many moments are awkwardly silent. |
Syberia – Remastered: Syberia – Remastered: This is a heartbreaking missed opportunity. The new visuals and modern controls promise a definitive version of a beloved classic, but they only serve to highlight how poorly the core 20-year-old game design has aged. The terrible pacing, stilted voice acting, and baffling decision to not remake the cutscenes make this a frustrating experience for newcomers and veterans alike. What should have been a journey of adventure and discovery instead feels like a museum tour where the guide forgot the script. – Obsidian
