Syberia – Remastered from Microids, Virtuallyz Gaming, and Microids Studio Paris brings us a reimagined take on Benoît Sokal’s classic. Learn more in our Syberia – Remastered review!
Syberia – Remastered from Microids, Virtuallyz Gaming, and Microids Studio Paris brings us a reimagined take on Benoît Sokal’s classic. The original Syberia was released on PC for Windows in 2002, and it’s a third-person perspective adventure game that places you in the role of American lawyer Kate Walker, who is sent by her law firm to the French Alps village of Valadilène in order to supervise a corporate takeover of an automaton factory. Unfortunately, things are not as clear as they initially seemed. It turns out that Anna Voralberg, the recently deceased former owner, had established with the village notary that her brother, Hans Voralberg, was alive, thus making him the owner of the automaton factory, even though their father had said he was long gone and buried.
I’m definitely a fan of the Syberia point and click adventure game series. It’s a franchise set in the world of Amerzone, a 1999 first-person adventure game that recently received a full remake on PlayStation 5 from Microids, thanks to Amerzone – The Explorer’s Legacy. I own the Syberia port for the Nintendo DS, which, well, is Syberia on the Nintendo DS—a game that all fans of the series should at least play once. I reviewed the Nintendo Switch port of Syberia back in 2017. I also had the opportunity to review the dual prequel/sequel Syberia: The World Before on PlayStation 5 in 2022. So yes, I was definitely up for seeing how Syberia – Remastered was set to handle things.
With this one being Syberia – Remastered, that means we’re getting a new take on the beloved classic, with characters and locations that have been fully redesigned with enhanced models, textures, and lighting, all while staying true to the art direction and intent of Benoît Sokal, helping us step into a world that feels alive. The puzzles have also been redesigned for a smoother experience. Controls feel less like the tank variety and more like the modern 3D adventure game exploration you’d come to expect from a game releasing in 2025.
How big a change are we talking about? The original Syberia was released more than 20 years ago, which means it was initially presented in the 4:3 aspect ratio, rather than the 16:9 ratio most of you are familiar with nowadays. It also used many static camera angles as you moved from one spot in a room to another. For the remaster, the camera now follows Kate, which creates a much more dynamic experience. You can check out the trailer below to get a better idea of how things have changed.
Once your adventure begins, you’ll take control of Kate by using the left analog stick to navigate through each location and the right analog stick to pan the camera as needed. You can press and hold down the R2 button to run. With this one being a point and click adventure game in nature, you’ll be interacting with plenty of objects and characters, which is why you’re going to need the X button. You can take a closer look at objects and rotate them with the right analog stick. You’ll start to write important information in your diary as the story progresses, as well as add items to your inventory, so be sure to check all of this by pressing the Triangle button every now and then.
By opening up your diary, you’ll get to check the objectives tab, where you’ll notice the things you’ve already worked on and completed, as well as what needs to be done right away next. You can also use the diary to review important items and documents. Take, for example, the first moments in the game. As not to spoil things too much, they include arriving at Valadilène, checking in at the hotel, calling your boss about the untimely death of Madame Voralberg, collecting a letter of introduction at the hotel desk that was faxed your way so that you can talk to Anna Voralberg’s lawyer, and going to meet said lawyer once the rain has stopped.
For this adventure, you will also have access to a phone for Kate. The phone is used to dial some numbers for completing certain puzzles or to call your contacts during key story moments. Open your phone by pressing the Square button, if you feel like it, and definitely pull up your phone when the icon appears, as that’s your cue. The first call you’ll make will be to your boss when you let him know of the death of Anna Voralberg.
Trophy-wise, this game features a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy for you to try to add to your collection. The list is split into 31 Bronze trophies, 5 Silver trophies, and 4 Gold trophies for you to work on. Some of the trophies are of the hidden variety so that I won’t be discussing them here. As for the rest? You’ll get trophies for exploring all locations in Valadilène, Bartockstadt, Komkolzgrad, Arallbad, and Syberia, locating an ancient doll, restarting the Voralberg factory, opening Hans Voralberg’s coffin, meeting Oscar, and receiving a special gift, to name some examples.
Syberia – Remastered brings us a reimagined take on Benoît Sokal’s classic. The original Syberia was released on PC for Windows in 2002, and it’s a third-person perspective adventure game that places you in the role of American lawyer Kate Walker, who her law firm sends to the French Alps village of Valadilène to supervise a corporate takeover of an automaton factory. Unfortunately, things are not as clear as they initially seemed. It turns out that Anna Voralberg, the recently deceased former owner, had established with the village notary that her brother, Hans Voralberg, was alive, thus making him the owner of the automaton factory, even though their father had said he was long gone and buried.
Since this one has Remastered right there in its title, that means we’re getting a new, revamped take on the beloved classic adventure, with characters and locations that have been fully redesigned with enhanced models, textures, and lighting, all while staying true to the art direction and intent of Benoît Sokal, helping us step into a world that feels alive. This one pays homage to its roots by retaining the original’s animated story cutscenes, offering a nice blend of old and new. These cutscenes have been upscaled, so they won’t look that out of place when compared to the new, revamped 3D graphics for the rest of the game.
The game allows you to customize your experience a bit by picking between a Story or Adventure difficulty setting, as well as offering a variety of languages for text and voices. You can also activate or deactivate subtitles. You can even choose between Performance and Quality Mode for the graphics, with the first one prioritizing the framerate and the second focusing on more detailed lighting and textures, as well as a higher resolution. Syberia – Remastered is available on PlayStation 5 starting November 6, priced at $29.99.
Disclaimer
This Syberia – Remastered review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Microids.
