Syberia Remastered Review – A Beautiful Classic Undone by a Weak Upgrade (PC)

Syberia Remastered sets out to revive one of the most iconic point-and-click adventures of the early 2000s. Originally crafted by the late Benoît Sokal, the classic Syberia earned its reputation through its imaginative world, melancholic atmosphere, and unique automaton-driven charm.

Two decades later, Microids brings us back to the beginning—yet despite the clear effort behind this remaster, it lands firmly in the middle. It isn’t terrible, but it isn’t particularly impressive either. It’s simply… mid. And the truth is, this game deserved better. It hurts to admit that, especially since I’m the type of player who usually enjoys almost anything I pick up, but I had genuinely high hopes for this remaster, and it just doesn’t deliver what it should have.

During the golden era of adventure games, studios like Sierra On-Line, LucasArts, and early visual novel pioneers shaped the genre’s identity. When that era faded, Syberia emerged as one of the last great European adventure masterpieces, defined by its emotional storytelling and unforgettable world.

Syberia Remastered tries to modernize that legacy with updated 3D environments, tweaked puzzles, and improved lighting. But the execution never fully commits, leaving the game torn between honoring the original and embracing modern expectations. The result is a remaster that tries hard but struggles to satisfy both longtime fans and newcomers.

Syberia Remastered is now available now on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S.

Story – Does the Narrative Still Hold Up?

The story in Syberia Remastered remains the emotional core of the entire experience. Following Kate Walker as she leaves New York behind, the journey begins quietly—almost mournfully—in the fading town of Valadilène. Her assignment is simple, but once she learns Hans Voralberg is alive, everything shifts. What starts as a standard legal task evolves into a deeply personal quest across Europe, accompanied by Oscar, an automaton whose stubborn charm and sincerity make him feel more alive than many of the humans Kate left behind.

Valadilène, where it all begins.

What makes the narrative so memorable is the way the world reacts to Kate’s decisions. Small details—villagers’ expressions, abandoned workshops, decaying machinery—create an atmosphere suspended between reality and dream. Kate’s gradual emotional unraveling feels believable even 20 years later. And her bond with Oscar remains one of gaming’s most unexpectedly touching relationships, layered with humor, frustration, and quiet warmth.

However, the remaster exposes weaknesses the original masked through nostalgia. The voice acting remains stiff, with pacing that often undercuts dramatic moments. Dialogue sometimes sounds like it was recorded with early-2000s equipment—and in many cases, it probably was. Untouched audio quality means emotional scenes lack the weight they deserve, especially during Kate’s key revelations or her confrontations with characters like Momo and Anna.

Gameplay – Improvements and Persistent Issues

If the story remains powerful, the gameplay remains the part most in need of modern polish. Syberia Remastered introduces a cleaner interface and smoother controls, and during quieter exploration moments, these tweaks genuinely help. The ability to interact with objects more easily, highlight points of interest, and navigate menus faster shows what a more ambitious remaster could have delivered.

Unfortunately, the game still clings to old-school adventure-game design—the kind that slows momentum and frustrates players more than it challenges them. Progress frequently stalls because solutions rely on tiny, easily overlooked interactions or require excessive backtracking across large environments. For example, certain machine sequences still demand trial-and-error logic rather than intuitive reasoning, and the remaster does little to clarify these moments.

Gameplay feels old despite smoother controls.

Puzzles are wildly inconsistent, jumping from elegant to obscure without warning. The journal system remains unchanged and fails to record critical clues, forcing players to restart conversations or revisit old areas simply because the game doesn’t remind them what they’ve learned. And the most noticeable issue: Kate’s movement speed fluctuates. Outdoors, she jogs comfortably; indoors, she slows to a crawl as if walking through molasses. It breaks pacing and becomes irritating quickly.

These problems don’t make the game unplayable, but they highlight a missed opportunity to truly modernize Syberia for a new generation.

Graphics & Sound – Visual Upgrades vs. Lost Atmosphere

Graphically, Syberia Remastered aims high, and at its best, the game looks genuinely beautiful. The shift to 3D gives new dimension to iconic locations. The Voralberg factory, Valadilène’s somber streets, the snowy wilderness, and the mammoth cavern all benefit from enhanced depth, sharper geometry, and richer lighting. There are moments—short but powerful—when the game finally looks like what players remember from their childhoods.

But this visual resurrection is inconsistent. Many scenes lose the hand-painted dreamlike surrealism that defined the original. Interiors sometimes feel too bright, too literal, too clean. Certain character models clash with their surroundings, and technical issues such as texture pop-in, awkward reflections, rough edges, and stiff animations disrupt immersion.

The largest disappointment is the sound design, which remains completely untouched. Audio levels fluctuate, ambient sound lacks richness, and dialogue clips still carry the compressed quality of early-2000s games. Emotional scenes—especially those involving Anna, Momo, or Kate’s phone calls—do not land with the impact they should. The story deserves better audio support than this.

This review was made with a key provided by HomeRun PR, thanks to them.