Syberia 3

For a game that relies on character interaction and puzzles to tell its story, Syberia 3 falls well short of being enjoyable and fails to deliver a captivating or impactful experience.

Some solid puzzles can't rescue what is an otherwise terrible adventure game.

Aside from a few highlights, Syberia 3 is frustrating with a simplistic story that never captured my attention

Horrible to control, horrible to listen to, really surprisingly ugly to look at, and and all-round mess, I've no desire to put myself through this. So, I shall state for the record: Maybe it's amazing! I mean, it obviously isn't, because it seems unlikely they'll fire the voice cast and implement a new control system some hours into the game, but I can't assure you they haven't. What I can assure you is I've been here too often, seen this too many times, to put myself through it again.

This game feels like it should've come out over a decade ago, and even then, it still wouldn't have been ready for release. Some sprawling mechanical puzzles, an intriguing world, and a solid soundtrack can't save Syberia 3 from its disappointing delivery. Poor writing and even worse voice acting make its humdrum story a chore to chew through. With major technical issues in tow along with too much errand-like gameplay, the series should've waved a final goodbye like its protagonist in her last outing.

Syberia on the Nintendo Switch is a reasonable yet inconsistent port of an enchanting genre classic. This is an absorbing, intricate story filled with melancholy, eccentric characters and mystery demands and deserves attention, even if the game shows its age technically in some places and demonstrates a lack of care in the porting process in others. For fans of the genre, or those willing to dive in and forgive some inconsistencies, there's an endearing and worthwhile adventure here.

It took 13 years for Kate Walker to come back, but it might have been better for Syberia fans if she never did. Syberia 3 is a disappointing adventure game that retained nothing of the best features of the previous entries in the series, introducing so many changes that simply don't work as intended or are marred by poor design choices, making it a worthy purchase only for the most die-hard Kate Walker fans.

There'll always be a time and a place for a game like Syberia 3.

Bottom-line, if you enjoyed the prior Syberia games, you'll enjoy part 3 as well. It offers some fun surprises, and I feel it'll also prove to have some endurance and stick with me. Plot strengths can't override the key technical issues though, so do wait for a needed patch and a sale if you're on the fence.

A promising closer to the Syberia trilogy of games, Syberia 3 meets hardship in the way of spotty performance in both visual and sound design. Kate Walker's latest adventure is coercive to devotees of the series, but difficult to recommend over the numerous top quality eShop games in the same genre.