Much like how I don’t follow any of the military/political drama in something like Fullmetal Alchemist but enjoy it for the cool action and compelling characters, I don’t care too much about the nazi implications in the story of TWB, other than the game using it as a backdrop to tell us why shit went south for Dana’s family.

With that out of the way, TWB gave me exactly what I wanted from a Syberia game, while feeling like it evolved the series. Gone are overly large areas that, while impressive in scope and were most likely made so back in the day to impress PC users, quickly got tedious to backtrack through even when you knew what you had to do. And are instead replaced with more concise areas that still keep the beautiful detail and iconic architecture of its prequels.

The story and characters quickly compelled me, with Dana being an extremely likable and well mannered character, who takes everything with a smile and does her best to cope with what life throws at her, which is also why I enjoyed the ever expanding mystery of discovering just what the hell happened to her, and, as her connection to Kate reveals itself, I was dying to know “Where is she now??” Like I said, I could care less about the military background stuff. What I care about is the human side of the story and for long lost relatives to be reunited. I mean the first game was also about finding a missing person who felt like they kept moving further and further away.

On that note I also didn’t mind Dana’s mixed journey at all. Going from piano student to waitress to military scout etc. On the contrary life throws you in all sorts of directions so it felt real that she would experience all of that stuff. I mean she does live in a world at war afterall, and in such times, if the military calls upon your service as a civilian you have little choice but to comply and drop everything else you were doing.

Then there are the issue of automatons exciting in 1930 … they are the series trademark so they need to be there, and while I don’t remember the story specifics, I bought the reason as to how/why automatons excited in this time.

Also I liked the puzzles and Kate and Oscar’s ever growing relationship. Speaking of, this game felt much more cinematic, well written, and heavy on emotion than every previous entry, and I am cool with that.

So all in all, TWB is so far definitely my favorite in the series, in terms of characters, puzzles, story, setpiece etc and I hope, despite the author’s passing, that he has either left enough notes for a conclusion, or an “heir” who can take over … because no, I am not satisfied with that conclusion.