Taking Syberia into uncharted territory

Benoît Sokal died in Might of 2021.

Whereas he was a celebrated comedian artist in his personal proper, the gaming world knew him finest because the inventive pressure behind the Syberia journey sport collection. On the time of his dying, he was engaged on the fourth installment within the collection, Syberia: The World Earlier than, which was nonetheless virtually a 12 months away from completion.

That closing stretch to launch can be overseen by Syberia: The World Earlier than sport director and lead author Lucas Lagravatte.

Talking with GamesIndustry.biz concerning the job of ending the sport in Sokal’s absence, Lagravette is fast to bolster the creator’s “large involvement” within the completed sport because it launched final March.

“He had seen the primary alpha model that was fairly superior, and he may see what the launched sport can be,” Lagravette says. “There’s nothing within the content material that he wasn’t conscious of when he handed away, and that is type of reassuring to us to know that he was OK with all the pieces that was in sport.”

Sokal had been coping with a long-term sickness, however even then, Lagravette mentioned he was nonetheless carefully concerned within the creation of the sport.

“Despite the fact that he knew he was actually sick, he was there till the very finish,” he says. “Just a few weeks earlier than he died, he and I needed to do some final cuts and modifications of the state of affairs for the sport, and he introduced new concepts to the desk, very nice concepts, despite the fact that he was very sick.”

“Despite the fact that [Sokal] knew he was actually sick, he was there till the very finish”

Lagravette first began working with Sokal on the event of Syberia 3, becoming a member of the group as an intern. That sport launched in 2017 to disappointing critiques. And whereas Lagravette was low-ranking sufficient to not be aware about all of the context round how and why it turned out the best way it did, he has some concepts of what went incorrect.

“From what I noticed, with Syberia 3, everybody was simply beginning,” he says. “The group was very junior. And the writer hadn’t made a sport that large ever. There have been a variety of errors and we realized from all of it, which allowed us to have a lot stronger foundations for The World Earlier than.”

Lagravette’s expertise on Syberia 3 additionally laid a groundwork of belief with Sokal, which might be important to The World Earlier than. With that belief and shared historical past, Lagravette says Sokal might be “a bit much less micromanaging the content material,” focusing his power extra on the overarching inventive imaginative and prescient.

“I could not drown Benoît in an excessive amount of small element and stuff, however it is advisable be actually humble and likewise trustworthy and clear with somebody like Benoît,” Lagravette says. “We had our course of with numerous conferences. I might inform him all the foremost and micro choice we took every week. ‘I feel these ones you will be eager about as a result of they’re vital, but in addition there are all these choices I do not assume you will care that a lot however I will nonetheless expose them to you and also you inform me if something rings a bell or not.’ That was type of our course of.”

The method labored for them, and Lagravette would not recall many occasions he had guessed incorrect concerning the parts Sokal would and would not need to get personally concerned in.

“He trusted the group of designers and was perhaps extra targeted concerning the inventive course, the visible stuff, and the way we may visually inform the lore that was so vital for him in The World Earlier than,” Lagravette says.

“He trusted the group of designers and was perhaps extra targeted concerning the inventive course, the visible stuff”

And whereas quite a bit can occur within the tail finish of a sport’s improvement, Lagravette is grateful that he wasn’t put into the place of needing to deviate from the plan that had been laid out with Sokal.

“There weren’t any main cuts for me to resolve on, however I needed to make some choices concerning the content material that weren’t main,” he says. “I often mentioned, ‘I feel Benoît can be OK with it so let’s do it,’ however there have been a number of ones the place I mentioned no as a result of I believed he would not have been OK with it.”

Even with Sokal’s approval, Lagravette says he nonetheless had some sleepless nights worrying concerning the sport. For instance, the sport is ready in an alternate universe, however one that also has Europe, the US, and World Conflict II. On the similar time, it takes place in a fictional nation and makes use of analogous factions for the Nazis and the Jewish inhabitants they tried to systemically homicide. The Holocaust is a fragile topic to sort out in fiction to start out with, and there was concern Syberia’s added veneer of fiction might be seen as trivializing or diminishing the tragedy.

“We knew we needed to be very cautious and really respectful,” Lagravette says. “Despite the fact that we had been altering some occasions, we nonetheless needed to inform the core of these occasions. It is what Benoît referred to as ‘taking a lightweight step from actuality.’

“Despite the fact that we had been altering some occasions, we nonetheless needed to inform the core of these occasions”

“It is a very shut world to ours, and in the event you go deep sufficient within the lore of the sport, it is really not a fictional minority or oppressors. It is extra like the sport is going down in a fictional nation impressed by international locations like Austria, and on this nation, they name Jewish individuals by a sure identify. The sport will not be saying the Holocaust was a few new minority. It is simply that the identify of it on this nation modified. It is nonetheless the Jewish individuals which are the victims of the genocide and the Nazis that did this terrible crime.”

We ask a few potential future for the Syberia franchise with out Sokal, and whereas Lagravette is obvious there’s nothing concrete on that entrance, he confirms the late creator had deliberate for the likelihood.

“I can let you know Benoît left us some stuff for an eventual sequel, as a result of he needed the sport to have a sequel and we’d like to do it,” he says. “All of us have a variety of concepts for that however it’s not in our fingers for now.”

As for the way Lagravette would deal with creating new parts of the Syberia universe from entire fabric with out having Sokal there to offer approval and suggestions, he is unsure.

“If a sequel was to be performed, that might be the primary problem, and the primary guideline can be how we try this with out Benoît,” he says. “I haven’t got the reply to that. It will be [decided] as a group.”

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