Benoît Sokal was a comic artist turned video game designer best known for his distinctive storytelling and atmospheric world-building. Across all his works, his stories often center on physical and emotional journeys through mysterious, forgotten, or remote lands with dreamlike qualities.
His first game, Amerzone was wrought with a sense of faded grandeur, focusing on a journalist’s journey to follow the footsteps of a prior explorer and uncover a mythical flying bird with no legs. The gameplay was a lot like Myst which may not impress gamers today since it is mechanically, a glorified power-point presentation, relying on pre-rendered visuals and FMVs.
Fully remade with glorious photo realism, how does Sokal’s dreamy expedition hold up? Find out in our Amerzone – The Explorer’s Legacy review!
Amerzone – The Explorer’s Legacy
Developer: Microids Studio Paris
Publisher: Microids
Platforms: Windows PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S (reviewed)
Release Date: April 24, 2025
Price: $39.99
Some time in the 1930s, Dr. Valembois traveled to Amerzone, a fictional region in South America, to find a mythical white bird that never stops flying. The bird was described by the locals as sacred to the land, having no feet or neck, and elongated wings. Naturally, the scientists stole an egg, bringing the village decay and ruin.
After decades of being wrecked with regret for the destruction his unquenchable thirst for knowledge caused, Dr. Valembois, the story begins when he entrusts the preserved egg to a journalist to return it. Players assume the role of the unnamed, silent journalist, and sets out to return to Amerzone sometime around in 1998.
As the journalist, the player explores through distinct regions of Amerzone. The coastal villages, dense jungles, swamps, and volcanic areas; each with their own mood and challenges. The pace is deliberately slow, encouraging you to soak in the atmosphere and uncover clues about the 1932 expedition and the White Birds.
Progression often involves finding the right path or unlocking new areas by solving puzzles or using items. While The Explorer’s Legacy may be fully 3D, it still abides by the old Myst-like adventure game format. The view is still first person and there is no free movement. This isn’t a walking-sim; it’s a pure, honest-to-God, point-and-click adventure.
Each of the seven chapters feature the protagonist arriving in strange lands via the hydrofloat; a vehicle invented by Dr. Valembois. The hydrofloat has multiple modes and in some instances, players will take the helm and manually operate the transformations. Don’t expect any flying sim mechanics, boating, or submarine mini games; transport is purely automated.
Each chapter is a self-contained area with routes that loop back into other locations. There are always optional collectibles to discover that enrich the lore and atmosphere and the puzzles and key-items will confound and perplex gamers in a good way. The puzzles are ingeniously designed, yet simple and varied to keep the game from getting bogged down and prevents players from being stuck for too long.
If you are a Amerzone veteran, then you will be pleased to know that some of the puzzles have been tweaked. Most of the time, the puzzles are 1:1, but there are several that have different solutions, or an item will have been moved to a new location. The general idea of the puzzles is basically the same as ever.
The first time you encounter a new puzzle or contraption; expect to be completely stupefied by what you are looking at and have no idea what to do. This lost feeling and bewilderment gradually fades as things start to click and make sense. The logic rarely demands any blind leap of faith or trial-and-error. It is downright impressive that Sokal and his team were able to nail adventure gam puzzle design with forward-thinking aplomb in 1999.
The biggest change from the original is obviously the visuals. The photo realistic style works well and if you squint, it kind of looks like an HD prerendered still. The Explorer’s Legacy is very fluid for a graphic puzzle adventure game. Looking around is smooth and clicking to explorable areas is fluent and responsive.
Some areas are mazes and can be easy to get lost in. Other times players will contend with surreal wildlife. Amerzone – The Explorer’s Legacy feels like an adventure Euro comic come to life… which is basically what it is since Sokal was a Belgian comic artist. Even though it is thoroughly remade from the bottom up, it’s still steeped in his sensibilities.
A welcomed feature is that players can skip the protagonist’s animations when moving from area to area. Every chapter’s area loads in one big chunk, so there are no interruptions while getting around. The idea of a first-person point-and-click adventure game won’t sound exciting to most gamers, but Amerzone gets it right thanks to how it respects the player’s time and effectively immerses them in the world and ambiance.
Dr. Valembois’ notebook proves to be not only be an invaluable hint book to the Amerzonian regions, but it also adds flavor and character. It’s written in a poetic wistful style, as if the doctor is filled with regret for what he did and its full of beautiful illustrations and sketches of people he met, the strange flora and fauna of Amerzone, and detailed notes about how the hydrofloat works. The obsessive attention to detail gives the game a lot of soul, like everyone cared about it.
The music is minimalistic, usually only the sounds of nature filling the silence. What little voice acting is present is deliberately stilted to make the experience more dreamlike. In other games, the protagonist would probably be some smartass making quips and narrating to himself what he needs to do or explain a puzzle’s solution. Amerzone – The Explorer’s Legacy respects the player’s intelligence and keeps nondiegetic music to a minimum.
There are some side things to do in Amerzone, but they are ultimately pointless. There is only one ending and no other reason to replay other than reexperiencing the atmosphere. It would have been nice to be able to go fishing, but that might have been a bit much for a Myst-like from 1999. If you want an atmospheric and sincere, pulpy adventure game, you can’t do better than Amerzone – The Explorer’s Legacy.
Amerzone – The Explorer’s Legacy was reviewed on Xbox Series X using a code provided by Microids. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Amerzone – The Explorer’s Legacy is now available for PC (via Steam), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
