Revisiting Myst

[Sir Perceval of Daventry]

A lot of people say Myst "killed the adventure genre", and because of this belief, a lot of adventure fans resent it or even hate it, yet it was the best selling PC game of all time for 8 years, until The Sims came out, and still is in the top 20 best selling games of all time to this day.

But what do you guys feel about Myst? It's been almost 20 years since Myst came out and revolutionized both the adventure genre and PC gaming in general...So, thoughts? Retrospective reviews? Memories?

[kindofdoon]

I want to like it, but honestly it bores me. There's also something subtly creepy about the game because of all the weird ambient sound effects and just being on a mysterious ghost-town island.

[dark-daventry]

Who's badmouthing my Myst? I love that series to death; if it killed the adventure genre, then how come it spawned four sequels, an upcoming movie (that actually looks REALLY REALLY GOOD) and it's been ported to almost every platform known to man, including the iPhone. It's even on the DS and PSP. It's one of the most ported games of all time, I'm sure. And these are all official ports. No emulators. No hacking. Official ports that took time to develop. Oh, and did I mention that it's only one of the first games (if not *the* first game) to use the CD-Rom format? Oh, and the first game has at least 3 distinctly different variations of it alone. If you call that failure, I can't imagine what success is.

I want to like it, but honestly it bores me. There's also something subtly creepy about the game because of all the weird ambient sound effects and just being on a mysterious ghost-town island.

Honestly, I think that's part of the charm. I think the loneliness of the island just adds to the overall appeal for me. You're the only character. And even you aren't really a "character". You're you basically. To me, it's a truly immersive experience. To this day, I don't think I've ever been more immersed in a video game, even with the advent of super-realistic graphics and 3d. Myst's charm lies in what it lacks; characters. The world is so powerful because you're the only one there.

[kindofdoon]

The weird thing is that I love games like Minecraft and Shadow of the Colossus where you're completely alone. Something about Myst repels me, though. Not sure. Maybe it's the slideshow-like graphics.

(Posted on: March 08, 2011, 02:42:23 AM)

Also, Myst probably wasn't the first game on CD.

[dark-daventry]

The weird thing is that I love games like Minecraft and Shadow of the Colossus where you're completely alone. Something about Myst repels me, though. Not sure. Maybe it's the slideshow-like graphics.

(Posted on: March 08, 2011, 02:42:23 AM)

Also, Myst probably wasn't the first game on CD.

I know it had something to do with CD's that was notable. It may have been responsible for popularizing it then.

If you don't like the slide-show graphics, Myst comes in a slide-show-less flavor. It's called RealMyst. It's amazing. It's a complete 3D remake of Myst. It's official. It's on gog. I love it. The graphics, to this day, are still absolutely fantastic on that game. And it was made in like 1999 or something. Check it out.

[kindofdoon]

Thank you! Wow, that looks awesome!

I feel bad about complaining about graphics because that's not something I usually agree with (again, I'm a Minecraft addict, and I just bought a 15-year old PS1 a week ago). However, in this case, the sudden jolts between locations really alienate me from feeling immersed.

[dark-daventry]

Thank you! Wow, that looks awesome!

I feel bad about complaining about graphics because that's not something I usually agree with (again, I'm a Minecraft addict, and I just bought a 15-year old PS1 a week ago). However, in this case, the sudden jolts between locations really alienate me from feeling immersed.

Then you should love RealMyst. And there's an easter egg on Myst Isle in that one game, but you'll only get it if you've read Myst: The Book of Atrus. Because you can now explore the entire world of Myst in real 3D, there's stuff they added. They even re-recorded the intro so it sounds even more amazing than before.

[kindofdoon]

I will probably play it. Thanks again.

[atec123]

I love the myst series.  I actually play those kinds of games a lot more than king's quest and sierra kinds of games.

riven is quite possibly my favorite PC game ever.

I like the games that are in that style too.  Riven was good (even though it had a "myst copy" feel, it was still a lot of fun to beat) and this game called Riddle of the sphinx that introduced me to those first person puzzle games is also one of my favorite games.  if you like myst or any of those you should check that out.


I haven't seen much myst hate.  I always thought it was kindof a legendary game.

[Enchantermon]

I will probably play it. Thanks again.

Definitely do it; it's spectacular. I was so happy when GOG added it, because it had become incredibly rare lately.
I love Myst. It's got great puzzles, a twisting storyline, spectacular artwork, and wonderful music and sound effects. Plus, it's one of those games that actually encourages you to take notes and draw diagrams of things to use as clues in solving puzzles later on. In fact, it's the only game I know of that actually came with a journal for taking notes.

Yeah, Myst was amazing. Riven was even more so. Even Exile and Revelations, despite not being developed by Cyan, were wonderful. The only game of the series that I haven't finished is End of Ages, because I only got it recently and unfortunately didn't have the time to devote to it.

[MusicallyInspired]

Myst is NOT boring. It's a fantastically intricate and detailed universe. I LOVE the series! But it did kill adventures, though not directly. Once Myst took off everyone tried to copy it which gave birth to "Myst-clones", most of which are ALL horrible and boring. Myst is the only Myst-like game that can work. Cyan are the only ones who know how to do it, in my opinion.

Myst isn't boring, its imitators are. That's what killed adventures.

[snabbott]

When I first played Myst, I really didn't get it. I think I gave up before I actually got anywhere. I played it again later and liked it more when I figured out that there were actually things to do. I never played any of the sequels, though.

[dark-daventry]

I've played 1-3 completely, and I've been in the middle of four for about 3 years now (life keeps getting in the way), and I'm not looking forward to V. They killed the game with the switch to 3D graphics. I think the Myst series looks the best in Myst 4: Revelations. With each Myst game, they've improved on the FMV by leaps and bounds. Had they kept at it, the graphics of a modern day Myst could easily rival even the likes of Crysis at absolute max settings. Or at least I think so.

If you'd like to play a game series like Myst, there's RHEM. I haven't actually played it myself, but it's basically a Myst clone. It may be one of the better ones, idk.

Also, anyone here ever play PYST? It's a spoof, and a pretty funny one at that. I had a copy lying around somewhere (along with the first computer I could call my own, a Windows 98 PC that could play these adventure games pretty flawlessly. Oh I miss that thing).

I've always associated Myst with "legendary" when it comes to the genre as a whole; I mean, I think we can all agree that the Myst series, as a whole, is pretty much considered one of the best series of all time, of any medium.

[Enchantermon]

They killed the game with the switch to 3D graphics.

Why do you say that? Reviews were favorable, even if the graphics weren't the best.

Cyan are the only ones who know how to do it, in my opinion.

What did you think of Exile and Revelations? Neither of them were made by Cyan.

[dark-daventry]

They killed the game with the switch to 3D graphics.

Why do you say that? Reviews were favorable, even if the graphics weren't the best.

Cyan are the only ones who know how to do it, in my opinion.

What did you think of Exile and Revelations? Neither of them were made by Cyan.

I just always thought one of the high points of the Myst series was that almost all the games used FMV. RealMyst is the notable exception, but the graphics in that were well done. I admit, I haven't played 5, but I've seen the trailers and seen some gameplay, and I'm not exactly happy about it. Don't get me wrong; I'm definitely going to give it a shot.

[Enchantermon]

I just always thought one of the high points of the Myst series was that almost all the games used FMV. RealMyst is the notable exception, but the graphics in that were well done. I admit, I haven't played 5, but I've seen the trailers and seen some gameplay, and I'm not exactly happy about it. Don't get me wrong; I'm definitely going to give it a shot.

Ah.
I was disappointed that they got rid of FMV also, but mostly just because of nostalgia. It's been a while since I've played End of Ages, but I don't remember it looking bad. And as long as the story is good and the puzzles are logical and fun, the graphics aren't as big of an issue, especially since 3D rendering usually looks pretty good regardless.

As an aisde, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst also uses real-time, 3D rendering and it's gorgeous.

[dark-daventry]

I just always thought one of the high points of the Myst series was that almost all the games used FMV. RealMyst is the notable exception, but the graphics in that were well done. I admit, I haven't played 5, but I've seen the trailers and seen some gameplay, and I'm not exactly happy about it. Don't get me wrong; I'm definitely going to give it a shot.

Ah.
I was disappointed that they got rid of FMV also, but mostly just because of nostalgia. It's been a while since I've played End of Ages, but I don't remember it looking bad. And as long as the story is good and the puzzles are logical and fun, the graphics aren't as big of an issue, especially since 3D rendering usually looks pretty good regardless.

As an aisde, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst also uses real-time, 3D rendering and it's gorgeous.

I've been meaning to play Uru; it's the one game besides 5 I haven't played yet.

[Enchantermon]

I've been meaning to play Uru; it's the one game besides 5 I haven't played yet.

You should. You know why? Cyan restored the dead multiplayer feature. It's online and it's free. You have no excuse.

Well, okay, being busy is a good excuse. That's the reason I haven't been on there in a while.

[atec123]

Myst is NOT boring. It's a fantastically intricate and detailed universe. I LOVE the series! But it did kill adventures, though not directly. Once Myst took off everyone tried to copy it which gave birth to "Myst-clones", most of which are ALL horrible and boring. Myst is the only Myst-like game that can work. Cyan are the only ones who know how to do it, in my opinion.

Myst isn't boring, its imitators are. That's what killed adventures.

have you played this?
http://www.riddleofthesphinx.com/

[Enchantermon]

I'd like to check it out, but every single link in that website wants to download the content as a file instead of opening it in my browser. What the heck?