I really wish I could save. I really wish I could save. I really wish I could save. Although most of Myst’s puzzles are “solved” via inputting a single answer that you can take down in a notebook and immediately reenter once you start the game, the process of reentering those solutions is growing tiresome. I think I’ve “solved” the clock tower puzzle about ten times now. I know that I wouldn’t even be able to complete most modern adventure games without saving; but, I could certainly appreciate Myst’s design without seeing it dozens of times. This isn’t going to get any better is it?

I picked up where I left off last time and finished solving the constellation/boat puzzle. Once the ship was raised I made a beeline for it and found another mysterious book. Inside the book was a poorly animated gif and once I clicked on the gif it blew up to full screen. Another click of the mouse transported me to a weird island made up of two boats slammed into the side of an island and a few towers. I must say that the mystique of Myst still holds up in the modern day. Finding all of these strange, ancient books that transport you to alternate places and times is still captivating despite the aging graphics. I was legitimately disoriented for a few moments when I entered the “crash boats into rocks” Age and when I realized there was no clear way back it was a little scary.

Once I accepted my new surroundings I set about attempting to solve some puzzles. My first stop was an umbrella with three buttons. I pressed each of the buttons from left to right and each time I heard some vaguely mechanical noises, but saw no clear effect so I left to look elsewhere. Next I climbed to the top of a set of stairs and found a telescope. The telescope didn’t seem to show anything of note. With those avenues out of the way, I entered an odd tower in the middle of the sea. In the tower was a key on a chain, a ladder leading up to a locked hatch, and a chest at the bottom of some stairs. Despite my best efforts to pick up the chained key it just wouldn’t move, so I went down to the chest. I flushed some water from it and then was stumped. There was nowhere else to go and nothing else to click on. I did several laps of the island and found nothing.

It was at this point that I turned to the game’s hint system. The hint system has been a huge help and it is remarkably modern in its implementation. There is a hint button you can press that will give you some vague tips about the room you’re in or the puzzle you may be solving, a clue button that will give you a more explicit answer, and a map button that will let you look at a top down map of your current location. All of the hints are written from the perspective of some character that has already solved all of the game’s puzzles and they both add flavor to the world and provide some salient guidance.

The nice disembodied hint person told me to try pressing the first or second buttons under the umbrella. Upon doing so I found that the tower had filled with water and the chest had floated to the top. I was then able to used the chained key to open the chest, which itself contained the key to the hatch above the ladder. Once I ascended to the top of the tower, I found a generator with a hand crank. I gave the generator a twist or two and then went down onto the ships to see if anything had changed. The generator turned on the lights in two previously dark tunnels leading into the rock. Before I could make any more progress I had to cut my play session short. I wish I could save.

By the time I returned to the game I figured out what the clock tower puzzle unlocked so I eagerly retraced my steps and entered the damn 2,2,1 combination again… no system crash this time (thanks windows 98 compatibility mode!). From there I found that one of the giant gears on the island rotated in concert with the gears in the clock tower. Inside I found another book with another gif inside! The book took me to the Mechanical Age, which is apparently made up of an island fortress surrounded by tiny puzzle ruins. At this point I should mention that I have no idea if these different ages are supposed to be the main island at different points in time or if they are different locations altogether (I’m guessing the books in the library cover that topic, but fuck reading). If they are supposed to be the same place, then the water level on this island is crazily inconsistent. Also an architect is making a killing on all of the build-ups and tear-downs that the island has experienced.

In any case, I made my way into the fortress and began my search. On one side of the fortress was an opulent throne room with fancy-ass paintings and a wind-up bird. On the other side was a nightmarish torture throne room with a wind up cobra. I guess this is the part where I mention Sirus and Aganon or whatever their names are. It seems like the story is about two brothers who have divided these ages amongst themselves and wreaked havoc. I don’t know much about the two, but in the early going I’m going to have to side with the guy who decorates with gold and tapestries instead of swords and shrunken heads. In each of the throne rooms I found a hidden panel next to the thrones which hid a secret chamber. The fancy brother’s secret room held treasure chests full of gold and a wine rack. In the wine rack was a note that mentioned subjects and taxes; however, I haven’t seen any people or places for people to live so I have no idea who is being taxed here. I also found a red page that must go with the creepy red journal in the library. In the secret chamber of the murder dungeon I found a cage, a rack full of what appear to be poisons, a bloody knife, and a box full of severed heads. I know Myst isn’t a horror game, but man it feels like it could have easily been one. All they would have needed is a disturbing image behind a few of the jittery animations and bam, spookcentral. The atmosphere of the game is oppressive at times and the musical choices and sound effects really establish an unsettling tone despite the game not showing much violence or gore. With that severed head neatly restored to its proper place, I found a blue journal page and continued my exploration.

In the middle of the fortress I found a set of gears that unlocked an elevator and I rode the elevator to an apparently empty room at the top of the fortress. After riding the elevator a few times to no avail, I tried hitting the middle button between the up and down buttons. The countdown sound effect for the elevator repeated for several seconds and I was almost certain that the game crashed. The sound effects stretched and distorted so much that I almost shut the whole thing down. Fortunately, the game lurched into action after about 30 seconds of whirring futility. I consulted my disembodied buddy about how to proceed and he or she told me that I should exit the elevator when that horrible, glitchy whirring noise is happening (I probably would have figured that out if I didn’t think the game was actively on fire). That causes the elevator to only descend half way and it gives you access to a control panel on the top of the elevator. Which leads me to the question, who builds structures this way? What person thought that hiding a control panel on the top of an elevator was a good security measure? Why would they leave torture chambers and loot piles behind hidden, unlocked doors? The control elevator was a real immersion breaker.

Once I actually got on the controls I had a real problem with lining fortress up with the outlying islands. There is no visual feedback about where the fortress is facing and so I used trial and error at first. I was able to successfully reach the first of two islands through dumb luck… but then I had to put the game down. I quickly scribbled half of the clue and then resigned myself to another trip to that stupid clock tower. I wish I could save.

As soon as I retraced my steps I quickly found that the trial and error method was too time-consuming for my tastes. I consulted my ghostly companion and he or she suggested that I should go to the fortress rotation simulator in the stabbing death room. The fortress rotation simulator clued me into the fact that each of the different islands makes a different tone when you line the fortress up with them and so I was able to finally get my solution. I found it difficult to get back to the main entrance so I just reset the game and retraced my steps again. Once I finally cleared the Mechanical Age and returned to the library with the journal pages I quickly put them in their proper place. I had no idea that I would be treated to some “great” FMV acting. It turns out that each of the feuding brothers is trapped in one of the two journals in the library and based on what I know about them I don’t want either of them to get out. Yet, this is a video game and it sure seems like collecting all of the journal pages is one of my main goals. What a dilemma.