Quick Look: realMyst: Masterpiece Edition

I have fond memories of Myst. Finished it multiple times.

I'm kinda with Jeff on saying fuck Myst but I stick by that because of how I think that applies to a lot of older adventure games. Along those lines there's something more to that historical comparison though because it would be fallacious to transmit current quality of games that evoke Myst in various ways back to Myst itself. So while the accusation of "not a game" was always dismissive and limiting, the obtuse puzzle design is inextricably linked to where it stands in video games historically. In other words, Myst can both be unfairly dismissed and still be hot bullshit in so far as the tedium is concerned.

Also just to give people some perspective, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max Hit the Road, Syndicate, Doom, and SimCity 2000 all came out in 1993/early 1994. (Not to mention Kirby's Advenutre, Mortal Kombat II, Super Street Fighter II, and Warcraft: Orcs and Humans.) If you're playing games on a PC and played all those, then looked at Myst's puzzles, and then perceived that it hit with a certain "crowd" that swooped into Myst but didn't play all those great games, I can see where someone can say fuck Myst.

@bigwhiteyeti: getting those marbles in the right spots was nearly the death of me.

Man this was a nice throwback to watch my parents were never big on me and video games and I remember when they got me some of the games in the Myst series.

I am with Drew. Original Myst is hiw I would play this game.

Myst and Riven are both outstanding games. I never played 3-5, though I did check out the MMO (interesting idea, but it didn't hook me). I HIGHLY recommend that anyone who enjoys adventure games give the series a look, it's excellent.

Is this anything like the game Johnathan Blow is currently making?

@polygonslayer: Yeah, I didn't like Myst, but I LOVED Riven. It was the one game that got a different review in Next Generation the magazine versus the web site. One gave it like 1 star, one gave it 5. I lean towards the 5. Incredibly immerse, though you need to really let the rest of the world go away and just focus on it. I played it with the lights out on my PC back in the day.

Watching this is making me uneasy. Something about the way it looks in motion.

I played the hell out of this game. I kind of miss the days before the internet when there were only two ways to get past difficult puzzles:

1. Invite friends over to think it out together.

2. Get your mom to take you to the local game shop so you could take a peak at the strategy guide.

I definitely took a few peaks for this game!

I'm not a huge fan of Myst, but I don't know that having Jeff on the video to basically just say "fuck Myst" over and over again added much here.

The first "fuck Myst"? Expected and justified. But he basically had nothing else to say for 40 minutes. Why be on the video?

Never played Myst at the time and found it a little tough to play nowadays. 7th Guest was the shit though.

@thatonedudenick: Yeah either something to do with the motion blur and the lack of v -sync i think is causing it to be really .... not enjoyable to watch.

@atramentous: couldn't agree more.

I was able to get through myst on my own, but after hours upon hours of work, I had to break down and get the strategy guide for Riven.

A couple thoughts. First to everyone complaining about the switches, there was no indication from the game that throwing the switch had any effect. I assumed (as they did) that they needed to power them and if I had been playing I would have set them all back to the off position until they were powered to keep track of which ones I had pulled. Now if those switches actually were doing something in this quick look then that would be news to me and everyone else watching this who had not played the game before. Normally when you throw a switch something happens. If nothing happens then you assume the switch has no power and thus it doesn't matter what position you leave it in.

Secondly, I can't imagine a kid today playing Myst. I mean at least now with smartphones you can just take pictures of every clue for later use but back in the 90's with no Internet and no digital cameras I recall literally copying diagrams down into a notebook to solve puzzles. It's odd looking back on Myst because a significant amount of the challenge in the game came from there being no log or in-game journal. I recall going back and forth to the same rooms multiple (sometimes dozens) of times because I missed some detail or jotted down some sort of number down incorrectly. None of the puzzles in this game are actual puzzles. They were busywork that only felt difficult because you had to draw and write all of the solutions out by hand. Myst is definitely a product of its time and outside of the interesting story and ambiance I can't imagine enjoying it today. But maybe that is just me.

I really enjoyed this game as a kid as a concept and in presentation. In hindsight I especially enjoy the layers of the puzzles using the observatory, tower, switches, and ages all in balance. It was unlike many adventure games in its day, but as a kid I wish I had a couple times just a couple more hints or suggestions than the game included. In '93 I was 10. And I remember my dad and brother enjoyed this game on far more levels than I did; or at least until they beat it and could help bail me out.

Played through Myst for the first time because of this. Wonderful little game, but I think some people here are blowing the difficulty way out of proportion. I beat it in 7 hours with few hiccups. Maybe my note-taking's better than your past selves, but it's super approachable if you're into that sort of thing.

Even the maze is kind of okay if you're able to tell the difference between the assorted honks and chortles the game gives you. It straight up tells you how to solve the puzzle in a different area.

WHY...WON'T...THESE...BLOODY...SWITCHES...DO...ANYTHING!??!??

I second the idea of Drew playing Riven for our enjoyment. Perhaps DRiven (See it's, D because it's Drew, and... that is a terrible name.)

Brad switches to free movement,

Jeff says, so you'll get lost and not know where to go (or something to this effect)

seconds later...

Brad, "okay so where do I go?"

-___________________-

@emjayjordan: YES! Let's make this happen!

First game I ever played. I had no idea what the fuck was going on; I thought it was scary.