Myst

[Paul Debrion]

I really like the Myst series of adventure/puzzle games and I go back and play them over every now and then (after I've forgotten how to solve most of the puzzles of course).

The puzzles seem impossibly difficult at first, but after a while you start to get a sense of how to approach and work them out then they become quite enjoyable.

I'm currently playing through Riven again, which if I remember correctly was the only Myst game other than Revelation where I was forced to use a guide. I was in elementary school when I last played it so I don't remember much of anything. Odd thing about Riven is that even though it is vastly more difficult than the original Myst, I find it less painful if that makes any sense.

The original Myst's puzzles were easier but a lot of them didn't make much sense and it's actually my least favorite game in the series. In my opinion, Myst suffers from a bit of "reverse-sequelitis" in that the first game is the worst in he series with all the sequels being superior in almost every way, so much so that I think some people get bad impressions of the series because they've only played the first game. (feel free to disagree though)

[Shizumarashi Mayuzumi]

I never got around to End of Ages at all (I own it though... maybe after I manage to get some damn work done I'll play it) or finishing the second Uru expansion. Overall, though, I'm definitely a fan of the series. =D

[Dead Princess Sakana]

Oh wow, Myst, that's nostalgic.
We had that when I was small. I remember first seeing and partly playing (more like trying to play) the first game back in elementary school. Never been able to figure out much of the puzzles back then.
I should play them again someday, since you said the newer ones are better.

I actually liked the first game a lot, but that might simply be because I didn't know anything else then. I remember I played Riven (with a guide). And maybe Exile as well, not sure.
And I looked into Uru, which I found to be crap.

[mil]

Myst is the only game series in which I found the sequels to be progressively better, one after the other.  This is of course taking into account that Uru and Myst V: End of Ages are separate from the main Myst game universe.  Myst V is not really Myst V but an indirect sequel to Uru. 

I?ve read many opinions on this series and the general consensus is that Riven and Revelation are the two best games.  Myst IV: Revelation is my favorite.  Uru and End of Ages are best ignored. 

By the way, the Myst motion picture is still currently in development.

[Shizumarashi Mayuzumi]

I?ve read many opinions on this series and the general consensus is that Riven and Revelation are the two best games.  Myst IV: Revelation is my favorite.  Uru and End of Ages are best ignored. 

I can agree with that consensus. Still gonna plan on getting around to End of Ages sometime anyway though. =P

[Paul Debrion]

I probably have to count Riven and Revelation as my favorites as well. I've actually replayed Revelation more than twice in the past year.


I didn't think Myst V and Uru were that bad. Definitely not my favorites, but I would take either one over the first Myst.

I think the problem with Uru was that it was genuinely incomplete since it was meant to be an online game but the online part didn't work out, so it was pretty much a game with an arm and a leg cut off.

It did actually get online for a short while in the form of Myst Online: Uru Live and I thought it worked very well while it lasted, though it was eventually discontinued because the cost of creating enough content to keep it going was simply too high. Sadly when you don't have cheap gameplay lengthening tricks like grinding for levels the amount of content you need generate in order to keep players interested becomes absurd.

Cyan is trying to re-release the game as Myst Online Restoration Experiment (MORE), an open source project fed by fan-created content. However, progress on that has been slow as hell.

[nintendonut888]

Me and my sister beat Myst only using a walkthrough about 3 times. One of them was because we didn't ever think to touch the green book. :S

[Suikama]

This game scared the shit out of me when I was little ;_;

In fact it was probably one of my greatest fears...


orz

[mil]

I think the most infectious thing about the Myst universe is that little tune that starts up the game with the Cyan logo.

Watch the first 20 seconds of this to see what I mean.

This game scared the shit out of me when I was little ;_;

Riven and Exile are scarier than Myst.  Not scary like a horror movie of course.  You just feel like an absolute prick for getting the worst endings.  And there are so many more ways for the endings to go wrong.  Gehn is subtly scary too.

[Suikama]

Actually now that I think about it, I had a phobia of videos game when I was little. I remember Dr. Mario scaring me to the point of throwing up when I first saw it, but I got over that quickly. Myst on the other hand I was dead afraid of for a while. /tangent :V

[orinrin]

I'm not sure about you guys, but Myst was greatly inspirational whenever I played it.  I would always somehow get new ideas for my essays and reports through this game.  :V
IIRC, I also got the games dirt cheap at the local Fry's Electronics store.

[nintendonut888]

I think the most infectious thing about the Myst universe is that little tune that starts up the game with the Cyan logo.

Oh, I remember that. Yeah, that tune always did stick out with me.

Also, was my family the only one that couldn't handle the spaceship music puzzle? Freakin' thing wants the PRECISE pitch that only a music master could detect.

[mil]

↑ You are not alone.  This is the major problem everyone called the Myst helpline about in the mid 90s.  In an earlier version of Myst, the spaceship music puzzle was originally out of tune.  So, you would literally have to guess one of the notes incorrectly to proceed, get the solution over the phone, or wait for a patch. 

I personally know someone who used to work for the Myst helpline and this problem came up all the time.  Oddly enough, everyone on the helpline was instructed to never give away the solutions for any single puzzle except the blatantly screwed up spaceship music puzzle.  Not that useful of a helpline.

[Jaimers]

Oh man Myst. I grew up on this game.
I still remember that as a kid I used to make my own linking books by sticking a black square on the last page of a book.
I did this with my father's expensive books. He got pretty mad.  :V

Also, was my family the only one that couldn't handle the spaceship music puzzle? Freakin' thing wants the PRECISE pitch that only a music master could detect.

We had to actually use a little machine which tells the exact note before we could beat it.  :V

[Kinzo the Astro Curious]

Woah serious nostalga thread.

I havent played myst in a long time, think i had the 4th game. I played a game prior to that which was really similar, but all i can remember about it was their was a drawbridge where you had to open the control box next to it and use an oscilloscope on it, and the oscilloscope had a dodgy screen and you had to smeer vasaline on it or something to make it work.

No idea what game it was. Btw, far as games that scare goes, original alone in the dark... i loved it, but i couldn't play and die more than once at a time xD