Myst V: End of Ages Limited Edition

One of the easiest Myst games, or so they say. Not as hard and long as Riven or Revelation, but definitely not as easy as Exile. While I did not find the story very compelling nor hooking, I was impressed by the literary value of the writing. This game has some interesting and challenging riddles. There are a couple of ages that are actually hard to pass - well, there is one in particular, which involves a fanciful astronomical observatory, where you really need to be observant of your surroundings and pay attention. Another age, which displays a dreamy beach island, features one of the most cleverly satisfying puzzles I have ever seen among the Myst adventures. However, there are other ones that felt more like a trial and error chores, for example the weight balancing puzzles. I do have some complaints. There are serious bugs in the game. One of such involves a key creature of the game getting "frozen" in front of a linking tablet, which can leave the player stuck forever, as there is no way of resetting the sprite back to normal. Very annoying, especially if you neglect to save your game often. Other bugs are also related with the magic tablet: in some ages you can unintendedly decode the sigils to the final stages, sort of like getting free shortcuts. Killjoy. It is also worth noting that there are no more live-action cut-scenes, the model characters are now computer animated. Not a plus in my view. Overall, Myst V is captivating enough and while it does feel a bit short, it manages to bring a sense of closure to the saga, surprising the audience with familiar characters and ages seen in previous games. It is certainly mandatory if you have enjoyed the other Myst games.

The original Myst was the reason I hounded my mother to buy a CD-ROM equipped PC, claiming that it would help me study, improve my grades, etc. Myst was amazing. Riven, doubly so. I even read all three of the books (Book of Ti'ana was incredible) Years later, I really enjoyed Myst III:Exile on the original XBOX. Then came a bunch of weird Myst: Uru nonsense. "Uru...Wait, is this Myst 4? No? Wait, there actually IS a Myst 4? WHEN? Huh? Wha? What's that over there? MYST FIVE???" So I booted up MYST V. As a game in general, this one is red hot garbage. As a MYST game specifically--still red hot garbage. Just bad design. You start in a room with five or six identical doors all leading in different directions. One of these doors happens to have a handle which you can use to open, however it is all but invisible due to crappy design choices. After the walkthrough informed me that one of the doors had a handle, I walked through it, sat through a long scene where a person neatly avoided telling me anything of use or interest, and then proceeded to walk around another room with no apparent exit or interactive objects. Second room, second walkthrough. So to be clear, I have had no opportunities to interact with anything at all, and I'm still stuck to the point that I need a walkthrough--FOR THE SECOND TIME! This is bad level design at its worst (best?) So...second room. I look around for maybe...five minutes. Nothing going on. Some pictures hint at the story that is supposed to be happening around me. I search. And search. And search. Nothing to click on. I'm stuck. Again?? Thanks, GameFAQs! Oh, there was a massive hole in the ground behind one of those big rocks. Neat puzzle! Just put the giant hole in the ground somewhere that the player can't see it because of the crappy interface. Good job, Ubisoft, you've just killed MYST for me. Don't buy this game. If you haven't already, buy RIVEN. If you've already bought RIVEN, just film yourself lighting money on fire and upload it to YouTUBE and you'll probably see better returns.

This is one of those games that's great! PROVIDED you can adjust your own video settings, because you have zero controls for brightness, contrast or gamma within this VERY dark game. So this is a game I install, launch and uninstall a LOT more than I play. Honestly it's been so long since I had a system with the controls needed to even see in this game, I don't really remember much about it. And it seems more and more likely this will be a game I never get to play again.

I have played all the other Myst games and this one is really awsome! The puzzels are a liitle hard, but it is still a fun game. Beautiful landscapes!

Just love Myst and any games like it.