realMyst: Masterpiece Edition

I can feel your shock. How can I call Myst, the very adventure game that started a fantastic series, mediocre? Well, stay tuned for the reasons: At first I have to say that the new graphics and the addition of free roaming brings a wonderful experience to a gamer that only played the very original Myst and never before a remastered edition. Yet, besides the 3D graphics that mostly look beautiful to my eyes, except for the ugly leafs on the trees in Channelwood, everything else has stayed completely the same. So if you like me can remember most of the puzzles you will have beaten the game in around 2-3 hours. The biggest problem to me was always the non-existing replayability. After you have beaten the game you are allowed to roam through the Myst islands as long as you like. But the problem is: There is no interactivity with anything on all of the Myst islands. It is just too simple, at least in my point of view. Just grab one of the two pages, get out of there, then return for the other page (all puzzles stay solved when you return) and return to Myst again. Don’t understand me wrong. I had plenty of fun already as a child playing the game just for the videos in which these two poor guys are telling me “Bring me the red/blue pages!”, but the pages are obvious to find on the islands and as soon as you figure out that most of the puzzles are simple logic ones you might leave with mixed feelings as I did. If you remember them well you can beat any island in around 5 minutes and all the new graphics and the few interactive objects besides the puzzles are just for show. Also the additional island in this edition is just for show as there is no real puzzle in it at all although it adds much to the already superb atmosphere of the Myst legacy. Decide it yourself if the price is worth for the exact same Myst experience with enhanced graphics. If you are a Myst pro and remember all the puzzles by hard then there is not really a reason to buy it, at least in my opinion.

All the Myst series games (PC), included "Myst: Masterpiece Edition" (and "realMyst" but with a unofficial patch) are available in French, but "realMyst: Masterpiece Edition". So, I don't play to "realMyst: Masterpiece Edition" but to "realMyst" -> 3/5 (5/5 if the game was available in French)...

This is what Myst should be. Not only is it in real time, but the graphics (specifically the textures) are actually higher quality than the original source material! Choosing the Unity engine also means lots of very nice eye candy features like god-rays etc. I own every version of Myst that has been released and this is definitely the best one yet. I can only hope and pray they do the same thing for Riven!

I've been playing the Myst games for quite a while. I even own the original realMyst game, which was good despite the technical and performance issues it came with. But now realMyst: Masterpiece Edition has stepped up a level in presentation, both graphically and in features. There are now hints for those complete lama n00bs who may need help getting their feet wet for the first time in an adventure game, along with some very shiny, modernized graphics to tickle the eyeballs of veteran Mysters such as myself. Good jorb!

Best version of Myst I ever played!