realMyst: Masterpiece Edition

This is my preferred way to play Myst. I've played both the original and this version all the way through, and the 3D remake is surprisingly faithful to the original, without the annoyance of the original's clunky movement system. You really don't lose anything by going to 3D. All the details are still there and everything looks pretty much identical, thanks to modern hardware being able to do the same graphics in real time. I don't know if it's the same geometry or remade, but it looked very faithful to me, either way. You can even have it use fixed camera positions and jumps between them like the original, but I can't see why you would. None of the puzzles are spoiled by being able to move and look around freely. Later games in the series had easier navigation, despite still being 2D, due to having more intermediate nodes and more regular movement/rotation (and panoramic 2D from Exile on). But the original Myst could be a little disorientating at times, due to a click in one place not always taking you to where you might expect. Converting the later games to full 3D would be nice, but converting the first one was the most important, and they did a fantastic job. The island may feel a little smaller, but it's really the same size it always was, and I like that they didn't try to pad it out or change anything. The game itself remains a classic puzzle/adventure as well, and I say that as someone who was too busy playing Doom and Quake to play it when it first came out. No nostalgia, this is just a great game, whichever version you play, and the 3D version is what I'd recommend, since it's really a superset of the 2D version. If you really want to "not miss out on the original experience", I'd get both and play 3D and then 2D. You'll be surprised by how similar they are, and you'll find the old node-based movement a lot easier when already familiar with the place.

Myst is a classic that so many 90s kids remember as that game where you click on everything and have no idea what you're actually doing, or how to progress. I came back to this game proabably 15-20 years ago, thinking maybe as an adult I'd better understand it, and the answer was no. Now revisiting over 30 years after the original release, I can say that I was impatient and not nearly observant enough. Everything that happens in this game is intentional and with meaning. Take your time. Soak in the atmosphere. Push every button and see what happens. Press more buttons and see if anything changes to your benefit. Take notes. If something seems important, it probably is. Just don't get caught trying to make too much sense of anything that looks like a trap that's been set. **** / ***** Pros: You can logically solve every puzzle in the game. It's a beautiful game, even decades later. The characters are wonderful. No death screens. Cons: Far, far too short if you're analytical. If you sit down and really put in the effort, you can finish this in under 5 hours. The classic control scheme is missing the quick movement option for areas you've already been to. You're going to watch movement animations far too often. It's somewhat easy to overlook one of the earlist and most important clues, unless you're turning and looking at every juncture.

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After all these years, I can still enjoy this wonderful Myst Ages with their sights, sounds and stories. For me, this truely is the evergreen among adventure games.

Played this game many many years ago, the original version - loved it then... But this version is just a delight to play and hasn't really dated at all, still a nice challenge to it and the day and night edition is just a wonderful bonus to this graphical masterpiece. Will be playing the remainder of the games after this!!!