Uru: Complete Chronicles

A place written to be beautiful in a hundred different ways. A city built for the masses that was abandoned, lost, and rediscovered, only to fall all over again. Ancient ruins filled with an ancient mystery, riddles within riddles that each only lead one deeper. These describe not only the plot, but the game itself. it was built as a multiplayer experience where the players would require each other in order to solve the intensely difficult puzzles, seeking out checkpoints that range over a massive ruined city, and cooperating to open doors that cannot be opened without teams of allies. Choosing sides between a group set on rebuilding the lost city, and the mystic daughter of the Atrus of legend. Sadly, those crowds have been lost, leaving you with the deep feeling of wandering through worlds full of wonders as the last person alive and having absolutely nobody to share it with. Without allies, certain puzzles are entirely unsolvable. Others can be completed, but only by finding clues hidden worlds away with no hint of where to find them or how to use the information. The initial portion of the game can be completed... easily is not the correct word, but as long as one is willing to crawl down the rabbit holes as they appear, the 4 worlds of your island and the central cavern will deliver everything you need. The Path of the Shell on the other hand is close to impossible, presenting puzzle after puzzle that will lead you only to frustration. This game is a kind of art, both the medium and the presented image are Faberge eggs: Beautiful beyond measure, but hollow.

New to Myst? Play any of the other games of the series. Myst fan? I recommend you do one of two things: 1) skip Uru entirely or 2) play it using a walkthrough. It pains me to suggest either. I'm such a fan. And walkthroughs are akin to blasphemy for this series. If, however, you do choose to play it through on your own, you will lose many hours of your life trying to solve puzzles that will only make you angry. Unlike every other game in the series, the puzzles have little-to-no payoff aside from exploration. Trial-and-error puzzles can take up to 20 minutes per trial. Some puzzles have your character literally standing there - not moving - for several minutes, with zero indication that you're correct in doing so. And that's only if you can decipher the especially vague clues that are haphazardly tossed into an ocean of red herrings. Treat Uru like a trip to more ages. Use a walkthrough, realize how much time you saved not trying to solve it yourself and enjoy visiting the expanded universe of Myst. Or save your dough and hope they add Mysts III & IV on here.

After completing Obduction, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I thought I'd return to Uru, as I have never finished it. The end result is...hmmmm. I'm torn. While the mythology is kind of fun, and I like the creativity in regards to the world-building, the puzzles are way too obtuse and glitches abound. Many of the puzzles in this game do not follow any sort of real logic. In addition, some really poor decisions went into their design. For instance, in one 'age', you literally have to stand in one spot for 15 REAL-TIME minutes until something is triggered. It's asinine. I clipped into the floor many times, particularly when trying to get out of the water. Oh...the water. There's one puzzle in which you have to swim against the current in order to reach an island. You have to be VERY specific when selecting your entry point and angle, otherwise you end up floating away from the target and have to spend about four minutes (not exaggerating) to make another attempt. It's a game that perhaps never should have been made and certainly is a love letter to fans of Myst rather than a sensible title in its own right. Even as an online experience, it didn't show much promise. I like the extension of the Myst mythology and perhaps spent far longer on this game than I should have as a result. However, sometimes it's time to hang up your hat and play something else in the backlog.

This game is, to put it simply, wonderful. See other reviews for reasons why. The problem, however, is that the game is now free elsewhere. It goes by the title of "MYST Online: URU Live." So, support GOG.com if you wish (I most certainly did), but be aware that it's available for free elsewhere.

If you go onto the company website, Uru Live is free and it is the exact same thing. just saying.