Uru: Complete Chronicles

I love the Myst series but I had my problems with Uru (offline). Maybe it was my bias when I saw the graphics. Or maybe it was my impatience. But the bottom line is that the whole game didn't feel like a well-rounded experience to me personally. Where Myst, Riven and Exile still had a very compact story and world Uru felt much more random and incoherent to me. There were many great moments but then there were also puzzles that I found less logical. The “Path to the shell” expansion in particular seemed very random to me. All in all, there were also too many mechanical puzzles that were no fun because the controls are absolutely imprecise. The game demanded a lot of trial and error from me. There was a lot I liked about the game but all in all the gameplay was very different to its predecessors. In fair comparison I can't give it more than 3 out of 5 points. The one bug in Gahreesen in particular was a real pain. I kept falling through the texture. Very frustrating (I then changed the graphics settings, which helped). Graphics: 3 out of 5 Controls: 2 out of 5 Story: 4 out of 5 Overall: 3 out of 5.

If you enjoyed the Myst games, then you'll probably enjoy Uru. However, this game is quite different to the other entries in the series in that it made a move to 3D and you view the game world in third-person. There's a lot of walking and exploration in the game and I found the puzzles to be significantly harder than those in the Myst games. You will very likely need to consult a walkthrough at some time to get through the game, but don't feel bad as some of the puzzles are really obtuse. The game was originally destined to be online, which is why you create a character at the beginning, but this never came to fruition. The environments are beautifully done, but I'd only recommend this to hard core Myst players. The Complete Chronicles also includes the 'To D'ni' and 'The Path of the Shell' expansions, so there's plenty of content here to keep you busy.

URU is a great game, if you can dive deep in its world. "Ages Beyond Mist" is a masterpiece of adventure/quest genre. The game is very detailed and beautifully looking. Great sound effects and music just enhance the overall effect of the game

The game is what remains of a free to play MMO that can still be played and has been long released into the open source/libre domain along with tools to create ages. The main servers for the game still are up and why it is being sold for money when it is free elsewhere is strange, it's still a pretty good game but like the other later games in the myst series falls short in gameplay of the first two.

Uru is one of the games I keep on my computer. It's a huge game with so many places to explore and see. Originally took over a month, maybe a couple months to complete. I've always been the adventurous type. Spent over a decade backpacking and mountain biking the Sierra Nevada. Weeks into the game found out about Yeesha pages that adds all kinds of things to your home base. Had to go back and reexplore places I'd been. There's so much to find and do i 'm still not sure I've accomplished everything. Sure a few puzzles were tough, but that's what makes it good. Don't want a game you just cruise through with no thinking involved.