Myst Masterpiece Edition

Myst is quite possibly the very first game I played in my life. Seventeen years later, I finally acquired and finished it. The story and art of the game are really its strongest points, and the puzzles are (mostly) interesting. Even without rose-tinted glasses, the game's pre-rendered backgrounds still look fantastic. It has a couple of issues that really stood out for me, though. First, of course, the interface could be better. At times, finding your way around the screen can be quite hard, although understanding the scenario and recognising what is important, a common issue in adventure games, is not present here. All important items are clearly visible, just hard to click sometimes. The exception is Channelwood, the forest age, which is horrendous to navigate. Second is the ending. Myst could really have done with a clear ending, rather than a forced sequel hook. It makes it feel as though you just haven't finished the game yet, but got taken away from it halfway through. Some people don't mind this, but it is a personal issue of mine that stories should have a clear ending. Overall, it's still an excellent game, and its puzzles do keep you entertained if you like thinking about what you're doing, but not having played Riven or any of the other games in the Myst series, I would say it was lacking in the respects I mentioned.

Myst is an immersion experience like no other. It will challenge you and test your patience on so many levels. The game is designed so well (and not every part of that design was intentional as the creators have freely admitted) that it is simply un-repeatable in any other attempt. If you have never played Myst (you must be very young, or have lived under a rock for twenty years) please don't bother speculating on whether to spend your time playing the game, just play it.

Back when Myst was all the hype I didn't really like it all. I also didn't make it very far. I think, I only managed to visit one of the other ages and got stuck there. This time around I did far better, although I'm not quite sure why. Experience with dozens of other adventures and puzzle games I've played in the meantime, perhaps. Surprisingly, I've been able to solve all puzzles, I just had to consult a walkthrough at one point because I had overlooked a door - I blame the pixelated graphics for that! The 'story', though, is just as bad as it was the first time. The amateurish video snippets are painful to watch. And the ending was very, very disappointing. The game is also much shorter than I thought. It only took me about 8 hours to complete. Still, I don't regret to give it another go. This time around I felt almost all of the puzzles actually made sense. Only two times I had to resort to a bit of try and error. You really need patience, though. Especially in the maze... (paying attention to the sounds makes it slightly less annoying). You're also expected to make notes. Mapping is thankfully not required since the Masterpiece addition comes with maps (although I did some mapping anyway). Oh and one final tip: Moving around feels quite erratic in this game. At times it can be really hard to tell where you have to click and where you end up after clicking. I've found it really helps to turn around in a circle after every move. This way you won't miss any pathways and get a much better idea where you currently are.

Great game. I never played it before, and just downloaded to try out because of a sale GOG had. I could hardly put the game down, and just finished playing it all the way through. Deep story, clever puzzles, timeless graphics. 4 starts only because of crash issues with my win xp sp2 system - save often to avoid frustration.

Myst is one of the icons of the gaming industry. It was a revolutionary game in it's day, one that is studied in video games design courses around the world for it's impact on the media. Unfortunately, it hasn't aged very well. This game simply isn't stable any more, and by being chained to Quicktime as it's main graphics engine, it is being dragged down as the format slowly makes it's way into oblivion. For all the immersion this game provided, the stability issues will drag you right back out of it, making this more of a chore than an enjoyable experience. Plus, there is absolutely no replay value - maybe if you can let it sit on a shelf and forget about it for a few years and then see if you can still solve it again, you might get some repeat satisfaction, but otherwise this is more for being able to say you own Myst than you actually play Myst.