A 3 star to me means that this Myst was enjoyable and overall an average game. I highly recommend people play Myst 1 and Riven first. Those games are masterpieces and I've given them both 5 stars with reviews that you can read if you wish. Myst 3 unfortunately loses points from me due to adding 3D with full camera control. I know that might sound weird. Myst 1 and Riven allowed me to be fully invested in the world, looking at every detail, listening to every sound, and clicking through one zone at a time. I wanted to read every detail, draw every diagram, and was just fully invested. By adding more camera control, more textures to the world, and unforunately more animated cut scene like videos, I was pulled out of the world and lost some of my investigative drive. A huge plus to the first two games was I never felt like I was being pulled out of the game or out of control of my character. This Myst had me losing control, watching animations, and feeling like I wasn't the character on the ground going through it all in real time. Also, many puzzles felt like "mini-games" where I walk up to a station, feel like "okay, I'm at mini-game station 1, lets solve this" as compared to the first two games where the puzzles were more seemlessly imbedded in the world/setting/environment. To clarify, I still found this to be a fun worthwhile game. Being compared to the first two games which I hold in very high regard, this one falls much lower on to the average scale. **There were a couple extremely frustrating paths/zones to find purely from the way the map/zone was drawn. I like solving puzzles. I don't like having to click a random spot to take the path that was in my opinion poorly drawn to have any hint of a walkable path.
Beat the game two years ago. Recently replayed Steamworld Dig 1 and wanted to catch up on my reviews. SteamWorld Dig 2 was a fun ride similar to the first. The first game was a solid 5 stars for me, this one I rated a 4. I can't put my finger exactly on what it was that dropped the one start. I think it was just the first game set the tone, the environment, and the humor. This game was a great continuation, however the novelty and simplicity of the first game holds a higher rating for me. If you liked the first you will not be disappointed here in the second game. Still recommending this to my friends.
Beat the game many months ago, catching up on reviewing. This was a simple, fun, straightforward game that hit the right boxes for me. What you see if what you get. The digging is addicting. The controls and inventory system are straightforward. The dialogue is humorous. This game is very much what you see is what you get. I really enjoyed the art style and dopamine that this game provided. I recommend checking out all the other Steamworld games as well!
If you liked Limbo, you will like Inside. The environmental design was compelling. Even though the game is essentially a sidescroller, the way the camera work was done made what your character could interact with and how they could move feel intuitive and was a lot less "stiff" and repetitive feeling compared to a typical side scroller. As the title suggests, the "weird" factor was turned up a notch from Limbo. The final playtime for me was similar for both games coming in around 3 hours. And yet again, I think the game was worth the price.
Beat the game a few weeks ago, getting around to review now. As the title states, the beauty of this game is that the premise and controls are so simple that you can focus purely on the environment, the puzzle, and moving through the world. My playtime was roughly 3 hours. Game held my attention. Pacing was good. I felt it was worth the price and recommend it to my friends.
Playing in 2025, this game blew me away. I went in spoiler free and absorbed the world as much as I could. I had to think hard, take notes, experiment, and as a result gained immense joy putting all the pieces together. It was very tempting to look up answers at particular points but I'm so glad that I did not. There is no rush to finish this game. The world, hints, and puzzles are elegantly thought out. While trying to solve some puzzles I was yelling in my head that something has to be unfair, there is no way I'm not getting this right. However, after finally solving the puzzle correctly I was able to reflect and admit that the puzzle was fair. It was just extremely smart/clever. I promise, every puzzle is solveable WITH appropriate hints and clues. You just have to keep your eyes and ears open. This game is Myst on steroids. If you like Myst you will love Riven.
Myst is an amazing adventure that respects the player's intelligence. I highly recommend going in blind. You only get one chance in life to solve unique puzzles on your own. Once you see the answer that joy can never be had again on that puzzle. Every puzzle is solveable with enough hints to point you in the right direction. However, you still must have a very keen eye on every little detail! Take out a pen and scrap paper. Take notes, Really test yourself and feel proud of making it to the end. This was a refreshing game to relax and think through without the pressure of many recent modern games that are always about being as fast and flashy as possible pushing you to go farther and faster without a moment to think.
Pace was slower than I would have liked. I wish I read the full controls menu before starting because to my knoweldge the actual gameplay does not tell you about these helpful hints. The game became more interesting when I learned you could double click some walking locations to speed up the painfully slow walking animation. Also hitting spacebar shows all possible interactable objects. The characters dialogue also changes based on what item is appearing in the top corner being your "active" item which can be easily missed/forgotten. When (the character) says he is missing something it might not actually be missing, it might just be in inventory slot 2 and not your active inventory slot. There were some interesting and fun puzzles. Unfortunately they were few and far between many frustratingly slow walking animations and having to find exactly the spot the developer wanted you to click even if you already solved the puzzle and were ready to move on. I bought the game on a 90% discount which made me feel good about giving the game a shot even though it didn't resonate well in the end. I would have been disappointed paying full price.
