I just got done replaying both Myst III and IV on GOG. I've played Myst and Riven a few times over the years, but this was my first time playing Exile and Revelation in about 10 years (my, how time flies!). Although I enjoyed Revelation a little more than I did on my first play, where I completely gave up in Serenia, I still believe it's not as good as the three Mysts which preceded it. The graphics of Revelation are great, and there are some cool landmarks in Spire and Haven. But what's the point of having good graphics if there's an annoying lag time between screens? Watching some playthroughs of Revelation on YouTube, it seems like this a problem on ALL computer systems, and reducing the resolution or rendered effects doesn't make it go away. One of the things that made Exile satisfying on my recent playthrough is that the puzzles were challenging at times, but not impossibly difficult. I got through the whole game except Amateria without a walkthrough. I cannot fathom how anyone could get through Revelation without "cheating." The puzzles, the contraptions in Spire being a good example, often have vague to nonexistent clues, not to mention, the environments are disorienting. I linked to Haven first and was already stumped by Achenar's gate lock, thinking there was a clue to solve it somewhere, when the player is just supposed to "wing it." I actually don't mind Revelation retconning the Red and Blue Books from Myst. A far more aggravating plothole to me is how Sirrus was able to build all of those aforementoned contraptions in Spire. Even if Sirrus was a technological genius, and happened to have a soldering gun on him when he got trapped, they seem impossibly complex. And where did all of the metal come from? Another issue is that the acting in Revelation is just dreadful - a far cry from John Keston as Gehn, and Brad Dourif as Saveedro. The music is good, but the choice to use a Peter Gabriel song in the infamous Dream sequence of Serenia is just bizzare.
