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.
