Today’s game is Myst. It was on sale for like 2$ so I picked it up. I was wanting the fancy modern version but ME was 2$ and the same experience. So I figured why not.
I’ve been wanting to play this for a hot second for a while. I used to have a disk for my iMac G3 I could play on. I was young though and had no understanding of what I was doing. So I wanted to give it an earnest try.
First thoughts? This game is creepy and claiming at the same time. Somehow it usually feels like I’m in this serene calm place (picture above not relevant to this part), but also it feels like there’s something there (picture above IS relevant to this part). Either behind me or around the corner and it’s going to get me. It’s an interesting feeling.
I love the graphics. This early kind of FMV is super charming to me in a way even though I didn’t grow up with it. I remember loving it when I was exploring it freely when I was little too. Pair that with the soundtrack and it’s a good time. My favorite so far has been the planetarium. I always loved space growing up and this somehow scratches that feeling.
I made it through the mechanical age before having to stop. I brought the blue page back with me so and that was rather fast so I don’t expect this to be super long of a game to play.
One of the most influential games for me. Riven even more so if you decide to continue on. There’s just something special about the aesthetic like you mentioned.
I always hear Riven is better than Myst, is that the case?
I think so. It’s a lot deeper and bigger. It has some of the best environmental story telling around, and the aesthetic is a lot more refined. Myst is kind of eclectic and riven is more thought out. It really wants you to understand aspects of the place you’re in in order to solve the puzzles.
They both have the same style of physical/mechanical feeling puzzles with no inventory, which I’ve always loved about these games.
Myst 3 and 4 are pretty good too if you end up wanting more. Neither are on the level of the first two, but they’re good in their own ways.
I love myst. Similar to you I was playing it when I was little bit didn’t understand much. Since then I’ve replayed it countless times in every iteration, even on the DS haha. You definitely should try Riven. For me it’s the pinnacle of the myst series.
Myst is such an awesome game! It completely holds up IMHO. I loved making my notes for the game’s puzzles. If you enjoy Myst, you should definitely play Riven!
I was going to use Steam’s note function, then I decided to just go the whole mile and use paper and pencil. I feel it’s made the experience better
Yes! Using pen and paper, scribble little doodles of the puzzles is so good. I still have my little notebook somewhere
The recent remake is great too.
Collecting the blue pages and not the red?
You might find that this game gets a bit difficult and the puzzles ramp up as you go farther along. I did finish the game when I was a kid, but my dad had gotten a walkthrough (that was physical, included a map, and was written from the perspective of a fictional person in the world documenting what they did to get through the game)
The maze and the music tone-matching with the organ were especially difficult if I recall.
Also there are actual novels to go with the world that my dad had too. I never played the other games but the books were okay. They cover the back story of how in the heck do books transport you anyway.
The archive has an official guide that reads like another book in the myst and isnt just a boring how to. They did really well on it.
If you liked Myst you might enjoy Quern and Dimhaven as they are similar in ‘feel’ and have a fun in-game ‘notepad’ feature
Remember playing this as a kid, the gaming world was in VR phase for a moment back then. I tried VR… playing Duke Nukem with a small crt monitors slapped to my face wasn’t fun, but once the headache stopped, my dream was born: to be on the Myst Island in the VR (the imaginary VR, not those blurry CRTs) moving around freely this beautiful island!
You don’t need to dream anymore, Myst and Riven are available for VR and I think they did a great job.
I couldn’t do shit in this game when I was a kid. Like 0 progress.
I was in the exact same boat as a kid. Had it on an iMac, and then the iPhone version on like the 1st gen. I couldn’t make any progress.
It took a bit of fumbling around as an adult but I finally made some progress that I never had before
WHAT the fuck does this lever do I’ve been here for 4 hours.
I couldnt do shit in this game as am adult. Like, 0 progress.
I love fmv.
I had myst as a kid but couldn’t get it running on my PC. So, I had the typical experience 😅
I am playing through it now though.
I have a top tip for you about Myst, no spoilers since you cleared the mechanical age:
Pay extra attention during the building rotation simulator.
