Myst: Masterpiece Edition

This is probably the most frustrating game I've ever played. One puzzle requires you to be a musician who can identify notes perfectly, or move five controls precisely with a mouse. If you get it wrong, you just fail, there's no 'three out of five are right' or any hints. No subtitles either so completely inaccessible. Hard dis-recommend.

Haven't you ever wondered what it's like inside of a book? This game is a classic; if you like puzzle games, you have to play Myst at least once. Don't look anything up, grab a notebook and pencil and spend ~4 hours on the isle of Myst.

I wanted to enjoy Myst. I [i]really[/i] wanted to like it. As a huge fan of puzzle games and "Metroidbrainias" (e.g., Outer Wilds), I thought I would adore Myst. Unfortunately, I found much of the puzzle design to be too outdated to be enjoyable. The puzzles themselves are not conceptually interesting and the majority of the "hard" puzzles were actually easy puzzles which were intentionally obfuscated. The [spoiler]gear puzzle in the clock tower[/spoiler], [spoiler]hidden panel in the Stoneship Age[/spoiler], and [spoiler]tower rotation controls in the Mechanical Age[/spoiler] are all great examples of terrible puzzles this game offer. For these puzzles, it was immediately clear to me what the solution was, but the controls/UI for executing the solution were terribly communicated to the player (the [spoiler]clock tower solution is especially egregious because there is no reason one would think clicking would spin one gear, yet holding left click would spin two gears[/spoiler]). These UI failings unnecessarily extend the playtime of the game and make the puzzles appear a lot more difficult than they actually are. In theory, I do not have a problem with puzzles where figuring out how to execute the solution is the challenge, so long as the list of actions available to the player are properly communicated to them. For instance, The Witness and Understand are two games with plenty of great puzzles about figuring out the rules of the game. The [spoiler]tower rotation controls[/spoiler] is almost a good puzzle, but it fails because the game does not communicate when player actions are disabled during a cutscene. [spoiler]Despite there being a delay allowing you to exit the elevator, the sequence is indistinguishable from any cutscene that locks your movement, giving the impression that you can't do anything when the button is pressed[/spoiler]. I think this is a moment where the point-and-click slideshow format of the game [i]severely[/i] hinders the puzzle design. That, or maybe I was just stupid and frustrated (although I had previously considered the idea of [spoiler]leaving the elevator, yet had dismissed it because I had been locked during similar cutscenes[/spoiler]). The remaining puzzles were serviceable, yet not very difficult. They were effectively just, "Go to area A, solve simple puzzle A', which gives you a code/number/instructions to solve puzzle B' in area B." While I do like the aesthetic of the game, these three puzzles (which are necessary to complete the game) taint any value the game has. I would instead recommend playing any game which takes inspiration from and improves upon Myst, rather than Myst itself. With regard to its puzzle design, the game ages like milk.

Firstly I want to say that I love Myst and the whole Myst series. Although if you are going to play Myst for the first time I recommend that you play Real Myst: masterpiece edition. (Unless you are on a budget, prefer the older look of this version, don’t care for a free roam option, or have an older computer.) Now that we’re done with all that word vomit. This is this still one of my favorite games. It has fantastic worlds to explore, fun puzzles (although some are pretty hard), and the base of a great story.

Walk around a small island and click on a few objects with nothing to go on until you come across a bookshelf. There, there are five books full of drawn out dialogue written in a cursive so pixelated that it hurts to read. Is every puzzle in this game just inputting data from diary entries? Also there's some discord larper with connectivity issues. Can't make out a word he's saying either and this so-called masterpiece edition didn't think to add subtitles.

Myst is a love of mine. The puzzles are hard, the plot is excellent, and you'll immediately want to purchase Riven, Exile, Revelation, and End of Ages to continue with Atrus, Catherine, Achenar and Sirrus (Yeesha shows up later in Revelation)

Such a cool fantasy concept, the vibes were immaculate and were delivered exceptionally well despite what's now considered primitive gameplay. The puzzles churned my mind but i did manage to solve the bulk of then om my own, so i admittedly cheated with using an old guide. Overall, its a brilliant setting which deserves more attention, would unironically work well as tv miniseries :b