URU: Complete Chronicles

Good game but there are too many bugs on the Steam version compared to the cassette version, there was even a point where I couldn't progress at all in the game ;-; it was probably after a month that I finally managed to finish the thing with the chair. (plus my playtime isn't counted)

I really wanted to give this game a positive review. I'm a big fan of Cyan Worlds and the Myst series, and Uru looks like it could've been a worthy spin-off. The graphics and ages are beautiful, the puzzles are creative, and the ability to create an avatar is a nice touch. It's also an interesting immersion into the culture and history of the D'ni people, who are mentioned but not discussed much in the previous games. That being said, I had to give this game a negative rating because of three serious flaws. First, Uru doesn't allow you to save in the conventional way. Rather than bringing up a menu or exiting the game, you have to touch cloths with a hand design on them called "journey cloths." Each age has seven, and as you touch more of them, the hand lights up more. Because of this approach, you cannot restart the game, and you cannot continue where you left off; it just drops you off at a checkpoint, if you will. Worse still, there's no way to quit the game except to manually shut off the computer! Second, while the history and culture side of things is interesting, there's no actual story or plot. There's no villain, no mission, no urgency. You just explore and learn. While there are objectives you can complete, it would've been more gripping to have a plot. Third and finally, the biggest flaw with Uru is the controls. In all other Myst games, you have a first-person viewpoint. But since Uru has a third-person viewpoint, it seems more vital than ever for the camera to follow you. It does this a lot, but in some places, the camera changes. Sometimes, instead of facing your avatar's back and seeing what's ahead of you, the camera changes so that you face yourself. This reverses the directional controls, making simple navigating a pain! 3D systems like Nintendo 64 had already been out for a while when this game came out, and any player knows that the camera should always be facing the direction you're going. But what's even worse is that Cyan put several situations in this game where you need to jump. If you fall on a surface, even far down, you survive, but need to backtrack. And if you fall into a bottomless pit, you don't die, but you go back to your home age Relto. You then have to go all the way back to where you were just to get another shot! And in these situations, you'll find yourself missing the jumps a lot! It's no surprise to me now that Uru was a flop that led to a financial depression for Cyan. From what I understand, the game was meant to solely be an online multiplayer game, which would've made more sense. But UbiSoft made sure to shut down the online portion, and what we got was this. If these three flaws had been ironed out, I'd consider it an awesome game! If you really want to know what's in Uru, I suggest looking up a YouTube walkthrough from one of the brilliant few who figured out the cruddy controls. I honestly find its true follow up, Myst V: End Of Ages, more fun to play because of returning to the conventional save function, controls, and plot line.

Awesome graphics with a story-line that's interesting and easy to follow.

alles

There are essentially two versions of Uru: the offline one, and the fan-made officially endorsed online one. The latter has custom worlds and many QoL features, but it also is completely open (you can go where you want, meaning there's no real way to know what to do next) and has puzzles that require multiple people to solve it. That is a problem, because it's not very activate. Sure there's a Discord server, but in the end I opted for the offline version. One that at least has some guidance on where to go and something I can solve on my own. Maybe I'll try the online one some day. This is the first truly 3D Myst game, built in an era where people were still experimenting with controls and engines. As a result it feels very clunky and janky to move around, both in first and third person. It also has that 2000's kind of 3D look to it where things are certainly getting a lot more detailed, but we're not quite there yet. I love that era of games, it's what I grew up with and it brings me back to the days of 3DFX powered video cards. The worlds are big and fun to explore, but the puzzles are very hit or miss. Some are perfectly fine, some are once again (continuing the Myst 4 trend) horrible. There's a puzzle where you have to collect some fireflies around your body, which hate water (it rains in that world), running and jumping. Puzzles that require platforming (which isn't too bad, to be honest). Base game: 3.5/5 The first expansion is just horrible. There's a big area for you to explore (the old D'ni city), but there's very little to do in terms of both puzzles and lore. It's a giant easter egg hunt that has you walking back and forth through the city. There's so much lost potential here. The only reward for reaching the end is something for your home island. Expansion 1 (to D'ni): 2/5 The second expansion is more fun. It consists of two big eras to explore, with puzzles that aren't too complicated. The overlapping puzzles are a lot harder though. It's more hunting for stuff, but not as bad as in the first expansion, because you can see what you have to collect from the start. There's a puzzle where you have to stand still for 15 minutes. Maybe the Riven achievement for watching a machine for 15 minutes is a reference to that. There's more puzzles where you just have to stand still for about 10 minutes. WHY? At least when you alt+tab away the sound continues, so you can hear when the waiting is done. Expansion 2 (Path of the Shell): 3.5/5

I would be remiss (reMyst?) not to recommend my favourite Myst game. While not a mainline title, and lacking the core Myst mechanics, Uru makes it up in spades in its exploration, setting and locales. The two expansions are incredibly interesting and fun. However, it should be warned that the game can run into issues when playing on modern machines. Your mileage may vary.

This is not like the previous Myst games, which were point-and-click, or the ones after, which had a more first person, etc. The story takes place within the modern period (around 2004) and you plays as yourself in avatar form (hence the name, U R U, you are you). I did try to play it during release, but got stuck and abandoned it, so I missed the Uru Live stuff, which from what I read and saw was what made this game shine. The basic game and story involves Yeesha (Artus's daughter we saw in Exile and Revelations) and how she was charged with saving the D'ni civilisation. We essentially are guided on a journey sorts, from the very beginning of the Cleft in New Mexico, through the history of D'ni, to exploring D'ni itself, and finally discovering a path to renewal of the D'ni civilisation. We also discover the Barho (creatures enslaved by the D'ni which would play an important role and plot point in the final End of Ages game). Because of the disjointed sectioning of the overall game, there isn't so much of a story. It is mainly exploration, some of which is tedious going back and forth. Some of the puzzles are good, but some are rather hard to figure out. Some tasks seem rather arbitrary, such as calibrating the Great Zero. There is effectively no ending after you've finished the main three sections of the game. I imagine there would have been greater postgame play value if the Uru Live is used in conjunction. Controls are rather cumbersome and take getting use to. There are some glitches that make some parts frustrating (such as having to jump on an island in one Age and you keep falling through the ground). The size and length of the Ages varies. This game is probably worth a gander if you really want to explore some of the background and histories surrounding D'ni, as well as a hint at what is to come for the final game. For the casual player, they would probably be bored and not invested in the lore that you can find.

Uru auf modernen Systemen gescheit zum laufen zu bringen ist ein Pain in the ass. An einer Stelle ist das Spiel reproduzierbar abgestürzt, Windows XP Kompatiblitätsdingens hat geholfen. Das ist das einzige Myst-Spiel, das ich selbst mit Komplettlösung nicht durchgespielt habe. Zu große Laufwege. Was soll das mit den Weltentüchern? Ich komme mit der Steuerung nicht klar. Man merkt, dass das Spiel ursprünglich als MMORPG geplant war, aber der MMORPG Part hat es nicht ins fertige Spiel geschafft, weil Cyan damals in wirtschaftlichen Schwierigkeiten war. Das selbe Spiel bekommt man heutzutage mit der Multiplayer Komponente unter dem Namen Myst Online als Open Source kostenlos. Das hat auch Fixes die in der Steam Version noch nicht enthalten sind. Ich konnte selbst Myst V etwas abgewinnen, abgesehen von der Spielmechanik mit dem Zeichentablet und Eshers zu langen Monologen. Aber mit Uru bin ich einfach nicht warm geworden.

If you're on the fence then go for it! It has a lot of personality and charm, although it is unfortunately held back by terrible controls. I would suggest playing in first person and making liberal use of hints.

I like this game but it has weird and janky controls. If possible, I would like to see this remade with standard controls. Similer to Myst 2021 and Riven 2024. Although highly unlikely as it would require making parts of game drastically different, Ahnonay comes to mind, also try making it smoother in incorporating other parts, Including parts (rejected?) of Myst V. The reason I mention Myst V is because it's a sequel to Uru, originally planned for an add-on.