Myst (2020)

Riven has a big place in my memories, so in anticipation for playing the remake, I figured I would play through Myst first. I knew they did the Masterpiece Edition a while ago, but missed that this was released even more recently, and as an even bigger remake. It also turns out that even though I played Riven and I think even Myst III, I guess I never actually played the original Myst like I thought I did because this was not familiar at all.

As big of a place in history has Myst has, as much as it was a technological leap, as innovative as it was, as the title states, man I'm glad this version exists. I was still expecting to have to click screen-by-screen, which would have been okay enough, but it's so cool to be able to just walk through the world and look around at will. It's quite beautiful and ends up way more immersive. Being bound by its source material, some design is still a bit basic, but overall, it's quite nice.

I wanted to try to get through the game without help, but was concerned I would need some at eventually, fearing the puzzles might get a bit esoteric. To my happy surprise, I was able to manage it. It got close a couple times, but I stuck it out a bit longer and was able to figure my way through it. Some of the Quality of Lift additions certainly helped though.

You are able to take in-game screenshots to be able to reference later. I took a few more of a few things that ultimately didn't matter or help, but some of them definitely did. I guess I would expect to have made more hand-written notes or taken pictures with my phone or something if it wasn't a feature, but it was and was pretty handy.

Audio subtitles also helped a lot. I'm assuming these weren't in the original, so since a lot of the puzzles are audio-based, you'd be stuck having to really listen to the differences between the sounds and finding your own way to keep track of what you're hearing and what you're expected to do with the information. With the subtitles telling me what I was hearing, it was quite a bit easier to put some of those pieces in place along the way.

Playing with a controller was nice, but did get a bit clunky for some of the puzzles. Nothing you can't really get used to, but it did end up easier to just grab the mouse for a couple of them.

I've always been very intrigued by the story, someone being able to write these Ages, essentially programming entire worlds as they write their books. Being pretty young playing Riven the first time (and only time since), I can't say I really understood the actual story or what was going on too well, but I've always liked the overarching setting.

Might be just me, but following the story is a bit tricky due to having to piece it together from text in books and the rare cutscenes sprinkled throughout. Re-reading when needed helped, and by the end, I suppose I got a decent enough grasp on it. It probably isn't all that deep, it's just like I said, bits and pieces here and there to have to put together as you can.

This write-up got longer and messier than I intended, but just trying to get some of my thoughts and feelings out and recorded before I move on from it.

I played Myst for the first time in the 90s on an old Mac PC. And then I went 20+ years before playing it again. The game is one that I remember as a mind-blowing game, one of the greats. Riven, the sequel, also stood out. So I was excited to get to try it out again, in an improved graphical environment and full movement.

What I found was a masterpiece of a game, albeit one with some deep flaws. The game throws you in, and doesn't hold your hands, and trusts you to figure it out. And you absolutely can do that. But it's also a game where it is very, very easy to miss things and miss clues. And some of the puzzles have aged poorly. The audio puzzles were always tricky, and while Contextual Subtitles make them trivial, they also make it possible when audio sounds the same. The worst puzzle remains the one to enter the Mechanical Age, turning 3-numbers. Second worst remains the Selinitic Age spaceship. Some of the puzzles are just incredibly difficult and that is the biggest flaw - they are so hard and there is no way to find out. I don't know how I solved some of them as a kid.

Despite those flaws, I love the game, the story, and the immersion. And running on a high-end gaming PC, the graphics of the game are flawless. The game is absolutely stunning looking, and I imagine in VR is even moreso. This is a truly huge improvement of a classic game, one that brings it into the modern age. And it is a great way to revisit my nostalgia from years gone by.