I suspect Myst will go overlooked by the vast majority of modern audiences due to an (arguably) lackluster presentation, yet that may just be the ace up its sleeve. When you compare Myst to any other puzzle game, it's sort of mind-blowing how it has pretty much only individual puzzles per area, barring those having to directly interact with the Age gimmick, and yet there's next-to-zero communicative failure on a sensory side regarding what those puzzles do. Even if you're pixel-hunting to discover the mechanisms you need, or just clicking hopelessly to find another screen you missed somewhere, the actual mechanisms at play are immediately quite clear-cut and intriguing in function. They're industrial, you read the cues of how you'd physically interact with those objects and voila, you've done it. The scope of the areas leaves you still scratching your head about the greater purpose of anything you find in spite of this though, and it's this combination that makes Myst both a solid game for those completely unfamiliar with video games, and those who've spent their life on the medium. Almost every technique here is beginner-friendly, but doesn't push away hardcore players, so much so that the only method of movement is extremely intuitive in a way I think almost anyone could immediately grasp, and is hard to formulate solid complaints against at the same time given Myst's goals. It'll lure in newcomers... but it'll also interest anyone deeply familiar with video games as a whole, with its fascinating setting and worldbuilding that don't fall clearly into any genre of fiction, alongside the creative puzzle concepts, which make the process of "fucking around with (effectively) alien contraptions" all the more alluring. If there's any point to take away from all this: designers of the future, and players, should probably go back to Myst to voice how to clearly communicate unique gameplay ideas without overt text being a driving factor, because it's excellent nonetheless.

US Saturn Release #008 - Myst

Played on a real American Sega Saturn with the Fenrir ODE

Myst knows how to truly immerse you quickly and efficiently. Even if you have a hard time getting into the puzzles and the general game loop, I think you'll appreciate how it feels.

On those puzzles though, they really vary in fun factor. Some of them are really easy, some are tricky nut actually fun to do and make you feel smart for accomplishing, and others make you drag out the ol' notebook. That's not necessarily bad but I wasn't exactly expecting it so I wasn't too happy about it.

This is a game you really need to play with the shuttle mouse (or on emulator with your regular PC mouse). Playing with the controller is just kind of slow and annoying for the most part, really draggin stuff out making you not want to go through some puzzles the intended way just due to how much playing with controller tanks it.

So I guess overall, Myst is an ok game for the Saturn, though, I don't really know why you would play this on Saturn and not on PC.

6/10

If you want to talk to me about games, I consider playing all the way through Myst to be the bare minimum requirement for us to even begin to be speaking on the same wavelengths. It's the first puzzle on my mysterious island of intricate riddles.

It's very rare in games for the first pioneer at the gate to truly nail it in one go, but Myst blew everyone's balls off in '93 for the same reason it still blows peoples' balls off today and has like 35 new variants that all just change the way you walk around the worlds, because the worlds themselves are an absolute masterclass in puzzle and level design and artistry.

There's really nothing I can say about Myst as a review that hasn't been said a thousand times before, it is such a fundamental piece of my gaming thought process that even the things I could say are things that would simply emerge in my thoughts about nearly every other game I talk about. It still holds up to this day and, again, has been remastered and remade in so many formats, including ones that just have a big huge "HINT" button to let you beat Myst the same way you beat the Hardest computer at Chess, so there's no excuse to skip on it.

Also don't give those fucking guys any of the pages. Come on.

Certainly successful at creating an intriguing, mysterious world to explore and try to comprehend - significantly less so at allowing you to navigate or interact with said world and unravel its secrets. The puzzles are, yes, in fact, MYST puzzles - maddeningly unclear yet undeniably evocative and built into the world in exciting ways - but their legendary obtuseness would actually be much less of an issue if the solutions weren't so labor-intensive. Every time you get that wonderful "a-ha!" moment, it's usually tamped down by the realization of all the places you have to go and crap you have to do to enact the results. This and the trial-and-error nature of the worlds' machinery is obviously anti-fun and certainly not intelluctually stimulating - it just exists to extend the experience. (The fact that the 100% no-glitch speedrun record is sitting at about ten minutes speaks to this, also.)

But the game was a hit and was influential for a reason, and it does still hold some power. Tinkering around, wondering at the sights, desperately trying to make something, somewhere happen. The visuals actually hold up a lot better than 99% of early CG because they were smart about their designs and didn't overextend themselves, and I love how the FMV being (mostly) confined to little windows in glitchy magic books masks the low quality. Aside from the terrible hotspot navigation, it actually stands up and is fairly playable today. But, to stoke a very pointless old rivalry, it's no THE 7TH GUEST.

to think that i would play a game such as myst when i absolutely despise point and click adventure games because they make me skyrocket my adhd to the stars and yet i managed to finish this one maybe im stronger than i believe

sexy ANerdList recommended this to me as part of this list thanks dude

so long story short I did enjoy the game but I do have some gripes with it that could only be explained by the fact that this game is now almost 30 years old and just thinking about the state of videogames during that time is making me go insane honestly that being said its absolutely unbelievable how this haven't become lost media because I swear getting a “rom” (???) idk whats the name of the format of the game files but ok whatever that one

mind you myst is really weird I read something around this site and there was a lot of good opinions so I HAD to try it out just for emotional value do I think this game is a masterpiece ??? hard to say definitely not for me but I do believe it had some resonance in the entire gaming industry and for that I have to F pay respect BUT its also to be said that its not as enjoyable an experience nowadays as it wouldve probably been during its releasing time its like how I have a lot of respect for the beatles but I would rather shoot myself in the migraines than listen to one of their albums

I have to come clean here i didn't really understand most of the storybeats in here so there's this guy who found a book and got sucked and licked and and slurped into the world of myst that I'm pretty sure of now from that point ONWARDS my understanding of everything in the game starts to crumble they begin to push in front of me lots of books and infodumps that I for the life of me did NOTSSSS read what the actual FUCK this is definitely not an ADHD friendly game ong all the ADHDies in the room please be advised and also the “do shit and wait for animation” was a red flag and also the talking books brothers that have the tendency of saying 10 lines of dialogue in 5 minutes its such a fucking bore WOW really detrimental to the pacing ngl

so there's these two brothers who are played by real life people and I didnt want to be that close to their face but ok go on let them cook so they hate each other and are not willing to have some truce for some reason so youre inbetween two brothers trying to get out of their book prisons and to do that you have to get some more pages in different ages of myst that you can access by other books

this game has a heavy focus on books and lord knows I don't like books so yeah the story isnt really that interesting TO ME but it sure can get its point across and has a really good way of setting the general vibe and atmosphere for the game

and then this is the gameplay loop find a “portal” get in the page aka another age of myst find either a blue page or a red page or both or anything and go back put the blue/red page back into the brothers books and listen them talk and talk and talk and talk wow they never FUCKING shut up and most of the time they don't even say anything interesting just “lemme out / fuck my brother / look at my nostril” rinse and repeat the end

so yeah even the ending no spoiler leaves a lot to be desired its like ok cool you did all the puzzles and shit and now you can have a conclusion to the story ……. this is the conclusion bye and then youre literally left with nothing umh ok I guess I'll get the next part of the story in the following game(s) even though I'll probably only stop at riven I'm not sure I can take 5 more games of this kind in the series that being said I liked the story for what it is but it's definitely not the winning point of this experience it has a lot of different worldbuilding elements that I did enjoy but most of the shit here is left unexplained like why are these people trapped in books and why are you also trapped in a book now whatever

so let's talk meat of the game now because theres a LOT

now at first I gotta say I was not impressed with the graphics mind you this is a pre rendered screens kind of game which means they're gonna have hi res pics formatted into a 10 byte disk and they're gonna get all grimy and grainy and shit usual final fantasy 7 through 9 psx era kind of art direction . now at first I was not impressed I did not think the island of myst was really that gorgeous it has some pretty landscape some great monuments a nice detailed library and cool effects but there's that the trees were fucking cones the buildings all looked plasticky and the entire island just felt kind of low budget (it was probably a high effort during that time and definitely blew some people's minds im not that stupid) so this was my first impression but as soon as I got to the different eras of myst i swear theres some of the most beautifully rendered screens and effects I've ever seen to this day now im not really a huge point and click fan so I don't know the graphical advancements of stuff in this genre but wow some of the places in here were fucking beautiful literally could not believe they could get something this high detailed and gorgeous and I still have no idea how in the hell they managed to do that I have to watch a documentary of some kind because that had to take an INCREDIBLE amount of effort even for today's standard some of the graphical effects and sceneries are still jawdropping im betting

so that to say that they really did a good job in the art department and its probably way this game was so well received in the previous millennium the vibes are UNMATCHED all the different ages of myst are characterised by a very specific sound design that makes them really intriguing and about the sound design umhhhhhh I'm pretty conflicted because theres some of the most forward thinking tunes I could think of and also some of the most ear piercing sounds made from the humankind . most of the sounds dabble into the ethereal / mysterious domain theres not really music to talk about but some of these “songs” really heighten different moments in the playthrough and every time you find something they usually put this really spooky tune thats SO GOOD like not good as in “I would listen to it” good but as in “sets the tone beautifully” good

myst really plays into the spooky territory mainly because youre gonna find some really fucking scary places and then they're gonna be like “ok now solve a three X inequality problem” girlie that shits the scariest thing I've ever seen in my entire life purr

that to say myst knows what's up with setting an atmosphere every single age is characterised by some surface level degree of wonder and them the deeper you dig the scarier are the secrets that are gonna unfold now this game is not inherently “scary” horror games don't have any effect on me but it's nice to see that they actually manage to convey the feeling of “being lost in an unknown environment” kind of vibe

so uhhhhhh I guess I'll need to talk about the THING…

this game is a puzzl- shoots himself in the head no jk but everyone knows I fucking hate puzzle games and I swear yall I TRIED to play this game walthrough free but the most I managed to do was “walk” around the island of myst trying to get a clue of what to do next for like a hour so since I fucking HATE not knowing what do to in a game I decided it was time to boot up a walkthrough from like 2001 literally something ancient the page was using some god forgotten coding language literally transported back to early 2000s (do you ever think about the fact that stuff you read online could be written from people who are now dead ? I always think about this its really going to deteriorate my dissociation with myself and reality) and I could manage to complete the puzzles with this walkthrough MOST OF THE TIMES

now after finishing the game I can confidently say that without a guide I wouldve NEVER been able to finish this game these puzzles are so fucking hideous sometimes I would just solve them and be like how the FUCK was I supposed to know I was gonna translate piano keys to frequencies or like or like the voltage combination and don't get me fucking started on that SHIT FUCKING MAZEEEEEEE GRRRRRRRRR OH MY GOD

every time I was under the spell that this game came out yesterday the gameplay made me come back to reality literally could not believe this gameplay could be real in 1997 WITHOUT walkthroughs I wouldve never played games anymore in the entirety of my life

I have no idea how a person should solve this shit without any sort of guidance but I digress I know the anniversary edition has hints of some kind that could help you but I decided stupidly that the original lost media one was the greatest choice

also that maze fucking suck the developers were under some LSD type of alterate state of consciousness because theres no way in hell somebody could enjoy THAT

so umhhhhhh I wasn't the target of this game i hate puzzle games and i hate point and click games but I found some stuff that I liked and some stuff that I hated and thats what love is all about maybe I will check out either the remakes and PROBABLY I'm gonna play riven because I want to know how they'll continue to implement real life videos into a videogame with the fucking cameras and computers of 1997

why can father myst git it

absolutely gorgeous early 3D time capsule with a really interesting world. i like myst for its atmosphere and emptiness, which is something i feel the sequels kinda got wrong. myst appeals to me because it just feels like it's me wandering around this weird ass island alone, trying to solve puzzles. interactions with other characters were very sparse, which really helped to build this atmosphere. the later games in the myst series tried adding more characters to talk to, which kind of broke this atmosphere to me, and i didn't really enjoy them as much. that being said, the original myst is absolutely worth your time

Myst is an interesting cultural object that might be a little odd to visit for the first time today. My experience with it was quite positive given the intervening time, despite occasional frustrations.

I think the most striking thing about Myst today is the effectiveness of its pacing and world design. While the actual acting performances are over-the-top, the mechanism of gating the worlds behind journals and puzzles develops an excellent sense of mystery and curiosity.

Reading the journals for the various ages to which you can travel instills a sense of familiarity and anticipation to actually traveling to them. Arriving at an age was exciting, because it meant seeing something in person that you'd only read about, but also an encouraging sense of understanding as you recognize details based on what you've read.

There are a few occasions where it's near impossible to see a particular detail that you must interact with, or to find a path you can travel down in order to get where you need to go. I definitely encourage players to seek out clues or solutions online if they're stuck (I certainly had to a few times). Besides a few of these (probably unintentional) cheap shots, the widely available Masterpiece edition is very playable and very engaging for a sufficiently patient modern player.

Behold, my 1500th video game! This special occasion warrants nothing less than a super special review. So, what did I think? Well first, some backstory.

This past year or 2, I've been obsessed with playing games that are considered foundational. Sometimes, I don't enjoy them but I'm still glad I played them for the historical value alone which has been the case for games such as Colossal Cave Adventure, Mystery House, or Portopia. Other times, I find some of my unexpected favourite games that are actually very fun such as Wizardry, Fantasy Zone, or... oh yeah, another game by Myst's developers called The Manhole!

When I played The Manhole and its 3D remake last year, I was very captivated! These are 2 games where there is no real objective but to take in the scenery. Just explore and find hilarious imagery while listening to wacky characters. No win condition, no lose condition, no timer, no stress. In a way, this is a really avant garde method of showing that video games are more than their title suggests. That being, they aren't just "games" played for the sake of winning but perhaps important pieces of art.

With how hyped up Myst has been over the years, I decided I would make it my 1500th game on Backloggd (Jesus I've been on this site for years) knowing that it would be something special and, well....

Look. I immensely respect what Myst is going for. I really love how inspired it is, and I am sure the pre-rendered graphics were mindblowing to 1993 audiences. It's neat how several of my beloved games such as Drowned God were blatantly inspired by it, and it's arguably the most important game in the last 30 or so years due to how it was the big boom for PC gaming the world needed.

Yet, I can't feel passionately about it the way I can with The Manhole or Wizardry or even the likes of Colossal Cave Adventure. It is hard for me to be captivated by Myst's legacy when many point and click/adventure games predate it and, in my opinion, have far better QOL, gameplay, and storytelling.

As far as point and click games from before 1993 go, I have a lot of favourites. Uninvited felt like a very kinetic and replayable game with a unique horror feel. Monkey Island 1-2 are still some of the most entertaining and hilarious games I've experienced, boasting incredible artstyles and early popularization of dynamic music. The Manhole, again, was one of the very first entertainment CD-roms and it's still rather fun. Alter Ego having barely any pictures and still being one of the most engaging, deeply written games I've experienced. Hell, when looking at niche Japanese games I'm impressed at how Cosmology of Kyoto, Otogirisou, or Ihatovo Monogatari managed to breathe new life into the game medium as a whole, displaying such artistry that even the likes of Roger Ebert were impressed.

All this is to say that I don't understand at all why Myst is often defended on the basis of "well it's a 30 year old game" especially when other point-and-clicks like Monkey Island before it are still popular today. Hell, Monkey Island is probably much more fun to revisit for the average player. Monkey Island doesn't receive memes like this, at least certainly not with any frequency https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E9tXrGBWYAYBtfc.png

When trying to wrap my head around what made Myst so popular beyond the graphics, I looked at the development history behind the game and found this https://youtu.be/EWX5B6cD4_4

Myst was meant to give players a bang for their buck, resulting in a design based around "brute force" real estate to explore. With no win or lose conditions, the player could feasibly spend weeks if not months on the game. And it doesn't stop there, there is what seems to be a deliberate lack of QOL.

I found myself constantly frustrated by Myst. The save feature restarts the player at the beginning of the area rather than saving their progress, contrary to other even older adventure games. Batteries near the dock drain rather fast and need to be constantly recharged. Activating the large tree elevator is an annoying process. The main character is too much of a moron to carry two pages at a time, so if the player wants to experience every FMV they are forced to go through the same area twice, some of which can be rather confusing to navigate. The sound puzzles where the player must match 5 different sound effects in a row with very large margin of error might as well just say "fuck the deaf and the tone deaf players" good lord. I personally felt the pace broken when 10 minutes into the game I was compelled to read 4 mini-novels in a row. And perhaps most importantly, I had trouble making out a single full sentence in the red and blue books due to the overloaded static noises in the cutscenes.

Are there things I appreciate about Myst? Sure! This is far from a game without merit. The minimalist presentation is rather beautiful, with the pre-rendered images and FMVs still holding their own against photorealistic graphics from far stronger hardware. The atmosphere can be rather immersive a lot of the time, with the sound effects being very convincing for every action in the game. I rec listening to this part of the Ars Technica documentary, since it explains things better than I could https://youtu.be/EWX5B6cD4_4?t=860

It's truly a technical engineering feat. Also, after the player obtains the true ending, they are allowed to just explore the island. It really gives me the impression their earlier work on The Manhole helped shape some decisions in this game, and that's just lovely.

Well, that's Myst. It's a technically impressive game, but far from a fun one in my opinion. It was only while writing this review that, perhaps, it hit me.

Everybody has their own unique perspective and experiences that shapes them into the EPIC GAMER they are today. I saved Myst for a rainy day, subconsciously putting it on a pedestal in my head. Most of the people who told me how much they loved Myst mentioned it being a formative artistic experience for them. Could it be because I had the liberty of playing so many untranslated JP adventure games, more modern adventure games, and so forth before Myst, its impact was lost on me?

1500 games is a lot of fucking games. There is an alternate universe out there where I was fascinated by Myst and fell in love with it, rather than found it frustrating in my mid 20s. In fact, this is what one of the developers theorized; only maybe half of players even left the first island. Yet, so many young players who discovered the game left with quite an impression, that they played something which resonated with them FOR the unfamiliar mystique, rather than despite it https://youtu.be/EWX5B6cD4_4?t=1070

When I started typing this review, I wasn't sure if I was happy I played Myst. Yet now, I feel confident I am happy it was my 1500th game. It was not a waste of time, but a good reminder of how games are more than what I play. They are artistic statements, impressive feats of software development, and parts of our culture. The cynic in me can say Myst is a subpar adventure game that only had any success due to the photorealistic graphics. Yet, I'm more inclined to ask one thing:

Is there any game which better embodies the culture of early PC gaming and the appeal of pre-rendered graphics?

God, I fucking love video games.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e49OXXBX3Ko

[review from 2022] The first time I came across this game was on GOG when they were having a sale on some of the old games, including the Myst series. I was curious about what it was about but never gotten interested in the series until I watch a video from Adumplaze and wanted to play it myself. This is a game that requires a LOT of patience. The puzzles are certainly not easy to figure out, but once you’re able to solve it and get the hang of it, it is extremely rewarding. There were a few times where I got stuck in two of the worlds (or Ages as they’re called) and had to resort to looking up what to do from a walkthrough. There’s no doubt that a lot of passion when into not only the environments for Age and each puzzle, but also the world of Myst and its characters. I would recommend playing this game as your first entry to the series, although I think any of the later tiles in the series, like Riven or Myst 3, would be a better starting point than the first game since they improve on a lot of things over Myst 1. Also, if you were to play Myst 1, I would probably recommend the realMyst version over the original Myst, although I haven’t played that version yet to compare the two versions of Myst 1. Anyway, realMyst replaces the slideshow screenshots from the original version with a 3D world to explore, and might be a better experience for you despite the recent Masterpiece edition of realMyst that changed the original graphics with more “modern” and “realistic” graphics for the 3D world. I haven’t played the sequels yet, but I definitely look forward to trying them out when I get the chance.