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Myst; More Art Than Game
Topic Started: Oct 16 2012, 08:16 PM (332 Views)
Technoboy200
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Dude With a Clue
-"I realized the moment I fell into the fissure that the book would not be destroyed as I had planned. It continued falling into that starry expanse for which I had only a fleeting glimpse. I've tried to speculate where it might have landed, I admit however that such conjecture is futile. Still, questions of whos hands might hold my Myst book are unsettling to me. I know my apprehensions might never be allayed, and so I close realizing that perhaps the ending has not been written."-
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Oh no! I'm falling into the most confusing game ever!

Here is a game you may have heard of, and maybe played. If you haven't though, you aren't alone. Released in 1993, Myst was a point and click graphic adventure game developed by Cyan. Made for the PC, it never stood out too much to any specific audience, but anyone who did play it will tell you: It's crazy hard. Since then, it has kind of gotten the title of confusing art form and has had several just as confusing sequels, including Riven and 3 other Myst games.
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As a four year old playing this game, I never really realized this was a ceiling. Three cheers for logic.

Gameplay (9/10):
This is probably the hardest of the categories to give a score to. Some people will like it, some people won't. It depends on taste. The major idea is that this is for the most part, a point and click game. You look for clues on what to do, and then click on things to progress farther. What makes Myst so successful, though, is the sheer level of difficulty on finding these clues and logically putting 2 and 2 together. It ends of being totally logical and fair, so you can't blame the game, but the points of interest are so dubiously scattered and hidden, that pretty much everything is important in some aspect, you just don't know how. The original game consisted of a set of slides, you would move from one to the next, doing stuff on each screen. The lack of a good measurement on where things were relative to each other made the gameplay at times frustrating. However, more recently a newer version, aptly called realMyst, in which the game was a fully rendered world in which you walked around in. If you don't exactly know what I mean by pre-rendered, think Slender. You can move freely around and everything is connected. Overall, the gameplay is good for what it is, but unless you are willing to put some thought and effort into the game, you will not get far. For those of you with short-attention spans and ragequit tendencies, stay away from this.
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realMyst really improved perception of where things are relative to each other.

Graphics (10/10):
Woah now! You say this came out in 1993? These graphics rival Blueray! I kid of course, but all joking aside the graphics were and still are stellar. The game was made so that graphics were the main focus and damn did they hit that on the spot. Even 19 years later the graphics are impressive. And don't even get me started on realMyst. Those graphics are legit. All the intricacies and details put into even the smallest of levels is incredible. This is one of the reasons I see Myst as more of an art form than actual game. It's just one of those places you want to go and sleep in, if you know what I mean.
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THAT WATER. SO PRETTY. AND YET SO SCARY. HELP ME.

Music (9.9/10):
The reason this doesn't get a score of 100/10 is because a good chunk of the game doesn't have too much music, or if it does, you can't hear it due to the gears clanking in your piddly brain trying to figure out WHAT YOU ARE DOING. The music in Myst (when it is audible) is some of the most beautiful stuff to ever be composed. It's even been used on top soundtracks as one of the best songs from groups such as Videogames Live and Bungie. Not only is the music nice and mysterious, but it lends itself perfectly to the game. Never for me has there been such a click between music and gameplay as in this game. I really can't say much more besides that. If you just listen to the music though, without having played the game, you may not understand the beauty as well, because some experience with the game is technically needed to fully appreciate how well it fits.
Main Theme
*sobs* PURE. BRILLIANCE.

Plot (10/10):
The plot in the game is very good. The game starts on a very simple screen: A book. You open it, and the magic starts happening. As you plummet through dimensions, a voice of a guy who is apparently central to the story tells you of the book of Myst, and how he hopes it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Then, you start. Without any people and your character being well, you, telling a story is kind of hard. However, Myst pulls this off perfectly, putting little mementos of a life which has seemed to have since vanished, almost as if overnight. The story practically tells itself. One of the most amazing things is the level of backstory. In the library, there aren't many books which are crucial to the story or solving of puzzles, but every single one of them is chock full of details on the different "Ages" (worlds) through the experience of the voice in the beginning of the game. One could frankly sit for hours deciphering all this backstory, with nothing to show for it besides the feat of accomplishing such a task. Later games did expand on this, and created some crazy convoluted plots, but something about the deep simplicity of Myst makes it my favorite of the bunch. Another cool thing is the variety of endings. The most common one is ragequit, but besides that there are many ways to "complete" the game, all but one of which aren't exactly desirable. Each one of the characters (yes there are characters, they just don't exactly live there anymore, to stay spoiler free) is very complex and has many flaws in their character, much like real people. The cool thing is though that you don't find out who they are through them as much as you do with the things they leave behind.
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So I hear you got stuck in a book, eh? You want me to help you, eh? You aren't a psycopath, are you?

Lifetime (8/10):
This area of the game is a complete troll. While it may take you days, months, or even years to complete the game (if you even DO finish it), the game can be completed in about 30 seconds if you know the secret and have beaten it before. This clever little bit of placement has caused quite a bit of rage in players who do finally get to the end, only to realize they went full circle. It's quite amusing, really. But it really is hard to give Lifetime a proper score, because it takes every person a different amount of time to finish it. I give it an eight because most players don't want to take several years to beat one game.
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Fancy room you got there, Sirrius. Care to explain why you have pills and a syringe in that drawer?

Overall (9.5/10):
There isn't much I haven't covered yet, so at this point all I can say is the true experience lies in your own time with the game. This is a gem you should not miss, and I truly recommend it. This game is more than a game to many people. I personally have an affinity with this game, because I played it at 4 years of age and was my first game. I still enjoy it to this day. However, every person will perceive this game differently, much like a painting or book. I implore you, play this game. The original version may be hard to find nowadays, but realMyst can be downloaded with a simple Google search. I now leave you to share your own experiences with this masterpiece in the comments, whether they be old memories or new findings.
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I look off into the distance, and see an ocean of thought-provoking MYSTery ahead of me. Its hard to imagine those are just pixels.
Edited by Technoboy200, Oct 16 2012, 10:37 PM.
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Draexzhan
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RAINBOW HYPER!!!
I used to have a whole bunch of games like this on a computer when I was like four. I wouldn't be surprised if this game was among them. Sadly, I have virtually no memory left of these games, aside from something about paintings, and bookcases turning into staircases. I also remember some of them had graphics like these, and some were completely black and white. *sigh* I don't know what happened to all those games, but I only have one of those games still around: Shadowgate. I really never thought about it, but I could probably find a few more if I look hard enough, and if not, I could probably get any of these games off the internet now. You've given me that last encouraging nudge I needed to return to my "ancient past."
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UnrealOdin
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Trillionaire
I've never played Myst, but I own Riven, which is the sequel and I couldn't bear to play it. Like I just almost died when I started playing it. It was the PS1 version so maybe I went wrong somewhere in there. I dunno.
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