Windows

Myst

Even though Myst is six or so years old as I write this review, it's a daunting task to contemplate. It's daunting because this title takes the prize for being one of the best selling computer games ever, and it also holds the esteemed honour of being the single game that introduced a whole wave of new players to the delights of adventure games. At its advanced age it is still readily available in most computer game outlets and was recently distributed as a bonus offer along with the Legend title, John Saul's Blackstone Chronicles.

While Myst is superlative, I do have two complaints: the lack of high-end 3D and animated visuals, and the cheesy ending. Almost all its animations are simple QuickTime videos running in tiny screens. Myst's creators, Rand and Robyn Miller, seamlessly integrated those videos into the background graphics and designed stunning artwork, but simply adding fog is not enough to create a true 3D feel. And the ending is a big let-down, not much more than a plug for Myst II. Nevertheless, if you own a PC, you owe it to yourself to try Myst.

In the end I would call Myst a good game. It has since been surpassed amongst its kind, I would say, but remains a strong and interesting play with a decent (if not long or overly complex) character-based story, interesting puzzles and an efficiently minimal interface. The graphics are good, in some places very good, while music and sound does the job, if seldom little more. Of course, this is not a game for those with a strong preference for either inventory puzzles or long dialogs – Myst has neither an inventory system (as has been mentioned) nor a dialog tree system – when one of the few characters speaks you more or less have the choice of listening or leaving.

Myst is a classic, defining adventure game, but more for its high-art visuals and new gameplay style, not for its plot. When I say a game is Myst-like, that's because it uses the same technique of exploring by clicking through still images, not because it recreates the experience of walking through the woods with nothing to do. That's not to say it's a bad game, and it's so completely inoffensive and casual that I can see why so many people bought it. However, some of the puzzles are pretty complicated, and since this game came out before the proliferation of FAQs and walkthroughs on the Internet, I suspect not many people ever finished it. If you're interested and want to check it out, you'll probably find it worth the trouble, but Myst is hardly a must play.

The infamous quote “A great injustice has been done… and I, Atrus, have paid the price.” is the phrase that has heralded the beginning of a new era in graphic adventure gaming. Myst is undoubtedly among the most controversial titles in the history of computer games. Many have hailed it as the ultimate interactive experience, while others have faulted it as just a fancy slideshow. Yet, Myst has become the best-selling adventure game of all time. Indeed, it can be considered that Myst hails the second coming in graphic adventure games. Just exactly what the fuzz is still remains murky in many critics’ minds today.