Game Debate #71: Myst

[Reed Rothchild | 9,816]

[Code Monkey | 2,074]

I tried to vote but it won't allow me unless I vote for next week's game and I don't have any interest in that. Bummer.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,816]

1 minute ago, Code Monkey said:

I tried to vote but it won't allow me unless I vote for next week's game and I don't have any interest in that. Bummer.

It's a rough life.

[mbd39 | 2,063]

Boring game. If I'm not factoring in historical importance then it's a 4/10.

[Tanooki | 5,028]

Meh...so meh.  And even that is just trying to keep historical period in mind because when this popped up that was considered a jaw dropping experience it see and hear, don't want to quite call it navigate as that's a stretch.  The puzzles are obtuse and ugly to no end, head ache bending even in that day and they knew it given the size of the help books in quantity of books and pages within.  Not well designed to play or think out, but the rest was an achievement.

[CodysGameRoom | 2,009]

Such a soft spot for this one. My aunt and I bonded over her pc at the time and we sat and played games like Myst, Day of the tentacle, Hugo’s House of Horrors, Commander Keen and more. If it wasn’t for her I’d have had no exposure to early PC gaming. 
 

I miss that woman and seeing/ playing Myst reminds me of her every time.

the game itself is nothing mind blowing any more but it was very satisfying to figure out a puzzle for us back then. 

[TDIRunner | 2,841]

When I first played it, I thought it was amazing. I loved the idea of it and I hadn't seen anything like it at the time.  It's not something I could play today, so I'm not sure how to vote for it.  

Oh, and if you like MYST, don't forget to try PYST.  

[erac | 80]

I had gotten the Masterpiece edition for free in a cd spindle years ago, but only bothered to play it like last year (using scummvm, naturally). Being a historical legend, but also very old, I wasn't sure what to expect. It turned out rather fun, 7/10, with only a couple puzzles needing online help.

[AstralSoul | 521]

I hate this game. Just the mere thought of it makes me mad. I don't think it's a terrible game objectively but it's probably one of my least favorite games ever. First off I hate point and click adventure games. I hate point and click anything to be honest. But if that was the only thing I didn't like about it, we'd be in pretty good shape. My biggest criticism about this game is the difficulty. I know it's meant to be a hard game. But the puzzles in this game are so far beyond the scope of any normal humans brain that I can't even figure out how anyone has beaten this game without a guide. And that's the only way I beat this game - with a guide. I should never ever feel like I HAVE to use a guide for a game especially for a puzzle game. But unlike every other game I've had to use a guide for, after looking up the solution to 75% of the game's puzzles, they STILL didn't make sense to me. Sometimes I resort to a guide for a puzzle answer in other games and afterwards I'm like "ohh okay I don't know how I didn't see that". Not this game. I don't know what the designers were thinking but where their heads were at when they made this game was probably on another planet or in another dimension. This game is the Battletoads of puzzle games - impossible on your own. I can't even believe it spawned like 4 or 5 sequels, which I've heard are even harder than this game!

So as I've said, I hate this game but normally of I hate a game so much I usually just don't play it. So why did I force myself to get through Myst even with a guide? Because if not for the puzzles this game could've been amazing. Maybe when people reviewed this game as a masterpiece back in the day they took everything into account BUT the puzzles. Because the game, for 1995, was pretty impressive otherwise. It was probably the first game I felt actually immersed in. I loved the idea of the game, I loved the story, the world, just exploring the island and the different ages was fun for me. But what makes me so mad when I think of this game is that they completely ruined it all by making the core gameplay element - the puzzles - too damn hard. Before people get on my case about sucking at puzzle games, I actually have gotten through many puzzle games in my life and rarely have ever needed a guide for a puzzle solution and even then if I did look up a puzzle it was like once or twice at most in a single game. Puzzle games are probably my favorite genre and even though I don't particularly like first person point and click games, the style works for this game.  And yes I did play this game back when it first came out and I was maybe 12 at the time but I've tried it again several times in my adult life and most recently a few months ago, this time without a guide, but then realized I simply don't hate myself enough to force myself to suffer through it anymore. 

Truth be told I wanted to give this game a zero. That's how much I hate it. But I know the game isn't broken and it does have some merits but what it does well is just not enough to counter all the things I hate about it. I give it a (very generous) 4/10

[rdrunner | 427]

My only memory of this game is getting a fake email from "eBay" saying that I bought it for over $300 and to "click here if you didn't".

So yeah, was never interested.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,110]

I remember this being a big deal when the PC version first came out, but I never played it. By the time there were console releases, I had basically forgotten about it. I'd still give it a try just to see what it's about.

[G-type | 2,715]

I was super into it when it first came out, but it hasn't held up for me. Of course it'd easily be a 9 or 10 if we could factor in historical significance.

[G-type | 2,715]

7 hours ago, AstralSoul said:

 But the puzzles in this game are so far beyond the scope of any normal humans brain that I can't even figure out how anyone has beaten this game without a guide. And that's the only way I beat this game - with a guide. I should never ever feel like I HAVE to use a guide for a game especially for a puzzle game. B\

The part of this I don't like is that a lot of the puzzles are the variety where the input and the output are in different places. Push a button on this screen, and then explore the whole whole island to notice what changed (which you will only notice if you had already explored the island previously and taken meticulous notes.

[cj_robot | 557]

Yuck. I remember what a huge deal it was back then. I liked DOS adventure games back then, so I gave it a shot, but it did not hold my attention for very long. Cool atmosphere, I guess, but it was definitely never going to steal any of my time away from Space Quest V or Day of the Tentacle.

Decided to try it out again many years later to see if maybe I had more patience for it. (I think I tried the Saturn version?) Nope. Still way too slow and boring. Whatever was going on with the story was not interesting to me at all. I can't fathom how anyone had enough patience to get through the whole game, let alone it's multiple sequels.

2/10

Edited October 15, 2021 by cj_robot

[AstralSoul | 521]

2 hours ago, G-type said:

The part of this I don't like is that a lot of the puzzles are the variety where the input and the output are in different places. Push a button on this screen, and then explore the whole whole island to notice what changed (which you will only notice if you had already explored the island previously and taken meticulous notes.

That is indeed a big part of it. I like to think out of the box but everything about this game is so far out of the box that I can't even wrap my head around it.

[Gloves | 12,078]

12 minutes ago, AstralSoul said:

That is indeed a big part of it. I like to think out of the box but everything about this game is so far out of the box that I can't even wrap my head around it.

One of my favourite parts of Realms of the Haunting on PC is there's a "puzzle" where you have to walk across a creaky floor without making any noise. The solution is to put on a metal armband. Not a MAGICAL metal armband, just... A plain metal armband. 

[guitarzombie | 931]

I gave it a 6.  I got thru it without a guide.  Just with a pen and paper.  I dug it but wasn't in love with it.  If you're an adventure fan, its a must play but for a casual no way.  

[Reed Rothchild | 9,816]

I got through it in the 90s with a guide.

I did it earlier this year with zero outside help, and didn't get stuck too much.  There may have been some luck involved with trolley maze thing.

But I'll also admit that some very high-level things were still buried in the back of my subconscious.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

It was certainly a novel experience when it launched and I spent at least a few hours admiring the environment and world back in the 90s. Usually I would get bored or frustrated and quit, never making any real progress. I'd like to play through the remake and see how it holds up, so I'll hold off on judgment for now.

[RH | 5,121]

I loved it in the 90s and I love it to this day. Yup, a 10/10 from me but I'm honest to admit nostalgia glasses for their one and it was also associated with good time with my Dad so it automatically gets irrational points.

I used a guide as a kid but much like Reed, when I last replayed it (first time in decades) I didn't use a guide. It is beatable.

I have only played a couple other point and click titles, but I just loved the loneliness of the whole game and the exploration of an entire world, nay worlds, that are completely abandoned.  I'm slowly working to get a copy of every release for all platforms. I'm glad this isn't an expensive game for any system. Maybe thinking about it with this discussion will get me to look for the Jaguar and 3DO copies I need.

[Tulpa | 3,630]

I liked it a lot. I actually blew through the game without a guide, because those weird unintuitive puzzles just come natural to me.

 

I think I may be a serial killer, but I'm good at puzzle adventure games.

Edited October 15, 2021 by Tulpa

[Kguillemette | 1,587]

7/10. I had so much fun with this back in the day. At first the puzzles destroyed me, but I slowly got it figured out with a pen and paper until it all came together. Most of the puzzles are pretty straightforward once you get a feel for them.

I definitely got a bad end a few times before actually beating the game. I had quite the itchy trigger finger.

 

[TDIRunner | 2,841]

Have any of you ever watched Myst speedruns?  It's pretty funny.  

[JamesRobot | 5,927]

8.  I Love Myst and point n click adventures in general.  I probably played through it 4 or 5 times back in tha day.  It's a pinnacle of the genre.  But I can't give it full Mark's because I find it difficult to go back to with my limited time and short-  SQUIRREL! 

[Estil | 1,288]

Are there any differences between the original PC version and the five disc PS1 version?