Myst was my first adventure gaming experience, and so far it has been the best. For more than a week I found myself totally immersed in the world of Atrus and his convincing sons. Back and forth I went, exploring the linked worlds and trying to decide who was lying and what to do. And when it was over, I yearned for more. So I read the books, but while good fantasies, they were not the visual, aural and tactile delight the game is.
Then I began searching out adventure games. What I found has been a huge disappointment. And believe me I have hunted for a better, more involving and equally-satisfying game as Myst. Lighthouse, The Last Express, Amber, Reah, The Crystal Key, Jewels of the Nile, even Myst's sequel, Riven, do not come even close to providing the intense, involving gameplay Myst so easily offers.
Gamers are making a mistake in focusing too much on puzzles, just for the sake of puzzles, and overlooking the vital importance of compelling background music, beautiful scenery, intriguing worlds, and, most of all, a complex and mystifying storyline. They're also relying, as in Riven and Reah, too much on video that takes the control away from the gamer and makes the next step far too easy by handing over the desired object. The new adventure games feature FIVE CD's which ends up meaning a much larger world than Myst contains, but all that resulted in was a lot more going back and forth, which in Riven became quite tedious. The puzzles also are just puzzles, not integrated parts of the story.
I will continue my search for a game to top Myst. But I suspect Myst's secret is not in its puzzles, scenery, music or strange world but in its well-crafted storyline in which a father suspects one of his sons has betrayed him.
One gaming tip to you newbies: Play with a partner. After you've explored and hunted and have "hit the wall," sit back and let your partner poke around. It's even more fun that way :)
Myst sends you to five fascinating worlds, where only your wits and imagination will unlock the ancient betrayal of Ages Past. Myst, the number-one...More at eBay
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.