These games, although I was utterly fascinated by them, I had no clue what I was doing or where I was supposed to go. I couldnt even tell if I was progressing or what. I think I was just too young for it.
Rest assured, you weren't. These games were made back in the day before the internet got huge. When games could have legitimately hard puzzles for their own sake. There was no handholding back in the day.
Yes and no. A lot of games had hint books you could buy, either from the company or third party. Infocom used to put out hint books which could reveal things to you one clue at a time with a special marker that came with it. But then Infocom was always a very innovative company.
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 of which I had only a fleeting glimpse. I have tried to speculate where it might have landed but I must admit however such conjecture is futile. Still, the question of whose hands might someday hold my Myst book are unsettling to me. I know that my apprehensions might never be allayed, and so I close, realizing that perhaps the ending has not yet been written.
Wow..... I remember playing this for MONTHS, trying to figure out what buttons, levers, everything does. I dedicated an entire paper notebook to writing down clues, hints, and failed attempts. And then the same for Riven.
Now I simply don't have the free time to dedicate to those games.... #adulting
Best selling? Yeah right! It's a well-known fact that Myst cd-roms just kept appearing everywhere under their own volition whether you wanted them to or not. No sale or purchase ever took place.
I remember getting stuck on Myst trying to light a fire. I kept sticking the match in and it kept not working. Got very frustrated. Took way too long to realize I had never actually struck the damn thing.
Was it good? Never played it and I'm thinking about getting it from GOG.com. In fact, just recommend me the best old games. The original Dungeon Keeper is probably my favourite game of all time.
I enjoyed it back in the day but it's a different era's game. You have to enjoy throwing yourself against a brick wall for a very long time until you finally crash through the door, and possibly taking notes and making diagrams or maps as you go.
I remember it being lush graphically, for the time, and very satisfying for the puzzles I did crack but I gave up before finishing it. I think it was some kind of blind maze that finally did it.
Yeah, playing it as a kid was nightmare. I had no idea what I was getting into, so it was just sitting there alongside Need for Speed and Rollercoaster Tycoon. By the time I realized I needed a note page to keep track of obscure bits of information hidden across the map, I was already in too deep to just have a properly organized note sheet. Never wound up finishing, but I remember just scrawling numbers and words connected by branching lines like some kind of schizophrenic conspiracy theory.
I literally am, right now. It's extremely difficult but definitely good, particularly towards the end as the pace picks up. I didn't hoard enough anti-personnel rounds to get through the final room in the Body of the Many, so am having to replay. It's quite unforgiving like that.
Make sure to get one of the modernized version of Myst, I think they're up to about 27 or so revisions/redos.
Don't be afraid to try clues, but in all honesty the puzzles in Myst are pretty solvable by Adventure game standards.
Riven (II) and Exile (III) are both likewise excellent, with Brad Dourif as a bonus in the third. After that, different people took over and things got awful.
I believe there is a modern spiritual successor called War for the Overworld, basically exact same game layout and mechanics with modern engine and graphics
I never did figure out how to get past that damned piano puzzle. I should pick up the remastered version and have another go at it. I have such fond memories of it.
Obduction was good. It had some issues, but it’s up there with the classic stuff. Firmament, unfortunately, was not good. Felt more like a walking simulator. There were few puzzles and they were not difficult at all. Not sure what happened. It’s pretty though.
Riven is by far my favorite of the classic series. They are working on a modern remake of that next and I’m pumped!
I found obduction looked amazing, but the puzzles were "follow wire, flip the switch".
A modern game that really captures the Myst feeling for me was Quern: Undying Thought.
I think some of the original Cyan Games Devs started their own studio for it, and it really captures the Myst feeling.
Puzzles are hard but satisfying. I think there is 1 grindy puzzle that just takes a lot of work, but everything else is mental models of systems, hints and clues, using things in different ways.
And a nice story behind it as well.
I had this for Sega Saturn. Near the end of the game one puzzle would generate a screen with a bunch of numbers and letters and crash. I thought it was part of the game until a walkthrough showed I was doing it right but something was broken on my disc. I still loved the game even though I couldn't progress passed that point.
Oh! I remember playing this! I will say that even back then it was very one note in its humor and lacking in depth. I was very disappointed with the shallowness of the end product.