How much more can be said
about this mother of all adventure games? Or maybe the question should
be: how many times can Cyan remake it? To date, there are three different
versions of Myst: The original 1993 release, the 1996 24-bit
“masterpiece” edition, and the 2001 technology heavy realMyst.
And that’s just the PC software! Myst can be found in adaptations
for Macintosh, Playstation, Dreamcast, and the short-lived Atari Jaguar.
It’s been translated into numerous different languages, spawned two
sequels: Riven (which you’ll hear from me about at a later
date) and the Presto-developed stepchild Myst
3: Exile. To round out the collection of soundtrack CDs and
comic books, Rand Miller co-authored a trilogy of well written, equally
engrossing fantasy novels based on Myst and Riven‘s
main characters and the D’ni world. AND in a more recent development,
the Sci-Fi Channel announced that it will make a mini-series based
on the world of Myst. In a genre that has had its share of
ups and downs, Myst seems to be one of the few sure things.

Imagination
leads to distraction

(Jen jumps up from her
cubicle.)

“I love this game!”

(Co-workers stare and shake
their heads, realizing she must be working on an article for Just
Adventure again.)

I’m not sure there’s a
better way to put it than that. Myst was the game that certified
my fate as a fan of the graphic adventure genre and became the standard
to which I compared all others. (And trust me, this was back when
the market was just glutted with bad Myst-clones like Rama
and Lighthouse,
so it was no easy task to win me over.) This was the first game that
kept me awake at night rolling a puzzle around in my head. “How
can I get the chest from the bottom of the lighthouse up to the key
chained to the platform?” (Psst, just make the thing able to
float and voila!) “How can I find my way through the underground
tunnels in the Selentic Age?” Just open your ears! These were
the sort of things that started getting me to think in a three dimensional
manner. Myst . . . well, it reopened my underused imagination
and introduced me to one of the most original universes I had ever
encountered.

That, ladies and gentleman,
was my obligatory pro-Myst rant. We shall now continue with
our regularly scheduled programming.

That
was SO five minutes ago!

After playing the visually
and audibly superior Myst-sequel Riven, it was almost
painful for many of the series’ loyal fans to go back and replay the
first game. Then Cyan had a bright (or not-so-bright) idea: why not
go back and retool Myst for modern equipment so it won’t look
so dated next to it’s sequel? In early press releases for the game,
we were told that the graphics, sound, and engine were going to be
given a fairly substantial overhaul, updating them into 24-bit quality
as to eliminate the graininess that was present in the FMV and the
static in the music and sound effects. In addition, they were to add
a hint feature that would allow the player to get clues of varying
degree to help them get through the game. Did Cyan meet the standards
they set up for themselves? Keeping in mind that I’m going to comment
mostly on the technology differences, let’s take a look.

A
rose by any other name

For anyone out there who
has been living under a rock since 1993, Myst is the story
of a lone adventurer who finds him/herself lost in the forgotten D’ni
age of Myst. Once home to Atrus, Catherine, and their two sons,
Myst now stands dormant, devoid of any human life, save for a few
cryptic messages left by Atrus, and the incessant pleadings of his
two imprisoned sons. The player is cast in the role of this lone adventurer
who must uncover the whereabouts of the island’s inhabitants, and
in doing so, possibly find the path home. Over the course of the game,
you will visit five other ages (including the home of the D’ni people)
and use your wits to outsmart many of Atrus’s complicated machines.
The story is engrossing and gives the player a real feeling of importance,
the knowledge that the fate of this world and its people depend on
you. In this edition, the story and the puzzles remain exactly the
same. No new Ages, no new machines, no new details. If want some new
story content and puzzle fodder, go pick up realMyst. (And
a new video card while you’re at it.)

How
many times can I use ‘identical’ in one section?

Myst has some of
the most flat out, drop dead gorgeous scenery in the entire graphic
adventure genre. It is this aspect of the game that sets Cyan Worlds
products apart from any other out there. Instead of the flat, smooth
surfaces seen in many games like Beyond
Time, Myst makes use of detailed textures to give all
its surfaces an authentic, organic appearance. I’m big on tactile,
gritty images, so this game sat well with me. The colors are amazing
(though I think that they made use of every single shade of blue available
to map the sky of the different Ages). In keeping with the update
theme of Masterpiece, Cyan reprogrammed the over 2500 screenshots
from 256 colors to a clearer 24-bit scale. Unfortunately, unless you
have a really nice monitor, it is difficult to see the differences
in the graphic quality.

The sound affects are identical
to the original game, and have been enhanced to a higher bit-rate
to accompany the updated visuals. They are still beautifully ambient
and organic. That’s about all there is to say there. (Shrugs)

FMV in Myst Masterpiece
is identical to that found in the original version. Again, the colors
have been redone for 24-bit clarity and do come out to be less blocky
than their predecessors. (And the brief shots of Sirrus and Achenar
with snake tongues are still creepy as hell.)

This
Robyn Miller is NOT my mother!

(Um yeah, so my mom’s name
is Robin. But let’s talk about the music instead of her. It’s not
that she’s any less interesting. It’s just that she gets really shy
when I mention her in these articles.)

Robyn Miller, one third
of the Miller brother trio that have brought Myst and its franchise
to us (the others being Rand and Ryan), composed every piece of music
heard in this game. Not bad for a guy who only had a mid-grade synthesizer
at his disposal! All the themes in Myst are original and fit the mood
of each room perfectly, from the sad and haunting strings in Achenar’s
room in the Mechanical Age, to the airy and atmospheric sounds found
in the astronomy room on Myst Island. If you’re really into the melodies
found in this game, you can purchase the soundtrack from Amazon.com
and or grab a used copy from Ebay. Makes for good study and paper-writing
music.

“Everyone
seems to have a big ‘but.’ Come on, Simone. Tell me about your big
‘but.'”

(If you can figure out
where that quote is from, I will deem you as one of the coolest people
on the planet. And maybe even throw in a paper crown from Burger King.)

Okay, yes, I am going to
do it. And make sure to mark your calendars for this one kids, cause
this doesn’t happen very often. I am going to give a criticism to
Cyan! Yes, I know what you’re thinking. Who does she think she is,
criticizing one of the most successful game developers in the world?
Well, I think I am writing for Just Adventure +, or at least I was
the last time I checked. Freedom of the presses man!

You remember that little
hint engine I spoke about earlier? Poor, guys, that was REAL poor.
I mean, yeah, I know that you were trying to make Myst more
accessible to people who weren’t necessarily fans of adventure games.
But that’s what little peons like me are for! Let me write the walkthroughs
and have the player choose whether or not they want to use them. In
all seriousness though, the hint system takes a huge chop off of the
intelligence curve for this game. Instead of letting the player stay
awake at night pondering a puzzle (like me), the answers are incredibly
accessible, coming across the screen at just a click of a mouse. This
made the game feel less immersive to me. (Cringes) Sorry guys!

I
am so divided!

Okay, so here’s where I
stand with this game. As a game in and of itself, Myst is complete
genius and I will always give it a grade A. At the time of its release,
it was the most original idea with the most amazing visuals and sound.
So times changed, and games became more advanced – but was it really
necessary to update the technology (only marginally at that) and re-release
Myst under the heading of being a grand update of the original
blockbuster? In my opinion, no. If anything, I felt like this version
of Myst should have had the sub-heading “Abridged”
instead of “Masterpiece” due to the silly addition of the
hint engine. My advice, if you want to play an updated version of
Myst, go dust off your copy realMyst now that you’ve
purchased that fancy new video card. (And for all you Mac users, realMyst
for Mac shipped on April 10.) All you get with Myst Masterpiece
is pretty new box art.

Grade: C-

If you liked Myst Masterpiece
then:

Read: All three
of the Myst companion novels
Watch: The upcoming Myst mini-series
Play: Amerzone
(What? Did you think I was going to say Riven?)
Another Amerzone
review

System Rrequirements:

PC
Pentium 75 (133 recommended)
Win95/98
DirectX 6.1 or higher
QuickTime 4.0 or higher
16 Megs ram (32 Megs ram recommended)
4x CD-ROM
DirectX compatible sound card and DirectX compatible video card capable
of 24 bit or better color graphics at 640 x 480
30 megs of HD space
Mouse

Mac
PowerPC Mac
16 MB installed
640 x 480 color monitor, thousands of colors (millions of colors recommended)
4x CD-ROM drive
MacOS 7.5.5 or later
75 MB hard disk space
QuickTime 2.5 or better