Myst: A Retrospective View

Myst, is not a game many people know about. And of those who know what it is, even fewer like the game. The reason for this is Myst is (as some have dubbed) a Interactive Slide Show. The game itself consists of hundreds, if not thousands of pre-rendered stills; each representing a point of view.

It needs to be pointed out that back when Myst came out (around 1995), this was the limit of most hardware. And hardware that was capable of 3D even had limits.

Never the less, I'm one of the few that likes this game and feel like giving it a little attention.

Overview

Myst is one of the first point and click adventure games and (if Wikipedia is to be believed) also encouraged the adoption of CD-ROMs in computers, the game itself needing two in an age where most games came on floppy disks.

Myst starts out in a 'push in' approach; where you are thrown right in with no explaination as to how you ended up there. You find yourself on a strange island called Myst where books are portals to other worlds like Myst.

Shortly after arriving on Myst, you learn of a tragedy that has befallen Myst and you also find two brothers trapped in such books. It is up to the player to solve puzzles both on Myst and on subsequent worlds (which are accessible via other books) inorder to unravel the mystery.

Design

Myst is a hub-based game; Myst Island acts as the main hub where you go to and from other worlds via books found after solving various puzzles. The puzzles themselves are a work of art. In Myst, puzzles are not restricted to visual or mathematical problems, that also incorporate sounds.

While innovative for it's time, it still had one major problem. While the game was full of puzzles, the story to the game was thin and spread out even thinner between puzzles. The two combine together to give plenty of frustration and will drive away many players.

Story

The story to Myst is told by finding journals, loose notes, and the odd holographic player. But the main elements of the story are told from two brother's; Sirrus and Ackenar who have been trapped inside the many books on Myst. As the game progresses they reveal more as to what happens to them.

The catch is one accuses the other wrong doing and it is up to the player to eventually tell who is telling the truth. The player has to carefully take into consideration what the two say and what they have found as they play the game.

Graphics and Sound

One of the features of Myst was the high level of detail and creativity of art in the still images that provided the game's visuals. In one world you find yourself in a wide ocean covered world where all living spaces are up in tall slender trees. In another you find yourself of a large rock spire with half a ship sticking out of it.

To complement the graphics, hand made sounds are used (they didn't use a sound effects CD, or so I know at the time of writing). While in organic areas, the world is full the sounds of running water, soft breezes and the groan of tree wood. One the more 'metalic' worlds, you sound make the same shift. Wind sounds, for example, more 'manufactured', as though it is no longer to follow natural forces.

Overall

While not the top sell we see now, Myst is still very much a cult classic. In spite the issues of the long runs of story threatening to make the story collapse, the game is still able to hold itself together. While there are many puzzles, they are also challenging thus making us more determined to get the better of them. But the key feature of Myst is the detail behind the visuals and sounds. Sometimes I like to close my eyes and imagine myself in one of those worlds.