Myst IV: Revelation (boxed spoilers)

Cafe Society
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My husband and I just finished beating Myst IV: Revelation and while I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience (because playing all the Myst games has become a fun tradition), I have a few nitpicks this time.

All the worlds are wonderful and beautifully unique, but there were a few movie sequences that I felt were far too long. It was as if the creators were saying “Hey, look at this! Look how pretty and interesting it is!” For example:

the final elevator ride in Spire and the chair ride in Haven (Both of which you could relive through the amulet. Why?); the entrance into the first Dream sequence (Wtf is that song?! It felt so out of place!)

Also, you do a heck of a lot of work in both Spire and Haven and your final reward is a colored medallion and how to operate a strange snake lock? Both I found to be a bit of a let down. Yes, you need those answers, but I wanted more for my hard work.

And while I like an ending where you must make an important choice, I felt this one where you must choose to trust either Yeesh or Achenar was not as nerve-wracking as the ending for Myst III: Exile.

So, what happens now that Sirrus and Achenar are dead? Is this the final game? Who would be the next villain? Another traveler with evil intentions?

How did Revelation make you feel? Did you have a revelation? How did it compare to the previous Mysts? And does anyone else get tired of Atrius just saying “thanks, my friend”?

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I am such a dolt…I borrowed a friend’s Myst (game one) and spent two weeks roaming around the island like some clown at a Club Med. Didn’t figure out diddle.

Finally gave him the game back.

Very impressed that you two just zip through these things!

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Hi, RitzyRae, always good to meet another Myst fan.
(/Slight Hijack: Have you played Grim Fandango? It’s awesome! /End Hijack)

As for Revelation, while I don’t think it was as good as Riven or Exile, I did play it immediately after playing URU, which made Revelation positively shine in comparison.

Some of the cut scenes were a bit long; but OTOH I loved being able to take pictures and make notes. (In fact, early on I was able to print the pictures but somehow I lost that ability. Were you able to do anything along those lines?) I also liked the memory necklace and the many subtle references to the earlier games - it really gave the game a sense of history.

I especially liked being able to re-visit Atrus’ study from Exile and finally finding out where the other door (the one to Catherine’s lab).

I liked Haven a lot so I didn’t mind the payoff, but Spire was just too damn hard

Were any clues provided for controlling Sirrus’ rock ship? I was forever figuring that one out.

Also,

I though that the bit in the beginning where Atrus and the player calibrate the Imager was to set up the climax; that is, the final puzzle would involve the player and Atrus working together somehow. Much better than one more, “Thanks, my friend” don’t you think?

As for what happens next…

There’s a lot of possibilities. A evil traveler, sure, or Saavedro might return, or Gehn could escape. They could also pick up a post-URU story line, or even a pre-Myst one.

All-in-all, an excellent game.

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Thanks. I was starting to hear the crickets chirping on this thread, and I was going to be seriously disappointed since I have no gaming friends (other than the hubby, of course). Yes, Riven and Exile were better. I skipped Uru because I just heard too many bad/weird things about it, and I didn’t want to spoil my warm fuzzy Myst feelings.

Being able to take pictures and make notes was great, though I often reverted to my old habit of paper and pencil when I felt the need to sketch out symbols or work out number sequences. (Never attempted to print any pics; my printer sucks.) I also really appreciated the “jump to” zip feature. That came in very handy in Spire. At times I still wanted the “linear” zip back when I wanted to jump just a few screens, but I’m not sure if that really would have worked out well. The amulet was a great addition to the game and was useful numerous times throughout. It could really benefit someone who steps away for the game for extended periods of time (days, even weeks perhaps) and not lose a whole lot of information.

We freaked out when our spirit guide gave us the colored triangle solution and said we would never see it again. <Picture us scribbling like mad here!> Then when you approach the puzzle door in the old memory chamber, you can click the amulet and see it again. I just didn’t remember Myst being that nice in that past, which was part of the attraction for me.

I also felt that the difficulty of the puzzles was fairly on par with the previous games. Spire was… unkind, to say the least.

No, I don’t think there were any out-right clues about Sirrus’ rock ship, such as a piece of paper explaining it. There was a tiny mark on the “console” gage in both the garden and the docking station that indicated where the ball representing the ship should hover. The only other somewhat indirect clue I can think of was the experiment on Sirrus’ desk in the garden. I must credit my husband for always being able to light/power the appropriate amount of crystals repeatedly as we moved the ship up and down, up and down.

Oh the Imager:

Yes, yes, yes, “my friend!” What was the point of calibrating the imager with Atrus, other than to have a little quality face time with him or a warm-up exercise? Also, I hoped dialing him on Riam (sp?) was going to play a more important role other than telling me to have Yeesh do her homework. I was truly hoping that Atrus and the traveler would work together in the end just like you mentioned. I was utterly disappointed to hear him just say thanks again. Atrus and Catherine’s butts would be in a sling if we weren’t there. They never do anything!

And:

We didn’t spend a ton of time on Tomahna, but I know the locked door in Catherine’s lab that you are talking about. Do you access it from Atrus’ study?

I think all your ideas concerning possible continuations are very plausible. Good for you for remembering stuff like that. I would still recommend Myst IV to anyone who is interested, though I would hope they would start with the original and work their way up. I really enjoy myself each and every time I play Myst. In fact, I think it’s time I replayed Exile, my personal favorite.

[slight hijack] What is this Grim Fandango? I must know![/end slight hijack]

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I plan to buy a DVD player for my computer solely so that I can play Myst IV. Glad to hear the positive reviews here (so to speak…I didn’t read any of the spoilers).

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Yes, please do! And no worries, the spoilers only contained answers to puzzles and the like. They weren’t hiding any bad secrets about the game. Overall, it is truly enjoyable.

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[slightly larger hijack] Grim Fandango, IMHO, is the gold standard for computer adventure games.

You play Manny Calavera, a travel agent in the Land of the Dead. His job is to get new arrivals (the newly deceased) to their final resting place in the Ninth Underworld. When the game opens, Manny (via some underhanded manuvering) has landed the perfect client, Mercedes Colomar, a woman with enough spiritual capital to get them both out of purgatory and on the glory train. In true film noir fashion, Mercedes disappears; as Manny investigates, he uncovers a web of deceit and corruption at the Department of Transportation.

The game excels in all areas: graphics, sound, music, acting, puzzles, and I can’t say enough about the plot. I played it the first time for the puzzles, and twice more for the story, which is dramatic and funny with unexpected twists and turns. Imagine **Casablanca ** or **Double Indemnity ** based on Mexican folklore and with a set design based on Aztec art.

If you like Myst, you’ll like Grim Fandango. [/end hijack]

I’m replaying Riven at the moment, myself.

Remember the beginning from Exile? You’re in a sun room or porch where Catherine is playing with baby Yeesha. Straight ahead are the doors to Atrus’ study, and to the right was a locked door (in Exile at least). That door leads to Catherine’s lab (which is locked in Revelation).