Myst-y Ramblings

Cafe Society
1

I used to be a text-adventure addict. I lived for Zork; the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was the first game I bought with my own money. Nord and Berts was brain candy. When computer games went all graphical and FPSish, I was truly disappointed; I thought the days of good, brain exercising gaming were over. Then I found Myst, and I was happy again. I was skeptical at first, but eventually I found that the fact that it was pretty didn’t mean that it was just a pretty face.

After Myst, there was Riven, and I was thrilled. Even more beautiful, more alive than Myst (moving water? How amazing!) and great gameplay, beautiful story telling. After Exile came out, I was committed for life. There was nothing that could touch this level of artistry, this amazing approach to (blegh) interactive fiction.

And then there came Uru.

Am I alone in thinking Uru does not belong in the Myst franchise? It’s awful, horrendous, painful… The game play is tedious, so much so that I can’t be bothered to play the friggin thing again. I bought the game on its release date. I installed it, and played through the intro level. Ended up visiting each of the levels beyond that, before turning the thing off in boredom. Months later, desperate for something fun to do, I decide to give it another shot. Still can’t get into the game, it’s just so mind-numbingly dull and pointless that I can’t be bothered. This one is what I was afraid Myst was going to be: all looks. (And sound. One area that this game, as the others before it, shines in is the soundtrack). I’ve pretty much written Uru off as unplayable, and not worth the trouble.

So that when I saw Myst IV: Revelations was coming out -

A quick aside. Is it an intentional disownment(?) of Uru that they’re naming Revelations IV, when technically, Uru should have been IV? There was Myst; Riven: The Sequel to Myst; Myst III: Exile; Uru (Ages Beyond Myst) and now Myst IV… Hmmm.

Anyway. I saw that Revelations was coming out, and with no small amount of trepidation, downloaded the demo. Would it be another disappointment on the scale of Uru? Would it be another horrid avatar-based game? But I downloaded it, and I held my breath, and I played the demo.

I have to say, I’m highly relieved - ecstatic even. This appears to be much more “old-school” Myst - they even brought back the Zip function. As well, there are cool new features - like being able to take snapshots of items (like journal pages!) and record your notes in-game. This is great for someone who never fails to lose her stinking game notebook (or doesn’t record some crucial piece of info and has to traipse back to the right world to get it). So I have hope again. On September 28th (my birthday, fittingly) I’ll be waiting to get my copy, and give the franchise one more try.

But I’m just curious: am I alone in my loathing for Uru? Should I give it one more try? Is there redemption beyond a few puzzles of mundanity? A moment where I can breathe a sigh of relief and say “Finally, this is where it gets good?”

Does anyone know a good reason why Uru wasn’t named IV? Are UbiSoft et al publicly shunning Uru? Did someone just mess up?

2

AFAIK, Uru was supposed to be “Myst online.” You could work with other players to solve puzzles, and in exchange for additional fees you could download new Ages to explore.

That was the plan, anyway. It didn’t turn out so well, as you noted.

3

I can’t speak about Uru – I never got the dang game to work. I loved the first three, as you did. Knowing this, my son bought me Uru as a gift. According to the box, it works on computers less powerful than ours (including the graphics processor). On installation, and reading the README file, it doesn’t work on our computer (the graphics is the issue). On reading reviews of it (many like yours), I didn’t think it was worth buying a different graphics card just for this game – especially as I have no other programs we’re looking to buy that would need a graphics upgrade.

At any rate, it would have to have had a good one-player story; it isn’t as if I have any interest in playing online.

I’m looking forward to the next stand-alone Myst installment, though.

That is, if it will work on my computer.

4

Yes, exactly my problem too. My computer is not quite an antique model but I needed a new graphics card to make Uru run. Although I loved the Myst series I’m not going to get into the upgrade scenario to play a game when the 'puter is perfectly adequate otherwise.
Sorry, I can’t help you with your question about Uru.

5

Part of it is that two different companies are making the games, which Ubisoft then distributes. Uru and Myst IV are not by the same people; Myst IV is from the people who made Exile, though.

I played Uru all the way through, and liked it OK. It wasn’t as good, that’s for sure, but I don’t know enough to be as disappointed as others are. The interface was bad, esp. the no zip mode. Looking forward to Myst IV, but the demo was too short.

6

I liked Uru, it fulfilled my hopes for a Myst game in that there was plenty to explore. The additional pack was good, though had some tough puzzles. The most recent add-on pack (which I had to pay for) was really crappy though. Unfinished and pointless.

I will be buying Myst IV, as it follows a more traditional Myst style, like that of Exile, and is meant to be even more graphically breathtaking than anything else ever. And being a CG afficionado, I can’t resist.

7

Pardon the tangent, but how linked are the plots and stories of these games? I’ve been itching for a good game to get sucked into, and I’m thinking Myst IV sounds like it just might be the ticket, but I haven’t played the others - how big a deal is that? If it helps, I’m vaguely aware of the general plot of the first game, with the father and the sons and the book pages and whatnot.

8

They’re definitely linked, but not inextricably so, I don’t think. I definitely think that you could easily play the third one without ever having played the others and enjoy the game completely - each game usually offers you a little bit of backstory anyway, and they’re not really linear in any sense, they do a little bit of time-jumping. In other words, not knowing the story won’t affect your ability to solve the puzzles; they’re just regular logic puzzles, no legacy knowledge needed.

9

Each game set in different ages with different characters(what few there are), and most of the game is pretty much just exploring and figuring out puzzles to proceed. None are that big on story, and what there is mostly discovered by finding journals and reading them.

10

Uru is one of those games that I will finish someday, just because it’s, you know, Myst. Got thoroughly enraged by the
basket puzzle
 and that kinda broke my spirit for any other puzzles. I have no clue how I was supposed to properly figure out the glowing hexagon puzzle . And then I couldn’t figure out the obvious levers and rising platforms puzzle because by then I was expecting that only a pulled-out-of-the-ass interpretation of the clues would work.

That’s where my save is at now. Maybe one day if I’ve been kicked in the head by a horse I’ll come back to it the puzzles will make sense to me.

11

First impression of URU- wow they sure can cram a lot on one CD. Second impression- I can make an avatar that looks reasonably like me. After that- very disappointing gameplay. Bring on Myst 4.

12

After seeing this thread, I downloaded the Myst IV demo. It looks like its going to be a cool game.

Am I missing something or does the demo end after just one puzzle? The download was quite huge for 10 minutes of play. I have not played the series before so I am guessing that there may be branching stories somewhere.

13

Yeah, I thought the same thing… After all this download, this is all there is? But sadly, yes, that’s it.

I’m hoping that’s a sign of how much work went into the game itself - the demo was excellent.