RealMyst: Masterpiece Edition Review

Have you ever felt like you are escaping into a different world whenever reading a book? In Myst this is litterally what happens. You find an unusual book named Myst, and by reading it is sucked into the world with the same name. Landing on Myst Island you have no other option than to explore the mystical island. Wandering through the scenery you can spot all kinds of different things. One of the newest additions on the island is the grave of Ti’ana (the wife of the main protagonist of the game).  At some point you stumble into the library where two books are placed – a red and a blue. These books are traps which binds Sirrus and Achenar, the two sons of Ti’ana and Atrus.

Atrus has the power of writing books that binds worlds, making you able to transport yourself between them. These worlds are known as Ages. Within the trap books both Sirrus and Achenar will tell the player that their father is dead and each of them blame each other for it. They both ask the player to help them escape from the trap. The entire message of the brothers is missing, and in order to figure out the full messages the player needs to locate the missing pages. This is done through puzzles. You visit the different Ages and find the red or blue pages, and return to the main island and placing the pages in the respective books in able to progress the story of the brothers.

When the player has found four pages of either books the brother tells the player that they need to find a fifth hidden page in order to free them. Here the player has the choice of either freeing Sirrus or Achenar – or choose to leave them both trapped within the books. The player has to judge by himself from the clearer message they recieve and decide what to do. The final two pages for the brothers trap-book is found alongside a green book, a book the brothers pleads the player not to touch, ensuring it is another trap-book like their own. If the player chooses to ignore the warning of the brothers they are greeted with Atrus, who is trapped within the book in a world called D’ni. Atrus asks the player to bring him a final page of his own which is hidden on Myst island. He needs it in order to bring his sons to justice.

There are several endings to the game. It all depends on whom you choose to help. If you desire to help either of the brothers you will end up freeing him, and taking his place trapped inside the book. If you travel to D’ni without the last page needed to free Atrus you will be trapped inside D’ni with him, much to his annoyance. If you give the last page to Atrus he is released from his prison, and you can later find the books of the two brothers burned and destroyed.

Myst is among the OG’s of point-and-click games. The original game came out in 1993, and has since been considered among the best games ever made. It withheld the title as the most sold video game in nine years until beated by The Sims in 2002. It was because of Myst (alongsides The 7th Guest) that sales of CD-ROM drives accelerated. In that regards Myst is an important piece of gaming history. Following the success of Myst it has spawned a multimedia franchice with a bunch of follow-up games (and of course remasters of the original) and a couple of books. The whole point-and-click genre has a lot to be thankful about in regards to Myst.

A lot of the Myst experience is focused on exploring. The game setting is beautiful, and the remastered editions really shows this. The first Myst game was, for it’s time, a beautiful and interesting game. It functioned in the slide-show way of moving your character – static images you move between. In RealMyst: Masterpiece Edition you can choose to play the game in either Classic Myst-mode or a Free-Roam mode where everything is in 3D. Opting for the ladder really does make the Ages of Myst wonderful to travel inbetween.

When taking a closer look at the puzzles the game throws your way they are hard. You will most likely need pen and paper to take notes throughout the game. Reading the texts are important. Thinking outside the box is important. More of then than not you will encounter a puzzle you cannot solve right away. There is a lot of planning for the puzzles, and you are probably going to end up travelling between the Ages quite a bit. If you can get past these hiccups you are in for a great game. Since the game originally came out in 1993 it might not be up to standards for newer players of the genre, but if you, like me, remember the game from your childhood the remastered edition is a wonderful experience.

The graphics of the game, as mentioned, are stunning. The different Ages has a lot of different environments – all from a sandy desert to a beautiful forest. Every Age has it’s own unique style, music and puzzles. A favorite of mine is the Lighthouse, where you complete different water puzzles whilst listening to the sound of the rain falling outside in the dark. In effect, the ambient sounds used throughout the game fits very well and are nicely done. The same goes for the music, a fitting classical score. Lastly the story of the game is interesting – it builds up the further you complete the puzzles, expanding on what you already know and making you actively do a few choices that alters the ending of the game.

All in all Myst is an A+ game. It is difficult, it is beautiful and it has a good story. It might not hit the spot for newcomers to point-and-click games, but it is indeed one of the most important games in the genre. For that reason alone you should experience the game. Luckily a lot of walkthroughs and hint-pages has sprung up ever since 1993 making it less unfair to get stuck on a puzzle. So there really is no excuse, is there?