Is MYST Still Good... 30 Years Later?

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It's been 30 years since Cyan released MYST. Does the old video game still hold up in a modern context?
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[@tayzonday]

To contextualize Myst, it’s very helpful to play Cyan’s earlier title - “The Manhole” - on an old mac.

[@emeraed]

"The Manhole?" Nuh uh, I'm not falling for that again.

[@ezequielmiranda231]

It’s the legend! 😮

[@RXHMND]

THE TAY ZONDAY BRO???

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

Chocolate Rain Cleans the sewers out, rivens manholes. Chocolate Rain Wherein Myst d'you get stuck?

[@Psychol-Snooper]

@@emeraed you saved me from making a less creative joke.

[@mystman1210]

You should definitely check out Riven when the remake comes out, because that game basically perfected what Myst started. Whereas Myst's puzzles largely feel arbitrary, Riven's puzzles actually have reasons to exist in the world and story and require understanding the world rather than just finding a clue randomly hidden somewhere.

[@yansa1966]

This exactly

[@NewExile]

Riven was my first Myst game beyond messing about in the demo and it probably remains my favourite.

[@chelsuh614]

Omg you just unlocked a core memory. I forgot about Riven!😊

[@Headywon]

Riven is by far the best Myst title, I still go back to it every once in a while

[@electronicsaxman1]

Myst is kindergarten easy compared to the Doctorate level Riven which is essentially comprised of one giant super puzzle. I don’t think it is going to be a much better experience for anyone who hated the puzzles in Myst.

[@ThetaReactor]

Myst has got to be some subconscious memetic seed that led directly to the modern fascination with liminal spaces. I never got into the gameplay of it, but that game has got one hell of a vibe.

[@4fives992]

Myst is the kind of game you can only fully experience going in blind. I feel that the atmosphere and mystique really hits hard when you have no idea what anything does.

[@zenithquasar9623]

It really is about the atmosphere and the environmental story telling first and foremost.

[@stevejordan2840]

I agree. It was the mystery of the whole thing that grabbed me.

[@zerpblerd5966]

that's not good, that's gimmick

[@okitasan]

@@zerpblerd5966erhaps you can call it a gimmick now, but when the game came out there was nothing else with that kind of atmosphere. To know why Myst was great requires some time period-specific context, and I don’t think it can really be fully appreciated if you’re coming it at for the first time in 2023 (or hell, even in 2003). Indeed there was nothing else like it in general. I remember as a kid it wasn’t even the puzzles that made it fun (I used a guidebook), I just enjoyed losing myself in the atmosphere of the world. Riven is a much better example that may hold up better-but there’s still a significant factor that’s lost taking it out of its release date context. These days, we get the kind of atmospheric and engrossing, “I wonder what mysterious thing I might discover next” experience from open world games like Red Dead Redemption 2, Skyrim, Assassin’s Creed, Zelda BoTW, etc but back then there wasn’t really anything else like it

[@zerpblerd5966]

@@okitasan no stop with all the assumptions and delusions I have been a gamer since atari, born in 1981, got our first PC in 1986 and I played public domain games from the 1970s and play games to this day I was totally around and aware when Myst came out - no, the atmosphere was and still is mleh now, The 7th Guest, that has and still has TONS of atmosphere, and is in all ways a better game, and it's only decent, but, in the context of the times when they were released, the experiences No, you were likely just caught up in the graphical vanity that was Myst, and the hype. it's not a good game and if you think it has good atmosphere you are just nostalgiac for the 'awe' and 'wonder' YOU experienced whenever you played it

[@tessiepinkman]

This was a game that me and my parents sat together in front of the computer and played. It became a family thing, and for me, that's the way it's supposed to be played - either with family or friends. It's a social thing. Of course it can be fun to grind it alone, but when you play it as a group effort, it becomes something else. People see different things, different patterns and that helps. I remember many laughs and quite a few frustrating moments - but it was always FUN. So, that's my best advice to anyone who wants to play through this game. Play it together with people and have fun!

[@entirelybonkers8832]

This is how we played too!

[@ZeekerssRBLX]

I remember that Riven did an impressive job at justifying its puzzles within the lore of the world, in a way that felt like the "puzzles" and world-building were almost the same or at least hand-in-hand. That's mind-bogglingly hard to do, and most games don't try very hard at all

[@GameDevDavid01]

That! I used that exact subject for my essay in Level Design class.

[@HeisenbergFam]

Puts a smile on my face there are still people appreciating good old 1990s classics

[@Cats_Are_Scary]

If you like 90’s games try Interstate ‘76 if you haven’t already. Interstate ‘76 and Fallout I and II were my favorite 90’s games.

[@SnarkNSass]

Just everywhere 😂

[@amydoesart3724]

They still are Really good, i for myself play doom almoast everyday

[@SarkasmMedia_Studios]

Hey

[@Zalinki]

Sup cuh

[@MeerkatChris]

I never got far in Myst, but I always remember going back to it terrified because of the eerie silence walking around that first isolated & deserted island (always felt like someone was watching me). It's such a cold feeling game that always sent shivers down my spine when exploring in it as a kid... Was also one of the only games I remember my Mum seeking out and playing herself

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

That aspect was more or less an accident to some extent. More recent revisions of the game added in a lot of the stuff that they couldn't render at the time. For example, more recent versions have a day night cycle and IIRC, water effects on the ocean that weren't there previously. It doesn't change the core game, but it does give it a different, and somewhat less creepy, feel.

[@TillyOrifice]

@@SmallSpoonBrigade That's a pity, the creepy feel was the great thing about it.

[@ChiriVulpes]

As someone who was never able to finish the games from this series when I was younger, by recommendation I recently got a pen and paper and completed Riven from start to finish, solving the puzzles on my own. It was absolutely amazing, one of the best experiences I'd had in a long time. I then moved back to Myst to see how it held up, and I gave up in about an hour. The games may be in the same genre, and the same series, but they are literally nothing alike, and it's honestly tragic how much more people go into the series of games nowadays with Myst instead of Riven. Only one of them manages to hold up at all to modern game design

[@princessmaly]

I had a similar experience. Myst was really intriguing to me, something aboot the kind of surrealistic world made up of these contrasting parts all pasted together as this huge question mark that you were left alone with to figure out at your own pace, it was such a compelling idea. But none of it ever made any sense to me, as a design aesthetic it was incredibly appealing but as gameplay Myst just being a bunch of random nonsense puzzles irritated me and turned me off. Meanwhile, I played through Riven and became instantly engrossed in it. There was this whole culture to explore, with bizarre creatures and all the rest. The puzzles were still kind of over my head at the time, but I got through stuff with the help of a walkthrough, and when the stuff came together it really felt like it made the world bigger and more interesting to me. It's been a long time since I've played it now, but I still remember it really fondly. I'd definitely be way more interested in a remake of Riven than Myst.

[@trapez77]

Sure you did

[@ThatGastrodon]

Riven seriously is a masterpiece that still holds up today. It's a shame it's largely overshadowed by Myst

[@--uday]

@@trapez77 lmao is it really that hard to believe that someone played through *gasp* an entire video game?

[@blaykerietman6965]

@@--uday shut up dude.

[@adanufgail]

Last year I replayed all of the copies of Myst that I own to get the Steam achievements, and found that the single biggest reason I think it was successful (and Riven captures this game design decision as well) was that while the thing that you were manipulating often wasn't directly within the same eyeline as the thing that would show you results, they were never far, and were always intrinsically linked. When you moved the tree elevator in the log cabin (where every other structure is metal or brick), you heard it, and could see it as soon as you went outside. The water draining puzzle in the Stoneship age has an umbrella over it and in the background you can see the ocean. It has an audio cue, and you can see the hallway down into the mountain within two clicks if that was the button you pressed, showing the player the purpose.

[@beastmastreakaninjadar6941]

Yeah. Like, *click*, "Hey! What's that rumbling? Let's go look." Absolutely a big part of it.

[@stargazerbird]

Yes, using audio as clues was so rewarding and new

[@cyanmanta]

Myst works well as a group effort. Your friends may think differently to you, so one of you may spot a pattern before the others. It can be maddening to play solo even if you're good at this type of game.

[@SpriteGuard]

I think that was a major part of its success that gets missed easily. It wasn't a game people played alone, it was the whole family huddled around the computer. It was trading secrets on the playground. It was a social experience in a way most multiplayer and "social" games can't even touch.

[@gamagama69]

you know what that actually kinda sounds fun. ive played a few puzzle games like that and its always been a good time

[@kentslocum]

My siblings and I would play the Nancy Drew games together, helping each other with the parts we got stumped on. My brother was good at cracking codes, I was good at organizing and categorizing items, and my sisters were all good at combing every scene for hidden clues or interactive objects.

[@olik136]

I played the game together with the neighbor kids.. it was a group effort spanning months... no internet to looks stuff up.. took us days just to navigate that train maze using a notebook and a pencil to map out the entire thing.. wrongly.. I also remember hating the endings and the best ending had easiest but hardest to miss solution..

[@deeplyshalllow8967]

My friend and I just finished Myst the other day doing this and it was a lot of fun!

[@woodencoyote4372]

I cannot begin to explain how big a role Myst and especially the sequel Riven played in my family's relationship with early home computers. Everyone played at least one or all of the series. Even my mother who has not played another PC or videogame in her life since, played Myst. I missed the beginning of the big family Christmas dinner because I was watching the climactic final cut-scene with Gehn, and when my parents were going to tell me off my aunt cut in to explain that it was really important to the story and she totally whiffed that puzzle the first time and Gehn was a real jerk about it...

[@bilbo1778]

So true! Another video game as ubiquitous and enjoyed by non-gamers as Myst didn't come along until Wii Sports in 2006 which is pretty remarkable when you think of how unapproachable and esoteric Myst truly is as a video game. It's can't be understated how absolutely AMAZING Myst appeared with what we believed to be photo-realistic graphics back in 1993 powered by the nascent CD-ROM drive when the most graphically impressive competition like Wolfenstein & Doom looked like 2.5D cartoons in comparison. This is even more true when your average non-gamer when thinking of videos games in the abstract would think of Pac-Man or Super Mario Bros to only be blown away by seeing Myst for the 1st time in a demo kiosk in their local specialty toy-shop or big box electronics store.

[@seanposkea]

Yes. I'm a college professor teaching Unreal and 3D tools and I try to explain MYST to my students and I realize you just had to be there. Compare MYST with Hellblade II or AC Mirage and you can see a connection, however distant. But compare it to Final Fantasy III or Super Mario or other big 90s games, 8-bit sprite side scrollers, and it looks like a different species.

[@nerd26373]

MYST seems like a fascinating masterpiece to analyze. We appreciate the fact that you've really gone out of your way to make great content for us. Keep up the good work.

[@terrylandess6072]

While unintentional, he does a good job of showing how experiences are continually 'watered down' for simplicity. It's the same thing one hears lately from the 'Dark Souls' camp of too hard. So many have complained the series is also becoming easier compared to the early offerings. Same thing - different times.

[@WasatchWind]

I never played Myst, but my sisters were really into the Nancy Drew games and me and my brother often watched. Very similar, a bit more advanced, I'd say, but still navigating pre rendered environments and solving a lot of puzzles. They were strangely fun to spectate because we all got to try to figure out the mystery (and laugh at the interesting voice acting.)

[@kentslocum]

My siblings and I have played almost every single Nancy Drew game, and I love how the storytelling more than makes up for the sometimes superfluous puzzles. I especially appreciate the fact that most Nancy Drew games let the player choose the difficulty level. The company that produces and publishes the Nancy Drew games, Her Interactive, also recently published a Myst-style game made by a different developer. Because I trusted Her Interactive, I gave Odyssey a try, and was not disappointed. It's not a Nancy Drew game, but because Odyssey is a Myst-style educational game, the story takes a back seat to the clever puzzles and excellent educational value. For anyone interested in trying out a modern Myst-style game that's not frustrating to finish, I'd recommend Odyssey. For those who are up to a bit more of a mind-bending challenge (or one in gorgeous VR), I'd recommend Obduction, a recent title that has a first-rate puzzle system and a fantastic story to boot.

[@staticradio724]

I played nearly all the Nancy Drew games before "graduating" to Myst. (Although I am still a fan of both series.) It was quite the wakeup call. Cue 16-year-old me realizing with dawning horror that I don't have a task list anymore.

[@WasatchWind]

@@staticradio724 my sisters mostly just gave up on Nancy Drew puzzles once they realized that they could just use the internet xD

[@NinjaPirateJedi]

Was going through the whole video thinking "Does he know about Firmament coming out?" Hahaha! Myst itself was the first, and possibly only game(series) that my dad actually played. Having little-to-no time after working at the hospital, it was exactly the game he needed. No wasted time grinding xp, repeating levels due to death, or developing hand-eye-coordination. He simply wanted an immersive interactive space with some ambient music and puzzle solving. I do think lots of the puzzle logic and story get smoothed out as Cyan grew as a company, and when I told him about Firmament, my tired ol' dad actually lit up and added it to his Steam wishlist. It's really the only genre of game he wants to play.

[@better.better]

Quake 3 arena was the perfect wind-down game... no thinking necessary... as long as you didn't care about winning or losing. just jump in and blow things up for 20 minutes at a time until you're ready to call it a night. some people just can't let go though and take it too seriously. we used to spend hours not even in a match just trying to rocket jump up the places we weren't supposed to actually be able to go to. some random player would come in and ready up, and eventually leave because we are all just still trying to rocket up to a floating skull lamp😂. learned a lot of crazy hidden nooks and crannies doing that though

[@midori_the_eldritch]

I would also let him know about obduction then, it's the most recent release, and as far as I can tell it's it's own thing. Definitely some rough edges, especially around some paths not being visible, but worth playing

[@bernadmanny]

Has he played 'The Witness'?

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

Games back then tended to have a lot less filler and were a lot easier to play in short spurts on the whole.

[@PixelatedH2O]

The 2016 game The Witness is directly inspired by Myst, according to the game's director. I highly recommend it. It's much more forgiving, and the puzzles are of a different type, but it definitely has the vibes of Myst in its genes.

[@Nosmirk]

Don't have a myst feel at all with the Witness. Got annoyed by the same kinda puzzles over and over again.

[@iSmartMan1]

This is wonderful timing, considering Cyan's new game Firmament is coming out in a few days

[@YouFightLikeACow]

Forget tears of the kingdom. Firmament is the release of the year.

[@iSmartMan1]

@@YouFightLikeACow I wouldn't go that far, but I definitely feel sorry for Cyan releasing Firmament so close to Tears of the Kingdom

[@jamescole6846]

Thanks for that tip, I'm an old gamer. That looks good.

[@beastmastreakaninjadar6941]

I don't know. Obduction was so disappointing that I haven't bothered keeping up with Firmament's progress. I'll take another look. But I don't have high hopes about it. I had to wait until I could afford a PC that would run Obduction. That's a non-starter for me now. Gonna have to look at the reviews first, also.

[@beastmastreakaninjadar6941]

Yeah. Looked at the reviews. Apparently it's really pretty with tedious, unimaginative puzzles and lacking in story and lore. So, it's like what I was afraid it to be. And I can't run it anyway. So I'll pass.

[@soundguydon]

I loved Myst at the time, but the one that really sticks with me even more than Myst is The 7th Guest. For me that was such a *different* and breakthrough type game, with a spooky atmosphere and over-the-top acting.. Freaking loved that game :-)

[@plemli]

I vaguely remember the puzzle with the Y words, one of them being 'tryst'.

[@brinthorne]

Spry gypsy, shyly, slyly, tryst by my crypt. 7th Guest was the best game EVER.

[@salam-peace5519]

I remember playing a game called Physikus in my childhood that had a very similar gameplay, vibe and design as Myst. It also had you solving puzzles and finding things on an abandoned island and also had pre-rendered point and click graphics like Myst. It was meant to teach about physics and science.

[@biggoathorns]

🤡WANT A BALLOON, SONNY? REDDD BALOOOOOOOOONNN

[@ChartingCourse]

My favorite creator... talking about my favourite game series? ...I'VE NOT CLICKED ON A VIDEO FASTER MY LIFE! As a die hard fan of Myst as a series (Riven and EXILE being my favorites), I completely agree with everything you said here. MYST was of course vital in sparking a series and lore that has fascinated and entertained a passionate fan base for years, though its far outdone by its sequels in almost every way. The attention to detail and far better integrated puzzles of Riven truly represent what the Miller brothers wanted out of creating a virtual world. Myst was their first step into creating something bigger and better than their past ventures, but once that released and gave them great success, they had far more room to experiment and truly create something spectacular. I fully agree that its far more exciting to see the new work being put out by Cyan Worlds rather than focusing on nostalgia. Riven's remake is of course fantastic, but the original still holds up (in places) with its photo-realistic textures aging supremely well after 25 years. If you want the best experience, enjoy the original! Thanks for doing a video on this Austin, it was fantastic!

[@orbitalshawn0625]

"Quern-- Undying thought" is one of my top puzzle games. It looks like a spiritual successor to "Mist."

[@nonameless2]

Now I know why its called Myst. Cause its so easy to miss everything That was bad, I know

[@pylonialwaffles6944]

I was not expecting a video on Myst to ever appear in my sub feed. The appeal of Myst: Exile (the only myst game I've played cause it was my first introduction to the series) to me was the unique story, world building, and interesting puzzles.

[@sleantia]

I have great nostalgia for myst. We had it when I was a kid and I remember thinking it was the most beautiful videogame I'd ever seen. Years back me and a friend downloaded and had it running at our seperate computers, as we lived apart. We then skyped and solved the puzzles together, sending savefiles back and forth. Solving the tunnel puzzle is the most insane and most brilliant I've ever felt. My friend got to listen to me remake the sounds and figuring out the directions as I feverishly made notes of my findings. One of the best videogame experiences I've had, but it for sure wouldn't have been as fun, without a friend working at it, at the same time

[@-Teague-]

That's such an awesome memory thank you for sharing

[@beastmastreakaninjadar6941]

lol I had to just keep doing the tunnels randomly until I got through.

[@StabbedPerson]

I cannot even begin to explain how near to my heart and how nostalgic this game makes me. It'll forever be a perfect masterpiece in my book.

[@mtncreekdawn]

In many ways it's a "You had to be there" experience. Seeing it when it first came was a MOMENT. Digital stuff had come so incredibly far since 1993...

[@Katy133]

Thank you for talking about one of the most nostalgic games I remember playing! I enjoyed Cyan's more recent game, Obduction, and I'm looking forward to Firmament.

[@PadensPixels]

Austin McConnell taking on Myst? In less than 11 minutes? I'm here for it!

[@twistedsymphony]

If you like this style of game I also highly recommend Cyans last release from a few years ago: Obduction

[@FransLebin]

Obduction is cool, but you can see the exact place the Kickstarter money ran out and it's kind of sad the game never reached its full potential

[@beastmastreakaninjadar6941]

Despite being pretty for the VR players, Obduction was short and disappointing. Their focus on VR first is the problem. They need to bring it back to the basics of story and gameplay with VR thrown in.

[@salam-peace5519]

In my childhood I played a game called Physikus which was also very similar in style, gameplay and vibe to Myst, it also had you solving puzzles on an abandoned island with pre-rendered point and click graphics.

[@MackerelSkyLtd]

Man, I remember starting Myst back in the day, and after 30 mins I still couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to be doing, so I quit. My sisters and I would play the point and click King’s Quest V, though, and got what felt like a long ways into the puzzles. Turns out we weren’t even 1/10 of the way through and had already messed up to make winning impossible.

[@dannymac653]

It's a classic, but game designers did learn much from it.

[@AndrewCrimefighter]

The thing that always bugged me about myst is that basically all the puzzles are spelled out in the library, but are otherwise just trial and error. So you end up either trivializing every puzzle or you brute force them with no real in-between

[@Stereozentrum]

Great video! I especially appreciate the musical score in the background that cleverly utilizes a lot of Robyn Miller's original themes for Myst. Keep up the good work!

[@Zandanga]

Myst and Reah were two of my very favorite games. Myst for the hypnotic train tunnel rides and story and Reah for the beautiful artistry and sound track. Great creativity early on. Miss the little snare drums in Win98SE, too ...

[@herbertwyndham]

Also, back in the day it was sort of assumed that you'd buy the strategy guide along with the game (glad that isn't the case anymore). So a lot of weird, unintuitive puzzles were more accessible than it seems because you could look up the answer any time you got stuck.

[@PrincessPheej]

An 80's rock band named "Queensryche" made a Myst-like point-and-click adventure/puzzle game as a tie in for their album, "Promised Land" in 1996, and it is one of the strangest and most intriguing games I have ever played. I LOVE IT. To me, Myst walked so that Queensryche's Promised Land and all of its oddities could run...

[@thegodofalldragons]

Last time I played Myst, I was surprised by how well it held up and how fair the puzzles felt. I don't recall needing a walkthrough except for two parts: -In the Age with the boats, there's a secret door hidden in shadow that I have no idea how I was supposed to notice without a guide. -The infamous tunnel maze in the rocketship Age. I actually figured out how you were supposed to navigate it using the sounds you learned in an earlier age. I thought it was clever, and knew I could work out the path given time... but I also didn't want to do that, so I just looked up the correct path and called it close enough to solving it. Then there's Riven, which I got stuck on an hour in. I want to try it again someday, but I'll need the time to sit down and focus, which is hard to come by nowadays.

[@glazdarklee1683]

Yes! I missed that secret door for hours. And as mentioned in my comment, I ended up graphing out the tunnel maze and solving it by brute force.

[@bluewinkle123]

Another great video. I love Myst and the lore is kind of nerdy but good once you get into it. Austin, there's another youtuber called Necrovarius who has done a play through of almost all the Myst games and is working on piecing the lore together. Its a good channel if you're curious about the games and lore, but don't or can't put the time into reading and playing all the games and books yourself. I'm eagerly waiting for his next installment about the lore after just completing the gameplay of Myst 4. Anyways thanks for talking about this old game that it seems has fallen into obscurity. Im also super excited for Cyans Firmament coming out in the next week!!

[@brianriff8550]

I think while it definitely is valid to be put off by Myst's somewhat arbitrary feeling puzzles, it helps to look at them in the context of the story: the world you're exploring is essentially a dead theme park. Atrus built Myst to teach Sirrus and Achenar, and all the Ages are sort of like babysitting spaces for the boys while he was away learning about the D'ni. The puzzles are slightly abstract and strange because he built them for his sons, and now the island has become a prison for the boys it was originally meant to entertain and educate. Framed from this perspective Myst's aesthetics take on a melancholic flavor as you see the dark tragedy of how Atrus's combination of naive optimism and unknowing neglect allowed Sirrus and Achenar to become as monstrous as they are in the events of the plot.

[@chozar]

Very well said.

[@DanielSong39]

If I wanted to explore a dead theme park I'd rather watch the anime Kemono Friends

[@Reiveth]

I played Myst 1-3 (original versions) during lockdown, out of all of them I had the most trouble with the original, Myst 1 is a good stepping stone for greater games, I feel like Riven is the actual masterpiece of the series, and 3 is just downright fun.

[@Tiberon098]

I think what drew me to Myst was the box art work, 90s and 2000s will be the best time for box art work, it is just something about the aesthetic and will always stay with me.

[@AMTunLimited]

I played the 2020 version for the first time a few months ago. I thought it was absolutely amazing

[@bolicob]

I should go back and replay this. I tried it out when i was a kid but i was too dumb to figure the puzzles out. Since then i've quite a number in the genre (The Witness, Out Wilds, even Cyan's Obduction, etc.) so I could probably handle it now. I do, however, remember enjoying watching my dad play Uru - one of the Myst sequels. I should try that one too. Also, the read the official myst lore novels as a kid. I never hear anyone else talk about them but i remember them being very good.

[@jmarshal]

The novels are incredible. I have the special edition books because I originally borrowed the paperbacks off a friend, read them, and realised I had to own them. Not enough people have read the Myst books and it’s such a shame!

[@ressljs]

@@jmarshal I initially enjoyed Myst, but the counter intuitive puzzles eventually made me give up. That said, I found the world intriguing enough that when the novels came out, I snapped them up. I absolutely loved the books. And since it was the story I enjoyed in the game, but not so much the game play, I was content to stick with the books.

[@MegaMetallicaMASTER]

You’re making such incredible videos at the moment mate, keep ‘em coming

[@LuckyBird551]

I remember playing Myst when it came out on my good ol' Quadra... and it was a mind blowing experience. It wasn't like any other video game I had played at the time.

[@ZeeZedZee]

The 2014 remaster of realMyst is hands down the best way to play this game. The 2020 VR remake changes the graphics too much and feels too different.

[@JosephDavies]

I consider the original 2000 realMyst to be the best version, but it has started to look dated unfortunately. It was incredible for 2000. The 2014 remake has a lot of visual shortcuts that make it feel "cheap" to me. The most recent 2020 remake simply changed the tone of the locations too much (why does Myst Island look like it's 120 °F? That's entirely the wrong weather!).

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

I feel like the 2020 VR remake didn't go far enough. It originally had some 3D models and animations for the few human NPCs. But after some fan backlash, Cyan reverted back to the low res 1990s FMV videos. Instead Cyan should've patched that with higher quality models, textures, and animations (Facebook gave them a lot of money to make it an Oculus exclusive) that's fit for 2020. And redone the graphics when Myst VR released on Steam.

[@JosephDavies]

@@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive I agree. I have nostalgia for the original video characters, but it makes sense to use new models in the VR remake. However, the ones they replaced the video with were not an improvement and that fueled a lot of the backlash. It's possible to make it look a lot better in full-3D than they did.

[@ZeeZedZee]

@@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive I hate no issues with the replacements for the FMVs, it’s specifically how the environment looked like a sunny tropical Caribbean island in the new version whereas every previous version felt cool and damp like an island in Puget Sound or something

[@mystman1210]

Nah, the 2014 remake, while more faithful, just doesn't look very nice. It was Cyan's first (And only) attempt working in Unity and it shows. All the materials and shaders just scream "this is a Unity game!" to me. Not enough was done to make it look like its own thing. Not to mention it still uses all the original audio which clashes with the more modern graphics (The OG sound design is fantastic but the low quality audio files only mesh well with the old graphics). The 2020 remake, while having a different atmosphere in some places than the original, still has a *phenomenal* atmosphere and amazing art direction throughout (Save for the rough 3D character models). Most changes are for the better. Honestly I don't see any reason to play the 2014 version when the original and 2020 versions are still available, save for Rime only being in that version (But I think it will probably be added to the 2020 remake at some point in the near future to promote the Riven remake).

[@bunnygrill]

Can i just say that I appreciated "It wasn't perfect" popping up on that sliding musical note puzzle. That thing was the bane of my existence.

[@HappyComfort]

Thank you for going through the basic workings of Myst. I always wondered what it was about. But never got around to finding out. 👍🙂

[@zenithquasar9623]

I played Myst the first time like 4 years ago and I fell in love with the series (and played all of them). It is crazy how it holds up imo. Cannot wait for the Firmament coming out in 2 days!

[@mistertagomago7974]

You should check out Obsidian if you havent already.

[@catherinebeveridge9023]

My father had me download the switch port this past thanksgiving. We spent the holiday weekend on it and you know it’s gone too far when you’re debating the tunnel paths over breakfast for the second day in a row.

[@MAYERMAKES]

myst and even more Riven taught me the concept of getting stuckin in project and needing to press on. as a kid it taught me a valuable life lesson now that I look back at it many years later.

[@cgsweat]

I still remember the fact that you can beat the game in about 1 minute. You start and end almost in the same spot, and the final door has a puzzle or password that if you've memorized (or simply look it up online), will lead to the game's ending.

[@AroundTheBest]

I agree with the analogy that it's like a remote control with no labels. It's about as fun as fumbling in the dark looking for your phone.

[@timseguine2]

I played it again a few years ago. It definitely does a lot of things that are in conflict with modern design sensibilities. The most striking thing for me though was how much easier it was than I remember it being.

[@Zalinki]

These games used to scare the shit out of me as a kid, something about feeling like youre being watched

[@ardvan]

Myst will always be in my heart. Even having some problems with some puzzles. I got the flu after I bought it and as my sleep pattern at that time were messed up I woke up a 2 AM still feeling sick but could no longer sleep and got up to play Myst. It was such a great distraction from the sickness. I remember drawing the paths and forks of the train on a peace of graph paper and solving it this way (I didn't get the audio clues).

[@SpriteGuard]

Myst felt dated the day Riven came out. It's every good idea in Myst the way it should have been. I have never played another game that even comes close to the level of logic and world-integration that Riven has.

[@regularshowman3208]

The original Myst is still pretty good if you ask me but Riven is so much better it’s astonishing. Myst is a classic, Riven is one of the best point and clicks ever made

[@nils7988]

I disagree with the notion that the game doesn’t telegraph its puzzles. Nowadays, video games are often designed for impatient players who struggle to connect complex and logical systems. Myst belongs to a different era, where there were no obvious interactive markers (like an “X”) guiding you on where to click. If you take the time to read the books, follow the clues, and make the effort to think, you’ll realize that Myst provides a puzzle experience that respects its players like no other.

[@KotoCrash]

Totally

[@Skirt553]

The sound tunnels frustrated my cousins too... because they spent months mapping it out... only for tween me to point out that the sounds changed when you clicked certain buttons and that that might be a hint... thus solving the puzzle.

[@karabean]

OMG I remember my pathetic attempt to map everything. 🤣 I liked "The 7th Guest" (which came out a few years later) because the puzzles fit the theme and weren't as abstract. I wish someone would re-release that one!

[@JosephDavies]

I find it interesting that you say The 7th Guest's puzzles were less abstract! I always felt quite the opposite about it. Perhaps the supernatural elements colored my perspective.

[@karabean]

@@JosephDavies maybe it was my goth nature at that time 😅 but I pretty much knew the goal of the puzzle as I encountered it (solving was a whole other problem)!

[@RedXiongmao]

There's a 25th anniversary version on Switch, Steam and GOG, is it different enough to not be the same game? I've never actually played it

[@rommix0]

7th guest came shortly before myst, and were both released in 1993. They were not released a few years apart like you claim.

[@catherine_404]

The original experience for me was miserable. It was slow. It was extremely difficult for a small child and actually also difficult to an adult (my dad who brought the game home). It was disorientating. And on top of that my cd was scratched, so the game kept freezing at some certain point. Recently I found an audiobook on something of these series. And it was, basically, boring, and boringly weird, and somehow disgusting. I appreciate the game as a stepping stone in game history, especially that I felt its newness as I encountered it as it was new to the world, but I strongly dislike it.

[@iamafish7]

Myst is one of those games I appreciate, but do not like.

[@richardparrott7192]

Great retrospective look at this classic! I had the PC original; I did love also the journal that came with the game to keep notes (and actually write notes!) which made this very immersive!

[@travislift963]

The next step for Myst? Building the island IRL

[@andyjohnson4907]

You should play The Witness. It has Myst vibes, but the puzzles are absolutely fantastic.

[@zenithquasar9623]

Or, play Quern!

[@beastmastreakaninjadar6941]

Maaannnn... I have put hours into Witness and I am so stuck. Myst was bad enough with having to just try things randomly. I try not to resort to walkthroughs, but damn. And the ones I've found are unfinished, so I'm still stuck. lol

[@andyjohnson4907]

@@beastmastreakaninjadar6941 Never use a walkthrough. Don't cheat yourself. You'll work it out eventually and feel like the smartest person alive. I'm with you, brother.

[@Weird_but_neat]

Omg I remember watching my brother play that on swag Saturn when we were like…8…he was 15… God nostalgia … We never finished it

[@Weird_but_neat]

Swag? … I stand by what I said

[@LordBloodraven]

To beat Myst without a walkthrough requires a lot of reading, a notepad, pencil and camera. Or insanely accurate, longterm eidetic memory.

[@amarug]

I recently saw that "Riven" was on Steam. I instantly purchased it and started playing. The experience was more than I bargained for. I was instantly sucked back into the worlds of Cyan, they had lost nothing of their magic to me. The landscapes, the music and atmospheres they create, is just absurd. I finished it within two days, and at finishing I completely broke down in tears, I could not handle the overload of emotions it brought back, of my childhood, my late dad who never played but was a bit fascinated about this pretty-looking game and my Mom who always eagerly played them herself. It's crazy how many memories and emotions such a well-made game can store and carry. Back then people said that was "nothing" and you "better go outside instead of wasting your time infront of the screen". Well turns out it was even less of a waste than I already thought it was back then.

[@Hungry-jg6lc]

Interesting title.

[@ronanmcqueary5215]

I gotta admit I’ve never heard of MYST but I gotta say it didn’t hold up at all it was always a trash game

[@thephony1651]

I’m getting mixed signals here

[@sentrysapper45]

I have fond memories of playing Myst with my dad growing up. We'd take turns with one of us moving the player around while the other would help look for switches and clues for the puzzles. It took us nearly five years for various reasons (my dad worked long hours and didn't have much spare time, we didn't have the internet yet so no online hints/walkthroughs, our computer wasn't fully compatible with the game and impeded our progress with various glitches and crashes, etc.), but we finally managed to beat it.

[@amentlik]

@9:02 THAT STINKING SUBMARINE THING!!! I was only 10 when this game came out but as someone with game anxiety from a young age, I hated worrying about timers and losing lives. Myst was so so so soothing! But I was too young and impatient to get past certain puzzles and the internet was not widely enough available for me to be able to find puzzle solutions online. I've been contemplating buying the updated version in my old age for that soothing nostalgia; thanks for the review!!

[@iSmartMan1]

I'm a Myst fanboy, and I will freely admit that the game hasn't aged well. The reason they keep making Myst remakes is because publishers are reluctant to give them money for anything else, and they had to resort to Kickstarter to get the money to fund their more recent Obduction and Firmament games.

[@Dakooties]

This was a beautiful video. Thank you for this! I remember being super little and seeing Myst back in the day. Being five or six it seemed like the ultimate "Grown Up Game" and after trying it for like twenty minutes I went back to Warcraft 2 defeated.

[@whyishoudini]

Austin, I'm working on that Spring Heeled Jack adaptation

[@juliemassam933]

This is good to know! Been looking for a new game to play on my Mac, thanks Austin!

[@bunger8658]

HOLY SHIT, I had this game as a child and never remembered, I was a kid so I didn't understand anything and didn't get far but remembering it at all is such a trip.

[@515161]

I was 3 when this game came out. This game is a different beast from today when the intoernet wasn't something you could get hint and walkthroughs. 30 years it's meant to be very hards and provide months of play, This game blew my mind as a 4th grader.

[@michaelh4227]

It's weird to think that there was a time when a point and click puzzle game was the best selling game of all time. Gaming was so simple back then.

[@erikhartwig6366]

i remember the 2nd time i had to do a puzzle and couldn't remember the solution, i grabbed one of my sprial bound note books and started taking copious notes and drawing pictures back in the 90's. I loved MYST so much i bought Riven.. I remember Riven was so frustrating because i could never figure out where i was supposed to go or do next

[@sorta.cinderella]

Myst and 7th Guest were my jams as a kid. I mostly solved things by accident and psychotically clicking everything. 😂 All the King's Quest games too! It was fun to be an 80's baby.

[@DemonMage]

I remember the "puzzle" that stumped my family for literal weeks. In the red wood swamp island we got the water running to power the elevator. We opened the door got in and pressed the up button...then nothing. Absolutely nothing. For several weeks whenever anyone had free time we'd load up our save file and try again. Then one afternoon my little brother starts cackling like a deranged Batman villain. My dad and I slowly walked to the living room to find him exploring the tree top walkways. "How in the fck did you get up there?!" So what did the little brat go? Loaded up his save spot and showed us how to close the elevator door. All while wearing the largest Cheshire cat, sht eating grin you've ever seen on a 9 year old.

[@thinkmakepush]

LOVED playing Myst when I was a kid! If you haven't yet, you should definitely try playing Red Matter on the Quest.

[@hobosarepeopletoo]

I love when you post! I remember getting stuck and eventually stopped playing and literally haven't thought about this game since. This is the kind of youtuber I want to be. Lol

[@CrazyCobraCC]

Austin, please consider making a podcast form of all your videos! If you don't want to, could I? These videos deserve an audio form.

[@wiscgaloot]

I was so tickled when it came out--at the time I had a part-time job learning 3D animation using Stratavision, and that is the program that was used for most of Myst. So many of the textures were so familiar. I'd gladly play it again.

[@hblackburn5580]

Though I was only 3 when the game first came out, as a kid who didn't have much of a social life, as moving around as a military kid tends to do, I discovered Myst at 12 when my dad brought it home because he said I might like the fantastical landscapes. Indeed, I did, as did I read the books that went along with them, and it introduced me to the adventure point-and-click genre that became my favorite. When you like reading books of kids going on mysterious adventures and are also tired of being the losing Player 2 because your older brother has zero chill, these games became a comfort for me and I'm glad to see others who liked it. Did anyone ever delve into the Uru online game?

[@anxietywave8735]

I learned about Myst from a defunct Minecraft mod known as "Mystcraft". I had no idea it was based on a pre-existing game until a few years ago.

[@grahamburdick]

always happy to see another Austin vid! ❤

[@badlydrawn7476]

When I gifted my brother Outer Wilds for his birthday and was looking for the best thing to tell him that wouldn't spoil a thing about the game but was meant to make him want to invest tens of hours of his valuable time to play it, this is what I came up with: 'Remember everything that Myst did wrong? This does it right.' He played it, he loved it, he agreed.

[@tbirddddd]

This is probably the only PC game my grandfather and I both played through (for him the only one) and it blew our minds. He let me mess around with it for awhile before showing me he had a strategy guide. I played it through as he did with the guide. He would point out interesting scenery that contributed to the story that I would have missed as a kid. This game absolutely does not hold up for most people nowadays, but the nostalgia puts this as one of the best game experiences of my life.

[@GreyVested]

I remember trying out one of the older versions of Myst and eventually quitting out of frustration because it was so hard to wrap my head around it. I gave it another shot with realMyst, the one with the resltime 3D rendering, and while it still took me a while to get, i think having an actual 3D space with a player-controlled camera helped grounded me enough to want to play through to the end. I will say, those original 2D renders are interesting to me from an aesthetic point of view, seeing how the image was rendered within the technical limits of the time. The gameplay was frustratingly obtuse at times, though it was satisfying to piece together the story. Im not much of a point-and-click adventure kind of guy, but i feel the time was worth it. I've seen nothing but praise for Riven, so i might try for that remake when it comes out.

[@fCauneau]

Myst was a shift from "move and shoot" to "stop and think" ! Love !!! Concerning the "buttons and hidden levers that never do what you expect"... uuuh I'm now 65 and when I do escape games today with my wife and (great) children, we're just record breakers thanks to the state of mind Myst brought us ;-)

[@IdahoBookworm]

I got the PC VR version not long ago and wow, did it make Channelwood easy. I always knew where I was and how to get where I needed to go, and I could easily trace the power paths of the water pipes with my eyes.

[@Sock-Monster-Simian]

I absolutely adore the recorded sections placed in the world. I think they really hold up and add an incredible amount to the immersive feeling of the whole environment. I might be one of the only people that is disappointed that they are making 3D models instead.

[@VacantPsalm]

"Most players will get stuck, not because they're bad at puzzles, but because the game doesn't telegraph what the players are expected to do." If you are good at puzzles, but are completely thrown off when you aren't hand guided TO the puzzle, what's the point? That's like being good at IQ tests, but have trouble putting batteries in a TV remote without the little images. I disagree with the notion of Myst's puzzle design being outdated, it's just an entirely different meta from the advanced "square block goes in square hole" we're used to video games giving us. That hidden button in the fireplace seems a lot less BS when you are aware that either brother will tell you to go in the fireplace once you get 5 of their pages.

[@MrSpeakerCone]

I think of Myst as an early walking simulator in the vein of Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. The main thing that makes Myst fun is how it does environmental storytelling and its general vibe. Where I think they went wrong was making the puzzles so inscrutable that no one I knew at the time was able to finish the game without the strategy guide

[@KennethSee]

7:20 The expressiveness of your hands at this point was hilarious. I could feel your pre-adolescent frustrations through the screen haha!

[@brookestephen]

The VRML version of MYST is GOLD!

[@pascall0]

My mother used to play this game with a walkthrough. at one point little 10yo me started watching her, and reading from that walkthrough. before long, we were "playing together". about 12 years later, she did it agian, and we both sat next to eachother repeating what we did all those years ago Myst will have a place in my mind as a good game :)

[@salam-peace5519]

I remember playing a game called Physikus in my childhood that had a very similar gameplay, vibe and design as Myst. It also had you solving puzzles and finding things on an abandoned island and also had pre-rendered point and click graphics like Myst. It was meant to teach about physics and science.

[@JCW5713]

7:15 "Hey, look! A button for that pesky door! Thanks guys!" The hand gestures says it all.