Reviewed: October 31, 2005
Reviewed by: John Stalbaum
Publisher
Ubisoft
Developer
Cyan Worlds
Released: September 20, 2005
Genre: Adventure/Puzzle
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone
8
10
10
7
8.8
System Requirements
Recommended System
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
I have played my share of adventure and role-playing games. And, like other gamers who share my tastes, I have played through countless repetitions of the same game, remade. The tried-and-true styles of the Dungeons & Dragons style role-playing game or the Japanese console clone have conveyed countless wonderful stories, and immersed me in many rich, detailed worlds. While I don’t regret the time I spent playing these games, an installment of the Myst series makes me realize just how tired I have become of these types of games without even realizing it.
Cyan Worlds has released what they announced to be the final Myst title, Myst V: End of Ages. The game is a splendid evolution of the style of game that had its humble beginnings in 1992. The hybrid adventure/puzzle game is retired before it becomes old and overused, and Cyan Worlds ends the beloved series gracefully.
This installment can be played easily by veterans of the series and newcomers alike. The plots of the previous games are conveyed in a fashion that is seamless and believable. The game itself feels like a good book—you’re exploring a series of dreary locales and “ages” that hint at their former glory, and as you’re playing, you paint a picture of the world’s past in your head. In that respect, it’s almost better that a player has not played the first four games.
Overall, this title is excellent and I would recommend it to anybody with a couple evenings to spare. The immersive quality of the series has been augmented over the years by the leaps and bounds made in 3D graphics technology. Although the world is lifeless, little “touches” make it overly evident that the game is created for sake of being created, and not merely to be sold.
Anyone who has played a Myst game will immediately recognize the gameplay. You’re pretty much thrown directly into the action. The controls consist entirely of your left mouse button. You must discover novel ways to interact with your environment, and solve puzzles along the way. As you explore your surroundings, the reason behind your being there becomes clear. A sharp eye is a must, because the objective of the game is not to kill some final enemy, but to learn about your surroundings. In doing so, it becomes clear how to advance, and at the same time you know a little bit more about the world of Myst.
The plot exposition occurs mainly through interactions with the two main characters, Yeesha and Esher. Yeesha is the son of Atrus (from the original Myst, and the sequels), and has learned the Art—by which a person can write a book that links to an “age,” which is basically a world. Esher is a D’nee archivist, whose motives are elusive. Throughout the game, these characters are explored. You had better get to know them well, because at the end of the game you must make a choice. You decide who controls the tablet, and the fate of the Bahro civilization. There are several alternate endings which revolve around this decision. And they’re not all happy.
The puzzles are reminiscent of previous Myst puzzles. They involve some aspect of the world that needs to be manipulated in a certain way—a door locking mechanism, an observatory telescope—and you must search the world for clues on how to accomplish this. At times, they’re frustrating, and I won’t lie—the game is hard. Some of the puzzles seem to be overly complicated, and this takes some of the fun out of the game. Although I was able to beat the game without using a walkthrough, I actually recommend that a leisurely player use one. It’s easy to get annoyed because of an obtuse puzzle and stop playing, and games shouldn’t be about hard work.
Myst V uses an innovative system in which you can prompt certain actions in a level, such as traveling to other points in the level, by sketching symbols on a tablet. This is a good basis on which to make puzzles, but the pattern recognition algorithms in the game can make this task frustrating. If you fail to draw something correctly, it can result in the tablet disappearing and being returned to its pedestal, and you have to backtrack through the level to retrieve it. And this happened to me a lot. The game would have been well served by a “copy and paste” type of system.
The development of the plot occurs at a wonderfully measured pace, and at times I found myself liking both Esher and Yeesha. At other times, however, I found myself disgusted by them. The entire storyline aspect of the game centers on manipulating your perception of these two characters. Both seem as if they believe utterly that their intentions are good. The graphics, voice acting, and general game design does a good job of manipulating the player (or at least this player) just as surely as a good television drama or film does. And yes, the largest credit to this game is that it offers closure, so long-time fans can sleep at night.
All in all, you’re playing an interactive movie or a slide show. On other sites, this seems to be regarded as criticism. I don’t understand why—combining the exposition of a world—one rich enough to have several novels written about it—with engaging puzzles seems like an excellent mix. But if you don’t enjoy this sort of entertainment, then don’t play Myst V.
The graphics are excellent. For a game like this, the graphics should not seek to be flashy, but instead to set the mood. In this, Myst V is incredibly successful. The dark and gloomy D’nee caverns have you jumping at shadows. All of the ages have a dreary and abandoned feel to them, just as it should be.
The age Noloben with its beautiful greenery, sunny skies, and depressing ruins makes you pity the Bahro in their current servitude. The sky of Todelmer is absolutely breathtaking. My jaw actually dropped the first time I entered this age. Laki’ahn and Taghira have some scenes that are actually photogenic, and would make excellent desktop backgrounds. Furthermore, the engine runs without hitches at a reasonable detail level on my somewhat dated PC.
The sounds of the game are what really made it for me. The music was subtle, but good. What blew me away, however, was the voice acting. The voice actors read their lines with such believable conviction; the more emotional recitals never came across as ridiculous (Final Fantasy X anyone?). Usually, in games with voice acting, I skip through the actors’ lines and read them instead, but I didn’t in Myst V.
Myst V will probably provide you 5-10 hours of quality entertainment. There’s not much replay value—once you’ve solved the puzzles, it would be pretty tedious to go back and do them again. There’s quite clearly no online play or anything. The current street price of the game is between $40-50 depending on whether you get the CD or DVD version. That seems a bit steep to me compared to other games. I would probably pay it, but I wouldn’t consider it a great value.
The Myst series passes from our thoughts gracefully, without hanging around overlong and ruining a world that many have grown to love. The final chapter lives up to the quality that gamers have come to expect, and surpasses the previous titles by virtue of increasing computer and 3D graphics technology.
Myst V: End of Ages is an artistic, immersive, and fun diversion, with plenty of nostalgia thrown in for the series’ fans. In the 13 years since the release of the first game, I have graduated middle school, high school, and college, and the games have held a constant appeal to me through all of these stages in my life—thanks for the years of entertainment, Cyan Worlds.