Myst III: Exile

[Halloween Jack]

Moved thread from Riven discussions to Myst III: Exile discussions.

[Draaloff]

Originally posted by Eldin:

Eh, Riven hit on such a high note that the others don’t seem to have the same feel, at least checking them out early on.

I'd say Mysts 1-4 have a similar feel due to the pre-rendered graphics, puzzle style, and green-screen actors. Myst is the most different of them due to the puzzles having the weakest world-building reasons to exist. Meanwhile Myst 5 and Uru are obvious outliers.

[slider86]

Originally posted by Draaloff:

Meanwhile Myst 5 and Uru are obvious outliers.

Those are the only games worth remaking really.

[Draaloff]

Originally posted by slider86:

Originally posted by Draaloff:

Meanwhile Myst 5 and Uru are obvious outliers.

Those are the only games worth remaking really.

They were very experimental, and I can appreciate what Cyan was trying to do with them.
I think a game based on those ideas with modern design principles could be quite good.

[Draaloff]

Originally posted by Eldin:

I take it back. Myst 3 is actually a lot of fun and the acting for Saavedro by Brad Dourif is my favorite.

I'm glad you're enjoying it. Original Riven and Exile's puzzles and world-building are great.
Definitely my favourite two games in the series.

I think you may also enjoy Myst 4 afterwards. It has quite a lot in common with both Exile and Riven. There are a few unpopular puzzles, but also some rather good ones.
It's also graphically superior, has way more green-screen acting, plus journals with voice acting. You also get to see all of Tomahna from the beginning of Exile.

[Draaloff]

Originally posted by Eldin:

My mistake was mostly due to jumping too far ahead in series to check some stuff out to see if I wanted to continue after Riven and then being so shocked by differences, such as Myst V, that it affected my early judgement of various stuff.

Myst 5 and Uru are very different to the other entries. Both are quite experimental games, and the puzzles can be unintuitive and unsatisfying.
However, both go further into D'ni Lore and have some very interesting and picturesque locations (despite the dated 3D graphics).

[slider86]

Originally posted by Draaloff:

They were very experimental, and I can appreciate what Cyan was trying to do with them.
I think a game based on those ideas with modern design principles could be quite good.

A complete overhaul would be needed. It was a bad idea to get rid of the FMV for those games.

[Hellish Fiend]

It is. If you are interested in the narrative/plot surrounding Atrus's sons, it should definitely hold your interest. Many complain about the puzzles, but I didnt have much issue with them.

[Draaloff]

Originally posted by Hellish Fiend:

It is. If you are interested in the narrative/plot surrounding Atrus's sons, it should definitely hold your interest. Many complain about the puzzles, but I didnt have much issue with them.

I think it's just the two(?) timed puzzles and one or two at Serenia that are often disliked.
I'd say the puzzles are generally pretty solid and well integrated into the world, much like in Riven and Exile.
Revelation is generally about Atrus' family, including the two brothers that we met in Myst and heard about in Exile.

[vcatkiller]

Originally posted by Draaloff:

Originally posted by Hellish Fiend:

It is. If you are interested in the narrative/plot surrounding Atrus's sons, it should definitely hold your interest. Many complain about the puzzles, but I didnt have much issue with them.

I think it's just the two(?) timed puzzles and one or two at Serenia that are often disliked.
I'd say the puzzles are generally pretty solid and well integrated into the world, much like in Riven and Exile.
Revelation is generally about Atrus' family, including the two brothers that we met in Myst and heard about in Exile.

Yeah, there are some interesting puzzles in Myst 4 for sure. That said I still really enjoyed it.

[Draaloff]

Originally posted by vcatkiller:

Originally posted by Draaloff:

I think it's just the two(?) timed puzzles and one or two at Serenia that are often disliked.
I'd say the puzzles are generally pretty solid and well integrated into the world, much like in Riven and Exile.
Revelation is generally about Atrus' family, including the two brothers that we met in Myst and heard about in Exile.

Yeah, there are some interesting puzzles in Myst 4 for sure. That said I still really enjoyed it.

I agree. Graphical improvements aside, I'd say it's a bit weaker than Riven and Exile when it comes to overall satisfaction. Despite that, I think it's definitely worth playing.

Unfortunately I cannot say the same for Uru or Myst 5. I can only recommend those to people still who want more after playing Myst 1-4 and reading all 3 books.
Uru really needed more development time, and Myst 5 is made of cut Uru content.

[vcatkiller]

Originally posted by Draaloff:

Originally posted by vcatkiller:

Yeah, there are some interesting puzzles in Myst 4 for sure. That said I still really enjoyed it.

I agree. Graphical improvements aside, I'd say it's a bit weaker than Riven and Exile when it comes to overall satisfaction. Despite that, I think it's definitely worth playing.

Unfortunately I cannot say the same for Uru or Myst 5. I can only recommend those to people who played Myst 1-4 and read all 3 books, and still want more.
Uru really needed more development time, and Myst 5 is made of cut Uru content.

I think the biggest issue with Uru was it was always intended from the start to be a social experience. It was never meant to be a solo game. I seem to remember hearing (and I could be wrong) that the single player component was only added because somebody at Uboslop put pressure on them to do so, claiming a multiplayer only game wouldn't sell. And it didn't work out well at all. I still remember a Path of the Shell puzzle solution which involved staring at a spot for 15 minutes. Who on earth thought that was a good idea?

[Draaloff]

Originally posted by vcatkiller:

I think the biggest issue with Uru was it was always intended from the start to be a social experience. It was never meant to be a solo game. I seem to remember hearing (and I could be wrong) that the single player component was only added because somebody at Uboslop put pressure on them to do so, claiming a multiplayer only game wouldn't sell. And it didn't work out well at all. I still remember a Path of the Shell puzzle solution which involved staring at a spot for 15 minutes. Who on earth thought that was a good idea?

Yeah, it feels a lot like of modern "lore / secret hunting" games, where you're supposed to solve things as a community. A lot of its puzzles are very unsatisfying as a solo player.

[slider86]

Originally posted by Draaloff:

and Myst 5 is made of cut Uru content.

That explains a lot!

Originally posted by vcatkiller:

I seem to remember hearing (and I could be wrong) that the single player component was only added because somebody at Uboslop put pressure on them to do so, claiming a multiplayer only game wouldn't sell. And it didn't work out well at all.

The game was always supposed to be multi-player. When you play Uru you're playing a multi-player game without the multi-player. The reason Uru launched as single player is Cyan discovered they didn't have the online infrastructure to support so many players. It would be too costly to start from scratch and build a better infrastructure so the main selling point of Uru was abandoned at launch.

[Hellish Fiend]

Glad you're enjoying it! I'm especially interested to hear your thoughts on the resolution of the story, once you get there.

[Draaloff]

Originally posted by Eldin:

The monkey was a bit tough, mostly nerves with the timing involved, but I actually liked and enjoyed that puzzle.

Then you'll probably enjoy the rest of the game.
The mangree (monkey) puzzle is probably the most disliked due to the controls and time limits.

Originally posted by Eldin:

on Spire now

Spire is probably one of my favourite ages. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.