Myst III: Exile

[Halloween Jack]

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

[Top Gun]

Originally posted by Hellish Fiend:

In my opinion, I would gladly have made the choice to sacrifice the things we lost just for the Starry Expanse addition. Nothing in a 1:1 remake (or at least as close as possible to 1:1) would have made my jaw drop and instilled the same sense of awe. It made me feel like I got to play Riven for the first time again, and a straight remake would not have achieved that for me.

And I did love the opportunity to try out some new Cyan puzzles since I havent had the opportunity to try out Obduction or Firmament yet.

Yeah, that was one of the best gaming moments I've had in a long time. Sitting there, jaw literally agape.

I highly recommend giving Obduction a try. Cyan really did fantastic work with it. Until this remake it felt more "Riven-like" than anything else I've played since the original. Firmament was...well it was different, and I didn't enjoy it quite so much, but it's still worth playing overall.

[Hellish Fiend]

Thanks for the recommendation. "Riven-like" is a strong reason to give Obduction a shot!

[Chyros]

Do we have some actual news or confirmation as to this by the way? Or even know whether Cyan can remake Presto's game? I really hope so, this Riven remake was stellar :D .

[Hellish Fiend]

Nothing has been announced so far, and given how close Cyan keeps their projects under wraps, we may not hear anything for a while—if a remake is even possible under the current publishing rights landscape. As it stands, as far as we know, Ubisoft holds the necessary rights to greenlight an Exile remake, so it would require their involvement. Considering the recent failure of Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft may be more cautious about investing in a niche remake unless it presents a clear financial win. While it's unlikely that Cyan would outright purchase the rights, a collaboration between Cyan and Ubisoft could theoretically happen if fan interest is strong enough. However, given the complex rights situation, the negotiation alone would be a headache, to say nothing of the development cost.

[jwsstuff1]

Originally posted by Hellish Fiend:

Thanks for the recommendation. "Riven-like" is a strong reason to give Obduction a shot!

There is a distinction between "Myst-like" and "Riven-like" and I would call Obduction "Myst-like". Riven, while played on multiple island has one environmental look and feel and one basic culture. The only deviations are minor visits to the Age of Tay and 233. Myst is more like Disney World with a hub and spoke wheel where each island is a totally different age with a totally different look and feel.

There are only two games that come to mind that I would consider "Riven-like":

1) Quern - which I see as the best "Riven-like" in look and feel
2) Haven Moon - a small, well done, one person created game

There are many "Myst-like" games, you can Google them and many have been mentioned in previous chats ("Harder games than Riven" comes to mind) but outside of Myst 3 and 4, Obduction with multiple different worlds surrounding a center hub world of a mining town Hunrath is one of the best IMHO.

[Top Gun]

I don't think the amount of separate worlds or how each one looks is enough to classify a game as "Myst-like" or "Riven-like." Obduction felt so much like Riven to me because it felt like a living place inhabited by actual people, and it felt like the objects and mechanisms you were manipulating served a practical purpose in that place. Myst often felt much more "gamey" than Riven did, and I think Obduction is much closer to the latter.

[jwsstuff1]

Originally posted by Top Gun:

I don't think the amount of separate worlds or how each one looks is enough to classify a game as "Myst-like" or "Riven-like." Obduction felt so much like Riven to me because it felt like a living place inhabited by actual people, and it felt like the objects and mechanisms you were manipulating served a practical purpose in that place. Myst often felt much more "gamey" than Riven did, and I think Obduction is much closer to the latter.

I agree that Hunrath has a lived in look to it and it should, it's the hub of the Arizona mining town like Myst island but the other worlds are totally different just like Myst not Riven. I love the puzzles in Hunrath. It's like they made do with the things they had. However, Kaptar is similar to the Mechanical age, Maray is a Sci-Fi version of the Ship age on steroids and Mofang is just desolation. Don't get me wrong, I really like Obduction and the different worlds are gorgeous but separate like Myst. Also, the puzzles in Channelwood were beautifully environmental and not "gamey". Swapping maze pieces from Maray to Hunrath and back was. Also, watering the tree from different worlds was like getting the red and blue pages from the different worlds in Myst.

Riven-like games like Quern and Haven Moon have one culture and one blended environmental look and feel throughout the entire game. Myst, Obduction and the like do not. Hence the distinction between "Myst-like" and "Riven-like." I like both styles (particularity Myst 3 and Obduction) but would like to see more games like Riven, Quern and Haven Moon.

[Draaloff]

Originally posted by jwsstuff1:

Riven-like games like Quern and Haven Moon have one culture and one blended environmental look and feel throughout the entire game. Myst, Obduction and the like do not. Hence the distinction between "Myst-like" and "Riven-like."

You have really nicely pointed out a distinction there, as well as why parts of the Riven remake don't sit well with me (like the new slider puzzle on Survey Island).

I'd say Mysts 3 and 4 are pretty Riven-like. Their puzzles are generally well integrated into the world, and there are puzzle pieces split across ages. You also get that lived-in feeling from Saavedro in Myst 3, and Atrus' family in Myst 4.

Myst, parts of the Riven Remake, Uru, and Myst 5 have a much more gamey feel to them. You're still solving puzzles across ages, but the world integration is just not as good.
The same applies to parts of Obduction, as you pointed out.

[slider86]

Originally posted by Chyros:

Do we have some actual news or confirmation as to this by the way? Or even know whether Cyan can remake Presto's game? I really hope so, this Riven remake was stellar :D .

Stellar bad?

[macrosdovahkiin]

if that happens im ready to buy it.

[Laur94xoxo]

If there is a remake of Exile, PLEASE make it supportive of Sequoia 15.0.1 !!

[Stigmamax]

What is Sequoia 15.0.1?

[Halloween Jack]

Originally posted by Stigmamax:

What is Sequoia 15.0.1?

Apple's Mac Operating System (MacOS).

[Stigmamax]

Macs are made for work, not play

[vcatkiller]

Originally posted by Stigmamax:

What is Sequoia 15.0.1?

It's a version of MacOS. They game on a Mac.