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Best Adventure Game in Years!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 18
Date: September 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is perhaps the most immersive, well, constructed adventure game I've played in a very long time. It's rather on par with Riven, and easily surpasses Uru, Myst 3 and Myst IV in gameplay, sound design, graphics, and music. Graphics are different. All previous myst games (with the exception of the online MMU "Uru") have been point and click basically, but in this installment, you can either point and click in one mode, or alternatively move around like a 3D realtime game allows you, and in an improvement over Uru, you can use different keyboard combinations that players of games like quake will feel natural at. UNLIKE Quake however, the games graphics are nearly photorealistic! the water effects in particular are currently unmatched by any other game I've ever seen. Other characters in the game are like people who walk around in 3D, and they look remarkably real for being in 3D. The slate system is really fun to use once you get the hang of it. Only in a couple of instances did I have trouble with it. sometimes you just have to be really careful in drawing the symbols very neatly. Other than that, the puzzles are not too hard, and you can do a lot of exploring right off the bat.
Anyway, The game ties things up beautifully for the saga, (assuming you make the right decisions!!) and as one who was a bit skeptical of the last two Myst titles, (i didn't even get past the first level on Myst IV) and therefore not knowing its storyline, Myst V still makes sense. Don't worry if you haven't played some earlier episodes, its stands very solidly on its own.
in summary, This game is not just a game, its a work of art. I highly reccomend it.

Such an anti-climactic end...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: September 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I was SO looking forward to this game, after Myst IV : Revelation brought the series back in focus after the absolutely DISMAL release of URU (what WERE they thinking?). Unfotunately, after just a day and a half, I've already finished this afterthought of a game! It's more of an epilogue of Myst IV(what happened to Yeesha, etc.), than a full game on it's own. I'd say that the biggest beef I have is that the ages were WAY too short! I finished more than 3/4 of the whole game the first night! The puzzles weren't that hard, for even a remotely experienced adventure gamer; for those familiar with the series, very predictable. I still have to say that as an overall game, Exile: Myst III is by far the best. My advice to you is wait until it drops in price to play...or find a friend with it and borrow it...

Such a letdown.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 183 / 195
Date: September 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is almost insulting. I'm outraged.

I've been a fan of the Myst series since Riven, always eager to immerse in the stunning, utterly beautiful sceneries, and there to push switches and pull levers, to tackle the mind-boggling puzzles that would lead me to more dream-like places.

And I was a bit disappointed when Uru came out, with its real-time, third-person interface, because it wasn't exactly was I was expecting, graphically. But then, it was advertised as a side-quest, so I didn't mind too much, especially when Myst IV: Revelation came out with its good ol' QuickTime VR and video-overlaid characters.

So when I heard that Myst V: End of Ages was coming out, and that it'd be the last episode, I really expected the series to end with a flourish. Admittedly, I was slightly surprised by the rather short, one-year gap since the previous instalment, but I trustfully put it down to technical progress.

Well I was wrong.

Visually, Myst V: End of Ages is closer to Uru. Again they traded the QuickTime VR for a first-person navigation that allows you to look around as you walk from point to point. As you might deduce, this real-time rendering implies models with a lower polygon count, and lightmaps. What is gained in movement fluidity (which, by the way, is not required to solve puzzles à la Myst) is lost in image quality, putting the whole trademark atmosphere in jeopardy.

Same story for the characters you meet throughout the game, who are now CG with a video mapped on their face. It's ugly. The Motion Capture hasn't been corrected, or not enough, and the characters' feet are either sliding or entering the ground. They also tried to impress us with cloth movements, but with such a low polygon count you can often see it go through the characters' legs. Really, what were they thinking?

As for the puzzles, even though a couple of them were a bit tricky (but mostly because the symbol I drew on the tablet wasn't quite accurate), they were for the most part repetitive and unchallenging. Proof is, I finished the game in one day.

This is such a letdown.

The only real "heir" to Myst I

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 20
Date: September 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I must admit that i'm halfway through the game, but i feel impelled to write something about what is a truly great game.
I won't be talking about puzzles or difficulty; as always with the Myst games, the point is entirely atmosphere, exploration and, in the end, PURE MARVEL.
I was a huge admirer of the first Myst; then, Riven was an extremely classy game, but its atmosphere (rocks, sun, sand) was so unlike the first game that i couldn't help thinking it was, in a sense, a "betraying" of the original vision; Myst Exile (created by Presto Studios) was a solid, decent, but prosaic game, which lacked the sheer grandiosity and (may i say it?) "nobleness" of the first Myst; Uru was to me a total failure, but i admit it's a merely personal opinion; and, contrarily to most, i think that Ubisoft's in-house developed Myst Revelations is a bad game, confusing, with impenetrable puzzles, with at least an age (Spire) totally out of tune with the Myst vision and a general "new-ageish" feel that simply is not the point of the complexive "Myst philosophy"

Then, arrives this Myst V, whose release, sadly, coincides with Cyan's shutting down.
But what a game!
Since the beginning, you only have to see the mellow, multihued reflections of light on the glazed tiles of the first hall to realize you're again THERE: you see not only a game a VISION. All is elegant, wondrously conceived, with just a tad of "noble dilapidation" in the interiors which i, for one, found very effective and moving. It's clear you're witnessing an ending - maybe Cyan's undergoing demise was partly responsible for this feeling? I don't know, but Myst V is again, like the first, an aesthetic experience, an immersion, a world of calm and almost melanchonic meditation, a country to roam at leisure only inspired by marvel and personal whim.
You will excuse me for the rapsodic tone of this review - if it is a review - but i feel that, probably for the last time, we're visiting Myst country like we visited it twelve years ago. It feels only right that this ending is so compelling and so stilishly conceived an achievement.

Myst V is terrible

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 13 / 22
Date: September 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

A fraud, if you will. Loved all the previous Myst games. This was made by a different group with much lesser standards, talent and budget. The last hurrah cash in. Sad for all those looking forward to it. Sad for the people who made the previous versions

Beat the clock!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 49 / 50
Date: October 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

A new and irritating aspect of Myst V are puzzles that must be solved before your 'timer' runs out. Different puzzles have different 'timers' but the plays the same - set the timer, try to solve the puzzle, if not then go through the whole process again of resetting the timer. Grrr... This really detracts from the classic Myst experence - it turns it into an action game. The game is worth purchasing but be prepared for aggravation not relaxation.

A Spectacular End to the Greatest Adventure Game of All Time!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 15
Date: October 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I just finished playing this game, and let me say, what a rush. The visuals were spectacular, voice-overs and human integration amazing, and the puzzles challenging, but certainly feasible. The story line was very moving. The game was full of emotion, from the opening movie to the final credits. It really made me feel as though Cyan, the game's creators, had put their heart and soul into this game. It was an excellent finale to the Myst series.

It may dissapoint some techno-junkies who crave the real-video lay-overs of some of the previous games. However, I would definitely recommend this game to both the first time player and the hardcore myst fanatic alike.

Utterly boring

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 18
Date: October 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

As a science-fiction and fantasy worlds lover, I tried a few of the myst games in the past. Though I never really enjoyed any of them, I did make some efforts, solved a few puzzles, trying to find some interest in the game, even wondering if I was in the least normal NOT to enjoy what others apparently found so exciting.

I remembered that landscapes and sceneries had always been visually pleasant despite a somewhat stifling quality (very small worlds), and I also recalled that the gameplay used to drive me mad sometimes : slowness, repetitivity, lack of "open space"...
But strangely enough, when a friend lent me a copy of Myst V, I was rather pleased and looking forward to it. I rushed to my place to install it...

Soooooo, I tried Myst V. Pheeew... Nothing has changed from what I see, but I had forgotten the worst...
Indeed, Myst V still abudantly displays the same utterly pretentious, irritating and theatrical tone, this useless and dreary psychobabble from unlovable characters, and is more than ever based on that atrocious, confused and self-inflated scenario. Right from the start, I got inflicted with the endless verbosity of booklets I found on the way, had to suffer the endless prattle of a "game companion" which kept appearing every 2 minutes...
Slowly getting half dead in front of my screen, I managed to get to the first puzzle... I pulled a few contraptions that were hanging around, and... in a fit of lucidity, trashed the whole thing with a feeling of intense relief. Aaaaaah !

Major let down

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: October 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Basically I agree with the previous detractors. This installment was a complete and utter let down. I was expecting a grand finale, but it was a soggy firework instead. Way to easy, not really puzzle based at all (or at least too few and too simple), and visually disappointing also. Stick with the first 4 games and give this a miss unless you are a real fan and really care what happens in the end.

Slow start but moved into Myst tradition

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: October 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I have loved the Myst games, mostly due to the artistic quality, imagination and storyline, and secondly the puzzles, and thirdly that I am not fighting foes nor trying not to get killed. This last in the Myst series is a fitting end to quite a run.

Myst V: End of Ages started slow for me. I thought the color of the shaft (I won't say any more) was lifeless and dreary, although it was fitting for the setting and the story. Bright colors would not have been appropriate. However, as with any Myst game, the explorer has the freedom to explore in many directions by choice, and I chose to fully explore the shaft before going anywhere else. So it seemed a slow start and I felt like it was a little boring. But that's the direction that what made sense to me at the time. The game can certainly be played differently. Once I began exploring the Ages, the mood and artistic ambience was evident. Puzzles weren't as challenging as in Myst IV, but I didn't miss that at all. The story was intriguing, and the actors and journal entries from others made me wonder what my decision would be at the end. Movement was delightfully quick rather than plodding, as I flew around corners and down stairways, if I wished. There are different ways you are allowed to move in Myst V, depending on your preferences. There's also an intriguing way to interact with certain beings that is totally new to Myst, and introduces a new angle on communication that you have to figure out. Yet it relates to the linking books concept as well. I also found myself making considerable more journal entries during this game, and I'm not sure why.

Myst V is a fitting ending to a great Myst tradition. I also enjoyed the alternative endings....

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