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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.

Such a Disappointment!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 132 / 134
Date: November 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

As _Myst V, End of Ages_ opens, you find yourself in the K'Veer section of D'Ni, in the room where Atrus was trapped all those years ago. Nearby, you find a strange device. You approach the device and ZAP! Yeesha, Atrus's daughter appears. She tells you of a tablet with mysterious powers. She once was the keeper, but failed to use it properly. Now it is your destiny--as a friend of the family you *do* keep getting involved--to release the tablet and put it to its proper purpose.

Sounds like the set up for a pretty good game, doesn't it? Unfortunately, EoA takes a that concept and falls flat on its face when it comes to execution. This game is boring at best, annoying at worst and to get through it I had to resort to a technique I'd never before used: printing out the walkthrough and following it step by step.

I'm not the kind of gamer who demands the latest bells and whistles in sound and graphics, but even I saw a lack in EoA, especially coming after the exceptionally animated worlds of Revelation and Uru. The Ages we experienced here were pretty enough but quite static. We saw a few fireflies and falling stars here, but aside from that the environment didn't do anything much--and I think at this point in the history of gaming technology, there's no excuse for that. And I have to ask myself, what's the point of real-time 3-D if nothing happens? What's the point of freedom of movement and 360-degree panning if there's nothing to experience and nothing to see?

In addition to being boring, the ages were tiny. Compared to the huge areas of previous games, which took days to explore properly, these ages seem like a marketing demo: an example of "something that could be expanded on if we got the proper funding." One of them you could view from end-to-end by standing in a single spot. I suppose this wouldn't have bothered me as much if the puzzles had actually been interesting, but once again, compared to the age-spanning puzzles of previous Myst games, the puzzles in EoA were... just plain stinky. Each Age had about the same purpose: carry an object from one end of the Age to the other. So that's wasn't so dissimilar from other Myst games, where you had to solve an Age and return to a central point. Here, however, the concept failed in numerous ways. First of all, there wasn't anything interesting to see along the way. Second, whereas in other games in the series you have to accomplish a number of integrated tasks to reach your goal, in EoA each Age essentially contained one puzzle. Third, the puzzles were just bad. I've heard a number of people say they were too wasy; that wasn't my experience. In fact, I found the puzzles so arbitrary and confusing and full of just stupid requirements that I literally could not have got through the game without following a walkthrough (I've solved every other Myst game with a nudge or two). Here were levers you could manipulate, but no way of telling what the heck they did: no view from which you could see the results of your work, no movie showing you the effect that might be happening in the next room over. There were arbitrary obstacles galore. For example, in order to solve one puzzle, you had to do something that resulted in haqving your vision impaired to the point that you couldn't see what you were doing, and so you had to repeat the process over and over again, hoping you'd solve the puzzle by luck. Every single major puzzle was timed, in that you created a necessary event that lasted only a limited time and only during that event could you solve the puzzle. So there was no ability to explore an Age at your leisure and figure it out, as the effect of your event might only be apparent at the other side of an Age. Also, a particular game device required an inordinate amount of back and forthing. All in all, if not extended by artificial means, most of these Ages coul be solved entirely in five minutes or so.

A lot of the neat stuff from other Myst games was missing. There was no animal life and no animation, as I've stated before. There were no nifty rides and slides. There weren't cool machines that did amazing stuff. You got to go up and down in an elevator once, and that was about it. Instead, you got an annoying companion on your "quest." This guy popped up at intervals, usually just when you started to explore something, and gave you long pompous speeches which, though beautifully voiced by David Ogden Stiers, merely made you want to push the character over a cliff at the soonest opportunity. While I'm on the subject of character, let me add that nothing in this game made me feel any sympathy for any of the characters who appeared. By the end of _Revelation_, I felt something for both Sirrus and Achenar (a major accomplishment in character development and back story). But Yeesha here just struck me as a whiny fanatic who couldn't get over herself.

I don't have as much objection to the story (such as it was) itself as some others have had. However, I missed the personal touch of previous games. You helped Atrus because you liked him and cared about his family, and because the events of the games affected that family. I couldn't really get how the story of EoA was important to anyone but Yeesha. From some of the events of Uru, I get that it *was*, but the developers failed to convey it in any way that made me care. Even the ending failed to move me, filled as it was with melodramatic speeches and bad character animation (and yes, I failed to mention that EoA also lacked the FMV movies of previous games and that this was a major bummer).

I was really surprised when EoA was announced so shortly after _Revelation_ and the release date was less than a year ahead. Well, the rush shows. This game is barely worth playing and is certainly not worth the inflated price it was issued at. I've been playing this series since MYST and I even loved Uru. But take my advice, leave this one on the shelf. The ending of _Revelation_ is way more satisfying.

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.

Cyan ruined their own creation.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 38 / 40
Date: October 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I wanted to like this game. Really, I did. I mean, it's the first one by Cyan since Riven, and I wanted to let the original creators have the final word. But compared to all the previous games, End of Ages is a huge letdown.

Okay, first things first. The game engine. I understand that Cyan was desperate to conclude the series. Their Uru endeavor failed and they were in financial trouble, so they had to use the real-time 3D engine made for Uru because they couldn't afford to make Myst 5 from scratch. I can get past that. I wanted to get past that.

I have played Uru, and I didn't like it at all. That game centered on journey cloths, jumping puzzles, and kicking objects around with your feet. (All that attention to photorealistic detail, and yet the player can't pick objects up or climb low ledges.) No sense of mystery, no story to discover. Just a long-winded D'ni history lesson as you move through linear ages by solving blatantly artificial (and often illogical) puzzles.

The fun of Myst-the whole point!-is to believe that this is happening to you right now. It is an alternate reality and you are part of the story. You are Atrus' friend and have earned the privilege to be part of the family. Uru made all of that false. It separated the player from this beloved viewpoint. Someone in the distant past helped Atrus and now you are really exploring the ruins of a long dead civilization. It was way more fun when we were part of the story instead of just witnessing the ruins of its end. Cyan destroyed their own world by taking it out of the context Myst established.

On a more intangible level, the DNRC's presence ruined the atmosphere. I felt like I was exploring ages that had already been charted. Everything had already been discovered and I wasn't doing anything new. Esher's presence in Myst 5 creates this same feeling. Many have been on this quest before, so you are not doing anything special. (I wonder how the others failed. It wasn't *that* difficult.)

In all these ways Myst 5 suffers from Uru's engine. The graphics, while fluid and faster-loading, are lifeless compared to the beautiful pre-rendered landscapes of all the previous installments. The ages are tiny and horribly linear--there's no free choice in how you explore each age. You must stay on the path to move the slates and there's no room to look elsewhere. Like the journey cloths in Uru, the slates and pedestals are just inconsequential object hunting. Instead of discovering a story through exploration and problem-solving, moving slates is the goal. It doesn't feel like a Myst game at all.

Puzzles in Myst have always been part of the environment and story. They have logical reasons to be there, and when solved they mean something. And even if a few are artificial, they still serve some sort of purpose to the story. That's what makes Myst games so unique. The puzzles are not there just to delay the player, but to enhance the story. Not here. Puzzles are dropped in your path *only* to keep you from carrying the slates to the other side of the age and finishing the game in ten minutes. It's probably an attempt to recapture the feel of page-hunting from the original Myst, but even that rewarded you with another piece of the story and made you want to explore more, find out what happened. Moving slates is the goal of Myst 5, and it's a goal unto itself. It doesn't accomplish anything, so it's unsatisfying when you finally achieve it. If anyone wanted to make croquet into a puzzle game this is how to do it.

But there is some good here. With the exception of the elevator outside the arena in Laki'ahn, the puzzles are logical (even if arbitrary). In all fairness, the observatory age is the best of the four with gorgeous scenery and a brilliant set of puzzles that are satisfying to solve. The power of the Bahro is used for an impressive task in that age.

Elsewhere the Bahro are used to help you solve one puzzle in each age, which is obviously contrived so that it can only be solved in this way. It's an awkward use of the power because it all feels like a setup. This setup feel worked in Exile because it was there for a reason (you were forced to jump through the hoops the villain set up for you). But here it's not called for. This is supposed to be an epic quest, not a staged game of "Let's Move the Slate." Did the D'ni have to wait for a hurricane every time they wanted to use the winch in the last age? How contrived and pointless can a puzzle get?

About that elevator...it's just plain stupid that you can't run off it as it lowers. There's no barrier that holds you back, so running to the platform while the elevator lowers seems natural because you do something similar in a previous puzzle. Why stop us from doing it here? Alas, an invisible barrier keeps the player from doing something that by all visual cues is quite logical. I hate it when games use methods like this to make puzzles.

But I think all the above is nitpicking. The story is the real problem. Since my first day playing Myst, I was under the impression that the D'ni wrote all these things into existence. Every game (including Uru) has presented and underscored the breathtaking power of the Art to create anything by writing it. So where did the Bahro come from? Why did the D'ni need an enslaved race to do their building when they had the Art? They were never mentioned in the previous games and no back story is given to explain or give weight to their purpose. Even if they're mentioned in the Myst novels it does no good because it contradicts everything we've come to know and love about the D'ni. Again, Cyan spoiled their own world by putting this in there.

Without a solid story to discover, there's no Myst game. I could've overlooked all the puzzle and graphical shortcomings if the story had been good. But the journey is not worth it and the ending can't save it.

In Myst, Riven, Exile and Revelation, the endings leave you with a deep sense of achievement. You not only solved the puzzles and got to the ending, you earned the privilege to understand the story. Don't expect End of Ages to have this feeling. It'll leave you scratching your head and rolling your eyes.

The ending is supposed to be dramatic, but the unnatural, jerky movements make it impossible to take seriously. Cyan did the best they could with what they had, but these computer animated characters just can't replace live action actors. The CGI Atrus is especially laughable. Speaking of that, you better have a fast computer or the voices will be out of synch, making it even more awkward. At least live action is in synch no matter how fast or slow your system is.

Cyan destroyed not only Myst 5 but the whole concept of the D'ni when they made Uru. It destroyed Cyan itself as well. I weep for the loss of an otherwise wonderful series.

Want to practice your drawing?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 19 / 20
Date: November 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I can't believe after buying the Limited Edition which came with the Prima strategy guide I still can't get the slate drawings to work. You have to have them absolutely perfect or you'll spend hours redrawing them. This is the most frustrating game I've ever played. I finished all the other Myst games in a few days. And enjoyed them mostly. I've spent 3 days and numerous game guide sites trying to figure out how to draw a symbol in Todelmer good enough to move along. If it wasn't for the startegy guide I would have assumed I was on the wrong path. I was able to get the first few slate drawings to work only after multiple tries. Never did see the difference from one that worked and ones that didn't. Any one want to buy this before I throw it the trash? I wouldn't even take your money. It's that bad. Also emailed Help at Ubi and they were absolutely no help. But of course, what did I expect.

A short but passable ending.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 12 / 12
Date: January 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Oh, poor Myst. I guess even the greatest series can go on too long. Things have been going downhill since Uru and Myst 4, and while both of those games (and this one) are good, something was lost on the way.
Fortunately, the series manages to end with some shreds of dignity.

Graphics: Gorgeous! Yet again, Myst comes out ahead of every other game I can think of in the graphics department.
However, there are some serious letdowns. The people are no longer live-action, and while their avatars are fairly good they lack the finer detail and expression that only life can bring. Also, there's not much wildlife. A few butterflies, some snakes, some weird little bird that hisses at you. That's it. Unless you count the Bahro, and I have a hard time telling if they're supposed to be rocklike or buglike or furry or what.

Story: Eh... Unfortunately, there are many aspects of the story that remain hidden to me- and I've played all the Myst games and read the books. Somehow you're locked into this "Quest" to retrieve a tablet which is somehow important to these critters called the Bahro, who link around and alter Ages at will.
Yeesha (Atrus's daughter) pops up early on, spouts some cryptic stuff at you, and disappears til the end. This other guy, called Esher, will be your nearly-constant (read: annoying) companion throughout the rest of the game, popping up at inopportune moments to lecture you about... whatever it is he talks about. Unfortunately, he doesn't tell you anything really helpful, which makes me wonder why he thinks I'll cooperate with him when he won't even throw me a bone to make my job easier.

Something I've noticed over the past few Myst games is the transition from machines, objects and so on being relatively scientific in nature (lost, inexplicable science, but a science somebody used to understand) to (apparently) being mystical or at least pseudomystical in nature. I love a good fantasy as much as the next guy, but it doesn't feel like parts of the Myst world are being unveiled: rather, it seems as though the developers have lost sight of their original universe.

Puzzles: Mild. Compared to previous titles, most of the puzzles in End of Ages are a cinch. The hardest part is drawing these images on slates so the Bahro will do things for you. Yeesha calls the Bahro "the Least" and I can only assume she means the least artistically discerning beings ever, or maybe they're all just really farsighted. Even if the picture looks right, they'll warp in, scratch their heads at it, and warp out, leaving you to try again. Or they'll count your drawing as a completely different one that you haven't even seen yet (I accidently skipped to the end of one Age this way.)
Sadly, fantastical machinery is not really prevalent in End of Ages. This is especially shameful since the devices in previous Mysts would have made Jules Verne jealous.
The Ages seem short and rushed: you wander about on an island or two doing whatever it is you need to do. Even the original Myst Island felt, I don't know, bigger somehow than these little Ages.

Verdict:

Myst 5 isn't quite up to the standard set by its predecessors, but it manages to end the series on pretty good note. I suspect Cyan wanted to hurry up and be done with it so they could put the series to rest at last, and it shows. Still, I wasn't too disappointed overall.

To all of Myst, I say: Farewell. It's been an awesome ride.

Welcome to three dimensions

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 12 / 12
Date: April 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

For better or worse, Myst had to apparently get with the times with their final installment of the series..I, and many other fans do not exactly understand why they had to, but they did. Maybe it was to try to tap into the much, much larger action game player market, but that would only be thru deception, as 5 minutes into the game any non-adventurer would be scratching their head. While I respect the fact that Cyan has been trying to evolve the mechanics of their gameplay and culminate that evolution with their final installment, I feel it was a pretty big mistake and probally aided in alienating many long time fans of the series trademark artistic integrity...Look at me making this game look like a generic soulless mess. Let me reiterate my past sentiments when I say that All Myst games mark the pinnacle of computer and artistic achievments that are going on at the time, and part 5 is no exception. As far as fully free roaming first person adventure games go, Myst absolutely takes the cake. Thing is, the switch to complete 3d does not come without artistic compromiise, and that is never felt worse then with myst5..While the feel is largely the same from past games, the textures and layouts of specific scenes are far inferior to any previous hand-drawn outing. The irony of the progress of gaming has always been "the better the technology, the worse the gameplay", does apply here(something id never associate saying about a myst game) but the small uninspired levels do not bode well for the current crap style this 3d rendered adventure style is prompting. For old school fans, they did include the ability to play the game in a non roaming way if you still prefer ye old point and click.. Well, goodbye myst, it was a shame it had to end like this, but it still is rather hard to complain when you've offered nothing but quality vision from day 1. I suspect that this will not be the last time we visit the makers, and I truly hope that if there is a next time around, the specificity of a most subtle sketch can be fully merged with the freedom that three dimensions inside of a game can produce, for this is the unparralleled immersion factor that I have been waiting for the adventure genre to be catapulted into..So far the one's who have come closest to getting it right (even though it's hardly an adventure game) is Bethesda with Elder Scrolls 4, Oblivion...

Myst V Sucks!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: October 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Needless to say I am extremely disappointed in this game. I was really looking forward to it having played all the others. I haven't even finished it - have gotten to Noloben - it's so boring. All you do is walk around & look at the scenery, which is not much in my opinion & work a few puzzles here & there. There is no neat stuff like previous Myst games, no opening drawers or making things move, no cool rides on trams, etc. The story line also sucks. You don't care about any of characters or rather only two!! At least Sirrus & Achenar kept you wondering what they'd get up to next. The Yeesha character is ugly - after being such a cute, wonderful little girl in Myst IV - she's now an ugly woman. Esher is boring & ugly too!! I'm getting tired of him being the only character I talk to. The Dinebo resting land is stupid, nothing to do except open gates, the other ages are either cold & forbidding or have palm trees - big whoop! Nothing really to explore like in other games. This series has gone out with a whimper not a bang! Maybe that's what they wanted so we wouldn't bug them to make another one. If they were all like this one I would have quit playing years ago. However, they should redeem themselves and make another to make up for this one! Someone said they lost money on URU, well, this one sure won't help them any!

Not up to Myst's standards

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: February 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Myst was an historic imaginative leap in gaming. Riven surpassed Myst with a world of amazing beauty, richness, and depth. Myst III did not rise to Riven's standards, but it was an excellent game in its own right. URU never quite gelled, as if the developers didn't have sufficient time to polish it before release, but Myst IV was an outstanding game that bought hope the series would continue as strong as ever (Whenever I think of the wind whipping the leaves and branches in Myst IV, I still get a lift from the sense of negative ions in the air).

By those standards, Myst V is a disappointment. If you're a Myst fan, you should certainly play it, but don't expect the beauty and depth of Riven or the realism and compelling story of Myst IV. The graphics and controls seem a step backward from the sophistication of Myst IV (or even Myst III), and the story, well, after playing it, I still don't really know what the story was.

On its own, it's probably a fine game, but Myst loyalists have earned the right to expect more than "fine" from a Myst game.

Goes out, not with a bang but with a - screech?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: March 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was so thrilled when I loaded this game and was immediately started off in D'ni on K'veer island. I was finally going to be able to explore the room and building that had first appeared in Myst 1 and was such a teaser back then. I though wow, this game is going to pick right up from where Uru left off, more D'ni exploration, right? As in, the doors that wouldn't open, the vast expanse of D'ni seen from balconies and harbors. I might see more of that, right? Wrong.

You get a brief taste of D'ni on K'veer and then comes the rest of the game. As soon as Yeesha shows up, you know right away that something has gone wrong. I mean, what the heck happened to her?! Admittedly she was weird and all, but she had a spark that made you sort of like her, anyway. Not this bitter faced old hag. After having seen Atrus' letter at the beginning, coupled with Yeesha as an scary old woman, you begin to feel like maybe you had better get off this train NOW. Take my advice before it gets worse, because it does indeed, get worse.
After seeing Yeesha, it was downhill from there. It's best to stop playing after the Great Shaft and K'veer. That was supposed to be in Uru and doesn't even fit in with the rest of the game anyway. After the Shaft leads nowhere and you've solved two puzzles to get there - you get the idea. The rest of it is slapped together from parts of Uru Live that never saw the light of day. And
never should have.
To clarify, the game is a pastiched mess of leftover parts that were meant to be used in Uru Live, the godlike online gaming experience that was supposed to end world hunger, pain, sadness - perhaps even take away death! Okay, maybe not that, but this was their God-project that completely wrecked the Myst franchise. Cyan ruined themselves financially with the attempt to make a totally online game and Uru came out all right, but incomplete. The fragments that were leftover became this game. Myst 5. And I really wanted to like
it. Until they brought in the Bahro and completely ruined the stunning mystery and depth that surrounded the D'ni and the entire Myst universe.

Spoiler alert: The Bahro are dinosaur-monkey like creatures that belong in Quake or Doom, not Myst. Apparently, they are the ones who maintain the Ages the D'ni write and are slaves to that ancient culture as a result. No! Lame, lame, lame! Such a bad cliché to have fallen into! I can read any B rated sci-fi to get that story, D'ni was supposed to be so much more. Sure, they could have skeletons in the closet, but make them good ones. Chilling and thought provoking, not squeaking and shrieking stupid beasts that somehow can
manage whole universes. Utterly morbidly stupid.

And now we get to the other characters. They introduce a semi- interesting, semi- irritating character called Esher. He's not helpful and tends to break into the game when you're not expecting him. You can see from a mile off what cliché he falls into, so I won't bore you with it. Suffice it to say, he took air time away from more important people, like Atrus who only has one gut wrenching letter in the beginning. Apparently, Atrus has lost everything he has worked for and wonders what the point of it all is. The letter could stand
in for how that Myst fan feels at the end of this game, when all the secrets are revealed as nothing more than flimflam and horse manure.

And Yeesha is all but unrecognizable as the eccentric genius from Uru, or the girl in Revelation. She is middle aged, frightened and bitter and you never get from A to B in understanding how she got to that point. Maybe she's just
disappointed in the so called 'truth' behind the writing of Ages and D'ni like I am.
Even the Ages themselves are not up to par, although some are interesting. The snow world was long overdue, but too short. The space world was fun to look at, but no substance. All in all, you get the idea they just wanted it over and done with.
So, on to new and hopefully better things. I have a feeling that if the fans want a good game, they're going to have to make it themselves. And with mods and game hacks out there, it's possible that someday, Myst will end the way it should have.
Perhaps this is the online gaming experience they should have aimed for - by the fans, for the fans.
Sometimes in order to get the job done right, you've go to do it yourself! ; )

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