[MoriartyL]

I won't try to turn this into a long argument, so rest easy. I'm just curious to hear what other people think. Is Myst an exploration game which has puzzles, or a puzzle game which has exploration? Of course it's just a theoretical question- I'm just, as I said, curious.

[MdaG]

Since you can basically visit a large part of the game without solving too many puzzles I say it's firstmost an exploration game.

[Jelena]

Hrm...Why do you have to ask questions like that?
I voted who cares even though it's an answer that sounds rude like I didn't care in a negative way. I chose that answer since I find the exploration and puzzles of equal value. They go hand in hand. You can explore Myst island but without solving any puzzles you don't get to see anything further. It's the same in all of the games as far as I remember.
I don't have to label them to enjoy them.

[MoriartyL]

Yes, I understand. I added that because I figured not everyone would feel one way or the other. Now that I think about it, there should have been another option in the interest of thoroughness:

"Interactive fiction (the focus is on the story)"

But it looks like I can't edit the poll. Oh well.

[Kurufinwe]

I'm not sure I get the distinction. I mean, in the Myst games, the puzzles are the exploration and exploring is the puzzle. Apart from a few exceptions (the clock tower in Myst comes to mind), the puzzles consist in finding information about the various contraptions, and figuring out what their purpose is. This is especially true of Riven, which doesn't have a single puzzle (I think) whose solution does not lie in understanding the purpose of the things on the islands -- but the original Myst is also pretty much like that, except that it relies more on finding information rather than on understanding things. Still, for those games, I'm not sure I see how you can distinguish exploration from puzzles.

Of course, this does not apply to Exile and Revelation, which are mostly a collection of (logic) puzzles, with some pretty pictures and bad acting thrown in in-between (and some exploration / information gathering in Revelation). I haven't played #5 (yet), so I can't comment on this one.

Still, if you focus on the first two games, I'm not sure I see the distinction between exploration and puzzles.

[MoriartyL]

Exploration is walking around, enjoying the scenery, and figuring out where you're supposed to go. Riven was 90% exploration, I think. A puzzle is where you find clues, save them for later, and solve problems. I don't see how a puzzle which spans a large area, thus necessitating exploration to reach the various parts, is exploration in itself.

And I never said I was only talking about the first two games- I did put in a "depends on the game" option.

[KriD]

I voted who cares. Lena explained it quite nicely, me thinks.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I agree. Why the hell are people making such a damn big deal out of this? All the adventure gaming sites cover it, even mainstream sites like Gamespot and Gamespy categorize it under adventure. It's not like your life will be ruined just because someone says it's that or it's not that. Sheesh!

EDIT: This was a bit knee jerky of me, but I meant to say, quasi-off topic, that Myst is both an adventure game and a puzzle game.

[Christian IV]

I really cant fairly choose any of your poll options, cause Myst and the series of the games that introduces the player to deeper and deeper levels of understanding, or at least awareness of the vast and enigmatic D'ni culture is really a journey and a saga cycle unlike almost any other examples
I can think of in any genre or form of artistic creation, literature or the like.
The tests of how to use or access the technology and mysterious locals and
structures, techniques of world travel and between world journeying all are part of the discovery of the entire realm of the D'ni, and so areent really puzzles per se, at least in my humble thinking, ......they comprise levels of understanding that bring the visitor into the embrace of the experience, along with beautiful music, stunning and awesome graphics, and visions of things, and all combine to form an indescribably wonderful unfolding progression that is partly and adventure to be sure but much much more,
a exploration of culture, history, human nature, alternative cultures, possible evolution of human consciousness and culture and an entire new race and history making a life experinece of newness and discovery that you will rarely find in this homogonized and tame Age of ours.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Okay, I pondered the question a bit more. It's both!! I'll expound on what Lensie posted and say that the puzzles and the exploration complement each other.

[Eleri]

This is me nodding vigorously to all of the above. Trying to define the Myst series as a 'puzzle' or 'adventure' or 'exploration' game, is to try and push it into a single box, when it really spills over into that and more. You're having an adventure exploring a fantasy-like world filled with puzzles...and history, and mysteries, and so on and so forth.

Add Uru in, and you get the aspects of RPG, and politics, and mythology, and interpersonal dynamics, in a way you just don't get in most MMORPGs.

I think the term "interactive fiction" is probably one of the most accurate descriptions I've heard.

[MoriartyL]

Is there no way to edit polls? Blah.

These are very interesting comments - I'll need to think about it some more now.

[Dale Baldwin]

Originally Posted by MoriartyL

Is there no way to edit polls? Blah.

Only mods can make adjustments, sorry. If you want changes made though, you only need ask.

[MoriartyL]

Well, first of all, it needs
"Interactive fiction (the focus is on the story)"
right before the fourth option.

Secondly, although I originally left it out because I was hoping people would pick sides, I see that was unfair. So it also needs
"It has a perfect balance between puzzles and exploration"
between the third and that.

[MoriartyL]

Oh, and in case you call "hypocrisy" to my voting "puzzle exploration" when I've just said in another thread that Myst III is a puzzle game: I don't consider it a worthy addition to the series, so I ignore it in classifying the series on the whole.

[MoriartyL]

Thanks, Dale.

[Fairygdmther]

I want to call it an adventure, but "not because everyone else 'says' it is". In my definition it is an adventure, without distinction. We can't have a new subgenre for each and every game that strays a bit from the primary definition. The Myst series has puzzles, exploration and story and doesn't have action sequences, violence or leveling up. Having more 'this' than 'that' doesn't change it's genre, in my opinion.

Lynsie

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Trep o/\o Lynsie

[MoriartyL]

Apart from the "Who cares?" option, which doesn't tell me much, there doesn't seem to be much consensus. Seems like Myst is on the border between several classifications.

[phankiejankie]

Poor Myst... Let the game rest in peace... It is what it is.