[Boneho Chane]

Myst IV is amazing! Being a Riven fan I've been disappointed with every other Myst game I've played thus far. But Myst IV!!! HOLY ****! This one is extremely good! I wasn't expecting it to be this amazing. WOW.

[ShadeJackrabbit]

I take it you haven't gotten very far yet.

[LuigiHann]

Hahaha. It's not perfect, but I think it strikes a good balance. I think Revelations is my favorite in the series, even if it's not as immersive or consistent as Riven, and beware: it contains some of the most hair-pullingly obnoxious puzzles of all time.

[Ksandra]

I loved it up until Serenia (though I agree about the obnoxious puzzles). Unfortunately, from there on it was downhill all the way.

[Lady Kestrel]

I loved it all the way, and it's next in line as a favorite after Riven. Enjoy it!

[Terramax]

That was pretty much my first impression in a nutshell.

I still put this game on my pc from time to time and spend 5 minutes wondering around Atrus' house just for fun.

[ShadeJackrabbit]

Yes, I do have to admit that is one cool place he has there...

[Terramax]

Only other games I can remember making me feel like this was the overwhelming size of the marketplace in Shenmue and, not so such an extent, Soul Calibur (Dreamcast) and Mario Sunshine.

[Kivie]

I think it's heartening to see such enthusiasm for this game. In terms of the graphics, I think it's the most technologically advanced Myst game (and probably therefore the most graphically splendid first-person pre-rendered adventure game). Just looking around at the environments, the creatures, the characters, the water and natural effects, is a joy, I think.

But I did think it left room for improvement in puzzles and story design.

Spoiler:

The Dream puzzles in particular were insane, but I didn't have a problem with the Dream concept being part of the story.

[Molgera]

Looking at my savegames, I haven't played Revelation since 11/22/2005. After finishing a very frustrating Haven, Spire scared me off and I never went back. It's still installed though, so I'll pick it up again eventually and then move on to Myst V, which is still in the shrink wrap.

[tsa]

I loved the way Myst IV revealed much of the story of Atrus and his sons. And Yeesha is still a nice girl there, instead of the scary woman she is now.

[tsa]

Boneho Chane, your post here made me reinstall Myst IV. It runs beautifully on my new iMac, with all settings on Highest. It's such a gorgeous game. Yes, it has a few insane puzzles in it, but the graphics and atmosphere appeal greatly to me.

[colpet]

Having taken over a year to finish this game, it's obvious that there were parts of it that were very frustrating. I really hated the timed /dexterity puzzles.I think this game is more like Uru that the first 3 Mysts. Having said that, you can;t fault the game for atmosphere and immersion in the environment. Like Uru, I hated the game play, but would gladly spend hours just walking around and soaking up the surroundings. There was always something new to see, some little detail I had missed earlier.

[Terramax]

Speaking of which, check out this link (pay attention to the prices):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Myst-IV-Reve...0497640&sr=1-1

Now check out what came through the post yesterday (again, check the price):

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWN:IT&ih=018

[LuigiHann]

It's funny, I didn't have any issue with the timed puzzles. It may be that I was using the patched version, which made said puzzles less strict, but I felt that they weren't unfair.

The one puzzle that really bothered me was the

Spoiler:

final puzzle, in Dream, in which you had to rearrange Yeesha's memories. While it's a cute idea in theory, the horridly arbitrary Rubik's Cube nature of the puzzle really annoyed me.

[Kivie]

Originally Posted by LuigiHann

It's funny, I didn't have any issue with the timed puzzles. It may be that I was using the patched version, which made said puzzles less strict, but I felt that they weren't unfair.

The one puzzle that really bothered me was the

Spoiler:

final puzzle, in Dream, in which you had to rearrange Yeesha's memories. While it's a cute idea in theory, the horridly arbitrary Rubik's Cube nature of the puzzle really annoyed me.

That's interesting:

Spoiler:

I didn't have any trouble with the final puzzle (in fact, I think I quite enjoyed it). But I had terrible trouble with the 'brush the cursor over the coloured spirits' one, and I also took a while to get used to the timing of the communicating-with-the-mangrees puzzles. And I'm sure I had the patch, but it still seemed too strict.

[Crapstorm]

They were actually clever puzzles (the spider-chair and the monkey game). Why there had to be time restrictions is beyond me.

[crabapple]

Originally Posted by colpet

Having taken over a year to finish this game, it's obvious that there were parts of it that were very frustrating. I really hated the timed /dexterity puzzles.I think this game is more like Uru than the first 3 Mysts.

I hated the timed/dexterity "puzzles" too. But I don't see much similarity between Myst IV and Uru. Myst V is a lot more like Uru, using a tweaked version of the same 3D engine. The worst timed puzzle in Uru

Spoiler:

was actually due to its long timer, not its short one -- a 15 minute wait in Ercana -- super boring.

Having said that, you can;t fault the game for atmosphere and immersion in the environment.

I can fault it. I got really tired of the tinted colors in Haven -- like looking through amber-colored glasses all day long.

I was disappointed in Myst IV, especially after the beginning of the game had looked so promising. I played from Tomanha to Spire to Haven to Serenia, and the game just seemed to find new ways to get worse as I went along.
Also, they really needed a control to turn off the cursor animation, which was a PITA during the timed puzzles.
Did the patch fix that? I played the game before the patch came out.

[colpet]

hated the timed/dexterity "puzzles" too. But I don't see much similarity between Myst IV and Uru. Myst V is a lot more like Uru, using a tweaked version of the same 3D engine.

I haven't played Myst V yet, so it's hard for me to comment, but I'm definitely not looking as forward to it as I was.

[Kivie]

I don't think Myst V had any timed puzzles at all; and unlike Uru, you couldn't jump. The tablet interface in Myst V worked very well for most of the time too.