Myst IV Revelation -- Impressions and Mini-Reviews

I thought it might be fun to create a thread where the Myst IV gamers could post their impressions of the game -- something others could read, aside from the Quest thread where naturally gamers are posting solutions to puzzles that people who have yet to play the game might not want to see.


So please, If you are playing Myst IV, post your mini-reviews or comments on any aspect of the game -- graphics, sound, interface. Also your comments on the plot and puzzles (worded in such a way as to avoid spoilers).

I bought my first home computer just so I could play my first computer game, Myst. What has that been now, 7 or some years ago??? In between then and now, I have played over a hundred games but the Myst experience is always unique. It took me 3 months to finish the first Myst. It was so awesome that I spent most of my time gaping and just enjoying the sights and sounds. In one way, you are in a rush to get to the next spot and in another you want to go slow so it just doesn't end. Now, with Myst IV, and to some extent with Riven and Exile, it comes home to me again just how perfect and untouchable the Myst experience is compared to other games. Always beautiful in sight and sound, one also has puzzles to solve that are unique and challenging enough to task the brain without boredom. I am not too far into IV yet, but already the plot paths are being laid out just enough to whet my anticipation of just what "those boys" are up to. What more can anyone ask for in an adventure game. Like Syd said in a post in the hint section, just hearing that familiar music when the game first starts loading makes me melt all over.
I know, I know! I am truly prejudiced when it come to Myst. Unless a gamer is a shooter type, anyone should relish this game. A+++++

Ubisoft has outdone themselves with Myst IV. The music,graphics,and interface is beyond description. There is so much to see that much of my time is spent just looking and touching. The worlds around you are truly alive, you become part of the game. Like many other Boomers,I started with Myst and have played each game.Exile has been my favorite until now. 5***** to the Myst team.
This game should be on every adventure gamers must have list.
Viz

Is there really a reason for "tapping"? And sometimes I click the cursor and it acts like it's trying to grab something but there's nothing to grab. Other times it's the "tapping" thing. There seems to be three very slightly different cursors for doing nothing usefull.

Billybob: I'm almost done with the game and I havn't found a single use for the tapping. When I was at E3, they said that 'tapping' would become important, including the interaction with water, so I'm guessing they were forced into a deadline and had to cut things short with less puzzles, IMO. I hope if and when they make a sequel, they'll get more time to put everything into the game, cause that tapping would have made the puzzles just that much more interesting.

Hi,
I'll write more later - just a short comment on the tapping thing. I'm not sure what you mean - the way you can tap/touch something and it makes a sound when you touch it, or water ripples, or something moves?

I thought that was for the immersiveness part - how you can interact with things other than puzzles, to make the game seem alive. I like it, quite a lot.

Hope that's what you were talking about.

I've also heard that the tapping was just for immersiveness. But perhaps that's just what they're saying now.

I think there was one puzzle in this game that required tapping. Plus a couple that required other sorts of non-obvious mouse interaction. That was about it.

I do like the ability to find out what each material is by listening to it when you tap it, though.

A tad more "on-topic"...

Revelation has some really impressive graphics and environments, a better, more cohesive story than the other games in the series, and a few really tough (but mostly fair) puzzles. The music varied but was pretty good overall, the production values were high, and there were a lot of special little touches applied, like the camera and the amulet, that make it a really fun game to play through.

But there were a few minor quibbles that bugged me.

1. Revelation had only 4 small worlds to explore, and despite the tough puzzles, the game seemed kind of short.

2. The timed puzzles ranged from good to annoying. It's unbelievable the number of times I'd completely solved a puzzle, only to get stymied by the timed element of it.

3. The puzzles were uneven. Whereas the puzzles in Riven got progressively harder and built on previously learned information, the puzzles in Revelation were all over the map. Some were so easy they were barely puzzles. Many others were just more complex versions of a previously solved puzzle. And one or two were quite difficult. There were only a few, though, that had that "Aha!" element to them from the earlier Myst games--the part where you look at a puzzle and see everything upside-down and backwards, and suddenly things begin to click into place.

4. The endgame. Avoiding spoilers, I rather liked the ending as far as story goes. The final puzzles and the environment in which they were solved, though--those were silly. The scene/puzzles reminded me of inanity that was the Lost Mind of Dr. Brain...and that's not a good thing.

5. I'm docking points for the 5 minute winamp visualization late in the game...and I'm half inclined to ask if the animators just ran out of money.

6. For some reason, the wait to access the main menu/submenus got longer as the game wore on. Eventually I got up to around a minute and a half loading time every time I pressed "Esc", another minute every time I clicked on "Save Game", and another minute every time I entered a save name and clicked the save button. Not sure why that happened, but it became a habit to get up and go to get a snack or read a book or go on a vacation while I waited...Oddly, the game itself ran fine.

7. It was often hard to determine when you were finished with something and could move on. Especially after completing the final puzzle in each world. Rides are nice, but even a Final Fantasy victory fanfare would have been welcome.

8. Can we stop with the fading in and out already? If you're going to go for dvds and full motion video, then USE them.

None of those were game-killing flaws though, and few games I've played this year were so enjoyable.

Don't even ask what my non-mini review would look like, I don't want to think about it.

Well, I think you should! Anytime you'd like to develop this into a longer review -- just post it in a separate thread here in reviews. It would be very helpful, just as the mini-review was.

People frequently search the Reviews Forum for information on old and new games -- any opinion, clearly expressed, adds spice to the brew.

Demosthenes' great review pretty well reflects my thoughts on the game as well. The graphics, music and sound affects were awesome. I was particular taken by the reading of journals by the respective actors...what a nice touch. And as Demosthenes pointed out in #7 it was difficult at times to grasp the realization that indeed you were finished with an area.
I was just a little disappointed that there wasn't a little bit of a fanfare with the 'Sisters' before the end game. I mean a cup of tea would have been nice even ...just kidding.
In spite of these minor irritants, a great game to play and recommend to others. In fact, I'm going to play it again right now.