Myst V: End of Ages — A fan's review

By Matt “Eat_My_Shortz” Giuca

So this is how it ends. The final game in the Myst series, the greatest adventure series of all time. Is it the greatest? Does it tie up all the loose ends and bring the series to a triumphant close? More importantly, is it worthy of the name Myst?

First, a bit about me: I am a huge huge fan of the Myst series. Therefore, this review is biased in favour of adventure games and Myst's surrealistic beauty. If you are a Myst fan too, you'll probably agree with me more than if you weren't. As much as I loved this game, I'll be fair and I won't go easy on the criticisms!

And I did love it. Myst V is a first-class adventure game — beautiful, intelligent, thought-provoking, and personal. It comes with all the excitement of exploring strange, yet strangely-familiar places, and the moments of realisation, when you've worked out a puzzle. It suffers from a small number of design flaws, but as long as you're careful, they shouldn't get in the way.

Graphics and Controls

I'll start by discussing the most contentious issue, the graphics and control scheme. As you are no doubt aware, Myst V is presented in full real-time 3D, and is the first game in the core Myst saga to do so. Where previous games had you stepping through fixed nodes in a pre-rendered world, talking to real live actors, Myst V throws all of that away, and places you in a complete 3D environment, complete with 3D-modelled characters.

The decision to do pre-rendered or real-time is never taken lightly in the adventure genre these days. Whichever way you go, about half the fans will scream and tell you you should have done it the other way. For Myst, it doesn't help that every second game since Riven has been real-time, and every other has been pre-rendered (if you include realMyst and Uru). So with Myst V, a huge number of people I know have registered their disappointment with the move to 3D, and it has been probably the biggest complaint.

I can't say I understand them. Myst V is astounding. The graphics, which are technically unimpressive, manage to capture the same elegance and beauty found in all the Myst games. It's hard to tell that they are real-time at all. Of course, they do not have the same intense polygon-count of Myst IV, and don't have the same level of detail. But, I'd say the worlds overall are just as beautiful.

As far as controls go, Cyan have finally hit the nail on the head. In their previous real-time 3D attempts, realMyst and Uru, there have been bucket-loads of complaints about the difficulty of the game's controls. So someone at Cyan had a brain-wave: why not let users choose their own control scheme, out of the “classic” Myst/Riven scheme, the “classic-plus” Myst III/Myst IV scheme, and the “free-move” realMyst scheme. Not only does this let more advanced users (especially first-person shooter players) move anywhere they like, and let less-capable users control the game easily, but it also lets players switch on-the-fly to choose the best control scheme for certain situations.

For example, I like to stick with classic-plus mode most of the time — I find that it lets me get around quickly and see everything I need to, from a position chosen by people who know what I need to see. But, I switch to free-move when I need to get a close-up look at something, or see it from a different angle, and I switch to classic mode when I need to move along a long corridor. The modes can be switched easily by hitting the 1, 2 and 3 keys, a handy feature which is not emphasised enough.

Unfortunately the control scheme has a few let-downs. Firstly, I find the free-move mode annoying because it is so slow to move. Although you can run by holding the shift key, the free-move mode's “run” option is as fast as the other modes' “walk”. There needs to be a way to change the movement rate. All of the previous Myst games let you change the transition speed, and realMyst even let you change the run speed for free-move mode, so why not here? Also, you find yourself holding down the shift key a lot — there really ought to be a run-lock option as well. Finally, the classic mode gets annoying very quickly due to the slow turning speed, compared to Myst and Riven which would just zip you left or right in a split second. But, suffice to say, you can get around in the game in a number of ways and it's easy to find a mode which suits you.

Actors

One of the biggest changes for Myst V is the absence of live actors. The four previous games featured many characters, all played by real people, shot on blue/green-screen and superimposed into the game world. In fact, one of the big selling-points of Myst IV was “more live action”. It came as a bit of a shock to learn that Myst V would have all of its characters in real-time 3D, just like the game. But, as with the rest of the game, it is handled brilliantly.

Rather than modelling the face and animating the characters by hand, as in Uru, Cyan used motion-capture to get realistic body movements. But the coolest thing is what they did with the faces. In a spark of genius, Cyan filmed close-ups of the actors' faces and then wrapped them around the characters' heads as a texture. This works remarkably well, and makes the characters very lifelike.

The voice talent of David Ogden-Stiers (who I am told you should remember from MASH) and Rengin Altay, both from Uru, returns, but this time they also lend their faces to the game. Both actors play their parts remarkably well — both get very personal with you and you come to know them well, just as you came to know Atrus, Gehn and Saavedro in previous games.

They play the game's two central characters, Yeesha, the daughter of Atrus who appeared in Myst III: Exile, Uru and Myst IV, and Esher, a new character who is from the race of the D'ni. Esher appears at random points throughout the game, I'm sure, more than any other character in the series. He will tell you interesting stories, provide subtle hints, and try to convince you to his point-of-view. Although he appears a lot, it is always good to see him, and he never gets annoying, or “too helpful”.

Characters and Story

While Yeesha has a fairly large role compared to some of the other characters in the series, it was a bit disappointing that she didn't appear more. The game felt quite biased towards Esher, and it was a bit odd that he kept trying to tell you not to listen to her, when she was never really talking to you. Also, both of them keep preparing you for this “choice” you have to make, without ever really explaining what you'd have to choose between.

The game's story, like Uru's, is multi-faceted. Aside from the main storyline of the tablet and the Bahro, you'll find Yeesha's journal pages scattered throughout D'ni, similar to Saavedro's pages in Myst III. These pages give non-Myst players the backstory of the entire series, and draw out the relevant themes. They effectively tie together the stories of Myst, Riven, Exile, Revelation and Uru.

Since this is the “end of Ages”, and the last game in the series, the ending of the game is more important than ever. With the exception of the original Myst, all of the games have had exciting, dramatic and poignant endings, so End of Ages had a lot to live up to. Without revealing anything of its content, I must say that it was the most amazing ending of all, and does a really nice job of tying up the series to a fitting conclusion.

Although there is no amulet for memories like in Myst IV: Revelation, luckily the game continues Myst IV's feature of having journals read aloud to you, which is quite relaxing.

Slates and Other Features

While on the note of Myst IV's features, I have to say that although most of the innovations from that game have a reason to be absent in Myst V, it is disappointing that the “hand” cursor is missing. While Myst V does have a hand as a mouse cursor which responds to areas which can be touched or dragged or places where you can move forward, it lacks the coolness of the Myst IV cursor, which was a 3D hand that would gently animate from one state to another instead of just changing images. It would have been nice if Cyan had adopted this idea.

But Myst V does include a very cool new feature, which pretty much becomes the focus of the whole game: the slate (it is good to see that even in the final instalment, they are still coming up with new ideas to set the game apart from its predecessors). In case you didn't know already, the slate can be carried around with you and drawn upon. Certain symbols you draw on the slate can be recognised by the game and are used to affect the world, or teleport you to new places. There is a new slate in each of the four main Ages, and the slates are used in one way or another for most puzzles in each of these Ages.

It sounds a little worrying, but it's fine, believe me. You'll like the slate concept. This is because it's not so much about what symbols to draw — they are usually obvious — it's how to use them. Wrapped up around the slate actions are some very Myst-like puzzles, and fans of the past games should feel right at home. Also it's important to point out that no two slate puzzles are alike, so it doesn't get repetitive. Finally, the slates add some life to the game in two ways: firstly because they summon the Bahro creatures whom we've been trying to learn about since Uru, and secondly because each slate has the power to cause a major environmental effect in the Age, and these effects are always very cool.

The slates come with one huge huge problem which is pretty much the only major complaint I have about the game. They aren't terribly picky about how you draw the symbols. It is not only possible, but quite likely, that you will draw something on the slate which you weren't supposed to draw, but which the game thought was something else. This has the effect of taking you further in the Age than you're supposed to be — in some cases it can take you right to the ending. You may think it's good to get further in the game, but it isn't fun at all — you miss out on a lot of the game and have to load a saved game or start again if you want to see it. The lesson here is to save the game regularly, and also not to draw anything on the slate unless it is clearly marked on a slate pedestal or drawn with the slate logo around it.

As fun as the slates are, it's also nice to know that there are areas in the game, outside those four main Ages, where there is no slate and more traditional puzzles are present. As far as puzzle difficulty goes, I think they have found a good balance. The puzzles are fairly hard, but not insane like some of those found in Uru or Revelation. I think the puzzles are about on-par with those of Myst III: Exile.

The saving system in Myst V is original and good. Unlike more recent games, where you save to a long list of separate games, Myst V lets you create personal profiles, like Uru. Each profile represents a single adventure, starting at the beginning of the game, and each profile gets a single journal to write in. Saving the game places a photo in the journal and lets you restore to that point at any time.

The fact that the journal is shared for all saves in that adventure gives two advantages over Myst IV: Firstly, you don't lose all of your thoughts if you choose to load an older game, and secondly, all the photos aren't needlessly replicated for each save, as they were in Revelation.

I do have another major gripe here, however. For some unknown reason, the journals in the game do not remember their place when you close them. This means that each time you open the player journal (with your notes and saved games), you are on the first page and have to leaf through all of them to get to the end: unfortunate since the last page is almost always the one you want. I have no idea why this is so, because Uru (which used the same engine as Myst V) does not suffer from this problem.

Game Locations

As far as locations go, the game is plentiful. We were originally promised four Ages, but surprisingly, Myst V contains six, in addition to two distinct areas of D'ni.

The game begins in K'veer, in that round, stone room you may remember from the end of Myst, the beginning of Riven, or the end of The Path of the Shell. For all the times Cyan have taken us back to this historically important place, they've never let us walk out of it. It is fitting that the final Myst game should be the one to finally break this tradition. It is a heart-stopping moment to finally, after twelve years of waiting, open that door and explore the vicinity. The game also lets us explore the entirety of the Great Shaft, connecting D'ni to the surface, something hinted at in Uru: To D'ni. The Shaft itself is an awe-inspiring piece of architecture.

Outside of D'ni, the game takes you to the small and peaceful Direbo, a rest Age with links to the four main ages of the game: Tahgira, a frigid, icy prison Age, Laki'ahn, a tropical paradise, Noloben, a lovely sunny beach Age, and Todelmer, an amazing Age set on a small moon of a planet. The latter two were originally planned for Uru, and Cyan even released screenshots of them back in 2000. Noloben in particular was a much-requested Age and it was good to finally explore it.

Despite the large number of Ages, the game seems a little short. Maybe it's the feeling that it's the final game, or the relative ease of the puzzles, but it just doesn't seem like I've explored the five islands of Riven, or that each Age was as long and large as those in Exile or Uru (which had a comparable number of Ages). However, the game is at least as large as the original Myst, and each Age offers at least three or four puzzles. You certainly get a run for your money.

Conclusion

So, in the end, is Myst V: End of Ages a worthy conclusion to the series? Does it live up to this legacy which can only be described as ‘epic’? After playing the whole game through, I'd say, definitely. The story is there. The puzzles are there. It has everything you'd expect from a Myst game. And I think the ending sealed the deal for me. It may have a couple of interface design flaws, but it's almost perfect as far as the actual environments and puzzles are concerned.

And the best part is, it can be enjoyed by everyone. So, I invite everyone to join in on the adventure of a lifetime — for the grand finale to Myst! What an experience it has been.

— Matt “Eat_My_Shortz” Giuca

Return to Myst V: End of Ages page.