Bioshock, now infamous amongst gamers of all seasoning, shook the industry by proving singleplayer gaming was NOT dead. It proved Co-op was not necessary to be interesting, that multiplayer modes were not mandatory in an FPS, and that stupid plot lines and outrageous characters would not feel out of place in a serious tone. For lots of reasons, Bioshock was a great game, but for one, it killed the experience for me. Right now, I’m going to warn you, if you have not played the game, I cannot assure you I won’t spoil it. I’m going to talk as if you have finished it, so spoilers potentially start HERE.====================== (continue reading…)

The Land of Myst

Picture the ability to create world with pen and paper, to be able to visit the worlds you created with the touch of a book. Sounds neat eh? Welcome to the world of Myst, a world where exploration and discovery await you, where you’ll find challenging puzzles and riddles around each corner. Challenges that involve no inventory, just pure logic, and maybe some luck.

Myst generated a lot of praise when it was first released, partly for its beautiful landscapes but mostly for how difficult the game was without a game guide. Seriously, I remember first playing it, I couldn’t even begin to imagine where to start on this island. However I found that I loved to explore it, to just take in the fantastic scenes and the level of graphic detail that was unknown in that time. Myst wasn’t just a looker though, it had an amazing back story which you could find in the books in the Myst library, I would spend hours reading these books entertaining myself with the journals of the main character. Also with that back story came an amazing and compelling story about a man who founded the art of writing worlds, and this two sons which wanted the power for themselves. I’m not sure if it was the nostalgia but I was just fully taken in by these two brothers and their contrasting personalities. If nothing else, Myst was bang on for atmosphere and immersion as well, you were alone 99% of the time so there was a lingering feeling of paranoia and the fear of the unknown as you explored each world and that fear came from the immersion, you didn’t believe you were a guy playing a guy trying to get off an island, you believed you were the guy, and you wanted to get home and away from this bizarre place! That’s something you don’t see as much today with games, I haven’t felt so into any other game before.

Where am I?

The disappointing part? The replayability, naturally the game is a point-and-click adventure so puzzles are the same as always, and once you figure out how to solve it (assuming you didn’t cheat), you’ll probably never forget. Also as a side note for myself, I was really disappointed when I finished the game (I didn’t fully complete it myself because I’m weak), I was craving more, and that is something a game should do to you. If a game has done everything right, then when you finish it, no matter how long you played it for, you should be wanting more.

If you are looking into Myst you can find it on almost any platform nowadays, like I said it was originally released for the Mac but the list of ports are amazing. Microsoft Windows, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Jaguar CD, AmigaOS, CD-i, 3DO, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo DS all offer you the Myst experience. Personally I’d go for the PSP or DS versions because you can pop in any time and solve on the go.

And if you loved Myst, you’ll have 4 more games to play after it. Namely Riven (Myst 2).