Myst 3: Exile

Graphically, the freedom and playability are top-quality. You can actually move around while videos play, and turn 360 degrees plus full up and down at every location. The puzzles easily integrate into the story. Sound and music are superb, and in my opinion, the music tends to make the Myst games a top seller. They put a lot of work into that part of these games.

As for story, without any spoilers, they are utterly faithful to the D'ni history. You face a new (old?) adversary of Atrus, and he brings a new depth to the story. If this has been a concern, rest easy. Exile continues and expands the familiar issues of Atrus and his ages.

I have two small criticisms of the game, but I will only give one so the game won't be spoiled for you. It was way too easy, too fast. This could be because I finally understand how these people think, and nearly walked through most of the game. I don't know for sure. Myst and Riven took me over 9 months with the hint book. Exile took me three weeks without the hint book. Don't be discouraged, that could just be "ME" finally "getting it!"

Overall, Exile is a fine addition to the D'ni universe, and I hope to see future episodes of this amazing world. The puzzles, music, characters, and ease of game play will keep you spellbound right to the end.

I should add that people who were let down by the ending to Myst (including me), and grateful for a much improved ending to Riven, will be in for a great surprise at the end of Exile! The finale makes you feel like a real winner, and certainly leaves the door open for future Myst games. Highly Recommended!

As a lover of the original two games (they are some of my favorite games of all time), I have always felt that the reviewers who hated the games must have used walk-throughs rather than playing "blind" from start to finish. When one really plays Myst or Riven, one discovers a sense of magic which comes from interacting with what feels like someone else's world -- someone else's home. It arises from the impression, however subtle, that there is a culture and history behind these "artifacts" which can be, at least to some degree, experienced and re-lived. There were moments in both Myst and Riven (but especially Riven) of spine-tingling, near-emotional discovery that could give a player goosebumps; both games had a kind of completeness of underlying story (not to be confused with "plot") that caused the player to feel more like an archaeologist than a game enthusiast.

Given its lineage, Myst III: Exile is something of a disappointment. Many reviewers have mentioned the stunning graphics and gone on to say that "if you loved Myst and Riven, no doubt you'll love Myst III: Exile." This reviewer, however, feels differently. While the ambiance is there and the graphics and sound are indeed truly stunning, the transition from Cyan to Presto Studios is obvious; the magic is gone, largely because the cohesiveness of underlying thought is gone -- the culture and history are gone. Myst III: Exile plays more like one of the many "Myst lookalikes" which flooded the market in the '90s -- a series of "figure out how this machine works and go on to the next step" puzzles. Though some of the "machines" are without a doubt both beautiful and ingenious, they are nonetheless lifeless, without purpose -- it is difficult to forget that they are a product rather than an adventure. Myst III: Exile therefore suffers from what much of the adventure gaming genre has suffered from -- too many puzzles for puzzles' sake, too much emphasis on graphics and too much emphasis on plot (i.e. a progression of events) at the expense of story (i.e. the themes and intrigues which lie beneath). Also problematic is the fact that Myst III: Exile is both less complex and less nuanced -- in short, much less difficult -- than Riven. At times, characters or images in Myst III: Exile even provide obvious hints to direct the player, a kind of hand-holding which I often found to be frustrating.

There is no doubt that Myst III: Exile falls short of Myst and doesn't even begin to compare with Riven for fans of the series. On the other hand, there is no denying that the graphics are VERY good and the quality of the whole is still well beyond that of most adventure games. Do buy and finish Myst III: Exile, but don't expect escapism of the same quality found in the Cyan games.

I got my Collecters Edition copy of MYST3 yesterday evening, and unlike some of the previous reviewers, had absolutely no problems getting it installed and running on Windows 2000. My guess is that those who couldn't get it to work on Win2K didn't install DirectX 8 and Quicktime 4.1.2... both of which are included as install options.

When you first run the game, it will take from 30 seconds to a full minute before actually launching. Hopefully this can be sped up a bit when they release a patch, but it's not a big deal since that's the only time you'll have to wait for anything once the game starts.

Getting back to the actual game, I have to say that after several hours of play that I am certainly impressed thus far. The new 360-degree graphics are clearly the next step in pre-rendered game worlds. Those that were turned off by the original Myst and Riven "slide-show" graphics will certainly feel more immersed in the worlds of MYST3. One technological breakthrough that MYST3 features is the addition of more characters which actually look like part of the world. The previous games in the series would show flat 2D movies pasted on top of the pre-rendered images. MYST3, however, allows you to look around in full 360-degree freedom while the movies continue playing in the same place. Characters actually look and feel like part of the world instead of looking like cardboard cutouts. Kudos to Presto Studios for pulling this wonderful effect off!

The game itself is true to it's predecessors in that the history, characters, storytelling, worlds, music, and puzzles live up to expectations. Atrus and Catherine return and are in top form and the new characters I've "met" thusfar have been excellent. Presto Studios certainly did their homework when building this game, knowing full well that they were making a game that has a very large and loyal fanbase.

The other big change is that much of the soundtrack is now a real live symphony orchestra. Myst and Riven were composed electronically yet still sounded remarkable. Composer Jack Wall's score take many familiar elements from Robyn Miller's previous work and brings them to the next level with the full orchestra. Several of the musical numbers are very reminiscent of John Williams work in Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. If you liked the music of Myst and Riven, I highly recommend purchasing the Collectors Edition of MYST3 since it includes a full soundtrack CD.

My only complaints with the game are purely technical. I've noticed the game get a little jumpy from time-to-time, which is probably due to the video mixed in to the 360-degree environment. I'm running on a well-equipped 850mhz machine and can't imagine trying to play this on a low-end 300mhz box. There are some graphic options which can be turned down or off and if you are noticing this kind of problem, I suggest adjusting the options to improve performance.

My only other complaints are that the compression used on the 360-degree images often muddies some of the fine-detail that was previously seen in Riven. Luckily there is now a zoom feature that lets you closely inspect objects in the game world. And that the water effect is often too minimal and doesn't look quite right. The water effect in Riven was more effective, even if it wasn't completely realistic.

Overall, I must say that MYST3 has largely lived up to my hopes and expectations. Fans of the original Myst and Riven will not be disappointed... Just make sure you've got fairly up-to-date hardware to run it on. ;)