The original Myst game was the first PC game I actively played. My father and I worked on it for a while, and consulted the hint book only three or four times that I recall. It now has a special place in my heart, as being one of the purest and most absorbing game worlds I've ever intereacted with. It's no small wonder that something like 75% of the Myst players weren't gamers themselves.
Some people just can't stand the game and find it deadeningly boring. Of course, many are also bored by some of my other favorites, like the Fallout games, Planescape: Torment, and the Tomb Raider series. And I'm bored by some of the games that they like, such as the Quake series, Duke Nukem 3D (after the first few levels), Diablow, Neverwinter Nights, and Dungeon Seige.
Of course, I can't really blame Gamespot for nominating Myst as having one of the worst endings of all time. It is maddeningly inconclusive, but then again, how could it not have been?
Back when Riven was being released, our computer was too old to run it, so it wasn't until a few years later, when I'd saved up to buy my own computer, that we were able to play Riven. At this point, we weren't in the dark since I'd known more about the Myst universe after having read the original novel (which is still a good read, but I haven't picked up the others yet). I'd been given the strategy guide along with it, and referred to it occasionally, but mostly to learn about the general principles behind the puzzles and not the solutions themselves. I felt that Riven was brilliant, but it was even harder and more oblique than it's predecessor. It also created a world that I felt was more compelling and expansive in it's exploration.
I haven't played Myst III yet, or the other game (Uru?), but I just might hunt down a copy and see it it will work on my venerable computer.
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"And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty. And beauty stayed his hand. And from that day on, he was as one dead."