Myst

"When wondering if you'd like to be left alone on a deserted island..."

I often toy with the idea that Myst might as well be the greatest video game of all time within all eras and all platforms. Never has there been a game so captivating yet so sublimely simple. In fact, were you never asked if you would like to be left alone on a deserted island? Most people will answer 'yes' while thinking 'no' and very few people would honestly answer 'yes'. I think that explains Myst's popularity, or lack thereof.

Myst is a game of exploration and discovery. It is a game to wonder and ask yourself but, most of all, it is a game that draws you away from your middle class home, away from this piece of junk in front of you, away from life's problems and into hypothetic problems that you are given time to solve, that you decide to solve by your own free will for you have decided to venture into this unfamiliar realm, not totally alien yet, not totally familiar. But most of all, you are left alone in this world that you must understand for yourself and there is no real, concrete goal to achieve. And I think that is what scares some people: to be left alone, with no one to save from death, no linear path to follow, no base to come back to when your job is over. As long as there will be dreamers, however, people who like to be left alone and think for themselves, Myst will find a niche for itself, within the heart of those who crave an exotic escape and a new world to understand, a new world to explore when theirs has become too familiar.

The reason why Myst is so successful is that it truly draws the player within its invented worlds. Mood is therefore an important characteristic of the game which is, of course, brilliantly crafted. The feeling of loneliness is astonishing as there is absolutely no human interaction all through the game. The constant wind blowing and minimalist music also add to that constant impression that nothing is gonna happen except if you make a move, that everything exists to hint at an universal truth rather than to interact with you. In fact, you cannot change anything in this world, you can only learn and open doors toward other mysteries. Indeed, it is purely an intellectual adventure: uncover to uncover, learn to learn in order to ultimately learn but also, as I said earlier, to escape the bitter reality at the profit of a wanted reality where problems lie only to be solved. That said, gamers who like to mechanically blast little spaceships might not get a kick out of piecing together bits of information in order to be able to activate machines that will grant you access to more bits of information and so on until, well, it ends and disappoints once again the action fans who demanded a bloody and final showdown between good and evil that would blow the island to ashes.

Of course, the point and click interface has been criticized a lot - and corrected in a later version - and arguably affects the non-linearity of the game. What if it was not 'point and click' then. Would it be better? Absolutely not. For one, it limits the infinite possibilities of exploration and cuts to the essential of the inquiry (absolute freedom not required here and, anyway, never absolute in any game). Furthermore, this interface always lets you wondering about what's next for you are never sure of where exactly you are going, therefore keeping the mystery of the islands whole.

On to our next point, the graphics. Brilliantly geometric, every building, every piece of furniture seems of an unreal perfection. The world of Myst is a world of wonder where every small detail is gorgeous and the whole portrait, breathtaking. It is a world untouched by the imperfections of nature, a world kept virgin for us, the gamers. You can do nothing but be amazed by the scenery at each step you take. I believe that what makes the Myst world worth exploring and solving is that it is so beautiful, so perfect, a place you could only glimpse at while dreaming. Myst is overwhelming because it makes you travel, travel to a better place, a place where there are only sights and sounds, no pressure and no imperatives. Myst is absolute, pure enjoyment. I pity the blind ones for they cannot experience Myst.

Myst is perfect on every level. Myst is what games should be about: amazement, fulfillment, fun, beauty and enjoyment. Myst is even more than a game. It's a world that stands on its own. It is a place as real as dreams, a place where there is only calm and beauty and, after all, who wouldn't want that?

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/16/03, Updated 07/16/03