Myst

I have finished the game, and I have to admit that I used Game FAQs to figure out each and every puzzle. As much as it was convenient to get through the entire game and not lie awake at night thinking of the rooms I could not get to or how I could figure out each puzzle (which was what happened the first night I played Myst without cheats), beating the game is not satisfying! It is like I skipped to the last chapter of a book, figured out the story, and then read the book from beginning to end knowing where each twist in the plot was ultimately going to lead. It made me think of how much gaming has changed with the availability of cheats on the internet versus actually having to go out and buy a book or suffer your way through puzzles on your own. In each game my boyfriend and I play on a console, we get stuck on a certain boss or have somehow overlooked a important item that is essential to the completion of the game. The way games are now, like Zelda Twilight Princess which we recently played, it seems that there are so many levels and tricks to each that it would be impossible to circle back through the entire game and figure out where we went wrong. In those cases I do not exactly mind using FAQs, although as soon as we read what we have to do it seems that the solution was fairly easy, hindsight being twenty-twenty and all. With Myst though I feel like I cheated myself out of a very fun game which would have taken me much longer to complete yet would have given me so much satisfaction to do.

My overall gaming experience with Myst was rather enjoyable. Despite the fact that the game's graphics are dated and that there is not much of a reward system for completing each Age, I loved that it was simply puzzles and that the violence was all implied and backstory, as we discussed in class. I am no good at first person shooters and can never get a handle on button combinations in the newest games, so the simplicity of Myst, as far as controls and story go, made it much easier for me to play and kept my attention better than simply running through mazes shooting zombies. I think that I might play the next game, Riven, and try to complete it without cheating. Wish me luck!

Playing Myst was enlightening as well. It was interesting to see where all of the breakthrough games drew their inspiration. Half Life 2's use of subliminal messages in order to locate items (placing the delta sign on walls where one could walk to locate med kits, etc.) must have derived from the changes in music that occur in Myst once you successfully complete a puzzle to let you know that something has changed and that you can advance through the story. I also really liked the choice at the end of the game (I chose the green book because I knew it was the right ending) because it reminded me of Fable. Fable is a great game because the player has ultimate control over the destiny of your avatar, and although you learn the same backstory no matter which personality you give your character, you really feel like you have free range over the video game and that you could go back and play it all differently to change your gaming experience.

So I am looking forward to playing the Myst sequel and to showing my friends the similarities between this dated game that many people despise and some of the new games that people praise for the originality and cleverness!