Myst Series

Hey Myst junkies, if you can be found here, got a question. The trope pages for Myst seem to be under the impression that you have to memorize the sounds the fortress in the Mechanical Age makes in order to know the directions to send the cart in the Selenetic Age. However, I just played the recent remake, and there the first few junctions on the cart track have most of the directions blocked off, so the only ways it's even possible to send the cart are the way you came from, and the right way. This makes it easy to learn the sounds right there where you need them. Was this not the case in the original?

By "recent version" I assume you mean the VR version? I haven't played that version, but I can't imagine it's significantly different from the original and realMyst in terms of puzzle design. While I don't know the exact details off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure it's like that in the original and realMyst as well.

I do think it's kind of overstated how necessary going to the Mechanical Age first is. It does make the mazerunner portion a lot quicker if you do, but it's hardly impossible to figure it out through trial and error, especially since the backtrack button will take you back to your last correct position (if I remember right).

Yes, the one built on Unreal Engine.

I suppose learning the sounds in the Mechanical Age can make you spend less time in the maze, but it still doesn’t seem like a better, or the intended option. AFAIK there’s no compass or anything in the Mechanical Age, so knowing which island corresponds to which cardinal direction requires consulting the diary in the Myst library for its overhead map. A puzzle with clues spread across two Ages is already kind of ridiculous, but if they’re actually spread across 3, that just sounds like the fandom insisting on doing it the hard way.

Dang, I actually remember NOT figuring out the sounds at ALL when I was super young and instead literally made an entire map of the maze, taking every single dead end option at every junction and scribbling it down on a big piece of graph paper. I have entire place mapped out visually so on repeat playthroughs I could just follow that. I never did figure out the sound connection until a decade later when someone told me and I was like... "Son of a b...!"

That. The reason to go to Mechanical first isn’t just to learn which sounds correspond to which directions, but that sounds CAN correspond to directions - otherwise it’s quite likely that the player won’t even notice a different sound plays at each of the first four nodes. (And by the player I mean me.)

Edited by Noaqiyeum on Oct 2nd 2021 at 12:44:55 PM

Stop remaking Myst and remake Riven already!

Agreed! The actor for Gehn was phenomenal and I'd love to see his video recordings in high def if possible. Anyone know if he acted in anything else?

Also, I prefer the actress they chose for Catherine in Riven than the one they used for the Myst games after.