Myst VR Game Review

If you’ve ever found joy in challenging your mind with a video game over the past two decades or savored the intricate puzzles of a real-life escape room, you owe a debt of gratitude to Myst. This narrative adventure, which took the gaming world by storm in 1993, marked a turning point in the realm of puzzle-solving within games. Now, after 27 years, this timeless classic has been reborn in the realm of virtual reality, a faithful reconstruction that preserves its essence.

Myst holds a special place in the hearts of many, and its puzzles, even after all these years, remain as formidable as ever. For those who hold fond memories of the game, stepping into its virtual reality incarnation is akin to a nostalgic journey back in time. It’s like plunging into the depths of your own cherished memories. Yet, once the initial wonder subsides – or if you don’t possess the nostalgic connection – Myst struggles to conceal its age, and the VR adaptation accentuates its imperfections.

Myst unfolds on a small, uninhabited island adorned with enigmatic structures and perplexing, standalone switches. Upon your arrival, you’re plunged into an enigma, unaware of your purpose or how to proceed. As you explore, opening doors, manipulating switches, and perusing the scattered books and notes, the mystery begins to unravel. Stranded on Myst, you must decipher its puzzles to unveil its secrets and secure your escape.

Myst’s puzzles and environments do not adhere to a single cohesive theme; instead, they serve to craft intricate challenges that demand a keen sense of observation and inventive thinking. At first glance, each puzzle appears bewildering, an amalgamation of interactive elements that resist immediate comprehension. More often than not, you’ll need to scrutinize your surroundings, unraveling the puzzle’s workings before you can conquer it.

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The initial puzzle, outlined in a note you stumble upon, sets the game’s tone. It instructs you to count the island’s switches and input the total into a device to unveil a concealed message. However, the switches are positioned near points of interest on the island, creating the illusion of connections to other puzzles. Moreover, switches typically demand a physical action like pulling, and their function remains far from intuitive. Were it not for the note’s guidance, deciphering their purpose would be an exercise in futility. They unlock secrets, yes, but their functionality is far from conventional.

As far as I can discern, the original puzzles remain unaltered, allowing returning players with a good memory to breeze through the game. However, for those seeking an authentic challenge, there’s a puzzle randomizer that alters the symbol- and number-based solutions. While it doesn’t modify the puzzles’ mechanics, it ensures that you follow each step meticulously, leaving no room for shortcuts.

Myst’s narrative itself is a puzzle, unveiled in fragments. Piecing together the island’s history holds the key to your escape. Much like the puzzles, the essential information doesn’t readily present itself; you must pay careful attention and remember details as you progress. In the ’90s, this was a game that required pen and paper. On the Quest, I often found myself taking numerous screenshots, a slightly more modern approach that proved just as effective.

Note-taking represents only one aspect of Myst that appears outdated. When compared to contemporary puzzle and adventure games, Myst feels incredibly cumbersome. Many puzzles necessitate traversing between locations to check the outcomes of your actions, even with notes at hand. Some puzzles hinge on your ability to meticulously explore and retain information, demanding an exceptional memory. As a devoted fan of the original, I’m willing to overlook these quirks, but I acknowledge that it can become tedious, especially when grappling with puzzles, especially in VR with its “teleport” movement.

I played Myst on my trusty Mac during my childhood, leaving it untouched for many years. However, as I found myself standing on the game’s dock in those initial moments, a rush of recognition washed over me. While the game’s appearance had undergone a significant transformation – with the original’s pre-rendered visuals coming to life in 3D – that familiar sense of place persisted. The dock in VR felt like a vivid dream, a vivid reimagining of a cherished memory. Although I couldn’t recall all the puzzle solutions, I recognized the environments well enough to see the improvements. In VR, the world appeared more realistic and finely detailed, revealing intricate nuances like wood grain, pipe rivets, and other subtle elements. However, it was still the same world, just more faithfully rendered.

Even without the emotional connection, Myst remains a straightforward game, its mechanics translating seamlessly into the realm of virtual reality. Exploring every corner of this world feels infinitely more immersive when you’re truly in it, manipulating knobs, pulling levers, and toggling switches instead of merely clicking. The game offers two movement options: using the analog stick for locomotion or “teleport” movement, where you release the stick to reposition yourself. For those with the necessary space, room-scale tracking allows you to walk around within your immediate environment, enhancing the sensation of being present within the game’s world, especially in the puzzle rooms.

However, virtual reality, particularly on the Oculus Quest, imposes certain technical limitations. While the updated visuals in Myst offer a more detailed rendition of the game, they sometimes fall short in terms of visual fidelity. Some objects exhibit jagged, pixelated edges, and text, especially handwritten notes, can be challenging to decipher due to blurriness. Nevertheless, I encountered nothing that rendered the game unplayable.

In general, the Quest version of Myst suffers from technical hiccups at launch. During my roughly six-hour playthrough, I encountered multiple bugs that erased my progress without crashing the game. In one instance, an ill-fated teleportation into a wall became painfully apparent. In another, a puzzle failed to reset properly, allowing me to advance through large portions of the game before realizing the issue. Given the precision of the auto-save feature, manual saving becomes essential. Some things never change, it seems.

Pros

If you’ve played Myst before, stepping back into its VR world is a fantastic nostalgia ride.
The intricate puzzles continue to provide a satisfying challenge and remain engaging. It is one of the best VR games out there.

Cons

The visuals suffer from noticeable pixelation, and certain text appears frustratingly blurry.
When it comes to some puzzles, the process of double-checking your efforts can become quite wearisome.

Verdict: Score of 7/10

If, like me, you hold Myst in high esteem as a relic from a bygone era, you may find it in your heart to forgive these technical flaws. Revisiting the game and experiencing it in VR proved a surreal, heartwarming journey. It was reassuring to discover that, even after all these years, Myst hasn’t lost its ability to challenge and captivate. For newcomers, however, it may be a tough nut to crack, owing to its unforgiving old-school adventure game elements and some technical quirks. Nevertheless, Myst endures as a remarkable brain-teaser and a valuable cultural artifact.

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