Myst V: End of Ages

After the great success of Myst IV: Revelation, I had very high hopes for "End of Ages". Plus, it is billed as the "final Myst game ever", so how could it not be utterly epic, right?!

Well, I'll start with the positive: Some of the puzzles in this game are pretty fun and interesting. I remember having an intriguing time figuring many of them out. Even here, however, cracks began to form, as one world can be entirely beaten based on a logical guess, cheating the player out of a great planet-based challenge.

That is about where the positives end for this game. The graphics no longer employ actors or interactive still shots, instead improving upon the URU 3D-rendered approach. While it is a definite improvement over URU, I always felt that the "old way" of approaching the graphic interface was part of what made Myst, well, Myst! It felt real, not fake. "End of Ages" feels kind of fake.

To top things off, the storyline is an absolute mess, especially when trying to wrap up the series. For fans of the Atrus-based Myst canon, this installment does absolutely nothing towards providing even a hint of finality to the series.

I'm pretty sure that Cyan went belly-up after this game was released, effectively killing the Myst franchise, but the sheer inability of "End of Ages" to wrap up any of the true Myst mythology leaves the door open at least a crack for a true ending (or perhaps even more stories!). It seems unlikely at this point, to be sure, but I think I can speak for most (if not all) of Myst fans when I say that we would relish another chance to end this thing right. "End of Ages" (despite a few decent puzzling experiences) really doesn't come close to doing that

Ever since I was 5 years old, I have been entranced by the grandeur and mythic beauty of Myst. I came into the computer room and found that my father was playing a computer game (very rare for him) I asked what it was. He said it was called "Myst", and said that I wouldn't be interested.

Despite his telling me I wouldn't like it, I always came to stand next to him when he booted up Myst so I could watch the Imersive and colorful worlds on the screen. I helped my dad solve the puzzles until we reached the end of the game, were we met that inconclusive ending.

By now I was an avid Myst fan, and when I heard the sequel was coming, I begged my dad to get it so We could both play it. He eventually bought it and we both loved playing.

Afterwords, I began to send letters to Cyan and Broderbund to ask when Myst III would come. I usually got responses without any conclusive info.

When Myst III came out, I was thrilled and quickly snatched it up. I was shocked however to find that my father did not really feel like playing it, So I played it on my own.

I did this as well with Myst IV, and when I heard that Myst V would be the last title in the series, I was both sad and happy. While I was disappointed at the concept of my favorite computer game series ending, I would finally see the conclusion of one of my favorite games. When I got it for Christmas, I immediately installed it and began to play.

I had heard previously that live action actors were not used for this game, rather, motion capture was the new thing. I had no idea how bad it actually was. I felt no emotion from any of the characters at all, and Yeesha just became a whiny, self absorbed twit, and esher just couldn't leave you alone. Atrus, my favorite character, was absent until the very end.

Speaking of endings, the ending was hardly conclusive at all, with the slate story having absolutely no relation to the Dn'i mythos as a whole. I would have been happy enough if Myst IV had been the last game, but a proper finale would have sufficed just as well.

I am very disappointed in Cyan for rushing this game out only a year after the fourth one, and I wish they had simply taken more time to make it the best it could have been rather then this, to put it bluntly, hack job.

With the publication of MYST V: End of Ages an era of gaming comes to a close. It was the brothers, Rand and Robyn Miller, and their blockbuster CD-ROM adventure game that proved PC's were a force in gaming. With MYST they had the best selling game of the 20th century and now Myst V brings it to a close.

Closely related to the previous Cyan title, "Uru: Ages Beyond Myst," Myst V picks up where it left off. While no knowledge of this game is needed to enjoy Myst V fully, as all you need to know is explained, those who are fans of Uru will find the Myst V experience enriched. Yeesha, daughter to the "hero" of the Myst series, Atrus, finds it is her destiny to rebuild the ancient D'ni civilization. However, she needs your help but pleads with you not to give it. Esher, one of the few D'ni remaining, agrees with her on this point alone. So, it is up to you to decide who gets the power of the Tablet, a stone slate with the power to alter worlds, and what is to become of D'ni and the mysterious creatures known as the Bahro.

Myst V leaves the fate of D'ni and Atrus' legacy up to you. Choose wisely.

Using an updated version of their Plasma engine, the same engine used to craft Uru and realMYST, Cyan brings life and detail to their Ages, or worlds, and characters like never before. And even manage to rival Valve's "Half Life 2" facial animations and character movement. They pull this off by using motion capture for the human characters and mapping the faces of real actors to the heads of these characters. What you end up with is a real-time 3D character with such subtle and nuanced facial expression you'd think they were real people. And, in a way, they are. The only downside to this is that you'll need a beefy video card to really squeeze all the beauty out of this gem.

As always puzzles play a central role to advancing within the game but to Cyan's credit (and my relief) they've put a large emphasis on exploration. So, while you'll have to eventually deal with the puzzles, you'll have more than enough look at in wonderment in between bouts of frustration.

With deeper sadness it appears, for the time, this will be the final game published by Cyan Worlds. Due to financial constraints they've been force to lay off all but two of their staff while they look for outside funding for further projects. Cyan prided itself in bucking the trend and making an easy buck by avoiding genres that have flooded the PC market such as first-person-shooters and other overly violent subjects. They prided themselves by putting the story first and building a game on top of that. To say they were mistaken in this approach may be unwise. Whether you loved or hated their games it is a fact that PC gaming would not be where it is today without two brothers working out of a garage in Spokane Washington 13 years ago.

But, as they say, perhaps the ending has not yet been written...