I know that not all of you out there are huge Myst fans, but, hey, I am (My current avatar is the main character of the whole Myst series). A lot of people are turned off by the hard puzzles, the lack of action, and, as with the all of the other Myst games, the simple "point-and-click" interface of the game. I would have to say, though, that Uru is certainly my favorite of them all.
Myst, the first game, was quite an accomplishment for its time. Beautiful graphics, an intriguing story, a wonderful soundtrack, and all sorts of ideas that were new to PC gaming at the time. A great way to start things off.
It was about the time that Riven (the sequel to Myst) came out that I began to take an interest in the games; I was 6 or 7 at the time. And what a time to take interest it was. I still believe that Riven was the best game of the actual Myst series, regardless of how many more sequels were made, or how much better the graphics got. The most amazing part was the story -- and all of the backstory -- that was first introduced in this game. To learn of the great city of D'ni, where civilization lived for thousands of years, taking pride in their unique ability, their "Art", as they called it, to write new Worlds -- or "Ages" -- into books, and then to travel to these very Worlds that they had imagined and made real... simply amazing. This is where I began to become infatuated with the D'ni, and all that had to do with it.
Myst III: Exile was quite an extraordinary game, as well. It added new elements to the Myst world, like being able to see things in 3D, and all sorts of new graphics and lighting effects. I will admit, the game did change the way I saw Myst for a while; Exile took a whole new spin on the Myst universe. It had a whole new "feel" to it. The story was well planned, and gave quite a lot of new information pertaining to the first Myst. Well, I was just glad to be able to continue the story.
Then, disaster struck in the form of Myst IV: Revelation. The graphics, while still very advanced, gave everything a very... well, it made everything so detailed, that it just looked... fake. There's no other word to describe it. Too many cinematics, too much drama, even the orchestral music (which I have always liked very much) seemed a tad over-done. The game-play itself was rather lack-luster, for a Myst game, at least. One thing that really bugged me: Too much "magic". Too many unexplainable things, spiritual things, things dealing with "greater powers of the universe". The whole "Dream" sequence... ugh. Myst deals in science, and the Art of writing Links to other worlds, not magical lands of pretty colors and Peter Gabriel songs. Also, the acting was pretty bad for many of the major roles in the game. The dialogue was very stiff, and when not stiff, greatly over-done. Well, I'm sure you all know what bad acting is; no need to explain it to you. One of the worst parts of Revelation, however, was that it contradicted so many things about the previous games! What, there are no "Trap-books"? Only a Linking Book to an Age where there in no Link out? Then how was I able to communitcate with Sirrus and Achenar back in the library on Myst Island? And what about that time I trapped Gehn back on Riven? It just doesn't make sense! Well, I just pretend that Myst IV never existed, and that they went straight from III to V.
Speaking of V, that's where we are now. Myst V: End of Ages. The final game of the Myst series, and wow, what an exit. It did, however, replace the standard human actors with computer generated puppets, but, hey, I guess Uru did, too. It basically picked up where Uru left off (That's right, Uru already happened. Just wait, I'm getting there), But it still takes place in the Myst universe that is more known to long-time players. It used excellent graphics (in most Ages, at least...), and a very advanced form of communication with the computer, where you could write (or draw, as was the case) something on a tablet, and a character could come and "read" what you just "wrote". If it resmebled anything close to what they were programmed to look for, then, well, that character would react appropriately. It also did a great job of wrapping everything up; tying the end to the beginning.
And, of course, there's Uru. Uru actually came out sometime between Myst III and Myst IV, but it really doesn't tie into the storyline directly. In it, you are an entirely different character from the original storyline. You are you. You play yourself, and the game starts in our world. You are one of the called, called to begin the new tree of life; the new D'ni. Uru, in the D'ni language, actually means "large group" or "gathering". It seemed a little gimmicky to me at the time, but now that I understand more of the history of D'ni (and how D'ni is actually on Earth), it makes perfect sense. Uru goes beyond the limits of the original Myst games. It takes you to a new level of D'ni, where your concern is not about a single family and their constant problems, but the ancient D'ni empire itself. This is where all of your knowledge is gained about how this civilization lived, how it rose, how it fell. This game finally brought me more of what I wanted: a chance to truly learn of the D'ni, and all of its history. This, of course, was not the only reason for why I chose it as my favorite. Oh no, not at all. A major contributer has to be Uru Live.
Uru Live was started not long after the game was released. It was a way to play the game online, with other D'ni explorers. It truly was an "uru" then, for there were always people around, in the neighborhoods, in the city, or strewn throughout the many Ages of Uru. You could even invite a person back to your Relto; your personal Age that you could customize to fit your needs -- your home, in a sense. It was truly wonderful. To share the Myst experience with others who truly cared... and believed... indescribable. Then, of course, Uru Live got shut down, even while it was still in its beta-stages, due to a lack of funding to keep it running. The makers of the game (the story-writers, as well), got this to fit perfectly into their story, because to them -- and many others, myself included -- the City of D'ni is a real thing, in our world, right now. They came up with a perfectly legitimate reason for the shut-down, which, ironically, had to do with a lack of funding/interest. The Myst community grieved over its loss for quite some time, long after other Myst games (and even expansion packs for the single-player Uru) came out. It was not until the middle of this year that I discovered that Uru Live would be returning, with help of GameTap. I simply cannot wait for it to happen! And, I will be truthful about it, when it does return, you will not see me on Freelancer for a very long time.
I am that devoted to Myst and Uru, it has become a part of my daily life. I do not play the games every day, in fact, I haven't played one for months now, but my mind is always on the subject of Myst, Uru, and D'ni. It remains an essential part of my life. My computer has a whole Myst theme to it, my writing (in school or otherwise) will occasionally be in D'ni, I will even speak D'ni at times. Even in Freelancer I have two characters whose names (and backstories) are very much related to Myst and D'ni. Ahrotahn, my Outcast character for example: His name means "Outsider". And Yahvo, my trader, translates to "The Maker", or rather, "God". Okay, yes, so that may be rather blashphemous, but I like the sound of the name anyway. Better than his old name, Dormadh, which is D'ni for "Defeat". At the time, I thought it meant "Destruction"... anyway, I'm not going into their backstories here, just their names.
Wow. Did I just write all of that? How long did it take me? I don't know, but it's late, and I just stayed up all day for a Firefly marathon with some friends. I think it's bedtime now. Oh! and there are Myst novels, too... nevermind. Too much awesome-ness to go into there... I don't feel like writing another paragraph on The Book of Ti'ana.
So, until next time... Shorah, b'shehmtee!
(D'ni translated: Peace to you all!)
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