Myst (Nintendo DS) - Review by Chris

Introduction

Seeing an initial release in 1994, Myst was a unique game for its time, allowing for a non-linear setup as you could go about your tasks in whatever order you pleased. It was so revered that the game received multiple releases over the past decade, with each version repeating the same formula and seeing little in the way of improvement regardless of the platform it landed on. With it now over a decade old, many would have seen fit to let the game finally rest in peace but Midway has decided to give it one more outing on the DS. Has time allowed the game to stay consistent or has it aged badly?

Gameplay

The game places you in control of a nameless character that has arrived on an island which shows clear signs of habitation but there are no people about. As a result, you wander the island in search of clues as to what is going on, not only venturing in your own time but in times past and yet to come. It made for a truly unique experience in 1994 as one of the first games to showcase the possibilities that lay ahead with the introduction of CD-ROMs. It was also one of the first games that allowed you to take to the game as you pleased, going where you wanted and doing what you wanted on the set paths in the hope of finally making it to the end in a non-linear fashion. And this sentiment of non-linearity remains true today in the DS version where the original game has been brought with little in the way of changes that elevate the dated gameplay.

Myst is predominantly a puzzle game at heart. You'll wander the islands searching for clues as to what is going on, completing many puzzles. These puzzles, however, are often vague and incredibly frustrating with the game give you little in the way of guidance as to where to go or where you can get clues as to how to solve these puzzles. It was acceptable back in 1994 because it was the first game of its kind but here, it feels incredibly dated. Just trying to make even the smallest amount of progress will tax even the most seasoned of adventure gamers. The change in interface doesn't help the cause either. The idea with the original was that, using the mouse, the on screen cursor would change to a hand when you got to something of potential use but with the absence of a cursor for any slight help, you're left to fumble your way through. Those who have played any of the other versions of the game may be able to make some form of progress due to knowing some of the puzzles but with the DS now catering to a large number of newer gamers, this is too frustrating and ambiguous for even seasoned gamers. Some new inclusions have been made to try and help the game along, such as the inclusion of an in game note pad but even this feels dated as it doesn't even allow you to write out notes or draw using the touch screen, instead opting for an on screen typewriter. Note taking and makes sketches was necessary to complete certain puzzles and while you can still take notes, it's very restricting and not overly well implemented. The game itself is lengthy enough, and even as the added edition of the extra island from Real Myst but it's little consolation because many gamers will drop the game for something else long before they can experience, due to frustration which is oddly something that Midway see as one of the plus points of the game.

Controls

The entire game is played using the touch screen, taking the stylus in hand and having to tap to move around the environments and tap to interact with puzzles. Yet having such a primitive control setup where tapping is the basis for every action means that at times, wanting to interact with a puzzle will mean that you move away from it or turn around instead of interacting and it becomes a chore to control. Equally annoy is that the puzzles weren't designed with such a small screen in mind and so you'll often find yourself merely tapping the screen over and over in the hope that you'll eventually gain control of it.

Graphics

The game's islands and locations are explored all through a first person view point where everything visually is presented as still frames of graphics. It looked decent back in 1994 but definitely shows its age here as there has been no attempt to improve any of the game's visuals, with the frames being of a low quality, showing signs of poor compression and cropping techniques as you'll see many pixels out of place everywhere you look and a general lack of polish throughout, with many of the puzzles looking messy and text being too small to read, although a magnifying glass has been added to help slightly. The menus and maps are likewise dated and it just speaks of a lazy attempt to bring the game to the console.

Sound

Just as the graphics have been lifted from the original game unchanged, so too has the music. It's not of the highest quality nor is it particularly loud, so hearing it can be difficult at times, but it provides and sets an ambient atmosphere that makes the game's locations somewhat of a joy to explore. Again, though, it just feels dated along with the entire package and some attempt to make things feel more modern would have been nice.

Dual screen

The touch screen is where the gameplay takes place, having you tap the screen to uncover things, move and solve puzzles. It's used well but doesn't work as robustly as it should do. The top screen is used primarily to show a map of the island but it's so basic that it seems like a worthless attempt to make use of the screen.

Final comments

Myst hasn't aged well at all, and this could have been seen by playing one of the numerous earlier editions. But this DS version is bad even by those standards as everything looks much older than it really is, with outdated looks and music and puzzles that feel blasé and bland in comparison the how far along adventure games have come along since this was originally released. It just doesn't work well on the console at all and shows that this is definitely one title that should finally be laid to rest, regardless of whether you enjoyed it originally or not.

Pro: Classic adventure game returns unchanged, addition of the extra island from Real Myst adds some more play time
Con: Presentation and gameplay are badly dated, controls don't work very well
Final score: 4.2

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