RealMyst Masterpiece Edition

Genre: First-Person Graphic Adventure

Players: 1

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Review:

When Myst first released on PCs in 1993, it was a marvel of technology, and had a major impact on the videogame industry as a whole. Its combination of pre-rendered graphics, full-motion video, immersive sound effects and imaginative world caught the attention of the world, and was a major force in pushing the adoption of the CD format when the discs were still in their infancy. In 2000, this game would receive the Masterpiece Edition update in 2000 with improved visuals, and the game would be updated again later that same year with RealMyst, which re-imagined the game with fully 3D visuals. With each iteration, occasional ports would find their way to other platforms, and the Nintendo DS and 3DS even got versions of it, but this release on the Nintendo Switch in 2020 would mark the first time this game would come to a Nintendo console.

Given that this is a game that was originally released over 25 years ago, RealMyst Masterpiece Edition looks surprisingly good on Nintendo Switch. This is due in part to the iterative updates the game has received over the years, but in any case this version features some nice texture work and decent graphics overall… though to be clear, this is a far cry from the cutting-edge that Myst was heralded as when it first released – the polygonal models the game uses are a bit chunky, and occasional video clips the game uses from the original release of the game absolutely show their age.

This is paired with some decent atmospheric sound that at times seems a bit choppy or unnatural, but still does a decent job of adding to the overall experience… except when it uses sound effects that seem like they’ve been reused countless times in other videogames. Sorry, but that door creaky sound seems way too familiar to me, and breaks immersion.

And make no mistake, so much about what makes Myst work as an experience is immersion – the game intends to give players the feeling of being transported to a strange world with odd and magical devices, and there’s very little guidance to how you explore the game’s island and its connected worlds, nor a clear indication of exactly what you’re supposed to be doing, at least at first.

While the lack of hand-holding is arguably Myst’s greatest strength, it is also probably the game’s greatest weakness as well, as players will often find themselves absolutely stuck with no clue what to do or where to go. Gameplay will inevitably revert to wandering back and forth around the areas you’ve visited trying to find something you’ve missed, or trying to see something that clicks in your head as a “oh, I see what I need to do” sorta’ thing. For some, figuring out these puzzles is one of the great joys of Myst, but for many, the complete lack of guidance is a torturous nightmare that just makes you wander through the whole thing feeling lost, at least until you give in and look up a game guide, which kinda’ defeats the purpose of the game.

It doesn’t help that traversal is a bit slower than what would be ideal, and objects the player must interact with need to be “clicked” on twice – once to focus on that item, and once again to interact with it – really frustrating when all you want to do is click a switch or flip a lever. Oh, on that note, the gamepad controls for this game swap back and forth between more traditional first-person controls and controlling said cursor, which works well enough with the exception I noted above.

On the Nintendo Switch, players also have the option to play using the touchscreen, in a mode that plays vaguely like the original game. The ability to choose which control scheme suits you best, as well as the ability to play on your TV or on a portable device probably makes this the definitive version of the game, although I suppose there are arguments to be made that this was always a game intended for the PC’s mouse and keyboard. In any case, the transition to the Nintendo Switch goes about as well as one could expect.

All in all, the Nintendo Switch version of RealMyst is an excellent version of a legendary and historically important videogame… that’s also an extremely niche experience that most gamers will find tedious, frustrating, incomprehensible, and… yes, mystifying. For those select few who “get it”, this is going to be a joy of a Graphic Adventure game, with some exquisite puzzles and a liberating lack of hand-holding. But for most, this game will likely just make you feel lost and confused and then, before long, annoyed and bored. If you’re looking for a real head-scratcher or a piece of videogame history, you may want to pick up RealMyst, but most players are better off leaving this game in the past where it belongs.

tl;dr – RealMyst Masterpiece Edition is probably the definitive version of a hugely influential Graphic Adventure, but “definitive” and “hugely influential” doesn’t necessarily mean “good”. A select few players will absolutely love this game’s devious puzzles and lack of hand-holding, but the majority will find it to be tedious, frustrating, and incomprehensible. Unless you want a piece of history or a particularly fiendish mystery box, skip this one.

Grade: D+

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