Myst-like games

[Edmond Dantes]

So.

Myst was excellent, as was Riven (I haven't played the rest in the series yet).

Lately I was at Goodwill and discovered a (complete and boxed) copy of a game called Timelapse, which was also a Myst-like, but with a slightly different control scheme (you still point in click but you can move around with the WASD, and when you do so an indicator of available directions shows up. I find this valuable for letting me know when I can zoom in on objects or otherwise might have missed a detail). So far, Timelapse is pretty good and with an entertaining concept.

And now I'm in love with this genre. I mean, I understand why Myst-likes were hated, but screw haters.

Anyway, what are some of your favorite Myst-like games?

[Daria]

Hands down Titanic: Adventure Out of Time and AMBER: Journeys Beyond.

On Titanic you shuffle around the ship interacting with guests during the hours before the ship sinks. They have problems, there's a lot of mystery and intrigue going on and pursuing story paths will lock some and open up others. It's extremely replayable and the story is excellent. It's also very pointless, the better you do in the game the worse the ending gets. The game revolves around a whole butterfly effect theory with altering timelines. At one point I unlocked an ending where because of my actions on the ship Hitler wins WW2.

AMBER is about being a paranormal investigator, you're at this house and you play out the scenarios of the various ghosts haunting the place. Very creepy and again well written.

[Edmond Dantes]

I actually own both of those. How could I have forgotten them? Both were games I picked up because I got them cheap, which both turned out to be excellent. I remember Titanic keeping me hooked the day I finally installed it... and then I went and looked up the Rubiyat and discovered it was a real book, and in fact much of that game is historically accurate.

AMBER: Journeys Beyond is one of the best PC games ever made, period. Although one part creeps me out... that part where you're underwater and a clown drives you around. Both times I played the game, I swear that win the clown got in the car he says "Hello James... I mean, Edwin." [James is my real name, so you can imagine it freaked me out a bit]

[retroguy]

If you can find them, I highly recommend Shivers and Shivers 2: Harvest Of Souls by Sierra.

In the first, your friends lock you inside a haunted museum as a dare. The museum's owner was an eccentric and filled the place with puzzles for guests to solve and the goal is to solve the mystery of why the place was abandoned and capture all the ghosts before they drain your life force away.

In the second, you show up in a small desert town to meet up with a band you know and find the place deserted and your friends gone. However, your friends have left clues in their music videos and once again it's up to you to solve the mystery. The game's second disc can be played in a CD player and serves as a soundtrack for those who care to hear the songs in full.

[Jorpho]

AMBER: Journeys Beyond is one of the best PC games ever made, period. Although one part creeps me out... that part where you're underwater and a clown drives you around. Both times I played the game, I swear that win the clown got in the car he says "Hello James... I mean, Edwin." [James is my real name, so you can imagine it freaked me out a bit]

Where did you find a copy? Apparently the developers got so sick of the whole industry that there's probably no chance of the game getting re-published. (It was also very difficult to get running until someone released a patch a few years ago.)

Neverhood counts as Myst-like, doesn't it?

[Daria]

I actually own both of those. How could I have forgotten them? Both were games I picked up because I got them cheap, which both turned out to be excellent. I remember Titanic keeping me hooked the day I finally installed it... and then I went and looked up the Rubiyat and discovered it was a real book, and in fact much of that game is historically accurate.

AMBER: Journeys Beyond is one of the best PC games ever made, period. Although one part creeps me out... that part where you're underwater and a clown drives you around. Both times I played the game, I swear that win the clown got in the car he says "Hello James... I mean, Edwin." [James is my real name, so you can imagine it freaked me out a bit]

The creepiest bit for me was towards the very begining: When you check out the upstairs tv and you see the first person perspective of someone downstairs as they rush up the stairs. One of the very few times playing a game where I had to get up from my seat and let my heart rate subside before sitting back down.

I actually grew up with both titles though, I remember playing though Titanic a few times with my mom and AMBER with my dad.

[Edmond Dantes]

Where did you find a copy?

I actually found mine at Wal-Mart in the early 2000s. It was on a discounted items shelf for five bucks, no where near the electronics section. Almost like it was placed specifically so I would notice it....

I've never played Neverhood so I'm not sure if its Myst-like. I'll let other people debate that.

@retroguy - I actually own a boxed copy of Shivers 2 and used to own Shivers 1. Now I have to check and see if I actually have a second disc...

Shivers 1 though... great atmosphere, but that Chinese Checkers puzzle can go burn in hell. The puzzle with the marbles and the pinball flippers I actually had to work out on paper. Still haven['t played the second game yet.

[retroguy]

If you want to play Shivers 2, you need the second disc because it has the game's ending. I haven't played either game in years because I have no idea how I'd get them to run on Windows 7, and that pretty much goes for all my old PC games (aside from the few that run on DosBox that is). Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[celerystalker]

I'm really only a console player, but I do like the style. I've been on and off fumbling my way through a bizarre one on Japanese Playstation called Dokioki for a couple of years, as the language barrier is a little steep, but it's so weird I keep playing anyway. It's got wildly surreal art direction.

[Daria]

This thread has made me realize that what I need most in my life right now is a win 98 laptop. o.O

[Jorpho]

If you want to play Shivers 2, you need the second disc because it has the game's ending. I haven't played either game in years because I have no idea how I'd get them to run on Windows 7, and that pretty much goes for all my old PC games (aside from the few that run on DosBox that is). Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Sierrahelp.com is the first place to look.
http://www.sierrahelp.com/Games/Shiv...vers2Help.html

[retroguy]

I didn't know about that site. Thanks a lot!

[Gameguy]

Neverhood counts as Myst-like, doesn't it?

I would count Myst like as at least 1st person like Myst was, Neverhood was mostly 3rd person for the puzzles.

I think there's Schizm: Mysterious Journey which is like Myst, Return to Mysterious Island, or Amerzone too. Plenty of games released by The Adventure Company in the early 2000's feel similar to Myst. I still have a bunch I've been meaning to play, just haven't had time to get to them yet. I usually prefer 3rd person adventures but that seems to be something of a dying trend with recent adventure games.

[Edmond Dantes]

If you want to play Shivers 2, you need the second disc because it has the game's ending. I haven't played either game in years because I have no idea how I'd get them to run on Windows 7, and that pretty much goes for all my old PC games (aside from the few that run on DosBox that is). Can anyone point me in the right direction?

For awhile I used a program called Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 to run Win98 in a virtualized environment. It works for any game that does not require 3D acceleration (which Shivers 1 and 2 don't) and even some that do if you don't mind playing them in Software mode. Basically anything up to Direct X 6.

I wound up building my own Win98 machine, but I do sometimes keep tabs on virtualizers to see if they've ever gotten a good all-purpose solution for Windows 95/98. Unfortunately most of them are focused more on Windows XP for reasons I can't comprehend.

This thread has made me realize that what I need most in my life right now is a win 98 laptop. o.O

Laptops are good IF you only ever intend to run Windows on them. The problem is that the built-in soundcards often aren't really "Sound Blaster Compatible." If there's a laptop that'll run Windows 98 and which has an actual Sound Blaster built in, I don't know of it. Anyway, Windows games (usually) can still play fine regardless, but if you try to play Dos games you'll be screwed unless you don't mind missing sounds or music.

Although on the one I owned, it didn't really like Doom 95--it played, and it had sound effects, but no music.

[evildead2099]

Myst-like games:

The 7th Guest

The 11th Hour

9: The Last Resort

Zork: Nemesis

Zork: Grand Inquisitor

Drowned God

Qin: Tomb of the Middle Kingdom

[Neosteve24]

Lighthouse: The Dark Being by Sierra On Line


Others that have been mentioned: 7th Guest, Titanic

[Edmond Dantes]

Dare I ask what "Drowned God" is about? The title alone makes that sound fascinating.

I'm stuck in a puzzle in Timelapse. Something about these colored crystals each representing an egyptian god. My copy actually included the Prima Official Guide though, so if I give up I'll just use that, but it feels like being defeated if I do.

Ironically I never needed to use a guide in Myst, but I did in Riven (think in the latter case I just got mentally weary because I played the two in a marathon). Incidentally I found a box set of the first three games at Goodwill, all on DVD, and 1st is the Masterpiece Edition. too bad it wasn't RealMyst but oh well.

[retroguy]

I have that set. Riven and Exile work fine, but Myst kept crashing on me for some reason. Oh well.

[Edmond Dantes]

Okay, I've got a serious question.

You play a Myst clone and it has a completely WTF puzzle that takes you days to piece together, and when you do it makes you go just "WTF how was I supposed to figure that out?"

Then you realize you DID figure it out. All by yourself. Without any sort of outside help.

Does that mean maybe the puzzle isn't as obtuse and insane as you thought, or does it mean you're actually crazy?

And in either case, does it make it fair to hold that puzzle against the game in question?

[Jorpho]

If there was absolutely no skill involved and you got lucky, then yes, you absolutely should hold it against the makers of the game.