It was Fall of 1993 when my life changed once and for all. It was then when Miller brothers and their Cyan Worlds released MYST. The game, which up to this day, I consider as the very best game ever made. You may say that I'm overreacting and it was all because of how groundbreaking CD-ROM technology felt back in the days and sure, there'll be some truth in that. For modern kids it'll be a bit hard to understand, but back in the days, when games were distributed on physical media, that exact media meant a lot of limitations for developers. At the beginning of 90s, games already started to take ridiculous amount of floppy disks and even that was not enough. Which led to some crazy results. Take Star Trek: Judgment Rites for example. The main game took 11 (!) floppies, and yet, they ended up releasing cutscenes and voice overs as stand-alone expansion. Which took another 5 floppies. Crazy stuff. Now, here comes CD-ROM and... it changed everything.

Trilobyte, for example, were already working on their 7th Guest. A game that combined pre-rendered 3D graphics, FMV elements and high quality music / SFX. An absolutely groundbreaking and mind-blowing stuff. Now, here come Robyn and Rand K. Miller and... You know, the most interesting thing about MYST is that it was a pure art. While Trilobyte knew exactly what they were doing, Miller brothers weren't even gamers. They started their VG career by making games for kids, which were born from the idea of making an interactive children's book. But after experimenting with CD-ROM format in their Cosmic Osmo (according to brothers, in the remake of their very first game, Manhole, CD was just a fancy way to store a lot of floppies), the guys decided that they can do more. A daring project for adults. They tried to approach Activision, but those weren't interested in a game for adults. Sunsoft was, but ironically, Sunsoft wasn't interested in PC gaming.

Surprisingly, it was the need to think about console limitations that led to the concept of Ages. The self-sufficient worlds, which we can visit through so-called linking books. The ones that quickly became MYST's signature feature. And that was the story of MYST developing. There was no proper concept. It was one creative idea leading to another. The brothers were meeting new people, learning new things (for example, the game was originally planned to be hand-drawn, until the guys discovered StrataVision 3D), exploring their creativity and so on. Like I said, Millers weren't gamers. Heck, they didn't even know who their game was supposed to aim for. They just had blank canvas and tried to fill it with something beautiful. That was the biggest difference between MYST and The 7th Guest, the game Sunsoft specifically wanted to compete. The 7th Guest was a game. A game, in which player was supposed to solve the series of puzzles. While MYST? MYST was more like an experience.

More than anything, Millers wanted to destroy “the video game” feeling. They didn't want any UI to stand between you and their world. And they didn't want puzzles to feel like... you know, a game. They wanted you to dive into their world. To explore it. And they wanted things to feel as natural as possible. That's exactly why it was more than just CD-ROM magic. Sure, Sunsoft's console demands ended up being forgotten and Cyan created a state of the art product with the astonishing visuals, FMV elements and unforgettable music / SFX, but MYST was more than that. Much more. Playing MYST felt like diving into somebody else's mind. Exploring the unique worlds full of strange objects and machinery, trying to figure out how things work there... It felt magical. That's exactly why I love MYST so much. It's an incredibly creative game with the incredibly creative puzzles. The main island that serves as a hub? Perfect design is perfect. And of course, the way Cyan made us feel like we're playing not as just some fictional character, but as ourselves? It only made things better. More personal, if you know what I mean.

Naturally, the game became a huge hit. And like any huge hit, it got quite a lot of re-releases. It got updated version with better visuals, it got fully 3D remake and it got tons of ports. Interesting ones, like the one for Nintendo DS, included. But today? Today we're talking about the VR version. Which, I must say, is very special to me. Like I said, Miller brothers' biggest dream was to erase the border between player and video game. And back in the days? They totally did that. But nowadays? Nowadays it was possible to do more. To let us actually visit Myst island for real. And that's, ladies and gentlemen, what this version is all about. Experiencing MYST like never before.

Sure, you can say that yet another MYST remake is an obvious money grab. But guess what? It isn't. This game? It's as sincere as it gets. And the attention to details is a nice proof of that. This game is not just realMYST with VR support. In this version we'll be able to pick up and examine items for more atmosphere and better understanding of what's going on, there are advanced motion controls (we'll manually open drawers, climb ladders and so on), there's a juicy haptics feature and so on. Remember when Ubisoft tried to make things to feel more realistic, more personal in MYST IV by letting us knock on surfaces and hear how they sound? That's exactly what Cyan tried to achieve here. They tried their very best to let us live and breath their masterpiece.

Did they succeed? Yes! Dear Lord, yes! The new version of MYST feels fantastic! Even though I know this game by heart, I felt like I was playing it for the first time (especially since this version also comes with an option to randomize the puzzles for those who still remember all the solutions). VR factor was that certain something that MYST needed to revive its old magic. And I'm so-o-o envy for those who'll play this awesome game for the first time. It's a bit tricky matter, though. I mean, MYST? It's one of those games that you should play without guides. Even though it'll probably look a bit confusing at the beginning, it actually isn't and you'll have all the necessary hints. Like Millers once said, a good puzzle is the one that doesn't make you want to blame the developers after solving it. And that's what this game is all about. You explore, you try to figure things out and you enjoy the unique worlds that feel real like never before.

Cyan also payed a lot of attention to people with disabilities. For example, some puzzles in this game revolve around sound. Which used to make them impossible to solve for people with hearing loss in the original game. Here? There's a special feature that lets you enable subtitles for every important sound. Awesome stuff. Sure, I have some complains too. HTC Vive controls are not as good as they were supposed to (this game was developed for Oculus), there's a weird sound bug, which disables the sound in your headset when game's window isn't active, one of the achievements is broken and most importantly, there's no Rime Age from realMYST. You know, the one that served as a direct bridge to RIVEN (a sequel to MYST). Sure, it was a tiny little Age and it makes sense not to include it as long as they have no plans to give RIVEN the same treatment, but you know what? They totally should. Because honestly, MYST series is amazing. And seeing it getting such a careful and beautiful treatment? It feels amazing. Dixi.

[h1]“...perhaps, the ending has not yet been written.” ~[i]Atrus[/i][/h1] It was Fall of 1993 when my life changed once and for all. It was then when [b]Miller[/b] brothers and their [b]Cyan Worlds[/b] released [b]MYST[/b]. The game, which up to this day, I consider as the very best game ever made. You may say that I'm overreacting and it was all because of how groundbreaking CD-ROM technology felt back in the days and sure, there'll be some truth in that. For modern kids it'll be a bit hard to understand, but back in the days, when games were distributed on physical media, that exact media meant a lot of limitations for developers. At the beginning of 90s, games already started to take ridiculous amount of floppy disks and even that was not enough. Which led to some crazy results. Take [b]Star Trek: Judgment Rites[/b] for example. The main game took 11 (!) floppies, and yet, they ended up releasing cutscenes and voice overs as stand-alone expansion. Which took another 5 floppies. Crazy stuff. Now, here comes CD-ROM and... it changed everything. [b]Trilobyte[/b], for example, were already working on their [b]7th Guest[/b]. A game that combined pre-rendered 3D graphics, FMV elements and high quality music / SFX. An absolutely groundbreaking and mind-blowing stuff. Now, here come [b]Robyn[/b] and [b]Rand K. Miller[/b] and... You know, the most interesting thing about [b]MYST[/b] is that it was a pure art. While [b]Trilobyte[/b] knew exactly what they were doing, [b]Miller[/b] brothers weren't even gamers. They started their VG career by making games for kids, which were born from the idea of making an interactive children's book. But after experimenting with CD-ROM format in their [b]Cosmic Osmo[/b] (according to brothers, in the remake of their very first game, [b]Manhole[/b], CD was just a fancy way to store a lot of floppies), the guys decided that they can do more. A daring project for adults. They tried to approach [b]Activision[/b], but those weren't interested in a game for adults. [b]Sunsoft[/b] was, but ironically, [b]Sunsoft[/b] wasn't interested in PC gaming. Surprisingly, it was the need to think about console limitations that led to the concept of Ages. The self-sufficient worlds, which we can visit through so-called linking books. The ones that quickly became [b]MYST[/b]'s signature feature. And that was the story of [b]MYST[/b] developing. There was no proper concept. It was one creative idea leading to another. The brothers were meeting new people, learning new things (for example, the game was originally planned to be hand-drawn, until the guys discovered [b]StrataVision 3D[/b]), exploring their creativity and so on. Like I said, [b]Millers[/b] weren't gamers. Heck, they didn't even know who their game was supposed to aim for. They just had blank canvas and tried to fill it with something beautiful. That was the biggest difference between [b]MYST[/b] and [b]The 7th Guest[/b], the game [b]Sunsoft[/b] specifically wanted to compete. [b]The 7th Guest[/b] was a [i]game[/i]. A game, in which player was supposed to solve the series of puzzles. While [b]MYST[/b]? [b]MYST[/b] was more like an experience. More than anything, [b]Millers[/b] wanted to destroy “the video game” feeling. They didn't want any UI to stand between you and their world. [i]And[/i] they didn't want puzzles to feel like... you know, [i]a game[/i]. They wanted you to dive into their world. To explore it. And they wanted things to feel as natural as possible. That's exactly why it was more than just CD-ROM magic. Sure, [b]Sunsoft[/b]'s console demands ended up being forgotten and [b]Cyan[/b] created a state of the art product with the astonishing visuals, FMV elements and unforgettable music / SFX, but [b]MYST[/b] was more than that. Much more. Playing [b]MYST[/b] felt like diving into somebody else's mind. Exploring the unique worlds full of strange objects and machinery, trying to figure out how things work there... It felt [i]magical[/i]. That's exactly why I love [b]MYST[/b] so much. It's an [i]incredibly[/i] creative game with the [i]incredibly[/i] creative puzzles. The main island that serves as a hub? Perfect design is perfect. And of course, the way [b]Cyan[/b] made us feel like we're playing not as just some fictional character, but as ourselves? It only made things better. More personal, if you know what I mean. Naturally, the game became a huge hit. And like any huge hit, it got quite a lot of re-releases. It got updated version with better visuals, it got fully 3D remake and it got tons of ports. Interesting ones, like the one for [b]Nintendo DS[/b], included. But today? Today we're talking about the VR version. Which, I must say, is very special to me. Like I said, [b]Miller[/b] brothers' biggest dream was to erase the border between player and video game. And back in the days? They totally did that. But nowadays? Nowadays it was possible to do more. To let us actually visit [b]Myst[/b] island for real. And that's, ladies and gentlemen, what this version is all about. Experiencing [b]MYST[/b] like never before. Sure, you can say that yet another [b]MYST[/b] remake is an obvious money grab. But guess what? It isn't. This game? It's as sincere as it gets. And the attention to details is a nice proof of that. This game is not just [b]realMYST[/b] with VR support. In this version we'll be able to pick up and examine items for more atmosphere and better understanding of what's going on, there are advanced motion controls (we'll manually open drawers, climb ladders and so on), there's a juicy haptics feature and so on. Remember when [b]Ubisoft[/b] tried to make things to feel more realistic, more personal in [b]MYST IV[/b] by letting us knock on surfaces and hear how they sound? That's exactly what [b]Cyan[/b] tried to achieve here. They tried their very best to let us live and breath their masterpiece. Did they succeed? [i]Yes![/i] Dear Lord, yes! The new version of [b]MYST[/b] feels [i]fantastic![/i] Even though I know this game by heart, I felt like I was playing it for the first time (especially since this version also comes with an option to randomize the puzzles for those who still remember all the solutions). VR factor was that certain something that [b]MYST[/b] needed to revive its old magic. And I'm so-o-o envy for those who'll play this awesome game for the first time. It's a bit tricky matter, though. I mean, [b]MYST[/b]? It's one of those games that you should play without guides. Even though it'll probably look a bit confusing at the beginning, it actually isn't and you'll have all the necessary hints. Like [b]Millers[/b] once said, a good puzzle is the one that doesn't make you want to blame the developers after solving it. And that's what this game is all about. You explore, you try to figure things out and you enjoy the unique worlds that feel real like never before. [b]Cyan[/b] also payed a lot of attention to people with disabilities. For example, some puzzles in this game revolve around sound. Which used to make them impossible to solve for people with hearing loss in the original game. Here? There's a special feature that lets you enable subtitles for every important sound. Awesome stuff. Sure, I have some complains too. [b]HTC Vive[/b] controls are not as good as they were supposed to (this game was developed for [b]Oculus[/b]), there's a weird sound bug, which disables the sound in your headset when game's window isn't active, one of the achievements is broken and most importantly, there's no [b]Rime Age[/b] from [b]realMYST[/b]. You know, the one that served as a direct bridge to [b]RIVEN[/b] (a sequel to [b]MYST[/b]). Sure, it was a tiny little Age and it makes sense not to include it as long as they have no plans to give [b]RIVEN[/b] the same treatment, but you know what? They totally should. Because honestly, [b]MYST[/b] series is amazing. And seeing it getting such a careful and beautiful treatment? It feels [i]amazing[/i]. Dixi.