Anyone played the Myst series?

[Seriphina]

So im doing my usual scouting thru steam cos money burns a hole in my pocket and I have checked out these myst games before and they remind me of the return to Zork games.
Are they similar?
Are they any good?
Can anyone recommend them?
Thank you <3
Also any other obscure games are always worth recommending esp with a slice of horror but chances are I will have come across them <3

 

[The Madman]

Sure, I played it ages ago. Not a thing like Zork however, Myst are puzzle through and through with a sub-current of story and boasting what at the time were mind-blowing visuals. If you like logic puzzles in adventure games then you might really enjoy them, but if that were the case I'd still recommend Syberia first as that's arguably the best puzzle focused point & click style adventure game ever. Absolutely brilliant game in terms of design, brilliant. Myst games... ehhhh, the series has its fans but I'm not among them.

Then again I've never played Riven which was apparently the absolute peak of the series so there's that as well.

If it's a quirky entertaining sort of point & click game you're looking for however, one that relies more heavily on character and story than puzzle mechanics I'd most highly recommend The Longest Journey as it's just amazing in that regard. Stunningly well realized characters, fantastic story, great soundtrack... not so great gameplay or visuals, but the rest is so good you'll forget about that quickly enough.

As for good point & click games with a horror element?

-Gabriel Knight

-Sanitarium

-Scratches (This one is actually quite a recent release, criminally under appreciated too I'd say.)

Those are the best horror themed adventure games of this sort I've played. But really if it's point & click adventure you're after I could write pages worth of suggestions, there are a ton of amazing games out there. Still all of the above seem like they might be something you're interested in.

As for the original question about Myst, well I'm not so sure. I've only played the first Myst game and I didn't really like it at the time, keeping in mind that was like ten years ago. Still the games are incredibly popular for a reason I presume and they're cheap, might be worth looking into. Not really very much like Zork however. Myst is sort of its own beast.

 

[LookingGlass]

I've never played the Zork games, but I did play through Myst and Riven for the first time in the last few months. I'm not sure if this is part of what you were asking, but there aren't any horror elements to them.

Both Myst and Riven are very similar, so what I say describes both of them. Exploring the islands is a great experience. They're all quite varied and full of surprises and plenty of beautiful scenes. Great sound work too. There's a bit of an intriguing overarching story you're trying to find more of, but most of the enjoyment comes from exploration. The more logical puzzles are quite satisfying too.

The parts I really didn't enjoy though, which do make up a significant part of the experience, were the ridiculously involved and obtuse puzzles. Sometimes these requires you to write down symbol-sound combinations, or piece together an alphabet of symbols, and then make some weird logic jumps as to how to use them later on. I'm sure these mind-bending puzzles are part of the appeal for a lot of people, but I didn't have the patience for them and looked up solutions.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

I've always loved Myst. Puzzle games like "Myst" and "Traitors Gate" just give me a better feeling of accomplishment than a shooter. I would highly recommend them to anyone.

Oh while I havn't research any of it, there is a Myst online you should check out.
http://mystonline.com/en/

No idea how good it is, but its worth researching.

 

[Bostur]

You may like traditional point and click adventures. Return to Zork was a successor to text adventures, but with a different style of gameplay.

A few titles that are available on Steam:

Lucasarts adventure pack.
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/2102/?snr=1_7_7_151_150_1

Monkey Island: Special Edition Bundle
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/6183/?snr=1_7_7_151_150_2

These are remakes of games from about 1990.

GoG (Good old Games) also has quite a few old adventure games, you can get "Beneath a Steel Sky" for free by signing up. All games on GoG are DRM free and very well supported technically.
http://www.gog.com/en/catalogue#adventure/

In my opinion many of the more recent adventure games like Siberia and The Longest Journey lack in the puzzle gameplay. But they make up for it with more elaborate plots.

 

[Verzin]

oh...don't remind me about myst! the madness..the madness. so many online walkthroughs..so many hours spent going over things over and over and over...aaaagh!

 

[9thRequiem]

I loved the Myst series, in particular Myst III : Exile.

It uses the graphical side on the point and click very well. Instead of having a huge inventory of objects to periodically rub on other things, puzzles are all in the world itself. Assorted levers, switches, dials and the like control the world around you.
You need to think in a certain way to solve the puzzles. It's really tricky.

The worlds are all well designed, and overall idea (books that teleport you into the world described in them) is all kinds of cool.

They're some of my favourite puzzle-adventure games (along with Grim Fandango ofc).

 

[Weaver]

The myst series is good. I'm not sure how accessable the first one three will be in this day and age.

 

[Seriphina]

thanks guys! I am aware Myst is not a horror series but horror is just the genre i prefer!
I did buy the first game on steam and was almost instantly put off but then maybe I went into it with the wrong frame of mind. I will try again with so many good things being said about it.

I do love classic point and click games and Im currently trying to get the gabriel knight games to work on win7 which is a challenge in itself. I have played almost all of the lucasarts point and clicks as well as the simon games.

I will have a look at sanatarium and will retry scratches even though I am finding it incredibly frustrating to get started on! So is there a favourite Myst game or are all of them equally good and challenging?
Thanks again <3