Play MYST Uru for free (online)

[Starship Krupa]

https://mystonline.com/en/

Kinda like Cakewalk, you need a valid email to register, that's it.

tl/dr:

I snagged a Steam Humble Bundle collection several months back with every game Cyan Worlds has ever released (including the early young persons' games like Cosmic Osmo).

I played through all of the MYST titles and Obduction. I enjoyed Obduction so much that I played right through it a second time. Their worldbuilding and art direction are so amazing.(Obduction, though, like MYST, again left me with the question of where all these people had slept)

Anyway, I wasn't so sure about the Uru: Complete Chronicles part of the collection, I had read that it was the retooled remnants of an aborted attempt in 2003 to make an online multiplayer MYST game and that the production (and subsequent weak ROI) of it nearly caused Cyan to go broke. Not the most promising, but I wanted more Cyan-style entertainment.

I started working my way through the Steam version, was liking it, and got curious about its commercial history/fate. Turns out that in 2010, Cyan took all of the content ever produced for the game, set up servers for free, and released a bunch of the underlying code (not the MYST franchise IP) under GNU GPL. And then I found out that the servers are still up and running. Hmm.

So I created an account and hopped in. Didn't know what to expect although I was familiar with the gameplay. The first thing I noticed is that the graphics of the current online version are visibly better than the standalone version that Steam has. They've clearly done some good work on it. The next thing I noticed is that there didn't seem to be many players on the server with me at any given time, often down to single digits, and sometimes I'm the only one. Makes me wonder how long Cyan is going to bother with it, but the people who play it still have regular virtual events (including "live music," not sure how that works).

The open source factor has so far resulted in some very nice-looking "Ages" and two, released a year ago, that genuinely rival the Cyan stuff as far as art/sound design and gameplay. One of them is done in a slightly different, more modern style than the usual MYST steampunk-y aesthetic, and it looks great. The other one includes two actual bedrooms AND bathrooms (with working toilets).

You have control over whether your gameplay is going to be solo or cooperative, and at the start, and by default, it's solo. I've been playing it for a few days and have met a couple of people who are really helpful and fun to play the game with. Some of the puzzles are more fun with another player's help, but I also like being able to do it by myself at my own pace if I want, and that is well-accommodated: the areas where the puzzles and exploration take place are private to each player unless the player invites someone else to join them. You can start working them by yourself and then if you get stuck, go into the public areas and get someone more experienced to help, or just never go into the public areas at all (things are less frustrating if you get some guidance and orientation, but there are plenty of websites with hint guides and full walkthroughs).

It can be social, but it doesn't have to be, which is how I prefer it. I'm an introvert/extrovert switch and I want to be able to flip that switch whichever way I feel like. Due to the nature of MYST gameplay (nothing to kill or be killed by) the userbase skews older than most online games, and that works for me too. Unlike MYST, you can sometimes have uncontrolled falls from lethal heights, but the game whisks you safely back to your private island lodge before you hit the deck,

Each player sets up an avatar whose dress and appearance they can choose, and at least in my case, I think I was able to put together one with a fair resemblance (at least to what I looked like 15 years ago). The avatars look human without going into the uncanny valley.

It's not a competitive game (although there are games-within-the-game that can be competitive), so there's no tactical advantage to having a super-duper computer system, the underlying code and graphics are 20 years old. A Core 2 Quad with 4G of RAM and comparable graphics unit should be able to run it in full resolution just fine, abut it still looks great. I've watched people play the latest shooters, and as far as graphics, they don't seem behind the technical curve at all.

If you drop in, I'm Superabbit. I'm probably about 1/3 to 1/2 through the various puzzles and whatnots, so I'll at least be around long enough to finish those. I wish I'd heard about it earlier: a MYST title where you can ask other players for help in real time? And invite your friends? At my favorite price point?

[cclarry]

I loved this game...it was mesmerizing!

[Fleer]

Great write up, SK. 

[Starship Krupa]

Thanks, Larry, for alerting me to the Cyan bundle in this forum.

One point I want to clarify: MYST Online: Uru Live doesn't share any content or puzzles from the other 5 MYST titles, except for supposedly at the finish of one of the ages, you put your hand on the book and are transported to good ol' MYST Island. I don't know if the puzzles that were on the island can be played in this one, but you can walk around using the newer 3-D engine. Also, I played realMYST: Masterpiece Edition, which came in the Humble Bundle. That is the original game remastered to use newer graphics and their 3-D engine and it looks great. Still fun 27 years later. Still made me reflexively want to "click" on things in the real world to see if they had hot spots.

"Sorry, I was tapping on the refrigerator to see if it had a hidden panel that would slide out."