We can promise you there's no need to fear falling asleep at the keyboard. This final volume in the series has enough life left to prompt many late nights.
Every change to the Myst formula, from the tablets to the varied control schemes, make End of Ages one of the best entries in the series. And the visuals and sound rank among the series' best as well. Highly recommended to Myst fans and plain adventure fans alike.
A great game, maybe the best one of the Myst series so far. Beautiful graphics, intelligent, sophisticated puzzles and an awesome storyline. If you are an Adventure- or Puzzle-fan, this is a must-have!
With this episode the Myst series goes out in respectable fashion. There's still nothing on offer for anyone that craves action, exhilaration or an easy ride but frankly that's no great surprise.
One day it should have happened, and Myst goes fully 3D, which is controversial, maybe, but the spirit of the Myst is here, and it's beautiful, and puzzles are challenging, and all, that should be in the Myst, is here.
After the great success of Myst IV: Revelation, I had very high hopes for "End of Ages". Plus, it is billed as the "final Myst game ever", so how could it not be utterly epic, right?!
Well, I'll start with the positive: Some of the puzzles in this game are pretty fun and interesting. I remember having an intriguing time figuring many of them out. Even here, however, cracks began to form, as one world can be entirely beaten based on a logical guess, cheating the player out **** planet-based challenge.
That is about where the positives end for this game. The graphics no longer employ actors or interactive still shots, instead improving upon the URU 3D-rendered approach. While it is a definite improvement over URU, I always felt that the "old way" of approaching the graphic interface was part of what made Myst, well, Myst! It felt real, not fake. "End of Ages" feels kind of fake.
To top things off, the storyline is an absolute mess, especially when trying to wrap up the series. For fans of the Atrus-based Myst canon, this installment does absolutely nothing towards providing even a hint of finality to the series.
I'm pretty sure that Cyan went belly-up after this game was released, effectively killing the Myst franchise, but the sheer inability of "End of Ages" to wrap up any of the true Myst mythology leaves the door open at least a crack for a true ending (or perhaps even more stories!). It seems unlikely at this point, to be sure, but I think I can speak for most (if not all) of Myst fans when I say that we would relish another chance to end this thing right. "End of Ages" (despite a few decent puzzling experiences) really doesn't come close to doing that.
I am a diehard Myst series fan. I own everything Myst. I have rarely finished any of the games other than Myst and Riven. Sometimes I just find them way beyond me but I love the intricacy and prefer difficult but logical games. Months or years later, I'll try again, and this is what I did with End of Ages. Since I never finished it, I started it with pretty much a clean slate (pun intended). What happened next absolutely destroyed this game for me.
(small spoiler). I was learning to use the slate; drawing designs I had seen to see what would happen. TWICE I was able to finish an age by accident because of an error in my drawing. TWICE!!!! I didn't even know what happened until I realized I had achieved my goal before even exploring those ages. That's just plain awful. At that point, what good would it do to explore that age when it's already been completed? I don't know how this game made it to the shelves with such awful bugs.
Not even worth playing. The graphics are shoddy, failing to look a fraction as good as Myst 2 (Riven). Movement in classic mode is awful - constantly directing you exactly where you don't want to go. Puzzles are simplistic and boring. The most difficult part of the game is figuring out what is a puzzle and what isn't. You are frequently distracted by various characters pacing around, spouting mostly useless "I'm crazy" stuff. The game just isn't fun.
SummaryPicking up immediately where the original Myst ended, players are presented the privilege, challenge and responsibility of restoring the lost empire of the D'ni -- an ancient civilization of people who thrived for thousands of years but later met with a great catastrophe. Like each previous Myst title, Myst V: End of Ages advances the gr...