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Myst 3: Exile

Myst 3: Exile

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An excelent continuation.
Review: I was hooked on Myst the first time I played it. After playing the sequel, Riven, I thought that there was no way that they could do a sequel that could top it. In a way, I suppose they didn't. When I first heard that Myst III was going to be made by another company I was scheptical, but they were obviously the right choice. The graphics are fantastic, and the new engine is a great improvement over the static images. The storyline is just as strong as it is in Riven and Myst. I'm glad that someone finally got around to filling in some of the details of what it was that Sirrus and Achenar did to the worlds they visited, something that I always wish was explored more in the other games. It is well worth the cost to play this worthy addition to the Myst Trilogy.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It's no Riven, but it's fun
Review: I thought that this game would be as challenging as Riven with better graphics, well - it wasn't. I admit that Graphics are better (although in about 5 years since Riven graphics engines advanced at much greater pace). However I thought that they made the puzzles too limited and simple. In Riven everything was interconnected and the puzzles were scattered throughout the ages where as in Myst 3 they are basically done locally. And the ending... I thought I'd get to see another age, but after having just a pick at it - the game is over - a bit disappointing. Maybe it's because I never want this kind of game to end. Anyway, regardless of that - I think that this game is a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: MYST 3: Exile
Review: This was actually the first of the MYST games I played. After playing it, I had to have any and all of the same series. If you think MYST and Riven are good, you're going to love this one. I would add that if you can click on something and make it move in some way, it is definately a clue and not just part of the decor.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Completely Vivid
Review: As usual, the makers have outdone themselves with their beautifully imaginative landscape with an even more delightful aspect that original two in the series should not have been without...3-D enjoyment that sheds the shackles of:"here is what we'de like you to see next" navigation. Brad Dourif was an outstanding choice for the role of arch nemesis (and one of my favorite actors from the big screen). Also loved the easy right click navigation option. Kudos!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: a bit of a bummer after riven
Review: i was really excited when i got this for xmas. and when i started palying it, the 3d graphics were awesome. the story was really cool and everything but it seemed really short. when i actually found time to play the game, it didnt take me very long to beat it. all of a sudden, i find im finished with the game and its all done. the villain guy is pretty cool and you start to feel sorry for him. the puzzles are good,though i had a harder time with riven. over all, a great game. my only peeve is that its short.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the beast this far
Review: Ok this was the best myst this far. In this game to solve the puzzels you must keep your ears as well as eyes wide open. The in game movies are like going to 6 flags park. Buy It you will love it if you even slightly like puzzles.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: MYST 3: INCREDIBLE
Review: I stayed away from the Mystmania for a long time because I thought it would just be a bunch of hype, but BOY OH BOY was I WRONG! What a fantastic, wonderful, incredible journey!... I absolutely HATED for it to end and then of course had to run out and buy Riven and the first Myst. Now I am a Myst addict and can only really enjoy games that are Mystlike!... Incredible, I sat here in my chair clicking and oohing and aahing and just having an incredible time!... I JUST CANNOT WAIT FOR MORE!...I MUST HAVE MY MYST!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Superb Game in ALMOST All Respects
Review: Of all the games in the Myst series, this one has to be the finest. First of all, the freelook viewing brings that final sliver of reality to the game that Myst and Riven lacked. And of course, the control interface is easy to get used to. But enough about the technical stuff, let's get to the story itself. I, myself, found it AMAZING! After reading all three of the Myst books (the Book of Atrus, the Book of Ti'Ana, and the Book of D'Ni), the story made perfect sense. However, this is not required to understand the game. Plus, the acting by Brad Dourif is Oscar-worthy, in my opinion. The final, and perhaps most over-looked, aspect of the game is its music. It fits in to every environment of the game, and is as haunting as its Myst and Riven counterparts. However, (and here comes my only complaint), the link between Riven and Exile is hard to find. Yes, a book to Riven can be found in Atrus's study on Tomahna, but (RIVEN SPOILER) in the end of Riven, the player simply falls into the abyss. How does he or she arrive in Tomahna? (END OF SPOILER) Hence, my reason for giving it four stars. In Riven, the game starts out in Atrus's study in D'Ni, so we can assume that the player spent time on Myst and went back to visit him, but there is no such easily plausible connection between Riven and Exile. However, the story and gameplay outweigh this only flaw in this excellent game.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Exile - a good buy
Review: Here's the bottom line at the top : It's worth the time and effort if you are willing to give it.

Interested? Read more.

I purchased Exile on Amazon on October 26, 2001. I beat it a couple of days ago. I don't get to play that often, but it is not so easy that you can breeze right through it. If you play it straight through (assuming you sleep and eat a little), you could get done in about a day, but I recommend pacing yourself, and enjoy the new world you have been thrown into.

How does it compare with Myst and Riven? First off, play them in order. Myst was amazing, the first or second time, but after that, no. It was challenging, but not to the point that I was smashing my head against the wall. Riven was by far the best game, and the hardest. If it stumps me, it must be tricky. After Riven, there were dents in the wall. I finally gave in and bought a "hint book" which actually gave everything away, and I was quite disappointed, being just a couple hours away from the end. Exile was a nice combination of the two. Some puzzles insulted my intelligence, and others strained it. There were multiple endings, a nice addition to Exile, which I won't go into, only to say that they were more fulfilling (much better!) than Riven's end. I didn't have to buy the hint-book for Exile, which means it wasn't that frustrating. I'm glad they didn't stop with Riven.

Tell me more about the gameplay of Exile!

Okay, the linking books are back. In Riven, they're gone for quite a while, but not so in Exile. No fun rides to get to the next world. Although you do get to go on a couple of rides (the best one is in Amateria) when you beat a world. The worlds can be done in any order. You start on J'nanin (after your meeting with Catherine and Atrus), and from there you can go to Voltaic, Amateria, or Edanna, but you will eventually get to them all. The free view mode was a nice commodity, but you were still moving in frames. You can't go everywhere, like I wanted to think. Depending on your computer, the video clips and scenery are amazing. The graphics did not look real, but they did look like I was in a fantasy world, and it was believable. If you have the choice of using Direct X or Software for the graphics, choose Direct X. This will make most of the game graphics amazingly clear, but the video clips may not be so great. On Software, it's the other way around. The music was spooky at times, and well-placed. Without it, the game would lose the effect of a mystery. The music makes it "cool". After the ending, the music stays in your head, so much that my older brother played it on his trombone (this is a good sign). The badguy, do I even know his name? Is not present basically until the end. Unlike Gehn in Riven, who was eternally watching you (don't play that game alone at night!), this guy was gone for most of the game. I didn't see him throughout Voltaic (except one message he left), Amateria (I can't remember if he left one here), and Edanna (he left another message here). In the end, I think I saw a bit too much of him (no not like that!).

The story is not as exciting as Myst or Riven. There is a storyline, but it is not well put together. If you have played Myst and Riven, it will be easier to understand. The whole point of the game is to save Releeshan from this guy that takes it from Atrus. He leaves messages to annoy you and then, up until the end, you don't see him or anyone else! I forgot what I was trying to do, and I just focused on figuring out the puzzles. When I got to the end (ah multiple endings are great), I remembered that the whole point of me solving everything was for a book. I was doing Atrus' dirty work, and my life was threatened to get this book back. I love books, but that is ridiculous. The acting was okay. The only one who really convinced me that he was a good actor was the bad-guy, because I thought that he needed to go to a mental institution in the end. On a redeeming note, the music makes up for the act of story and acting.

My suggestions:

Only play this game if you have a lot of patience. This is not for rpg shooter fanatics, or anxious parents. You need to have puzzle solving skills, but you can learn that from Myst and Riven. Play them in order, of course. Have someone around who doesn't get lost (my little brother), someone who will explore everything and never give up (me), and someone who knows physics (my older brother in Amateria, it helps). Also, read the books!!! They have good stories, as well as other uses (I won't go there).

Bottom line at the bottom : Get it, beat it, relax, repeat.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great game. A stunning adventure that keeps you riveted!
Review: Let me begin by saying that the first two games in this series, Myst and Riven were great titles. Adventure games that told involving stories and emphasized thinking, patience and puzzle-solving rather than power-levelling and killing everything you see.

Now the third installment in the series, MYST III: EXILE has come. Without spoiling much I can say that it uses a deceptively simple premise to draw you into a very engaging story. What do I mean by that? This. In Myst III your objective is to retrieve a book for for your friend Atrus that he has been working on for some time and has just recently completed. The book, titled "RELEESHAN" is a new world that Atrus has written for the D'ni civilization, whom the player encountered first in the original Myst game and more deeply in the sequel, Riven. Naturally you will have obstacles in the form of puzzles that make you think (and can try your patience) as well as an engaging villian who goes to extraordinary lengths to foil you in your quest for the Releeshan book.

Let me get more specific here for a bit. One thing I really like about Myst III: Exile is that you can now look all around you in 360-space by moving your mouse. This beats the point-click-and move affair that it was to look around in the first two games of the series. Also, here, when you complete a puzzle you know exactly wjat the puzzle is for, you see a reward immediately and you get a sense of real accomplishment when the puzzle is completed. Instead of just hearing a sound to tell you the puzzle is complete, you will see something happen nearby (ie: Plants grow, a machine begins to work correctly, etc).

I must touch on some more things here before I close. The worlds and the characters. Each Age here has it's own theme, whether it be nature-inspired, mechanically inspired, or a macabre version of an amusement park, and so on. The visuals for these worlds are utterly stunning, easily surpassing the original Myst and even the graphical spledor of Riven is easily matched and overtaken. The ambient sounds of the enviornments do wonders to place you right in the middle of a living breathing world. Also the music here is excellent, very appropriately tense and dramatic and invigorating to hear. The main title music alone for this game ranks in my humble opinion as one of the most grand, majestic, and best themes ever written for a video game score, hands dwn, bar none.

Visuals. Sound. Music. What are they without great characters and a great story? Myst III: EXILE has all of these things. Rand Miller(One of the creators of the Myst series) returns here in fine style as your buddy Atrus. Maria Galante does a fine supporting job as his loving wife Catherine. However it is the performance of Brad Dourif as the cunning and maniacal Saavedro that really drives this story. The deeper you get into the game, the more you get to know Saavedro. His agenda, his motives, his torment. This is not a cardboard villian, but a man driven to utter madness by a situation that he had no control over and no power to stop. Brad Dourif gives such complexity and life to the character of Saveedro that he becomes much more than a typical villian. I almost cried several times during the game for the story's sake, and at the end I DID let loose and cry without shame or regret. It was a beautiful experience. My hat is off to everyone that was involved in this project for a job that was VERY well done.
In short Myst III: EXILE a thinking person's adventure game. It is a grand story of a civilization in peril, and one man's quest for redemption. It is told through visuals and music that grab straight for your heart and mind, with charaters that are full of vivid emotion and depth and life. And should you complete the game it gives a real sense of awe, of wonder, and of true accomplishment. You will literally feel as if you have saved a world, and set many wrongs right. I loved this game as I did the rest of Myst series. To me, in fact, MYST III EXILE is the best game of the trilogy. If you like an adventure game with a great story that is very well told in every sense of the word told, give this game a look. You just might fall in love with it like did. Peace, and God bless you.


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