Myst V: End of Ages (PC Games, 2005)

The end of Myst? That’s a real shame and making matters worse, this final installment of the Myst series doesn’t make for a grand finale. Okay sure, all Myst players are familiar with how the puzzles are structured by now.. who wouldn’t be with a game that's lasted this long? But even so, End of Ages felt a bit too ‘same-y’ for me and seemed like a throwback to a much older Myst version like Riven. Just like the reviewer before me, I was very disappointed that Myst V didn’t duplicate the more interactive, highly submersive, personalized gameplay of Uru.

End of Ages continues the Myst storyline several decades after Revelation. Unlike previous versions where there are many characters to follow, End of Ages only has two: Yeesha, who looks to be in her fifties and in desperate need of a makeover and an equally aged stranger named Esher (voice by David Ogden Stiers of MASH fame). Don’t look for an explanation as to who Esher is or how he got into the story, because there isn’t any. Right from the beginning, it’s clear the game is going to come down to a matter of ‘who do you trust’.. sound familiar?

The puzzles in End of Ages did seem somewhat easier than prior Myst versions. Thankfully, none of them required unbelievably complex geek-math or useless control panels like those in Revelation. But perhaps because of that simplicity, it felt too straightforward or repetitive and was not as challenging. Typical of other Myst versions, several of the puzzles give you no clues whatsoever as to what your goal is. So after the usual amount of frustration and hair pulling, again I had to rely on cheat sites to complete some of them. I wasn’t keen on the camera option being linked to the player’s journal and ‘Save game’ all in one. So every time you take a picture, you’re actually saving the game at that point which I found bothersome.

There are five worlds to explore in Myst V, only two of them truly unique; an arctic landscape of snow & ice and one of spinning planets, asteroids & falling stardust which is pretty spectacular. The other worlds looked rather blah and throughout the game, the graphics just aren’t as rich. One of the more interesting, new features is the addition of the Bahro- strange, alien-looking creatures who constantly dog you throughout the game. I found several glitches that made smooth gameplay next to impossible, particularly in one world that just wouldn’t run without making my computer hang up repeatedly. One annoying element is you’re forced to tote around these heavy stone tablets (I was beginning to feel like Moses) which obscures the lower portion of your view. Many puzzles require you to draw a figure onto the tablet, but this also resulted in glitches- most notably, if you draw a similar yet incorrect figure, you’ll suddenly leap forward to the end, accidentally bypassing all the puzzles.

Though I generally enjoyed End of Ages as I have all Myst chapters, it did not live up to my expectations or seem like a fitting close for a series I've devoted so many years to. I’d hoped for another Uru-like experience and it was a disappointing realization that such an epic game could end in this rather banal, uneventful fashion. So sadly, Myst exits with a whimper, not a bang.