Myst V: End of Ages

A mixture of reverence and sadness hovers over Myst V: End of Ages, the last game in the series. The impact of the original on gaming is still felt today, yet the need for change has finally pushed our gaming grandfather to his last legs. Appropriately, original developer Cyan Worlds has returned to put our beloved Ages to rest.
Picking up significantly farther in the future than previous titles, the focus is on you, the player. You are to decide the fate of a mystical tablet, with Yeesha from Myst IV and a mysterious D’ni man called Esher counseling you with different advice about what to do with this tablet in the end. Yeesha drops her journals all over the place, but you’d think they were written by the Sphinx from Mystery Men. It becomes laborious and agonizing to read through them all, even to glean important clues. On the other hand, Esher links in at different points to say weird or helpful things, or just to sketch you out.
It’s reward to learn the new and rather innovative slates in Myst V. You draw sigils for creatures to follow, and you use these directions to solve various scenarios. Once you get the hand of it, it’s an outside-of-the-box gameplay mechanic that makes sense—it’s pretty cool to be able to control your environment in a new way.
Though the storyline itself isn’t as robust as previous games, it seems to work in its theme to make this path truly yours. Ultimately your path forks; there are a few possible endings, but you’ll only see one of them. Really. The save system automatically logs your progress to keep your meddling hands off it, so there’s no reverting to previous points in the story. This means you have to replay the entire game simply to watch the other endings. Choose wisely.
Though the idea of “The Choice” is sort of a one-trick pony, it does have its appeal, and it’s supported by the gameplay. Ingenious new ways to beat the typically insane Myst enigmas lends a fresh feeling to what’s really old hat, and gives you a greater sense of control. It’s about time someone gave you the glory for all the hard work you did for the last four games. So, while Grandfather Myst lays dying, you are right there beside him, administering the poison of your choice, helping him pass peacefully or otherwise. And if you’re a dork, you’re probably writing his obituary in D’ni.

This article originally appeared in Computer Games Magazine #181