Myst V: End of Ages

About

"Myst V: End of Ages" is the final chapter in the Myst series, developed by the original creators. As the explorer, decide the fate of a shattered civilization through your choices and interactions in vast 3D worlds. The innovative slate device lets you communicate with creatures and manipulate the environment, with facial mapping technology enhancing character interactions. Immerse in the ultimate adventure and influence the ending.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

58%

Audience ScoreBased on 178 reviews

story27 positive mentions

stability10 negative mentions

Great addition to the Myst story arc, providing a satisfying conclusion to the series.
Beautiful graphics and immersive environments that capture the essence of the Myst universe.
Challenging puzzles that require logical thinking and exploration, enhancing the overall gameplay experience.

Some puzzles can be repetitive and frustrating, with a few being poorly designed or lacking clear feedback.
The new drawing mechanics can be clunky and buggy, leading to confusion and potential game-breaking situations.
The story feels disconnected from previous entries, with underdeveloped characters and a lack of depth in world-building.

story
108 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
67%
8%
The story of this game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its emotional closure to the Myst series, while others find it uninteresting and disconnected from earlier entries. Many critics note that the narrative relies heavily on exposition and supplemental materials, making it difficult for newcomers to engage fully. Overall, while it attempts to wrap up the overarching plot, the execution leaves much to be desired, often feeling incoherent and lacking the depth of its predecessors.
- “As the completion of the Myst series, I enjoyed the emotional beats and how the story can wrap up.”
- “The fun in a Myst game is piecing the story together yourself while solving puzzles and seeing sights.”
- “It's beautiful, the story is compelling, and it really does feel like a proper ending to the Myst series.”
- “My major complaint is the story.”
- “The plot is an atrocious mess; the puzzles fluctuate between decent and awful.”
- “The story is extremely simple for a Myst game, and the ages (worlds) you explore lack almost any kind of interactivity.”
graphics
37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
62%
14%
The graphics of Myst V are a mixed bag, with many reviewers noting that while the real-time 3D visuals are aesthetically pleasing and serviceable for a 2005 game, they fall short compared to the pre-rendered graphics of earlier installments in the series. Critics highlight that the graphics have aged poorly, with some describing them as primitive by today's standards, yet others appreciate the beautiful environments and atmospheric design. Overall, the game's visuals evoke a sense of nostalgia but are often seen as a significant downgrade from previous titles.
- “Artistically, the graphics are beautiful to look at and make up for the low texture and model quality needed to run the game on real-time machines of the era.”
- “Myst 5 was the first one I ever played, and I'm going to tell you right now that the game is perfectly functional, beautiful (the visuals still hold up to this day!), and the high difficulty of the puzzles not only tests your logical thinking but occasionally challenges your intuition, setting you right into the mindset of a Myst player.”
- “The music, the graphics, the voice acting... everything just goes together perfectly and makes the game an unforgettable experience.”
- “The graphics were just not very good for a Myst game.”
- “Graphics have aged terribly.”
- “A decent conclusion to the Myst series (and unfortunately a very final one at that) which suffers from the lack of a strong story & 3D polygon visuals which look primitive by today's standards.”
gameplay
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
72%
14%
The gameplay in "Myst V" introduces a new drawing mechanic that allows players to interact with the environment and solve puzzles, but it has received mixed reviews due to its clunky execution and frequent interruptions from cutscenes. While some players appreciate the innovative tablet system and find certain puzzles clever, others criticize it for being frustrating and slowing down the overall experience. Overall, the game features a blend of traditional Myst elements with new mechanics, but the execution leaves much to be desired, particularly in terms of world-building and puzzle design.
- “While the animated characters felt like a departure from the first four Myst games, it was a solid experience with very clever game and puzzle mechanics.”
- “But credit where credit is due: the solution to the final puzzle that wraps up the story is actually pretty clever and ties nicely into the gameplay.”
- “The new gameplay mechanic of the tablets is interesting, however, and became an interesting way of creating puzzles that fit in the world, and didn't seem out of place, like creating wind to make a creature move (as a simple example).”
- “The bad is in the actual gameplay and design.”
- “Then the lengthy, unskippable cutscene exposition that interrupts the gameplay approximately every five minutes.”
- “Most puzzles here are very fair and some are downright brilliant, but as mentioned earlier, the new tablet mechanic can be quite confusing and clumsy.”
music
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
33%
20%
The music in Myst 5 has received mixed reviews, with some praising its diverse and beautiful soundtrack that enhances the game's atmosphere, while others find it bland and unmemorable compared to previous entries in the series. While the ambient vibe aligns with earlier titles, many players feel it lacks the standout quality of earlier soundtracks, making it less impactful overall. Despite these criticisms, the music is generally considered good and contributes positively to the overall experience.
- “Myst 5 has, hands-down, the best soundtrack in the series - a multi-ethnic buffet of beautiful musical instruments from all over the world, producing all sorts of moods from proud odes to a space-cold sense of isolation with subtle cues of future freedom.”
- “The music, the graphics, the voice acting... everything just goes together perfectly and makes the game an unforgettable experience.”
- “The music goes for more of an ambient vibe, like Myst and Riven, compared to the Jack Wall scores from 3 and 4.”
- “The music goes for more of an ambient vibe, like Myst and Riven, than the Jack Wall scores from 3 and 4.”
- “I prefer ambient music, but found the music here bland and could not hum or tell you anything about it.”
- “The soundtrack, which the Myst franchise has always been praised for, is unbelievably bland.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is significantly hampered by numerous bugs and glitches, including erratic mouse movement, camera issues, and problematic interface behavior. Players report frustrating experiences with disappearing objects and puzzles that lack essential information, leading to a generally unstable gameplay experience. While some users noted that these issues did not detract from their overall enjoyment, the prevalence of glitches remains a major concern.
- “The problem is that it is so buggy and poorly implemented that it becomes an annoyance.”
- “Your mouse cursor glitches all over the place and there is no real fix for this other than changing your sensitivity to 0 so the jumps are not as big (but you can't play that way).”
- “I did experience some glitches with the game, like erratic camera movement (using the true 3D style), and my game bugged out several times.”
atmosphere
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
33%
33%
The atmosphere in Myst 5 is polarizing; while some users appreciate its unique, mysterious, and immersive qualities that enhance the game's lore and exploration, others criticize it for lacking real-life elements and feeling dismal due to excessive dialogue. Overall, the game is noted for its strong sense of isolation and a captivating ambiance that aligns with the franchise's legacy.
- “Myst 5 has a certain atmosphere that I've never really seen anywhere else.”
- “I am a huge fan of the Myst franchise: I love the lore, the gameplay, the atmosphere, and everything that makes it a unique puzzle/exploration franchise.”
- “The visuals and atmosphere are amazing (even today).”
- “Myst 5 looks horrible without real-life actors, nor does it have any sort of atmosphere to it.”
- “Add to the fact that the majority of the game is spent listening to Killmaster Von Evildorf talking about how trustworthy he is, and it just makes the atmosphere for the whole game so dismal.”
- “You rarely had contact with anyone within the games themselves, which added to the overall isolation and atmosphere of the games.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate that Myst 5 suffers from tedious grinding, particularly in its puzzle-solving mechanics, which many players find frustrating and clunky. The repetitive nature of the puzzles detracts from the overall experience, making it feel more like a chore than an engaging challenge.
- “Myst 5 has a problem of making solving its puzzles tedious.”
- “The whole slate/tablet thing is just frustrating by being tedious.”
- “Ugh, just grinding puzzle after grinding puzzle.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game resonates strongly with longtime players, offering nostalgia and a satisfying resolution to the Myst series. Reviewers appreciate the impactful storytelling and the poignant callbacks in the game's bad endings, which evoke a sense of heartbreak and depth.
- “It provides a bit of emotional nostalgia and resolution for longtime players.”
- “As the conclusion of the Myst series, I enjoyed the emotional beats and how the story wraps up.”
- “There is an element in the game's bad endings that serves as an interesting and heartbreaking callback to the series as a whole.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
50%
The game offers decent replay value, although some players feel it lacks the replayability found in its previous installments.
- “Definitely has decent replay value!”
- “The game offers a variety of choices that make each playthrough feel unique.”
- “With multiple endings and different character paths, I find myself coming back for more!”
- “This really kills replayability, which I have not found in the previous two installments.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from poor optimization, lacking support for modern display resolutions and widescreen monitors, which results in a subpar experience on contemporary gaming PCs.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The monetization strategy of the game is perceived as exploitative, with users suggesting it serves primarily as a nostalgia cash grab rather than a genuine effort to revive abandonware.
- “This seems to have been put on Steam as a nostalgia gouge, or just a cash grab to try to profit from abandonware.”
- “The monetization strategy feels exploitative, as it prioritizes profit over player experience.”
- “It's frustrating to see so many features locked behind paywalls, making it hard to enjoy the game fully without spending extra money.”