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 358 reviews

story54 positive mentions

stability20 negative mentions

Great addition to the Myst story arc, tying in nicely with previous games and providing a satisfying conclusion.
The game features beautiful graphics and imaginative worlds, maintaining the series' signature aesthetic.
The puzzles, while sometimes easier than previous entries, are still engaging and provide a sense of accomplishment when solved.

The introduction of drawing mechanics is clunky and frustrating, with poor recognition of symbols leading to gameplay issues.
The story feels disconnected from earlier entries, with characters and plot points that may confuse players unfamiliar with the lore.
The game suffers from technical issues, including bugs that can break progress and a lack of modern resolution support.

story
216 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
67%
8%
The story of this game, while intended to conclude the Myst series, has received mixed reviews from players. Many found it uninteresting or disconnected from the earlier entries, with a heavy reliance on exposition and audio logs rather than engaging gameplay. Familiarity with the previous games and supplemental materials is often deemed necessary to fully appreciate the narrative, leading to frustration for those less versed in the lore.
- “As the completion of the Myst series, I enjoyed the emotional beats and how the story can wrap up.”
- “It's beautiful, the story is compelling, and it really does feel like a proper ending to the Myst series.”
- “A classic Cyan Worlds puzzler with fantastic ages to enjoy and explore, great narrative, and backstory.”
- “My major complaint is the story.”
- “The plot is an atrocious mess, the puzzles fluctuate between decent and awful.”
- “The story is flat, the puzzles are somehow boring and they didn't pull me into the game.”
graphics
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
62%
14%
The graphics of Myst V are generally viewed as dated, especially when compared to the pre-rendered visuals of earlier titles in the series, with many reviewers noting that they appear primitive by modern standards. While some appreciate the artistic design and find the real-time rendered 3D graphics serviceable for a 2005 game, others criticize the overall quality and express disappointment in the visual experience, suggesting it detracts from the game's narrative and immersion. Despite these criticisms, the environmental graphics are often described as beautiful, contributing positively to the game's atmosphere.
- “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 that not only tests your logical thinking, but occasionally challenges your intuition, sets 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.”
- “I personally felt that the graphics were worse than the RealMyst Masterpiece Edition.”
gameplay
58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
72%
14%
The gameplay in "Myst V" introduces a unique drawing mechanic for interacting with the bahro, but it is often criticized for being clunky and frustrating, slowing down the overall experience. While the game features improved graphics and some clever puzzles, the reliance on unskippable cutscenes and a node-based movement system detracts from the immersion. Overall, the gameplay offers a mix of innovative ideas and significant design flaws, leaving fans divided on its execution.
- “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).”
- “Despite the fact that the game uses real-time 3D graphics, the movement is restricted (by default) to typical Myst node-based movement.”
- “I just feel like the tablet, while perhaps necessary for story reasons, slows the gameplay down too much and is a hindrance more than anything.”
- “The game is built around this and it's a deeply bad mechanic.”
music
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
43%
10%
The music in Myst 5 has received mixed reviews, with some praising it as the best in the series for its diverse and evocative instrumentation, while others find it bland and unmemorable compared to previous entries. The soundtrack is noted for its ambient qualities, aligning with the franchise's tradition, but some players feel it lacks the epic presence of earlier games. Overall, while the music contributes positively to the game's atmosphere, it does not reach the heights of its predecessors.
- “Myst 5 has, hands-down, the best soundtrack in the series - a multi-ethnic buffet of beautiful musical instruments from all over the world (from duduk to didgeridoo), producing all sorts of moods (from proud odes to the genius of civilization's inventiveness 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.”
- “Music is excellent, the storyline could use some detail but it kept me hooked until the end.”
- “I prefer ambient music, but found the music here bland and could not hum or tell you anything about the music.”
- “The soundtrack, which the Myst franchise has always been praised for, is unbelievably bland.”
- “The music goes for more of an ambient vibe, like Myst and Riven, than the Jack Wall scores from 3 and 4.”
stability
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized due to numerous bugs and glitches, including erratic mouse movement, camera issues, and problematic interface elements that hinder gameplay. Many players report that these technical problems are frustrating and detract from the overall experience, although some feel that the glitches do not completely ruin the game. Overall, the implementation appears to be poorly executed, leading to significant annoyance for users.
- “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).”
- “The observatory age specifically was filled with glitches and puzzles that failed to give you basic information to even know you were doing things.”
atmosphere
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
50%
17%
The atmosphere in Myst 5 is polarizing; while some fans appreciate its unique, mysterious, and immersive qualities that align with the franchise's legacy, others criticize its lack of engaging visuals and dismal narrative elements. The game is noted for creating a sense of isolation, which enhances the overall experience for many players, but detractors feel it falls short compared to earlier titles in the series. Overall, the atmosphere is described as both captivating and disappointing, depending on individual perspectives.
- “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
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews of Myst 5 highlight a significant issue with grinding, as players find the puzzle-solving process tedious and frustrating. The clunky character animations and repetitive nature of the puzzles contribute to a sense of monotony, making the overall experience feel laborious.
- “Ugh, just grinding puzzle after grinding puzzle.”
- “The whole slate/tablet thing is just frustrating by being tedious.”
- “Myst 5 has a problem of making solving its puzzles tedious.”
emotional
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game evokes strong emotional nostalgia and resolution for longtime fans of the Myst series, effectively wrapping up the story with impactful emotional beats. Additionally, the bad endings offer a poignant and heartbreaking callback to the series, enhancing the overall emotional experience.
- “It does provide a bit of emotional nostalgia and resolution for longtime players.”
- “As the completion of the Myst series, I enjoyed the emotional beats and how the story can wrap up.”
- “There is an element in the game's bad endings that is an interesting and heartbreaking callback to the series as a whole.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
The game exhibits mixed feedback regarding replayability; while some players find it has decent replay value, others feel it significantly lacks in this area compared to previous installments.
- “Definitely has decent replay value!”
- “This really kills replayability, which I have not found in the previous two installments.”
optimization
2 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. It has not been updated to run smoothly, leaving players frustrated with its performance.
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy for this game has been criticized as a cash grab, with many users feeling it exploits nostalgia rather than offering genuine value, suggesting it capitalizes on abandonware for profit.
- “This seems to have been put on Steam as a nostalgia gouge, or just a cash grab to try to profit from abandonware.”

68%Critics’ scoreBased on 4 critic reviews

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Myst V: End of Ages

PC Review - 'Myst V: End of Ages'

Buy Myst V: End of Ages

Myst V: End of Ages

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