I'm finished, long after most of you, but finished. It's bittersweet but the sweet is outweighing the bitter quite a bit right now. Cyan, thanks for the journey. It was amazing.

I got it for Christmas. My parents aren't usually big on games at all but around here Myst games get saved for gifts. So I waited patiently for a few months while everyone was long done. I hadn't known where to set my expectations. I'm pretty confident with Cyan and had read and heard quite a bit beforehand. I was a little worried that with the limited time they had and the very limited budget it would fall below whatever fuzzy expectations I had. Wrong.

The story remained central. And from the start in K'veer, I think Cyan captured the intensity, the sense of your decisions and choices having deep consequences in a way similar to Riven, though with less information of what exactly was going on. As the story slowly unfolded I was totally immersed. It had a wonderful Cyan-like feel. Various elements well-tied the various aspects of past games into one final tapestry. And while the central story focused on the Barho, and some would argue that the Bahro story is the Uru story and not true Myst, I would disagree. I've loved reading the Cyan interviews in the Prima guide (I have the LE), and Rand clearly said they had been developing the deep and complex story of Yeesha and the long service of the Bahro for quite some time. It is part of the Myst story. The result is, like he said, a very effective way of making you doubt, to balk and say, "Wait, I thought I knew this civilization, these people. Maybe I don't quite as well as I thought." I learned that lesson in Revelation. The end was satisfying, though as it closed one door, it left another open. I eagerly await the Book of Marrim.

Gameplay was great, probably my favorite of any Myst game. Sometimes not too difficult, other times quite challenging. I didn't have to look for a hint too often, and sometimes I would agonize over a puzzle only to walk away for a couple minutes and have the answer slap me in the face. The puzzles made sense. Although I was hesitant when I first heard about the slates some time ago, I think they were a great, fresh new addition to classic Myst gameplay. I only had a couple of errors with bugs with the slates, and found that if one follows the "only draw symbols that are obviously designed for the slate" rule you're okay and having fun.

Yes it was a plasma engine, and yes it did lose Revelation's photo-realism. Was it worth it? I think so. Apart from one or two brief occurences of mild motion sickness, I thought the engine did a very good job and the surroundings were convincing and immersive. No, it's not Quake 4, but considering that Cyan spent less time and less budget (except for Myst) than on their previous games, I think they did an astounding job. The characters were realistic, and, though not perfect, convincing enough for the grand finale. Although the face-mapping technology isn't cutting-edge, it was realistic and gave the characters the needed depth, ability to convey emotion. The voice acting was great. Complaints that the Bahro looked like "xbox monsters" are a bit unjustified and their queer appearance, I found, to be perfectly suited to the story—to make you question their true nature, whether to trust or fear them.

I honestly didn't expect too much from the soundtrack. I had come to love Jack Wall's dramatic (though sometimes a bit overly so) themes from the past two installments. I wasn't sure Tim was the best choice. The soundtrack CD was the first thing I heard, and I was proven wrong. Tim did an amazing job of crafting the music and sound, and I delighted to hear subtle references to the previous games' melodies. The music was even more impressive when heard in-game, with the accompanying surroundings, proving how masterful Tim is at crafting music that creates a mood strikingly appropriate for different locations.

I will miss not having any more Myst games, at least for awhile. But I extended my heartfelt thanks to Cyan for creating such a satisfying end to the series when they were so pressed for time and resources. You are a very special group of people and there isn't anyone out there quite as amazing and talented as you are.

I especially agree with your sentiments about Tim's music. I would suggest, if you can do so without spending massive amounts of money, that you get realMYST, just to hear the music he composed for Rime. I know there are a number of folks who aren't really fans of his jazz trumpet work, but the stuff he did for Rime was virtually indistinguishable from Robyn's style, and he won a lot of folks over with it. I'm glad he's been at Cyan for Uru and EoA; he's really kept the style and feel of Myst's original score alive, even 12 years later.

I also believed in the Bahro, especially (after I realized what they were) looking for their blue eyes in the shadows (and on the ceilings) as I made my way through the Great Shaft. Dave

I got realMYST a few years ago , and I totally love Tim's work on it. The track he did for the realMYST trailer still remains one of my all-time favorite pieces...I get chills every time I hear it.

I also got it for christmas and I finished just 4 days ago. I liked it, but I missed such sequences like they were in exile in amateria, where you go through the puzzles you have solved in that "ball"

I agree with everyone that Myst was a unique concept but I have questions about the ending. And since the title of this thread was the title I was going to use, I am going to ask it here. I will try to be somewhat vague but kinda difficult for the question I have to ask. How can I get to where one person directed me to go to give them the tablet? Once I had the tablet, the game seemed to go directly to one person. I didn't have a choice. I tried linking to the other ages and exploring but found nothing else but to give it to the person who was standing there. I justed wanted to see "what would have happened." Thanks

This is too tricky to answer directly since we don't have spoiler tags. I've sent you a PM.