SPOILER!!!!!!!!
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After I played EoA, I felt a bit dissapointed. It was really nice of Cyan to put the (good) ending in Reeleshahn , but why is the good ending made worse than the bad ending (graphics). If EoA started with a FMV, why couldn't it end with one? Besides, what could be that high needle like structeres in the last picture?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Alahmnat,

I agree.
Amazingly, ironically, and depressingly, the image that I get for what could well be the final frame of any Myst game was also the worst frame of any Myst game I have ever seen. I hope that they somehow fix it.
The background was blurred, the foreground was boring, (didn't look like the wonderful Releeshan that I invisioned!), and the two boring and blurred parts of the image did not blend together at all. It looked like a backdrop perhaps taken with a 1 megapixel digital camera of *shudder* the real world, with a styrofoam Star Trek The Original Series foreground.

They had all that time yabbering about it in Myst 3 and 4, you'd think it would be modelled better by now


A final video clip like the bit in the beginning was sorely missed... I've never seen a Myst game without that little bit by Atrus at the end...
Come on, the narrator is already a permanent developer, so it isn't like they have to hire someone to do a big update with a final video clip

Nice to finally go to Releeshan, though! No matter what it looked like, the fact that I finally saw it rather than just having it barely out of reach in that depressing way was good.

In the preview of The book of Marrem that comes with the Collectors edition we know that the needle like structure is called The Piller of Atrus, the substance from which it is made of is unknown and is part of the Age.

And it is a backdrop, but I agree that it could have been clearer considering that loading times don't seem to be such an issue. But then it must be one of the largest textures and prehaps there is a limit on the maxium size of indevidual textures within the engine.

I'm sure the engine can handle better.
Look at Todelmer, for instance

Finally we get linked into an age (though the means of that I find somehow scary) that is not a small island surrounded by water or clouds... and it's in the non-interactive ending of the series... how unfair

I absolutely loved it. I seem to be alone in this. But it was the best ending I could have hoped for (well, almost best - I would have wanted a final Voice-over from Atrus, but what are u gonna do).

I agree the backdrop was a bit blurry and did almost look like a photo. But it was spectacular all the same. The pillar looked cool and I loved the foreground which took place in that final scene.

I have that final pic on my desktop wallpaper now. It's brilliant

Original poster: Could you please change the title of this thread to "SPOILER - Ending" rather than Releeshahn. It doesn't seem fair to warn people about spoilers and then divulge the game's biggest secret in the title.... please change it. People read this forum for hints with the game and do not want the ending ruined.

I also loved the ending, but I agree that they could have used actors there. And I also agree with EMS in this:

WIH_AM! CHANGE THE NAME OF THIS THREAD TO "SPOILER - ENDING"

I am sorry, as I am new to the forums, I don't know how to rename one.

It's the icon in the middle with the eraser...
It edits posts too

Edit the first post and you'll be able to change the title there.

Or I could be helpful and do it overnight .

I feel like I just got thrown out of the house! Thanks for everything now GET OUT!

Don't get me wrong, I am very satisfied with the ending ...I just want to be able to visit the ages once in awhile...and Myst Island! (Oh my, I never, ever needed to see that!)

Criminey.

How about a little love for the "stranger"?

And - though, I know that it's impossible - maybe, it's be nice to take a toothy Laki'ahn bird home to my relto or maybe, some Bahro drawings on a tablet for my hut. Or atleast a picture of Releeshan for the imager - how great would that be? A snapshot of Yeesha, Atrus and Mr. X. Bahro all smiles that I could hang on the wall.

Just dreaming - but I meant what I said about not being free to explore (easily )...Too Much Closure!

Thank you for listening to my one - and only - rant.

Sophie

I too wanted an ending where, as part of the game I could revisit the ages and Myst Island. I have to go back to previous saves, which is OK, but I'd just like it to be part of the game.

I'd also like the "good" ending to include a visit to Myst Island. Even broken down, I still love the place.

I loved the rainy, stormy broken Myst. It felt like revisiting an old haunt and seeing how much had changed. More than anything I loved that they had updated the graphics to be in line with the current games and it gave me hope that perhaps they will redo Myst and Riven in that graphic style to bring them more into current technology!

I did feel that Escher's tantrum was kind of pitiful. His wailing was a bit much (like a girl and I am one!).

Anyway, it was all good. I highly recommend playing all three endings just for the experience.

Actually there's a fourth ending. Try linking to Myst without the tablet and be scolded by a ticked-off Esher. I left the tablet on the pedestal because I was so eager to go to Myst and was pretty sure he shouldn't get it; then I was positive.

Was I the only one reminded of Terahnee (or Devokan - for whatever reason, I am more influenced by the older D'ni)?

The D'ni are renowned for their humility and simplicity. While not exactly Spartan, they know not to over indulge themselves. I suspect part of this was also caused by being confined within the cavern where recycling is a major concern. Now that the D'ni have moved and are building such magnificent structures, who is to say they are never to decay into what the Terahnee were?

In the Cavern, a rogue such as A'Gaeris and Esher couldn't really indulge themselves. Now they are above ground, they could easily gather others to their cause and simply wander off into the countryside. Splitting the D'ni into warring factions is not the best future.

I'm sorry - just the ramblings of a man who thinks too much!

I found the "bad" endings more emotionally powerful than the good one. Returning to a stormy, decayed Myst Island was, for me, moving to the point of tears.
I dropped into FPS mode, so I could wander freely, sadly exploring the ruins of what had been. I stopped awhile at Ti'ana's grave to meditate on all the history she had been a part of, and all the adventures we have been on as a result.
Standing inside the rocket ship, listening to the rain pelt the rusted metal hull, I really lost it. This was my first Myst adventure - the first Myst linking spot that transported me to a different Age - now broken and old.
In my life I have had the experience of returning to an old home town, the place where I grew up, seeing everything changed and different - yet undeniably the same place. I have felt like a ghost, wandering, held by memory, yet forever locked away from the past.
How strongly that feeling is with me on Myst Island!

The "good" ending was disappointingly empty by comparison, not aided at all by the marionette-like character animation and silly dialog. Atrus and Yeesha were wincingly awful, and the attempt to make the Bahro seem cute and cuddly belied their former menace. It did not ring true. Nor did Yeesha's suggestion that Esher be treated as one of the Least - he was, after all, D'ni too, and presuming one had not seen one of the "bad" endings, there was little evidence in the game that he was truly a villain. Releeshan did not look inviting. It was impossible to see how or why the new race of D'ni should find the place inspiring or hopeful.

I found the idea of being left alone on a stormy Myst Island much more poetic, and far more symbolic of how things actually turned out for Cyan and for the D'ni. Sad, yes, but it had the ring of truth.

Hogarth, I really appreciate your comments in your first paragraph. The "bad" ending was more emotionally impacting then the correct or good one. We both did similar things on the "dead" Myst Island. I too stopped beside the grave of T'iana, stood in the spaceship, went down to the generator room, the cabin, all of it. But when I reached out and touched the marker handle on the doc and it broke off in my hand, the emotion really came as a tidal wave. The realization that the MYSTical place I had first visited so many years ago, my first experience with this type of game, that seemed MYSTeriously more then just a game, was gone from me, well, that was hard, very hard indeed.

The "good" ending did ring hollow for me. With that emotional connection and memory to Myst Island when it was fresh and new and experiencing it decayed, dead, the good ending seemed hollow experientially and emotionally.

I finished Myst V two or three weeks ago, but yesterday evening I made good on my promise to return and explore some more, as well as to repeat the endings. Just like Hogarth, I found Myst Island to be a very bittersweet experience. The old excitement was there, but with all of the machinery unresponsive, it really did seem as if this beautiful place was now truly dead. Coincidentally, I like to browse urban exploration websites and look at photos of deserted structures. I'm not sure why, I just have a curiosity for that sort of thing, although I'd never actually do it. But I was struck with the resemblance of those old hospitals, factories, homes, schools, etc. to Myst Island. Their day was past, and they've been left to the elements.

Echoing RW, when I tried to flip the marker switch on the dock and it broke, I actually moaned. I vividly remembered the first time I played Myst, and flipped all those switches tentatively before learning their true function.

Myst Island -- Rest in Peace!

As for the ending itself, the appearance and behavior of the characters was a bit distracting. But at the same time, it gave me a lump in my throat to see our old friend Atrus so aged, bent, and walking with a staff. Really, I think the downside was that Cyan had to portray a scene of such great gravity using the animation techniques available to them, which was a big challenge. Couple that with their limited schedule and budget, and I guess we have to be satisfied that it looked as good as it did. But really, if they could have built that final scene with real actors, it would have been a much more stirring climax.

Anyway, thanks again Cyan! What a ride it's been.

Ah the ending(s)!

I actually tried all the wrong endings first - largely because I was impatient to see Myst Island. IMHO by the time you get to the end it's fairly obvious that Esher is up to no good and giving the tablet to Yeesha is not going to help her mental stability - so you have to give it to the Bahro (anyhoo that was my logic).

Since Esher was pretty desperate to get me to Myst I suspected it might not figure in the "right" ending - especially since we're told that Yeesha won't go there.

Maybe it's just me...but I actually found the "wrong" endings that take you to Myst Island more interesting than the "right" one. I actually felt physically cold in the midst of the storm on the island (I know its December - but I am in Riyadh..where its not that cold!). I actually had a shiver run down my spine on the docks.

As to the "right" ending....this is just my opinion but between the nasty animation (not the result of a wheezy graphics card I'm sure - I've a Radeon X850 XT platinum edition), the melodramatic speeches, a screeching Esher (how did the Bahro catch him anyway?) it was the flying Bahro that did it for me....oh dear oh dear oh dear!

That's my tuppence worth anyway.