Every elevator in the Myst series, ranked
June 24, 2024 12:13 PM Subscribe
Every elevator in the Myst series, ranked An hour long deep dive into the environment and puzzle design in the Myst series, centered upon its elevators. (Warning: Contains spoilers for all 5 games in the Myst series)
This might be the nerdiest thing I've seen in this fandom in a long long time! I love the little digressions like exactly what counts as an elevator, and the creator's obvious affection for the games.
This might be the nerdiest thing I've seen in this fandom in a long long time! I love the little digressions like exactly what counts as an elevator, and the creator's obvious affection for the games.
I can't watch the video at work, but I'm not sure anything can beat the experience in Exile where you finally solve one of Sirrus' puzzles and then your chair drops and you find yourself dangling from an asteroid, looking down at the core of a planet.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 12:27 PM on June 24 [1 favorite]
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 12:27 PM on June 24 [1 favorite]
"Despite these games being beloved by millions and elevators being a crucial gameplay mechanic throughout all of the games, for some reason I have not been able to find a thriving discourse surrounding them. Because of that I have taken it upon myself to scrutinize all of them in bitter detail and propose my rankings."
This is the good shit, right here.
posted by mhoye at 12:30 PM on June 24 [3 favorites]
This is the good shit, right here.
posted by mhoye at 12:30 PM on June 24 [3 favorites]
slightly off topic but i just want to say playing the demo of the riven remake earlier today was an emotional experience for me.
posted by AlbertCalavicci at 12:30 PM on June 24 [4 favorites]
posted by AlbertCalavicci at 12:30 PM on June 24 [4 favorites]
Absolutely! The feeling of really being in that world again is so amazing, they really nailed the look and feel. And at the same time that so much is familiar, all the tweaks and changes introduce the element of exploring the unknown again (of course on some level I'm nervous because the original was already perfect to me, but it's so cool to partially achieve the "if only I could play it for the first time again" dream).
posted by rivenwanderer at 12:39 PM on June 24
posted by rivenwanderer at 12:39 PM on June 24
A VR version of Myst would do it for me.
posted by nikoniko at 1:03 PM on June 24 [1 favorite]
posted by nikoniko at 1:03 PM on June 24 [1 favorite]
(The Riven remake is also coming out in a VR version)
posted by BungaDunga at 1:19 PM on June 24
posted by BungaDunga at 1:19 PM on June 24
The video skipped Uru since they never played it, so going entirely from memory:
1. Gahreesen elevator to the outside roof of the first rotating fortress. For their first realtime 3D multiplayer game, they added jumping puzzles involving two large, independently-rotating platforms. It was a bold choice, and initially a bit buggy. This elevator basically just teleports the player to and from the platform, probably to help synchronize everything between server and clients. I don’t even think we see the floor of the elevator move. Despite all that, seeing the outside of Gahreesen for the first time is one of better moments of the game.
2. The central Teledahn mushroom elevator. Realizing that you have to unlock it by stepping on a hard-to-see foot pedal is a little dumb, but this elevator does link up a majority of Teledahn’s areas and themes - Sharper’s silly little office at the top, the bahro prison at the bottom, and the industrial areas in between. I’m not counting the bucket you ride as an elevator, but if I did it would be at the bottom of the list for being so annoying.
3. The Kadish Tolesa elevator between the pyramid and the pillar room. The video claims Amateria has the only hexagonal-shaped elevator in the series, but both this and the Teledahn elevator are hexagons. And that’s about all there is to say about this one.
4. Er’cana industrial elevator. At least, I think it had one (or two, since the factory is symmetrical). I liked Er’cana but its interiors were less memorable than the tram and the mixing pools.
5. Jalak. This age is just a small square made of stone pillars that go up and down, so they count as elevators. But I don’t think there’s any puzzles or anything extrinsic to do there.
aaaaaand I think that’s it. Technically the Great Shaft also appears in Uru, but not as a functioning elevator.
posted by lazugod at 3:17 PM on June 24 [1 favorite]
1. Gahreesen elevator to the outside roof of the first rotating fortress. For their first realtime 3D multiplayer game, they added jumping puzzles involving two large, independently-rotating platforms. It was a bold choice, and initially a bit buggy. This elevator basically just teleports the player to and from the platform, probably to help synchronize everything between server and clients. I don’t even think we see the floor of the elevator move. Despite all that, seeing the outside of Gahreesen for the first time is one of better moments of the game.
2. The central Teledahn mushroom elevator. Realizing that you have to unlock it by stepping on a hard-to-see foot pedal is a little dumb, but this elevator does link up a majority of Teledahn’s areas and themes - Sharper’s silly little office at the top, the bahro prison at the bottom, and the industrial areas in between. I’m not counting the bucket you ride as an elevator, but if I did it would be at the bottom of the list for being so annoying.
3. The Kadish Tolesa elevator between the pyramid and the pillar room. The video claims Amateria has the only hexagonal-shaped elevator in the series, but both this and the Teledahn elevator are hexagons. And that’s about all there is to say about this one.
4. Er’cana industrial elevator. At least, I think it had one (or two, since the factory is symmetrical). I liked Er’cana but its interiors were less memorable than the tram and the mixing pools.
5. Jalak. This age is just a small square made of stone pillars that go up and down, so they count as elevators. But I don’t think there’s any puzzles or anything extrinsic to do there.
aaaaaand I think that’s it. Technically the Great Shaft also appears in Uru, but not as a functioning elevator.
posted by lazugod at 3:17 PM on June 24 [1 favorite]
The delightful low-poly walk about mini golf vr has an officially licensed Myst level that is really fun to play with friends. It even includes some elevators!
posted by autopilot at 3:18 PM on June 24 [1 favorite]
posted by autopilot at 3:18 PM on June 24 [1 favorite]
I am working on a game inspired by Myst, and it will definitely have an elevator. The elevator will require me to do a truly hilarious amount of extra modeling work, but you just can't have a game like this without at least one elevator.
posted by novalis_dt at 8:33 PM on June 24 [2 favorites]
posted by novalis_dt at 8:33 PM on June 24 [2 favorites]
I'm not sure anything can beat the experience in Exile where you finally solve one of Sirrus' puzzles and then your chair drops and you find yourself dangling from an asteroid, looking down at the core of a planet.
I liked even better the part where you get to actually ride in the marble for which you just spent a bunch of time fixing all the breaks in the track.
posted by straight at 10:13 PM on June 24 [3 favorites]
I liked even better the part where you get to actually ride in the marble for which you just spent a bunch of time fixing all the breaks in the track.
posted by straight at 10:13 PM on June 24 [3 favorites]
This thread has made me aware of the Riven remake releasing in a few hours. I played that game a lot as a kid, but never finished it. Will very much be looking forward to revisiting it (assuming my computer can cope)!
posted by Dysk at 4:52 AM on June 25 [3 favorites]
posted by Dysk at 4:52 AM on June 25 [3 favorites]
Mod note: No need to puzzle it out, this link celebrate this post on the sidebar and Best Of blog!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:45 AM on June 28
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:45 AM on June 28
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posted by rivenwanderer at 12:15 PM on June 24 [9 favorites]