Myst on PSVR2 - First Impressions
I have uploaded gameplay from my fresh experience with the game here if you want to see how it looks / plays. My first impressions are shared below:
Based on my limited time with it, I do recommend playing Myst on the PSVR2, at least if you can play on PS5 Pro where I had better experience than what my friends on base PS5 have described, so it may be situation like The Midnight Walk where it ran well (or well enough) on PS5 Pro, but not on base PS5.
It is a puzzle adventure game where you start on an island with no instructions and progress purely on the basis of exploring while making observations to start to unravel the story / mystery and needing to solve some puzzles along the way by finding the clues needed for things like time to set, safe combination, or symbols to set.
The puzzles themselves don't feel difficult or obtuse after you figure them out and the game is providing enough information that I've been able to proceed unimpeded in what I've played so far, but it does require figuring out how the puzzle mechanics will work. For example, for the clock tower puzzle it is essential that you realize holding the lever will make the center piece move just by itself or you won't be able to get numbers to align as you need (17:25). Another example, in Mechanical Book / Age, you have to realize while trying out the Rotation Simulator that it makes different sounds depending on the destination (27:30) because when doing the actual rotation, you only know where you stopped by the matching sound.
Speaking of Books / Ages, the structure of the game and how you progress is non-linear. In the starting Myst island is a library that has a number of Books you can pick up and read about the corresponding Age (12:30). The puzzles on this island once solved will teleport you to one of these 5 Books / Ages when you uncover & touch the Book. In the teleported Book / Age, you need to solve some puzzles to find the Book that teleports you back to the starting Myst island. Then you use the map in the library to choose next destination (41:15).
While you are at a destination, I think you are meant to be finding Blue and Red pages that reveal more of the story where I think each page relates to one of the sons (Achenar & Sirrus). I think "we" are playing as the mother, Catherine or someone receiving messages meant for her by the father, Atrus (6:35). I am positive these Blue / Red pages can be missed, but you can also go back and look again. Your save file (auto or manual) shows how many Blue / Red pages you have collected.
Graphically, the game has a soft look due to use of reprojection but generally looks fine or even beautiful (sky in distance 20:18 or anything near you), but there are cases where something in the distance can look blurry like using library rotating tower to see where you can find next Book (15:35) that corresponds to the Access Key (9:40). There is shimmer on the text for the menu screens and you can see shimmer on some distant objects (like trees) but the draw distances are good and environments both indoors and outdoors feel immersive to be in with stable framerate. You can see ghosting from reprojection on the subtitles (2:15) so I turned them off and for some of the objects in the environment as you move by them (16:30). I think the game is using the OLED HDR because the colors in general and particle effects in particular are vibrant (22:45) and it does use true-blacks some of the time in the headset unlike the video capture which shows gray around the black boxes for the logos as game is starting (0:05).
Audio is uncompromised with no critiques. The soundtrack, ambiance, limited voiced dialog all feel on-point as do the directional mechanical and electrical sounds as well as your footsteps on different surfaces.
Haptics are completely missing for the VR player. There is a setting for enabling vibrations that is on by default, but I assume that is for non-VR players of this hybrid game playing with DualSense. I never felt any haptics in headset or controllers and it doesn't use adaptive triggers for anything either (like shooting arrow from crossbow 22:05). The game has lot of optional things you pickup or interact with (23:55) so the absence of haptic feedback as you do is missed even more.
For Settings (0:40), it provides option for Smooth or Teleport movement, Snap (with angles) or Smooth Turns (fixed) and whether you prefer to play Left or Right hand dominant as well whether you prefer movement orientation by Head or Controller (or Unlocked). You can play it seated or standing with X button able to auto-adjust height and you can toggle sprint on / off using L3 (when playing right hand dominant). Additional comfort options include Quick Travel for Ladders, Stairs and Vehicle Transitions. The ladders are a little finicky to disembark because you have to land your feet before it will let go, but it works well enough that I left Quick Travel on default (off). There is also setting to enable Classic Video Mode to get original FMV. I also noted the Help option exists when in-game to unstuck you (5:57).
The game is featuring a Platinum. The trophy list is 100% secret trophies to avoid spoilers, so I haven't reviewed but I have noted that some people have already unlocked 100% so I don't think any trophies are glitched and I doubt there are any grindy / annoying trophies in the mix. I do think it probably requires completing the game multiple times for potential of different endings or if you choose to play Classic or Randomized at the start (1:55).
My biggest concern going into this was my poor experience with Firmament from same developers which ran poorly for PSVR2 in 2 of the 3 larger outdoor areas even on the PS5 Pro (and I know it was worse for base PS5). For me, Firmament was a game that I would have to play non-VR if I wanted to continue unless they did significant patching to improve it. I know Firmament did receive some patches beyond when I last played so it may be improved to be more stable / acceptable, but what I had tried closer to launch was not something I wanted to spend time in. That is not the case here where I like the game itself more (the structure, story / lore, puzzles), the quality & quantity of VR interactivity (haptics still felt missing) that is generally jank free and I also find it immersive enough (audio / visual experience) to spend time in the game without the kind of performance or really poor resolution issues which pulled me out of Firmament.
It would be great if this could look as sharp as the Red Matter games, but accepting some visual compromise and lack of haptics, it is a very well designed puzzle adventure game.
