I’ve always been a big fan of the MYST computer games, ever since my father bought MYST for me as a present for making first communion. What I grew to love the most was how rich and expansive the back story of the series became. But what I always wanted to do was create a narrative from the perspective of the player character. The games practically beg for it; they use a “blank character” to make each user feel as though they themselves were experiencing the game. So then, why not write a narrative as though I were actually there, on MYST Island?
I ended up with a journal I hand-wrote in an old notebook, twenty-four pages on college-ruled paper in very small writing. I showed it to both fans of the game and those who’d never played it; each enjoyed reading it. Due to the fact that virtually every action in the game is based on puzzle-solving, I had to be careful to not fall into a trap of “Today I did this, which led me into this room, allowing me to push this button…” Instead, I made it much more cerebral, detailing what kind of toll actually being in such a place would take on one’s mind.
Unfortunately, I can’t really post it here, because I think being a handwritten work gives it a lot of aesthetic appeal.
What you’re about to read is the introduction to my narrative to Myst’s sequel, Riven. the quotes are not lines of my own invention, rather lines from the game itself. I haven’t written much else, but I think this is a good start.
“Thank God you’ve returned…”
Atrus, my friend, you look terrible. How many years have you lost to that book you toil over? Can you even count time in a prison such as this? Even with his Myst book restored, I have not once seen him return to the island since the punishment of his treacherous sons. I have been busy myself, though. I have spent months searching his four remaining Ages on Myst, desperately trying to find a trace of survivors to tell them that it was okay to return to their homes, that the abusive reign of Sirrus and Achenar is over, but my search was without fruition.
Having grown worried for his well-being, I came to D’Ni to check in on Atrus. The look of wearied relief on his face as his eyes rose to meet mine betrayed to me that all was not well.
“…I can’t send you to Riven with a way out…”
Riven, the fifth Age of his father, Gehn, and the current prison of his wife, Catherine, is in it’s final days. The repairs Atrus has been writing into the book cannot keep up with the decay, and now he needs me. He is sending me into a dying world with no Linking book back, only a prison book disguised as a link to D’Ni and orders to trap his mad father and rescue his wife.
I agree without hesitation.
“There’s also a chance, if this all goes well,
that I might be able t get you back to the place that you came from…”
