[Charismatic]

I remember playing Myst and loved it. So I am planning on buying Myst and maby some of its sequels.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myst_%28series%29#Games

Which would you say is the best few to get?

[Veers]

I only just bought Riven, havent been able to play it yet. And havent had a chance to pickup Myst yet.

[Vidmaster]

Myst and Riven, buy them from Good Old Games. Cheap, legal, one download (no CD switching)

[LordMelvin]

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/myst_masterpiece_edition

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/riven_the_sequel_to_myst

and possibly

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/real_myst

which is the 'Directors' Cut' edition of Myst... but really, the first two are a nice self-contained story, and totes awesome an gah, now I have to go reinstall because I won't be able to concentrate on anything else until I do...

[Mongoose]

Much much <3 for Myst, one of my favorite game series ever.  Definitely get the first two (possibly Real Myst in place of Myst) from GOG; Riven in particular is an absolutely gorgeous, immersive game.  I'm a big fan of Myst 3 too (not made by Cyan themselves, but under their direct supervision); it was the only one of the series I managed to beat without ever having to resort to a walkthrough.  Myst IV was a bit weaker, but the combination of pre-rendering and real-time models made for some incredibly beautiful environments.  Unfortunately, you'd have to track down copies of those two on Amazon/eBay/the like. Myst V was...kind of its own animal.

You should also take a look at Myst Online: Uru Live, Cyan's can't-stay-dead MMO set in the Myst universe.  It's completely free, and Cyan recently released its source code to the community, so there's probably going to be some cool stuff happening in the near future.

[Dragon]

it was the only one of the series I managed to beat without ever having to resort to a walkthrough. 

How did you manage to figure out the puzzles in the last age? I've only recently managed to find out where to look for the symbols I needed to input, and how to look for them.
I really like Myst series, though it has it's share of "guide dang it" puzzles (like the animal puzzle in Riven...).
BTW, what's the deal with Uru? I know there's an online game (Uru Live), but I've also heard of something called "Uru: Ages Beyond Myst" and it's expansions. Is it integrated into the online game, or is it something else entirely?

[Charismatic]

*snip1* Myst IV was a bit weaker, but the combination of pre-rendering and real-time models made for some incredibly beautiful environments
. *snip2* Myst V was...kind of its own animal.

*snip3*Myst Online: Uru Live[/url], Cyan's can't-stay-dead MMO set in the Myst universe.

Snip1: weaker but was it still a decent play or plot?
Snip2: own animal as in kind of re visioned? took its own direction? but, was it a good animal or horrible with rabies?
Snip3: in the Wikipedia artical it stated that that MMO was started and canceled, released and canned, time and time again. A valid release is really up?

[Dragon]

It should be noted that Myst V is, in fact, more of a sequel to Uru than to Myst IV.

[Mongoose]

it was the only one of the series I managed to beat without ever having to resort to a walkthrough. 

How did you manage to figure out the puzzles in the last age? I've only recently managed to find out where to look for the symbols I needed to input, and how to look for them.

I remembered the phrases from the book, and I was able to pick out the symbols I needed.  Sometimes it seemed to be more order-dependent than others, but everything eventually went through.

BTW, what's the deal with Uru? I know there's an online game (Uru Live), but I've also heard of something called "Uru: Ages Beyond Myst" and it's expansions. Is it integrated into the online game, or is it something else entirely?

To make a (very) long story (rather) short, "Uru: Ages Beyond Myst" was Cyan's original retail release of Uru, which shipped without the multiplayer portion being completed.  Cyan had a closed beta of the online game called Prologue running, but Ubisoft (the game's publisher) apparently wasn't happy with the numbers/results, and so they pulled the plug on the online portion, leaving it just a singleplayer game.  Cyan later released a few expansion packs for Uru, containing content that was originally meant to be part of the online game, as well as a means for fans to run their own private servers.  Sometime down the road, the gaming service GameTap worked with Cyan to get Uru Live up and running again; that partnership lasted for about a year, with some new content added, until it eventually shut down too.  About a year ago, Cyan started hosting Uru Live for free themselves, relying on donations to keep the servers running, and it's been that way ever since.

Snip1: weaker but was it still a decent play or plot?

It was still definitely worth a play, at least in my opinion.  A few of the puzzles seemed a bit more obscured than in earlier games, but there was still a lot of enjoyment to be had.  It was definitely the peak in integrating the live-action sequences into the gameplay.

Snip2: own animal as in kind of re visioned? took its own direction? but, was it a good animal or horrible with rabies?

Myst V sort of ties into the history of Uru that I briefly described above.  At the time, Cyan envisioned Myst V as something of a swan song for the series; this was before Uru Live's revival with GameTap.  As a result, most of the content in Myst V is comprised of ages that at one point were intended for Uru Live; Cyan pieced a new storyline together for them and released them as their own stand-alone game.  (Unfortunately, this wound up hurting Uru Live during its GameTap days, since it meant that Cyan's pipeline of backlogged content was mostly emptied.)  As Dragon noted, Myst V is much more of a "sequel" to the singleplayer portion of Uru than anything else...if you haven't played Uru, most of what happens in it wouldn't make sense.  In terms of mechanics, it's the only game in the series besides Real Myst that allows for full motion, and it uses a "drawing" mechanic to solve many of its puzzles.

Snip3: in the Wikipedia artical it stated that that MMO was started and canceled, released and canned, time and time again. A valid release is really up?

Yep, as I noted above, Cyan's currently hosting the game for free themselves.  You can head here to create an account and download the game.

[Cyborg17]

My advice is that getting Real Myst will make puzzle solving somewhat easier.  And getting Real Myst to work is easier.  When I tried to get the original Myst to work, it would get stuck on one or two animations and was therefore unbeatable if you played honestly.  There were also a lot of problems just getting it to start correctly.

But without a doubt, Riven is the best in the series.  It is also the hardest. The original Myst is really not that hard (or maybe it just doesn't seem that hard, since I know it backwards and forwards), but Riven will tax you.  One thing that may help in the problem solving process is to take an inductive view towards puzzle solving.  Basically, when you come up against a hard puzzle, write down everything you know and then try to come up with a conclusion based on that.

At my house we actually have all the games, and we've been playing them since I was about 8 or 9 years old.

[Charismatic]

On a side note, i installed the uru live which one of you linked me to. It was very lonely (no other players) and i was very lost from the beginning. Was not able to solve a few puzzles i ran into.
Maby you will have to PM me next time your on and give me a tour and we can co op some of it.

[Enzo03]

I had a couple of copies of the "Myst Trilogy" box set from when the third game was the newest in the series.. or maybe not.  I dunno.  What I do know is that I sadly lost my Myst I disc
But I have Riven and Myst III.  Myst III is piss easy while Riven kicks my ass, if only because I go all over the place in the area I'm at but cannot figure out for the life of me what's left to do to get to the next area/whatever, the kind of bottleneck that I hate like plague in any game.

[Mongoose]

On a side note, i installed the uru live which one of you linked me to. It was very lonely (no other players) and i was very lost from the beginning. Was not able to solve a few puzzles i ran into.
Maby you will have to PM me next time your on and give me a tour and we can co op some of it.

I haven't been on for a while myself, but I'd be willing to show you the ropes. I know that one or two of the community sites have a "Getting Started" guide of sorts; I'll have to dig that up for you.

[Dragon]

So, does Uru Live download include SP component and the expansions? Or do they have to be bought (from Steam for example, I've seen something called "Uru complete pack" there)?

[Mongoose]

The current Uru Live download includes all of the content up to the end of the GameTap era.  The content from the expansion packs was reintroduced to Uru Live during that era (along with some brand-new Ages); however, some parts of it were utilized in different ways, including slightly-different solutions for some of the puzzles.  At this point, if you want to experience Uru in its true multiplayer form, the free download is the way to go.  The "Complete Chronicles" release is more of a curiosity, if you're interested in seeing how some of the same locations were adapted to a singleplayer setting.

And yes, I realize this is all rather complicated.  It kind of seems fitting for the real-life side of Myst to be that way, though.

[Dragon]

Actually, I don't really care for multiplayer (in fact, I prefer playing in SP), but I'd like to see the story they wanted to tell. Of course, I'd prefer not to pay for the Steam release. So, what should I do?

[Pilot Solaris]

I LOVED the Myst Series.  I've got the first three games here where I am, and the puzzles--though hard--are definitely fun to do.

[Mongoose]

Actually, I don't really care for multiplayer (in fact, I prefer playing in SP), but I'd like to see the story they wanted to tell. Of course, I'd prefer not to pay for the Steam release. So, what should I do?

Well, to be honest, the vast majority of the game's actual puzzle content can be completed on your own, without any help.  There are parts of two Ages that require a single instance of help, and two smaller Ages that you can access on your own but have multiplayer-only solutions, but said solutions only give you a small cosmetic reward anyway.  I'd be willing to help you out with the moments that do need an extra set of arms/legs, if you get to that point.