The Preamble

Page 2

Myst - Over three million copies were sold; consequently, most of you know the story. But if not, here's a quick overview of what went before Riven...

The heart of Myst is the linking books - books that carry you to strange islands. You discover the first book, and it transports you to Myst Island and the opening of the game. Atrus and his wife Catherine have disappeared, and one of their two sons, each trapped in separate magical book, is responsible for destroying the magical islands that father Atrus created. As you wend your way through the five ages that compose Myst (Myst Island, StoneShip Age, Mechanical Age, Selanic Age, and Channelwood Age), you discover pages to the books in the library. As you place each new page in the corresponding book, more of the story of what happened is uncovered. Each of the two brothers, Sirrus and Achenar, accuses the other of the destruction of the worlds. You solve puzzles, push buttons and levers, discover clues and more pages to the books, until finally you make a decision about whom to trust and ultimately rescue from his imprisonment in the book. Choose poorly, and you may well find yourself imprisoned, dupe that you are. But if you choose wisely, you'll keep your freedom and enter into a dialogue that truthfully provides no resolution - it simply hints at what may come next without solving the problems of the destroyed lands. In other words, Myst left a lot of things open, and that's where Riven begins.