Get ready to a bizarre and impressive adventure, get ready to play a truly inspiring game!
But, first of all, you should be aware of something: this game really isn't for anyone. Unless you have a very specific taste for story tales mixed up with beautiful scenarios, you will most likely hate it, because that's what the game's all about: long puzzle solving, great story telling and heavy visual outstandment.
Myst III takes you on an extraordinary journey across four fantasy worlds -- fantasies they are, I mean, because they were created by a man named Atrus, a peaceful world-designer who takes his time writing new "Ages", or new realities, as you may call them. Those are the parallel worlds you explore during your adventure: J'Annin, Voltaic, Amateria, Edanna and Narayan.
The game relies mainly on its ability to immerse you on a extremely odd world. That is definitely one of the great aspects of the game: you should be able to see the zeal the producers applied on designing every single angle and perspective inside the game. I mean: the "Ages" Atrus created are simply visually amazing. You ARE inside of an artist's dream.
There is a lot of reading during the gameplay too. But not the boring one; you won't need any in-game tutorials. In fact, the reading is surprisingly amusing, as it slowly explains why Saavedro, who is simultaneously the only person you will see in Myst AND the only one you will be given reasons to hate, has lost his mind during the years he spent locked up on Atrius' Ages. You'll be reading Saavedro's journal pages as you collect them in your adventure: they not only show you Saavedro's twisted mind but also eventually give you hints on the puzzle solving. You'll figure out why Saavedro wants revenge on Atrius too, and that's something else I liked about the storytelling: there is no real villain. Saavedro lost everything he had partly because of Atrius, and you may feel sorry for him instead of hating him.
So yeah, we have tons of puzzle solving. That could turn to be quite frustrating, especially if you, like me, are not a fan of that genre. Also, Myst's click-and-go interface was primarily designed for PCs, so you'll need to do stuff that would be a lot easier to do if you had a mouse... Loading time between your movements will be a pain in the ass sometimes as well. You get used to it, though, and the music that plays right after the loading is done often rewards you for it. Speaking of which, the music is great, and suits the game just perfect. Myst wants you to feel lonely, almost depressed, so you'll listen to a solo flute playing while you walk on the Voltaic Age wasteland, with all the canyons and metal bridges surrounding you like gigantic beast's carcasses. And it works great indeed.
The thing is, if you are patient, you should give Myst III a try. Don't listen to all the teenagers babbling about how slow this game is, and how boring it is: it is slow so you can fully appreciate it, so you can fall in love with all the details you wouldn't notice in a action game.
So, get ready to a bizarre and impressive adventure, get ready to play a truly inspiring game!