To reply to your question, the transition from Myst to RealMyst is a literal leap from 2D gameplay to 3D gameplay. You could call it an 'update' if you wanted to be crass and cynical, sure. As for Real Myst Masterpiece, I say there's far worse ways to celebrate the aging of a franchise. Like Sonic 06.

Ha-ha, I'm showing my noobness, sorry, but I have no experience of Sonic 06 either. ;-)

I apologise if my choice of words seemed either crass or cynical. That wasn't my intention, especially since I haven't yet played the game myself. But the release of the Masterpiece edition for RealMyst, does seem like another bite at a cherry that's already much-bitten anyway, particularly when people seem to be describing the Masterpiece edition as mostly a bug-fix for the first Real Myst.

If I had realised all of this before purchase, I probably wouldn't have bought RealMyst anyway, and just stuck with the first version of the game. My fault, perhaps, for getting click-happy on the purchasing and not doing enough research in the first place. GOG doesn't help, though: a search on the term "Myst" doesn't bring up the new "Masterpiece" edition of Real Myst, but only the ordinary Real Myst. Not sure why that is.

Because it is a bug-fix. Real Myst was starting to break apart due to age and the changes of 3D technology and advancements of systems.

Right, lemme break it down: RealMyst: Recreation of Myst in 3D. Realmyst Masterpiece Edition was made in part of the fact that Real Myst no longer functions well in today's operating environments and doesn't exactly have high resolution visuals.

One could consider the Masterpiece edition an update in part that it brings a fresh new look and take to the experience of both the original and the recreation, but it is also a celebration of the ages gone by, and how long Myst is a known name.

If I read the linked article right, this is a remake in a new engine, not an update... I'm assuming old save files won't be compatible, etc.