And just like that, Fireflower Games has Rhem I SE.

Just over 3 months between me suggesting it and the game arriving. You snooze you lose GOG.

Really? That's great news! Is it DRM-free there on Fireflower? Let's hope they also get all remaining 3 games + no. 5 when it's completed ;)

(I will also update the RHEM thread to make it visible again, just in case)

Yup, all games on Fireflower are DRM-free as a matter of policy. I sent a little note to Knut Mueller to say thank you and it seems he intends to release the rest there in time.

That's awesome, you're slowly making me more interested in creating a Fireflower account :)

Actually, I still haven't done so since I hate having purchased games all over the internet, but the adventure games collection over there is very tempting. If all RHEM games are released over there, I'll most certainly get the whole bundle for the SE versions to support Knut as well.

I think GOG should take a hint or two.

There's no real community to speak of on their forums, but the staff are really responsive (I think the site might actually be run by one person) and take game suggestions on board quite actively. As far as I can tell, RHEM 1 SE is there as a direct result of my suggestion.
I highly recommend making an account in order to suggest things even if you don't plan to buy anything yet.

Welp, as Myst III & IV rarely go up to 60% off during sales, I decided to buy them this time round with some leftovers I had in my PayPal wallet (also bought realMyst: ME). I still haven't played Riven, yet, even though it's been in my backlog for quite some time.

I completed the original Myst last year, if I remember correctly, but decided to play realMyst anyway. Doubt I'll play them back to back, but I'll be revisiting this thread when I do complete them.

How do the RHEM games compare to the Myst series?

Just completed Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis. I had been dragging my feet throughout the whole game, and I almost gave up on it at the British Museum. I eventually lost interest and just used the hint system extensively (so, in a sense, I did give up). It picks up after the museum, but, yeah, I personally wouldn't recommend it.

More puzzles, less story is how I'd sum it up. Visually the whole series is more like the original Myst than any of the sequels and the puzzles are pretty hardcore (but by no means nonsensical).

Ooh, I'll look out for them!

They're really really hard. I did use a guide a few times but I was never left feeling like there was no way I would have got it.
Basically the opposite of a walking-sim! All puzzle, no story, very plain graphics.

I will get back to you with my opinion on all of it tomorrow as now I'm kind of in a hurry, sorry!
(I'll definitely give you fresh feedback on Myst 3 & 4 as I might be able to finish 4 tonight)

So, last night we finally finished Myst 4.

I have to say, this is probably the most irritating game in the series :)
Whenever I think of a pro, two cons appear.

-The node transitions are abysmal. Installed the game on SSD, and still in the best case it took 2sec to move to another node after the mouse click. This was even more apparent in "zoom" scenes, where the delay to return to navigation was bigger. The only thing that saved the day was the "zip" mode, which provides you with 4-5 points of interest in each Age and lets you teleport there (saved us hours).

-Many of the puzzles are obviously not well-designed and few of them can be solved "by mistake". I will post 1 or 2 examples below in a spoiler section. I mean, the game is famous for the puzzle in the Spire Age, but believe it or not we found that to be the most intuitive of all. I think that Ubisoft overestimated their ability to design puzzles, especially for the Myst series.

If I ignore the above points, Myst 4 is a nice game overall and pushes the story forward in an interesting way. The environments are great (as usual) and the music is great (even Peter Gabriel wrote a song and some voice-overs).
Personally, I would say that it has to be experienced at least once (especially by fans).

But, I wouldn't replay it again. Compared to the rest, it is tedious. It's the best word I can use. And I would replay the rest of the series without hesitation.

***BEGIN SPOILERS***

-In Haven, we had correctly thought that the monkey we gave fruits to made a specific "melody" which we had to use in order to get the 3 other monkeys off the totem pole, so we could get the symbol carved there. And we spent *hours* trying to reproduce it without success. So, because we had the rest of the symbols, we went on to Achenar's bridge lock and put them all in the correct order. For the monkey one, we trial-and-errored it. This ruined it for me. The worst is that you learn that the duration of the sounds also matters (not just the tone). And you learn it *after* you have unlocked the previous gate.

-Also in Haven, in the "fight-the-lizard" puzzle, there are 4 monkeys in total but we only knew the codes to call 3 of them. The 4th name can be found hidden under Achenar's painting on top of his cabin. But you cannot lift the painting while you are focused on it. You can only do it while... away from it. (Really now?) So, we just tried all possible combinations to "guess" the 4th monkey's calling tune.

-In Serenia, in the 1st Dream sequence, the puzzle has no clear indication of what you should do hovering all these colored clouds. I mean, there are clouds that change color each time you hover them. So? I just took a wild guess and said "let's turn them all white". And that was the solution. Without any subtle clue or anything. (wtf)

***END SPOILERS***

They are worth the price, so you did well (just read my opinion above on Myst 4 to be more "prepared"!).
You should play Riven! Now! :)

The RHEM games are all like the first Myst, but with no story and full of genious puzzles. In fact, now that I think of it, all places in RHEM are puzzles. What I loved about them is that the game makes you study the environment because it is crucial to orient yourself and know what goes where (won't say anything more). Environmental puzzles were never my forte, but RHEM made me love them. Also the puzzles in RHEM are 10000% well-designed, contrary to Myst. There is no way you have to "guess" something in RHEM. All clues are there. You just have to interpret them based on the occasion.

Also, as sadde catte said, RHEM puzzles are hardcore. But they feel so good when you work them out step by step. I think I used a walkthrough hint only once for the whole series. These games are so perfectly made that if I played with a guide it would totally ruin it for me.

I had played them all back to back, so I get what you're saying. Still, each of them appealed to me in a unique way, be it the story, the puzzles, the setting... and in general I enjoyed them a lot (although I consider them to be hard games).

Not strictly speaking first-person, but part of a predominantly first-person series: I just finished Sherlock Holmes: Secret/Case of the Silver Earring.

I found it to be flawed, but I appreciated what they were trying to do. I appreciated the quiz at the end of each day, forcing us to comprehend the evidence rather than having the character do it.
It was a far cry from the dreadful Mystery of the Mummy, which didn't really have much actual investigation at all. I'm now looking forward to playing the later (and more famous) entries in the series.

I didn't have too much trouble with Silver Earring, other than some bugs and occasionally horrible pixel hunting. I got a lot of the final quiz right (the one where you identify who was killed by who) with one notable exception.

***Spoilers***





I still can't fathom how we were supposed to work out that Spencer was Jeffries! After finding that out, I still couldn't think of anything to support that blind leap of logic. Maybe I'm just not smart enough. :<





***End spoilers***

I'm between Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes and Shadowgate. Any suggestions on which to tackle next?

I've assigned myself the task of playing FPP games for the first 10 I play in 2021 (5 of them being adventure games). Already completed 6 FPP games in 2 months (2 of them adventure games).

Well, If you are in the mood of more Frogwares Holmes, play The Awakened if you didn't do it yet, and the second, Holmes vs Arsène Lupin (Nemesis)

And probably not fitfing in the OP adventure Style, but The two "Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes" Oldies, The Case of the Serrated Scalpel, and the Case of the Rose Tatoo are a must.

Thanks! Just finished Nemesis, which I didn't like. I don't own The Awakened, and I wasn't sure whether I should buy it, as it has been described as being close to Nemesis' playstyle. Crimes and Punishments was quite enjoyable, though (especially the resolution part for each case).