Hype check: Firmament (Myst creators) launches tomorrow 5/18 on PC flatscreen and VR, PS4/5 and PS VR2 versions launching later

[wafflebrain]

View: https://youtu.be/Qhw43Uh52Do

Pretty quiet release but figured I'd give this a plug, the Kickstarter originally started in 2019 so its been a bit of a journey waiting for this to come out. Nice moody trailer to settle us in before launch. Hype for those Riven style rail cars. I might hold off for the PS VR2 version myself as that's definitely going to run better than what it would on my PC.

Firmament on Steam

Firmament is a new puzzle-adventure game by the legendary game studio behind the best-selling games Myst and Riven. Featuring deep storytelling and world-building, discover the story of this seemingly abandoned world as you explore and unlock the mysteries of 3 unique Realms… and beyond!

store.steampowered.com

Steam page description:

Firmament is a new puzzle-adventure game by the legendary game studio behind the best-selling games Myst and Riven. Featuring deep storytelling and world-building, discover the story of this seemingly abandoned world as you explore and unlock the mysteries of 3 unique Realms… and beyond!

Featuring a unique steampunk aesthetic, Firmament invites you to explore the legendary deep world-building Cyan Worlds is known for. Firmament is a fantastic visual feast, with thrilling new sights to see around every corner. At the same time, the world of Firmament feels completely plausible; as though it were constructed with a bigger purpose in mind… A purpose you will be compelled to discover as you play.

You carry with you a device called an "Adjunct" as you explore. This Adjunct is your interface as you interact with the various devices throughout the Realms of Firmament. Employing the Adjunct to solve the puzzles you encounter will bring you ever closer to unlocking the secrets this place holds.

You are not entirely alone in Firmament. In addition to The Adjunct, you are joined by a mysterious apparition, who has a story of her own to share with you. As you explore you will be introduced to 3 Realms - each with secrets and mysteries to reveal. What purpose do the Realms serve? Can the spirit who accompanies you be trusted?

Are the realms of Firmament abandoned? What are these giant, mysterious machines scattered throughout the world? What is their purpose? What part do you play in this grand mystery? Explore, Discover, Solve, and Reveal the mystery for yourself by playing Firmament!

Built For Both VR and 2D Displays

Firmament supports both 2D and VR play. The VR experience of Firmament includes both Free Roam and Teleport modes, and supports Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Rift S, and Quest 2 via Oculus Link.

Additionally, Firmament includes many "comfort level" features for both new and experienced VR users, including the option to enable smooth or snap turning, quick travel up stairs and ladders, vertical height quantization, and more!

 

[arts&crafts]

Looks great, I am excited to see impressions.

 

[LinguisticGoblin]

I am quite frankly insanely excited for it and only holding off on buying it long enough to confirm the PC port is not scuffed at launch.

I only started playing Cyan's games last year via the latest Myst remake via Game Pass and found it to be a very engrossing experience. Exploring the worlds and slowly puzzling out how they worked while piecing together the backstory of what had gone down got me fully immersed in the game and I beat it after just two marathon sessions where I didn't put it down. I love first person, exploratory puzzle games ala Portal, Talos Principle, Outer Wilds, etc. and seeing the obvious influence of Myst on many of them after playing it was really interesting.

Then I played Obduction and just outright fell in love with it. Amazing game, one of the best realized worlds I've come across in one and it was a constantly intriguing delight to go through it all. Seriously just top shelf world and puzzle design married with some stunning scenery and lore I felt a deep need to unravel.

Cannot wait for the Riven remake either. Trying to hold off so my first experience with Riven can be it but if it ends up being 2+ years away I might not make it and just go for the original instead, but we'll see.

 

[Ahti]

This looks really good. Thanks for the heads-up! I put it on my wishlist and might bite tomorrow if performance is good on PC.

 

[Feign]

Had to check that it was the same game as their icy world preview. It's the reason I'll eventually get a PSVR2.

 

[Transistor]

Gonna get it on PC then double dip on PSVR2 later

 

[BeeDog]

Looks pretty damn awesome, if the feedback's good this is something I'll snag up on the VR2.

 

[kami_sama]

Damn, I forgot this was coming tomorrow.
I backed it and have been reading the updates, but TOTK is taking too much of my time so it remains to be seen when I can play this one.

 

[Mewzard]

As a backer and long time Cyan supporter, you know I'm excited!

I'll have to take a bit of a break on Zelda to give this some time, to be sure.

 

[100mega]

I love Cyan. I'll be picking it up on PS5 to experience it in VR. I hope the new version of Myst shows up as well.

 

[medyej]

I'm hyped to play it and glad that VR is available on PC, as I think first person puzzle type games really shine in VR. It's a pretty stacked month though so it might have to wait a bit, idk.

 

[Ashes of Dreams]

In theory I'm excited... but... I never played Obduction because the PSVR port was apparently really held back and I was holding out hope for a PS4 Pro or PS5 patch for it. And now the VR headset I had is outdated and I can't afford the new one. So I'm just kind of in limbo with these games. Also, I have fond memories of Myst but I never put much time into it's sequels and I know people rave about the second one so I should probably just go back and play those instead. Also I was a kid when I played Myst so I should probably replay that...

 

[Bede-x]

Looks beautiful and can only imagine VR will enhance it immensely.

 

[DeadmansTheory]

It definitely looks like a world I can't wait to explore. Didn't expect a VNV Nation song. That was a pleasant surprise.

 

[Brat-Sampson]

Interested to see reviews, I think I tried Obduction but never finished it, however I played Myst / Riven for the first time properly last year and really liked both.

 

[AncientReptileBrain]

wait what?! i backed this, i'm surprised i'm not getting more emails about it.

 

[SigSig]

as soon as it unlocks on gog I'm going in

 

[Yonafunu]

I am quite frankly insanely excited for it and only holding off on buying it long enough to confirm the PC port is not scuffed at launch.

I only started playing Cyan's games last year via the latest Myst remake via Game Pass and found it to be a very engrossing experience. Exploring the worlds and slowly puzzling out how they worked while piecing together the backstory of what had gone down got me fully immersed in the game and I beat it after just two marathon sessions where I didn't put it down. I love first person, exploratory puzzle games ala Portal, Talos Principle, Outer Wilds, etc. and seeing the obvious influence of Myst on many of them after playing it was really interesting.

Then I played Obduction and just outright fell in love with it. Amazing game, one of the best realized worlds I've come across in one and it was a constantly intriguing delight to go through it all. Seriously just top shelf world and puzzle design married with some stunning scenery and lore I felt a deep need to unravel.

Cannot wait for the Riven remake either. Trying to hold off so my first experience with Riven can be it but if it ends up being 2+ years away I might not make it and just go for the original instead, but we'll see.

Click to shrink...

This is literally my exact experience only I started earlier this year. I even made a LTTP thread for Myst. Though by the sound of it you enjoyed Obduction a bit more than me.

I didn't know Firmament was this close to release, I might have to pick it up soon.

 

[Jubilant Duck]

Very excited but shall be waiting for PSVR2.

Myst and Riven are two of my favourite games ever.

 

[DanGo]

I'll definitely get this on PS5 when it arrives. I love the aesthetics in Cyan's games. Myst and Riven were a tad too complicated for me when I was a kid (and really taxed my poor PC!), but I loved messing around in them. Looking forward to those remakes too. I enjoyed my time with Obduction a couple years ago, so more of that will be great.

 

[deadfolk]

Deck verified at launch, too. Will be monitoring this.

 

[Alex840]

Side note. Does Myst hold up? I've never played it, but as a massive fan of The Witness, I've been tempted a few times on the VR version.

 

[NewDust]

Yeah, I'm gonna get it.

Only recently played through Obduction (watched a playthrough years back) intending it to play with PSVR, but I'm glad I didn't. PS5 performance wasn't there, so I hate to think how it would have performed in VR (foregoing the nuisance of setting it up). That game came literally a gen too early, with the frequent loading. Puzzles were also so so, prone to accidental solving when just observing the mechanics, or reliant on heavy backtracking.

But the world was such a pleasant place to explore.


View: https://twitter.com/cyanworlds/status/1659061253887897600?s=20
May 18, 2023 at 1:00 PM

 

[Elodes]

I'll probably pick it up when I get the VR2 in the future. Riven was astounding and they seem to understand that very well. I'm excited for it.

 

[kami_sama]

Has anyone received their keys from backerkit?

 

[BeeDog]

I guess there's no indication whatsoever about the time frame for the VR2 version?

 

[NewDust]

I guess there's no indication whatsoever about the time frame for the VR2 version?

Click to shrink...

Not yet, no. kistarter update

Bummer, don't know why I thought it would be a simultaneous release.

OMG, A RELEASE DATE!

First, the news so many have been waiting to see: Firmament will release for Windows (2D & VR) and MacOS on Thursday, May 18th, 2023. Plan your vacation days accordingly!

All other platforms (PS4 / PS5 / PS VR 2) will launch at some point down the line, and we'll share dates and details about that here when we have more information.

Click to shrink...

 

[BlueManifest]

I always thought puzzles in myst were near impossible, were they actually that hard or is it because I was only like 8 years old

 

[Polk]

I always thought puzzles in myst were near impossible, were they actually that hard or is it because I was only like 8 years old

Click to shrink...

I think you need "puzzle vocabulary" similiar to p&c games to understand game logic and type of puzzles (and hints/instructions) you will encounter.

 

[BeeDog]

Not yet, no. kistarter update

Bummer, don't know why I thought it would be a simultaneous release.

Click to shrink...

Thanks. Too bad, but I'll wait patiently.

 

[Legacy]

First time I'm hearing about this, with the games we have out now and D4 around the corner...

Hype is 0 for me right now

 

[Presskohle]

Hope its good, waiting patiently for the PSVR2 version to drop.

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

Looks great, Red Matter 2, too. Sucks that I really can't get into puzzle games. I get way to impatient and bored quickly with those games :-/

 

[Neon Octopus]

Its funny my only memory of myst was playing it around launch and being pissed about how much it sucked. In reality I was 10 and just couldn't wrap my head around it.

On topic: This wasn't on my radar but looks like something I'd be interested in for psvr2. Hope the iq is anywhere near what they've shown here

 

[.exe]

I'm very interested! This is the first time I'm seeing these screenshots with explicit UI indicating your actions, which strikes my as very un-Mystlike. Still, it looks interesting and I'd like to play it once I escape the grasp of Zelda.

 

[SigSig]

Side note. Does Myst hold up? I've never played it, but as a massive fan of The Witness, I've been tempted a few times on the VR version.

Click to shrink...

it holds up. Riven, the sequel to Myst, is a must-play.
Myst is pretty short. go in blind, take a notebook.

 

[toadkarter]

Hotdayumn, no idea this was coming out so soon. Riven is my favourite adventure game of all time and Obduction was pretty great too, will definitely be giving this a go

Side note. Does Myst hold up? I've never played it, but as a massive fan of The Witness, I've been tempted a few times on the VR version.

Click to shrink...

It's very good, but Riven is absolutely legendary. I have never seen such dedication to making every single puzzle feel part of the overall game lore - in fact, you are constantly rewarded for paying attention to the culture and ecological makeup of the game's world, as doing so is how you end up solving a lot of the puzzles. Spectacular experience, and while I'm sure the remake will be fantastic I would encourage everyone to just play the original just because it's available now.

 

[TapDancingFreak]

"PC flatscreen", huh - never seen that descriptor.

Game looks neat.

 

[PaulloDEC]

I'm awful at Cyan games so I probably won't be playing immediately. Absolute banger of a launch trailer though.

 

[Dinjoralo]

Dang, that's pretty... But I couldn't make my way through Obduction, I don't think this will hold my pitiful attention span.

 

[antispin]

Looks great, hopefully it's priced well. Regional pricing please.

 

[AncientReptileBrain]

god obduction was so freaking good

 

[AgeEighty]

Unlocks in about an hour, and backers of their KS are supposed to get their keys around the same time.

This really launched at just about the worst possible time for me, as my life has been overtaken by Zelda and that's unlikely to change. But I've been looking forward to Firmament for so long and I really hope to have some time in between TotK and FFXVI to get to it. It looks just phenomenal.

 

[Mewzard]

The game is out and I have installed it! Just about to start it.

Guess we do need an OT at some point...

 

[Polyh3dron]

A new Cyan game? In VR?

Bought. Good a reason as any to get my Valve Index set back up.

btw, why didn't OP say "pancake" in the thread title

 

[Spazgadget]

In on this for PSVR2 for sure.

 

[Duxxy3]

That looks really cool.

I knew I had heard that singers voice before. It's VNV nation. They did the Hellblade credits song.

 

[AgeEighty]

I wish they'd been able to deliver the PSVR2 version day and date, but that's how it goes sometimes. I'll double dip if the game is great.

 

[Mewzard]

Only played for about an hour so far, but so far, the game is gorgeous, and I'm liking the new gameplay mechanics for puzzle solving. Something different from the norm.

 

[flyinj]

Right out of the gate they render volumetric effects differently in each eye, creating headache inducing flickering and eye strain.

Absolute rookie VR dev issue. Like one of the first things you learn how to implement correctly when doing VR dev.

That doesn't bode well for the game.

EDIT: Shadows are also rendered in just one eye.

Yeah, not playing this until they actually finish the VR implementation. If they ever do.