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Review: Firmament Is a Beautiful Throwback to the ’90s—but Not a Myst Sequel

Cyan’s Firmament evokes Myst through atmospheric exploration and machinery puzzles, but it tells a standalone story. Its visuals stand out; puzzle interfaces may divide players.
Length4 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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Firmament is worth a look for players drawn to Myst’s quiet exploration, striking environments, and machinery-driven puzzles. It is a standalone Cyan Worlds adventure, not part of the Myst story. Its visual atmosphere is a major strength; its interface-led puzzles and relatively modest challenge may be less satisfying for players who want demanding, friction-free puzzle solving.

Is Firmament a Myst sequel?

No. Cyan Worlds describes the relationship as inspiration rather than continuity: “Firmament was created in the spirit of Myst, but it is its own story – Firmament is not a continuation of the Myst series.” That is from the studio’s official FAQ, updated July 13, 2023. The comparison is useful for setting expectations about exploratory puzzle-adventure design, but the game tells a separate story.

What kind of game is Firmament?

Firmament is a first-person puzzle-adventure developed and published by Cyan Worlds. Steam dates its release to May 18, 2023. The store description begins in a seemingly abandoned world and sends the player across three Realms, accompanied by a mysterious apparition. Much of the interaction runs through the Adjunct, a device used to operate machinery and solve puzzles.

That device gives the game a distinctive rhythm: explore a space, notice mechanisms and clues, then use the Adjunct to engage with the environment. Dominic Tarason of PC Gamer describes the Adjunct as nearly the player’s only interaction tool and the setting as a central hub connecting three distinct Realms. That focus makes the machinery central to both the puzzles and the experience of moving through the world.

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How does Firmament compare with Myst?

Atmosphere and environments

The strongest case for the comparison is the sense of place. Thomas Wilde’s GeekWire review praises the art and narrative design, while Tarason calls the game graphically gorgeous and atmospheric. The examined reviews make the environments a prominent part of the appeal: the pleasure is not only in solving a mechanism, but in exploring a carefully made world.

Puzzles and interaction

The main point of friction is how puzzles are operated. Wilde found some interfaces frustrating or awkward, citing a crane puzzle with distant controls that encouraged trial and error and a drone sequence whose interface felt unwieldy. Tarason, by contrast, thought the game could stand to be more challenging. Those are individual reviews, not a single verdict on every puzzle: together, they suggest that players may find the interface cumbersome even when they wish the underlying challenge went further.

Story and delivery

The reviews point to narrative design as part of the game’s appeal, but the available evidence does not establish a detailed comparison of its storytelling with Myst’s. What is clear is that Cyan presents this as its own story, using the spirit of exploration associated with Myst without extending that series’ canon.

Can you play Firmament without VR?

Yes. The game supports single-player play in both 2D and VR, so a headset is not required for the standard experience. Platform and headset compatibility are specific to each storefront, and support details can change.

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  • PC: Steam lists Windows and macOS requirements and names Quest 2 over Air Link or a Link cable, HTC Vive Pro, and Valve Index in its VR support details. Its current listing is the place to check system requirements and compatibility before buying.
  • PlayStation: The PlayStation Store listing covers PS4 and PS5 and says PS VR2 is required to experience VR features. It lists a July 2, 2025 release date; availability and store details may vary by region.
  • Mac: Apple’s Mac App Store update information describes an upgrade from Unreal Engine 4.27+ to Unreal Engine 5.3.2 and stability work. It also warns that ray tracing affects performance depending on hardware and resolution.

For PC players, Steam lists Windows 10 and 20 GB of storage among minimum requirements, but these are store details that can change. Check the live listing for the requirements that apply to your system.

How long does Firmament take to finish?

PC Gamer reviewer Dominic Tarason reported finishing in a little under 10 hours on his playthrough. Treat that as one reviewer’s result, not an official completion-time estimate: exploration pace and time spent working through puzzles will differ between players.

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What do player reviews say?

Steam’s user-review aggregate was 71% positive from 898 reviews when observed in 2026. This is a changing Steam metric, not a critic score, sales figure, or formal player-satisfaction survey. It gives a dated snapshot rather than a lasting measure of reception.

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Verdict: Is Firmament worth playing if you liked Myst?

If what you liked about Myst was exploring an evocative world and figuring out how its machinery works, Firmament is an appealing standalone follow-up in spirit. Its visual atmosphere is the clearest strength in the reviews examined. The caveat is the hands-on puzzle experience: interfaces that one reviewer found awkward sit alongside another reviewer’s view that the game could be more challenging. Players who prioritize smooth controls or consistently demanding puzzles may be less taken with it.

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