Editing Pyst (section)

==Critical reception==
The game received mixed reviews. While noted for its novelty as one of the first parody video games, ''Pyst'' was seen as not living up to its full potential as a parody of ripe and timely subject matter and was criticized for lacking in gaming content, being more of an interactive story than a game.

''Electric Playground'' praised the game for having a "cheeky attitude and an irreverence" not found in the source material.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elecplay.com/pc/pyst.html |title=Pyst |publisher=Electric Playground |date=January 9, 1997 |author=Shipper, Shawn Douglas |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970804202944/http://www.elecplay.com/pc/pyst.html |archive-date=August 4, 1997}}</ref> ''Hop on Pop: The Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture'' wrote that ''Pyst'' challenges the central conceit of ''Myst'', whereby the "untouched landscape" navigated by a "lone trailblazer" is reimagined as a popular, commercialised tourist attraction.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_u5Pqx1DBkgC|title=Hop on Pop: The Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture|last1=III|first1=Henry Jenkins|last2=McPherson|first2=Tara|last3=Shattuc|first3=Jane|date=January 1, 2002|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0822327370|language=en}}</ref> ''PC Primer'' thought it was "side-splitting" and "light-hearted".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rollanet.org/~pcprimer/prime292.html |title=Pyst |last=Creighton |first=R.L. |date=1996 |website=PC PRIMER |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970606133349/http://www.rollanet.org/~pcprimer/prime292.html |archive-date=June 6, 1997}}</ref> ''MacGamer'' gave it the distinction of being the first parody video game, and deemed it a "mildly amusing, short-lived parody with no gaming component".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.macgamer.com/features/?id=585 |title=Pyst |publisher=MacGamer |date=January 23, 2003 |author=Kotas, Wojciech |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030123095712/http://www.macgamer.com/features/?id=585 |archive-date=January 23, 2003}}</ref> ''Electric Games'' unfavourably compared it to an older, and in its opinion better, parody entitled ''Mylk'' due to the latter being free and having gameplay.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.electric-games.com:80/reviews/pyst.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020616185606/http://www.electric-games.com/reviews/pyst.html|title=PYST|date=June 16, 2002|website=Electric Games|archive-date=June 16, 2002|url-status=dead|access-date=September 11, 2016}}</ref> ''Computer World'' thought that the game offered salvation to the multitude of players who remained perpetually stuck on Myst Island.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_zoRFtRiLmtAC|title=Computerworld|last=Enterprise|first=I. D. G.|date=December 16, 1996|publisher=IDG Enterprise|language=en}}</ref> The ''Sunday Mirror'' thought Goodman was "at the core of the game".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hancock |first=David |title=Playing Games Is a Serious Business |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-61160184.html |date=November 24, 1996 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008195135/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-61160184.html |archive-date=October 8, 2016 |newspaper=[[Sunday Mirror]] |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The ''Daily Mirror'' thought it was a good alternative to those stumped by ''Myst'', describing it as "not really a game but...a lot of fun".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hancock |first=David |title=Watchdog Bytes; Games Face Scrutiny from Film Censors |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-61281879.html |date=November 16, 1996 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008195143/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-61281879.html |archive-date=October 8, 2016 |newspaper=[[Daily Mirror]] |url-access=subscription}}</ref> ''Salon'' said the game "cheerfully capitalizes on that frustration" of playing the mysterious and elusive ''Myst'', and added that the "emergence of full-scale parodies" like this was a sign of the video game industry's "arid decadence".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://salon.com/media/media2961021.html|title=Pysting in the Wind|last=ROSENBERG|first=SCOTT|date=February 4, 2005|website=Salon|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204010830/http://salon.com/media/media2961021.html|archive-date=February 4, 2005|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>

''Electronic Design'' called the game a "wacky parody" that reimagines the well-known island as something out of an industrial nightmare.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2hJAQAAIAAJ|title=Electronic Design|date=January 1, 1996|publisher=Hayden Publishing Company|language=en}}</ref> ''In the Eyes of the Setting Sun'' deemed it "satirical",<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bP6_DAAAQBAJ|title=In the Eyes of the Setting Sun-|last=Madsen|first=Christian|date=July 4, 2016|publisher=Writers of the Apocalypse|isbn=9781944322151|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bP6_DAAAQBAJ}}</ref> while ''BusinessWeek'' thought all of Parroty Interactive's work was "hilarious".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k7yZAAAAIAAJ|title=BusinessWeek|date=January 1, 1998|publisher=McGraw-Hill|language=en}}</ref> ''Billboard'' found it to be funnier than ''Myst'' and "all-too-short".<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xwkEAAAAMBAJ|title=Billboard|date=October 26, 1996|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|language=en}}</ref> ''Plotting New Media Frontiers'' thought that the existence of parody games demonstrated that "generic conventions are well established and part of the culture associated with computer game playing", citing ''Pyst'' as a prime example.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Vered|first=Karen Orr|date=September 1, 1997|title=Plotting New Media Frontiers: Myst and Narrative Pleasure|journal=Visual Anthropology Review|language=en|volume=13|issue=2|pages=39–47|doi=10.1525/var.1997.13.2.39|issn=1548-7458}}</ref> ''[[Computer Shopper (US magazine)|Computer Shopper]]'' said the title was "no-holds-barred" and "pulls no punches" in its odd sense of humour, and deemed it a favourable alternative to those who were annoyed by ''Myst''{{'}}s "inscrutable puzzles".<ref name=":2" /> ''CD Mag'' thought the game was "somewhat witty".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cdmag.com/articles/018/149/starwarped_review.html|title=Star Warped|last=Radcliffe|first=Doug|date=August 20, 1997|website=CD Mag|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031106083518/http://www.cdmag.com/articles/018/149/starwarped_review.html|archive-date=2003-11-06|url-status=dead}}</ref> Emil Pagliarulo of ''The Adrenaline Vault'' saw ''Pyst'' as an example of how Parroty Interactive made games that were "completely original simply by capitalizing on unoriginality".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.avault.com/reviews/review_temp.asp?game=warped&page=1|title=Star Warped|last=Pagliarulo|first=Emil|date=August 4, 1997|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041231134640/http://www.avault.com/reviews/review_temp.asp?game=warped&page=1|archive-date=2004-12-31|url-status=dead|access-date=September 12, 2016}}</ref>

''[[PC Gamer]]'' said that ''Pyst''{{'}}s two main problems were that it was not funny as a parody of ''Myst'', and that it was not so much a game than a "series of rendered slides in sequence".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcgamer.com/saturday-crapshoot-pyst/|title=Saturday Crapshoot: Pyst|last=Cobbett|first=Richard|date=January 7, 2012|website=PC Gamer}}</ref> ''[[Giant Bomb]]'' writer Alex Navarro thought he had not enjoyed the game's humour in his youth as he had not played ''Myst''; he retrospectively claimed that the game was "not a very good parody".<ref>{{cite web | access-date=September 11, 2016 | url=https://www.inverse.com/article/12380-where-are-the-funny-video-games | title=Where Are the Funny Video Games? | publisher=Inverse | date=March 4, 2016 | author=Wilbur, Brock}}</ref> K. R. Parkinson of ''[[Adventure Gamers]]'' wrote that the game "ultimately comes up lacking in its attempt to lampoon its best-selling target of derision".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.adventuregamers.com/articles/view/25423 | title=Pyst | publisher=Adventure Gamers | author=Parkinson, K. R. | website=www.adventuregamers.com | date=June 20, 2014}}</ref> ''BrutalMoose'' felt the game was a good idea wrapped up in a bad execution.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://central.tgn.tv/video/brutalmoose-suffers-through-pyst-for-his-fans/ | title=BrutalMoose Suffers Through Pyst For His Fans | publisher=TGN | date=2015 | language=en-US | access-date=September 11, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919133707/http://central.tgn.tv/video/brutalmoose-suffers-through-pyst-for-his-fans/ | archive-date=September 19, 2016 | url-status=dead}}</ref> A reviewer from ''[[Game Revolution]]'' gave it a scathing review, deeming it "pathetic".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/pyst|title=P.Y.S.T. Review|website=www.gamerevolution.com|access-date=September 11, 2016}}</ref> ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' described it as a "pretension-busting romp through a ripe-for-puncturing cult classic", comparing it to ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]'' magazine's ''201 Min. of a Space Idiocy'' parody of ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|A Space Odyssey]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ew.com/article/1996/10/18/pyst | title=Pyst | publisher=Entertainment Weekly | date=October 18, 1996}}</ref> ''PC Multimedia & Entertainment'' initially thought the game was a "stupid idea", but upon playing it found it to be a "very funny multimedia presentation".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pcme.com/multimed/pyst/pyst.htm |title=PCM&E Review – PYST |date=January 27, 1999 |access-date=September 11, 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990127120608/http://www.pcme.com/multimed/pyst/pyst.htm |archive-date=January 27, 1999}}</ref> ''The Daily Pennsylvanian'' concluded their review by saying that while ''Myst'' sucked the player in, ''Pyst'' "just plain sucked".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kaufthal.com/portfolio/pyst.htm|title=tv2|website=kaufthal.com|access-date=September 11, 2016}}</ref> Andy Oldfield of ''[[The Independent]]'' thought the game was merely a "series of puns and visual gags", not a proper parody.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/on-the-pyst-1353005.html|title=On the Pyst|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=November 18, 1996|language=en-GB|access-date=September 11, 2016}}</ref> ''HardcoreGaming101'' felt the game only had 30 minutes of gameplay.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/myst/myst6.htm|title=Hardcore Gaming 101: Myst|website=www.hardcoregaming101.net|access-date=September 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220161230/http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/myst/myst6.htm|archive-date=December 20, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>