Riven

Remaking a puzzle game is .. somewhat different than remaking games from other genres - if you simply remaster it, its really cool to see it updated, but at the same time, if you know all the puzzle mechanics by heart - even if the solutions are randomized between playthroughs, you can blaze right through the game. Thus you have to strike a balance between adding in fresh new puzzles/puzzle mechanics while keeping the same general feel and plot of the game - and I think Cyan hit it out of the park on this one! There are definitely references to some of the old puzzles/mechanics scattered around the game world for veterans of the game as well, while there are also enough fresh new twists that still stay faithful to the core plot and honestly in a way stay more faithful to the core plot beats of the original thann even the original itself did? (How is that possible? Key retcons that fixed old semi-plot-holes, new details scattered around the world to support various aspects of the plot, and much more directly engaging in mechanics that support the plot or teach you important details). Furthermore, these changes eliminated some of the more tedious or annoying (Error-prone) puzzles. I also appreciate that in this iteration of the game, we get to see some cool things up close that were inaccessible in the original game (like being able to traverse much of the village, along with some more spoilery things - if you are a veteran, I think you can probably immediately think of 2. Theres not a whole lot more content for those 2 things but you can actually go and experience both of them a bit. One of them actually has an interesting plot detail hidden away in the new area...). I think the only change that didnt work as well as the original was the animated characters versus the FMVs, mainly in that the character animations seemed a bit floaty or would sometimes flicker or jerk. Overall definitely worth playing, even as someone who knows the 1997 Riven by heart!

This version of Riven feels like it was pulled directly out of my nostalgia-tinted memories. The locations are so faithful to the original, but in stunning 3D. I wasn't sure how I would feel about the new content, but it all fits so seamlessly that I often found myself second guessing if something was in the original or not. Many of the changes are the exact things I would have done myself, if I were in charge. Everything from big stuff like making areas that used to not be accessible now explorable, to little things, like the fact that you can walk past the sunners in the lagoon without scaring them away. Things change around the islands when you leave and come back, so you really start to feel Gehn's presence, especially later in the game. You get a real sense of the game of cat and mouse that you are in, and sometimes come eerily close to running into him face to face. The story has not been altered at all, but some of the diary entries have been changed to make the narrative more clear, which I also appreciate. The game also has a built in "notebook" where you can take screenshots of things and take notes there, so you don't need a pen and paper if you don't want one. It all works very smoothly. My only disappointment is the animated characters. I understand why they needed to use them, and I don't mind it in theory, but I wish they were slightly more realistic. The game is not perfect realism, so the characters don't need to be perfectly lifelike either, but they feel just a little too cartoony and it sometimes takes me out of it. The other shame about switching to 3d characters is that the physical parts of the actors' performances, like subtle body language and facial expressions, have been lost. In spite of that, I still give this game 5 stars. If you're a fan of the original game, you absolutely owe it to yourself to play this version. If you're brand new to the game, I can't think of a better way to experience it.

I'm quite sure most people are loving it purely out of nostalgia. The overall experience is good and the puzzles are not too challenging but different from the original game. However, the graphics are disappointing for a 2024 Cyan game. If you see it as the Starry Expanse Project, started more than 10 years ago by fans in their free time, it's really good. But you could expect more from Cyan - a studio which created Obduction - than just putting their logo on it.

Riven (2024) is fantastic! Few experiences in media have given me a greater sense of strange beauty and unraveling mystery than Riven has.

I came to this sceptical. Riven is a deep, engrained part of my childhood. I see Myst, I buy Myst, but I wasn't sure what I was going to get. I went in with VR, having enjoyed Myst VR but not being shocked by it. Riven VR, I was shocked by. If nothing else, thank you Cyan for the chance to walk into the scarab room on Temple Island in VR with Robyn's unmistakable soundtrack chiming in. I actually cried. For those who don't have some primordial semi-traumatic connection to this game, the elevator pitch; this is a sequel to Myst, but you can kind of come in without playing Myst because of Riven's raison d'etre - tactile, world-contextualised puzzling. This is video game a la mise en scène. This world is not made for you, you happen to just be here and be thrust into an important role. It's ok to not have any idea of what anything is, the game is to discern this world, what came before you, and what makes things tick. And most especially, why. Part of the fun is sniffing all that out. This is what Cyan are good at. The visuals are in every respect as striking if not more so than the original (the sole exception being the golden elevator on Survey which in the original is so obscenely ostentatious it can only have been Gehn's invention). The tweaks to the puzzles are welcome and appropriate for modern audiences, (although I miss detailed topographic elements to the Big Golden Puzzle, has Google Earth not taught us we can do coordinate hunting without greyscale?), enough to give this old Rivener pause for thought in places,, while still giving succour in my old age; I still find in this game my old friend. VR players, however, may find isolated instances of pixel hunting, and a metric poop tonne of ladder climbing a little extra. Highlights and a turbo button would be welcome. Still, this is an augmented nostalgia bomb for veterans and a taut excercise in worldbuilding and contextualised puzzle solving for newcomers, that cannot be Myst. Missed. You know what I mean.