Riven (1997)

I played this as a kid when it came out and have fond memories of it. Riven was a joy to replay, and has held up wonderfully--unlike Myst, which I also recently replayed. Totally immersive, with logical puzzles--and that for me is key--yes, some of the puzzles are a challenge, but you can figure everything out just by carefully observing and thinking--while there are a few instances where you need to click the right spot, you're never pixel-hunting and any required backtracking is logical. Not any replay value, but still five stars.

What an incredible game from an incredible series. Much larger and more detailed than its predecesor, incredible locations that will have you saying "wow" out loud over and over again, mind bending puzzles, its got it all. Play this game.

This is, in my opinion, the best of the first three Myst games. I haven't played the other ones yet. The graphics aged very well and are still quite beautiful. You can take your time and take in all of the landscape, but it's also possible to get very quickly from point A to B as puzzles often need you to do. To be frank, the world(s) are quite small, but the attention that was put in every detail is astonishing. The puzzles can be very hard. They require a lot of out of the box thinking and are often presented to you in a manner, that you might try to solve one, where you don't have the nescessary clues yet. Since you can't know that, that can lead to frustration. On the other hand, they are very rewarding if solved. I especially like that you have to collect clues from all over the islands and that some puzzles are linked to each other. Myst was much more straight forward, which has bad and good sides. The story is the best part. As in Myst, it required some reading, but not as much, since more of the plot is happening at the moment, around you. The antagonist is sympathetic and I felt with him.

I don't know if I could say anything about Riven that hasn't already been said. Riven is great, and Myst might as well have been the demo. It's hard, but fair and rewarding. Don't feel bad if you need to look up a guide, but I strongly advise you exhaust all your in-game resources first. You'll feel better about it solving Riven's puzzles yourself.

I'm a hardcore Myst fan, and Riven is my favorite of the series. It's held up incredibly well to time. Still looks and sounds fantastic. Great music. Can't be beat, especially not at this price.