So when I launch Myst and Riven, it loads up in ScummVM and then looks like it's a 16 bit app. Running on Win10, i7-8700, 32GB Ram, 1080Ti.

Is there some setting I'm unaware of? I thought these games had all been remastered.

No they haven't been 'remastered' just worked on to make them work on newer hardware/OS. They use third party software like ScummVM to run. Changing the resolution in ScummVM menu won't change anything as the source is pre-rendered 640x480

The only myst game that got a 'remaster' treatment was the first

The real myst masterpiece edition was a full 3D remake of the first.

It will take too long and too much money for cyan as they are a very small development team to render new scenes and shoot new video.

You can enter ther ScummVM menu though and enbale filtering. IMO this gives a smoother, less pixelated look without loosing (much)detail.

It does look a lot less pixelly with the filtering enabled in ScummVM. TBH I'm not sure why this isn't the default... like I know with more pixelarty games you want to preserve the look but these sorts of games with the "photorealistic" 3d rendered style aren't really supposed to look like that.
But it's always going to look either pixelly or blurry just because that's what the art assets were rendered at.

In scummvm f5 launches the basic options, ctrl+f5 launches the permanent options where you can change the filtering and rendering etc...
Fonts in Riven and Myst look much better with filtering enabled, the graphics look good as well but it is a matter of preference.

If you want testing how it looks, the fastest and most practical way of toggling filters ingame on/off, is using ctrl+alt+f.

I just wish the fmv would be remade.

the sky ride thing looked great back in the day on a crt.

but now it just badly pixelated video.

I am one of those guys who thinks that Riven Still looks amazing today if It is enjoyed and accepted as a 640x480 game. Even unfiltered the game has the advantage of being crispier. Filtered, probably looks less pixelated in newer monitors but less crispy,
The fmv is another theme; looks worse compared to how it looked in the past.

I agree, Riven still looks great. There's no arguing that by today's standards, the FMV is very low detail (it looked so awesome on an SD monitor / TV back in the day though), but I can't believe how well the still images stand up. 21 years later, and I still stand in awe at the top of the hand lift, gazing out at the little houses on their precarious wooden platforms.

I can't find anywhere to change the filtering options when I usectrl+f5. The only options I see are for sound, which is fine.

The filters can be toggled ingame on/off with the shortcut ctrl+alt+F, ctrl+F5 launches the menu where you can return to launcher and change filtering and other options permanenty.

Just be glad you didn't buy the iPad version. The still backgrounds are really crisp but any video is disgustingly choppy.

Is there any setting in the ScummVM controls to zoom back from the image a bit? While nothing is going to eliminate pixalization on giant modern LCDs, I also notice (in Myst anyway) that they've blown the images up to full screen - not the original presentation - and that's certainly not helping things any. The original art, in fact, is only 640x480 if you're including that original black frame. Take that away and it's even less. I suppose kids these days would be confused about why the game plays inside a giant black frame, but, in addition to being more "authentic" it would avoid shoving the pixels in your face quite so much.

Solution to the pixellation problem:

While playing the Myst game, CtrlF5 opens a ScummVM setup screen.
Click menu item Return to Launcher.
On the next screen, click menu item Edit Game
On the next screen, click tab Graphics.
On the next screen, click menu item Override global graphic settings
Now you can customize.
- Unclick Full Screen. This will play the game in native resolution
- Choose Scaling mode: Pixel-perfect Scaling, just to be sure
- In Graphics mode, you can choose default (1x) or select 2x or 3x to make the game window larger
- In Rendering mode, you have choices like VGA, EGA and even CGA or Hercules if you are a real old-timer.
I leave it at Default which does the job: Not pixellated. A worthy alternative is the PC modes with fewer colors

Notes:
* This only works on ScummVM rendered games like Masterpiece and Riven
* ScummVM forgets some of your settings when quitting game. You must start over with CtrlF5 next time
* Myst 1 and Riven were made for low resolution monitors. The game window is crisp but small if 1x.
* Myst 1 is native VGA which is 16 color? 640*480 pixels.
* Riven appears to be slightly larger, like Super VGA of 256 color? 800*600 pixels

Masterpiece edition is 24-bit. The original is 8-bit.

if monitor has a sharpness setting, its better to have the sharpness turned down.

you wont notice the pixels so much