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.
